Scary-ass Adventure

Fantastic.

After living in DC for almost 5 years I finally regret the decision.

Let me start by recounting the adventures of Blue. Blue was the beautiful 5 speed mountain bike my dad got me as a graduation present when I moved to Silver Spring. For three glorious weeks I felt the wind in my hair and saved money on traveling by sweatily biking to work or on errands.

Then it happened. I bought a bike lock (not a kryptonite lock) so I could stop parking it inside my places of business. That first day out with the bike lock, chained to a parking meter because I thought it was illegal to chain it to a tree, Blue was stolen out from under my nose.

It turned out alright. I mean, I never got Blue back, she's probably been scrap metal since that day, but I found out I had a lot of friends who cared about me. Enough for a lot of them to contribute money for me to buy a new/used bike! Even without that, their well-wishes were enough to show me that I was loved and safe with them. I did buy Velma soon after and another bike lock. I don't take her out much, though since she's an old lady.

That's all well and good. Bikes get stolen. It happens.

Last night I was on my way to my first audition in MONTHS for INKwell. Of course the auditions were at H-street where it's never a good idea to be after dark. I scheduled myself to go before 8pm, thinking that would help. Of course I didn't check which nights my friends were going (tonight) and I didn't ask anyone who's been there by bus before which bus is best. The itinerary from WMATA told me to take the 90 to H and 8th. That's 6 blocks. (I shoulda known, the directions the WMATA security gave me from NY Ave were to go a block to the spot between the Burger King and the Liquor store. Ugh.

Anyway. I was dressed rather nicely for the occasion, I was even wearing my new white hat which matched my white scarf and white sweater shoes (also necessary because of my ankle injuries). This must have made me stand out. I dunno. I crossed 13th street and inwardly went whoo! The whole way there I was thinking that Mommom would kill me if she knew I was walking there at night, and Mom would probably be hysterical. I was in front of the Atlas building and i felt a tug at my shoulder.

Here was my brain for the next 30 seconds: "Tolmiedon'tdothatohmygodwaitthat'snottolmiethisistooscarywhoisdoingthiswhyareyoudoingthisgetoffofmeHELPHELPHELP!!!"
Most of that was also out loud. The jackass shook my bag violently up and down until i finally let go. My left pinky finger might be broken and the middle and ring finger are badly bruised. I fell to the ground, scattering the script and headshots I had brought. Luckily, I had just moved my phone from my bag to my jacket pocket so I called 911 even as i brushed myself off.

The police came quickly, and Lee came back to the corner with me to talk to them. Just like with Blue, they said it was probably a rifle-and-dump. Take what they want and leave the rest somewhere else. There's a 50/50 chance I will get my bag back, and any of the stuff inside including my camera, my most comfortable pants, my book, ALL OF MY CURRENT BILLS, and my wallet. Not to mention my flashlight, cough drops, highlighters, and chapstick.

I'm just stunned. I've never been attacked like that before, never been physically harmed by someone I don't know. And to know that I was prey, that he followed me and picked me and attacked ME. It's scary.

I still had a good audition, but it definitely wasn't worth what I lost. And i'm not talking about my stuff. I mean my well-being. My security. My right to walk down the street before 8pm and feel at all safe by myself.

Fuck that guy.