They get you when you’re weak.
 
There are a million stories, but I can’t forget this one in particular, and I continue to blame myself every day.
 
I was on my way back from an after school tutoring session, and I was waiting for the bus. I was tired because I had been out all day and I hadn’t eaten anything.
 
They pick the girls they’re sure won’t speak up. They get you when you’re weak.
 
I was leaning against a pole behind the driver’s seat, and through the crowd, I saw a man smiling at me. I closed my eyes for a bit—I was dying to sleep—and when I opened them again, the man was standing in front of me, holding onto the pole I was leaning against.
 
Whenever the bus stopped, he’d throw himself against me, blaming this on how packed the bus was. I knew it was crowded, but why did he choose to stand right in front of me?
 
All I did was get off before my stop. I didn’t have any more money on me so I walked the rest of the way home.

I felt like I was dying. I remember looking at the sky and praying: “Please, God, give me the strength to make it home.”