That feeling you get when you think someone is watching you. That is the feeling I had when I was walking home the other day. I live and work in Washington D.C., a political hot bed yes, however, the town is over run with awestruck tourists as well. You can see it all as you stroll down the sidewalks or hop on the metro. At least during the day you can see everything. At night, despite the city being all aglow from the monument lights, the rare pocket of darkness can be peaceful. Not that night.
I had decided to change my shoes and take a walk before going home. Sometimes I revisit the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Veteran's wall, and the Washington Monument. Standing at the Lincoln Monument you can plainly see the Washington Monument pointing toward space and slightly behind it, the dome of the capitol building. It all looks so close but that is just an illusion. There is a metro station just down a couple of blocks past the Washington monument so I decided to walk by the reflection pond leading up to it.
There are lights lining the walkway and of course plenty of tourists. I saw a few families and a young couple. They were hanging on each other, kissing, and every now and then I saw her run her hand over his crotch as they walked. I rolled my eyes but inside I knew it was jealousy. It had been a long time for me. The men in this city are gay, married, or real pricks. I sighed and decided to go off the beaten path so they say. I walked up the slight hill and into the darkness of the park-like scene.
That is when I felt it. The sensation of being watched. There are always so many tourists around that the cops patrol all the time but I still had a little tingle in my chest that something was wrong. I held my head up high and looked around. I even stopped walking and turned around but saw nothing, so I trudged on trying to relax as I went. I was almost to the circle surrounding the Washington monument when I felt a hand come around to cover my mouth and a large body pressed to my back.
I began to struggle, to kick, to bite, to flail, to elbow my assailant in the gut but it was all in vain; I couldn't move. The man was huge and solid and he tightened his grip on my mouth and the other arm came around my waist. I almost couldn't breath he held me so tight against him and hot tears began to fill my eyes. Now, I abhor weakness, but at that point, I felt the most helpless I had ever felt and all I could do was whimper and sag against him. When I did, he relaxed his grip a little and the hand that gripped my waist moved to my belly and began to rub slow circles. "Shh, honey, it's ok. I'm not going to hurt you. I won't do anything you don't want me to. Shh," he said softly, as a lover would.
The hand covering my mouth loosened and began to caress my cheek and then my hair. I started struggling again but not as hard as the first time. "Are you fucking kidding me? I don't want you to touch me. Let me go right now and I won't fucking call the cops over and have you arrested," I said with less conviction than I had intended.