“It’s your body's’ way of protecting you.” I was told as I felt the singeing handprint of my mother burn into my thigh. It’s my body’s way of protecting me. I remind myself as I feel his hands all over me in the middle of the night when i can only think about the yellow street light that filtered in and cascaded over his large frame like water pouring unexpectedly from the sky. “It’s my body’s way of protecting me.” I explain to the one person who can touch me without making my skin crawl. “Please protect me too.”