I was riding a bus headed to Faisal.
I didn’t know that area well, so I told the driver to drop me off at a specific place there.
“Sure. I’ll take you there. Don’t worry about it,” he said.
We were supposed to wait for the bus to finish loading.
But he started the ride after only a few people got on, and all of them were getting off before me.

I wore my headphones midway.
I was listening to music because I hate street noise.
I saw him talking to me in the mirror,
So, I removed my headphones.
“Come sit next to me,” he told me.
I couldn’t believe he was saying that to me in front of everyone.
He didn’t care if people heard him.
It was as if we were alone in the car.
I wore my headphones again, pretended not to see him talking to me and looked away.

We were still on the road,
And with every passenger getting off, I could feel my heart sinking.
I thought I’d be safe as long as I wasn’t alone in the car.
Until there was only a woman and her daughter left, who kept looking at me to get off and run for my life,
Because it was obvious that the driver was up to no good.
When they were getting off, I got up to leave too.
“This is not your stop. I’ll take you to where you want to go and you don’t have to pay me,” he said.
“I changed my mind and I want to get off here,” I said.
He kept yelling at me,
As if I was a prey he had just lost after he was sure I’d satisfy his animalistic desires.