I had work in Abo el-Reish and took a minibus on my way home.
There weren’t any women in the car.
I sat in the seat next to the stairs.
There was a guy standing on the stairs.
He was a bearded man.
He was leaning against me the whole ride.
I was wearing my sunglasses and earphones.
His hand was swaying back and forth.
I stared at him.
I thought he was going to steal my bag.
Or snatch away my phone.
I was on edge.
He still didn’t move.
I was the only woman in the car, so I kept thinking of the worst possible scenarios.
It was in the afternoon—the time when trouble happens.

I kept thinking what to do.
Should I tell him to move?
I didn’t know what to do.
I decided I’d push him out of the car!
I was wearing pants and converse.
If I pushed him, I’d fall off too.
I got a little closer to him and started testing it.
I didn’t want to fall off with him.
But then I told myself to stop.
“You’ll get off in 5 minutes,
Your mother is alone and your brother is at work,”
I told myself.

But then all of a sudden I told him,
“I’ll push you out of the car, okay?! I’ll do it!”
I swear that’s what happened.
“What’s wrong, Ms.? I didn’t do anything to you,” he said.
I grabbed my backpack and got closer to him,
“I’ll throw you out!”
I grabbed his leg and didn’t know what to do.
“What’s wrong, Ms.? What did he do to you?” a man interrupted.
“Can’t you see the way he’s leaning against me?” I said.
The car didn’t stop.
“Just let it go, Ms.” everyone kept telling me.
“Will we always let it go?!” I said.
I don’t know where I got this courage from but I was very happy.