thinking about Thomas and Randall. maybe im crazy but i always interpreted it as a story of CSA. like, R torturing & taking Thomas's name as an allegory for SA....
"He had a hard time speaking ever since the incident with Randall. He had a hard time sleeping, eating, and just about everything else, too."
Two Full Years Later, "Thomas was just as happy to forget Randall forever, though he still couldn't help that spike of panic whenever a man in green scrubs turned a corner. Always, for just an instant, he thought it might be Randall again."
Thomas had nightmares and flashbacks abt him but can't talk to anyone about it. when he gets close to talking abt that trauma, all he can say is "some people could be nicer. like randall." he pretends like nothing happened, but in his head, "he thought back to when randall had taken away his name—it had felt like losing part of his soul." it's hard to tell if teresa even knows, because she cracks a joke about sending R after him, and he laughs???
but he is so terrified of R that among everyone around him, he's the one rushing to get away from R when he's infected and chasing them.
when he runs into R again, as a full blown crank, R pursues him saying "I miss the tasty treats." This passage is so nasty: "'Tasty,' Randall's voice whispered directly into his ear. Thomas screamed, twisting his body, struggling to get out from under the monster pinning him down." And when Thomas bashes his skull in he spends a long while just staring at R's dead body.
it's just a very fascinating aspect of the story, because he just Never talks to anyone about Randall, despite the lifelong trauma it caused. and then he gets to kill his abuser with his own hands, and instead all he thinks is that no one deserves to die that way.
