I was fifteen years old.
I was visiting the countryside.
I went on a walk with my cousins and sisters.
Eid here is different.
You’re not supposed to go out after noon.
I didn’t know that when I suggested going for a walk.
I was walking with my cousins and sisters,
When a bunch of young men started to harass us.
I cursed one of the men,
Which prompted one of them to kick me in the leg.
“Who do you think you are cursing his mother?” he said to me.
“What do you want?” I answered back as I pushed him away.
Following that, four men started beating me.
I got up and wiped my face.
A man tried to break up the fight.
I was still trying to hit the guy as the man held me back.
With full force,
I slapped him across the face.
He started crying.
I learned not to walk with girls,
And to not answer back when harassed.
I learned never to do this again.