Being on your own can be a dangerous thing, especially as a kid. Unfamiliar faces seem to be looking directly at you at every turn, looking for weaknesses. I usually try to stick with somebody whenever I am out in public, whether its walking around the streets of Doylestown or on my way to the train station. Even when everything in your power is done to try to prevent being alone, there will always be a few times where you are. Everyone is an easier target when they are alone.
It was after a basketball practice for Germantown Academy and most people had left to go home already. Evan-Eric and I were taking a late train to get back home. We started the walk from GA to the station when Evan realized he forgot to grab his younger sister.
“ Yo, Tommy. I gotta go back and grab my sis. Just wait at Rich’s and I’ll be back in like 10.”
“ Aight E, just hurry up, its getting dark out here man and the train’s coming soon.”
He walked back across street and disappeared behind the bushes. I walked on and grabbed a soda from Rich’s and sat at on one of their cheap chairs and waited for Eswag to come back. I started to get a strange feeling that someone was looking at me, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up. I scanned the area looking for somebody, but it seemed I was the only person around. I looked inside the deli and found that nobody was at the counter, probably were in the back doing stuff. I ignored the feeling and started to play Subway Surfers on my phone, which was an addiction for me at the time. Then I heard a chair fall over. I spun around and saw a white chair was flipped on the ground, but nobody was there.

“ Hello?” I asked. No response. I got up and picked up the chair. Must have been the wind, I thought. I sat back down and dialed E.

“ Yo bro, you got your sister yet?” I asked him

“ I’m ‘bout to get her. You cool down there?”

“ I think somebody is around here, like stalkin me. I don’t see ‘em but I can feel it. Get down here,” I said hanging up the phone. I started to play on my phone again and the same chair flipped over. I turned and saw it but decided against standing up and returning it. I reversed my self back to my original position and I found I was not by myself.

An black man was sitting in a chair right in front of me. He had a lean body, probably around twenty-five years old. He had a thin beard and pierced ears. I froze up. Where did he come from? How did he end up directly in front of me? My eyes met his, and he seemed like he was trying to scare me with his hawk like stare. I was looking at him with a blank expression but my head was spinning, searching for escape routs.

“ What’s up young man,” he said to me in a surprisingly high-pitched voice.

“ Not much sir, just waiting for some friends that our inside, getting their… ummm… cheesesteaks.” I lied to him, trying to keep my voice steady.

“ Yo so I’m not from around here dog. I been living out of my car for a few weeks and im looking for my homie’s house, he said its by some CVS, you know where that be?” he questioned me.

“ I think you just follow this road all the way down and you reach a CVS,” I replied, trying to get him to leave. I noticed that my only way to escape would be to try and dash across Bethlehem pike, which would be risky since it had become very dark and cars would have trouble seeing me. I decided to try and wait it out until E came back, I was certain the man would leave when he got there.

“ Oh, I got’cha man. You mind coming back by my car to point me in the right direction?” he asked, with his voice seeming to become noticeably deeper, “ I don’t think your friends inside would mind you helpen’ a brother out.”

If there was one thing I have ever learned from my experience in safety classes and stuff like that, it was this: never EVER get in a car with a man you don’t know. I looked around helplessly for someone to yell to, but I think tumbleweed might have just blown past us. I was thinking about trying to make a run for it but my conscience was saying to hold on.

“ I have a van parked out back, just help me get ‘er out of my spot,” he said, trying to reassure me that he was a good guy. I began to feel nauseous as the man inched his chair toward me and placed his hand on my shoulder. I felt a hot sweat forming on my far head, and my legs felt like jello. I bravely slapped his hand off of my shoulder. He chuckled, an evil, twisted laugh that seemed to come from the depths of hell. Then I saw Eswag at the top of the street

“ Yo man, I would love to help you with your van and stuff but that’s my friend up there and we gotta train to catch,” I said calmly. He turned and saw Evan just as he was leaving the GA parking lot. He looked at me and then back up at Eswag.

“ I gotta go, I think I know where to go. See ya ‘round kid,” he said and with that he slid into the shadows behind Rich’s. My heart slowed down and I felt some color return to my face. I pulled out my phone and called E.

“ Yo E, get your but down here right now! I am freaking out, some weird stalker person is hanging around here.”

“ Ok, hold on. Imma be down there in a second,” Evan muttered and hung up.

I sat around Rich’s waiting for Evan to finish his seemingly slow motion walk to the deli. I kept a sharp eye, being very alert looking for the man again. I thought I saw something move behind Catina Feliz but I wasn’t sure. Evan arrived though so I forgot about it

“ Tommy, I busted down here, where’s the guy?” he asked, his eyes scanning the area.

“ I don’t know, he just disappeared. Lets go to the train.”

We cautiously walked to the train station, searching for the man. We reached the train station, and soon the train came. I got on the train and luckily found a seat fast. As the crowded train pulled out, I was looking out the window and saw him. He was standing on the pavilion, waving, with an expression representing a blank piece of paper. As the train started to pick up speed I looked back. He was gone, and I never saw him again.