My days are usually all the same.
I wake up,
Go to work,
Get into a fight with a harasser in the metro,
Maybe even hit him if he tries to touch me,
Take him to the police station,
Finish work,
Then go home.
On days when I don’t drag someone to the police station,
I curse at least three people in the street.

But today was different.
I woke up in a good mood.
It was the first day of rehearsals.
We were on a six month hiatus.
On my way to work,
I decided to listen to some music so that nothing would ruin my good mood.
I finished work and headed to rehearsal.

I hung out with my friends in Downtown after the rehearsal.
I decided to take a short walk before heading home because the weather was nice.
I crossed Qasr el-Nile Bridge to the Opera House.

There was a guy in a red car,
Who kept slowing down for me.
He kept saying something,
But I can’t bring myself to say it out loud.
All I can say is that it was about a specific part of my back.

Normally, I would’ve stood up for myself and fought back,
Maybe even break the car window or something.
But I didn’t want to end the day on a bad note.
I put on my headphones and said nothing.

Soon after, I felt something hit me from behind.
I fell.
Turns out, that son of a bitch hit me with a rod on my back.

I screamed and people gathered around me.
Those who saw him hitting me went after him and stopped him from running away.
When they caught him, I ran to his car, took the rod,
And hit him with it over his head,
In front of everyone.

I got into a cab and went home.
When my mother saw me with the rod I told her,
“This rod isn’t mine.
I won it in a harassment battle today.”