Prey

I’ve talked to this woman just a few times, but there is comfort between us that allows our conversation to skip the niceties and warp speed into crime topics. Our discussion twists and turned from violence and brutality to self-preservation. She told me a story of when she was young and her and her friend were riding bikes in the open space on the mesa. A pick up truck had appeared out of nowhere and followed them. They quickened their pace and he matched their speed. They peddled reckless and furious to anywhere people might be. Moments of panic and survival in a young girl’s life would forever change her view of the west mesas open space. When they were able to get to a public place, the man in the pick up truck sped off never to be seen again.

Sadly, most women have similar stories to tell. Predators don’t just exist in the wild. They exist in our communities, in our schools, churches and sometimes in our homes. Much like a lion at a watering hole, they watch and wait for opportunities. They strategize how they can execute on their urges and if needed how they will get away with it. Self denial, practiced lies, and destruction of the evidence among their skills. Kept secrets create confidence and so the predator does it again. Sometimes a swift attack as he tries to pluck two young girls riding their bikes from the face of the Earth and sometimes it’s a slow stalking like the family member that gives upsetting hugs.

Self preservation tells you to ride like to wind or find ways to avoid hello and goodbye. I used to make sure I was doing dishes, taking out the trash or hide in the bathroom. Looking busy or on your way somewhere important was a socially acceptable way to avoid the grabby hands and a chest pressing that you knew was coming. For a long time I hated the predator and now I hate the enablers. The adult who was too polite to address the inappropriate hugs. The young man’s friends in the car that thought it was acceptable to chase down a group of young girls on a dirt road as we walked home from the Circle K. I’ve seen it on the Bad Guy List to trust your instincts about predator men and if it means jumping out of a moving car, so be it.

-m, volunteer, Street Safe New Mexico