Almost

When I was younger, I always had the fear to speak up, thinking my opinion didn't matter.

It all l started when me, my mom, and my younger brother went to an Uber. I was 7, my brother was 4 and it all happened when I was still in Brazil. When I was waiting outside, holding hands with my mother, the car came. An old car. The moment the car stopped I suddenly felt the urge of running away, but I stayed quiet.

I saw the driver and he was an old man. "Run." the thoughts were just getting louder. "No, this is just plain rude to this old man, he's probably a nice guy!" I thought to myself. I sat down and he looked at me and said "What a pretty little girl we have here..." My mom smiled and said, "Thank you." I smiled too but it was clearly a fake smile. He kept saying how pretty I was until his eyes started to go down my body. My mom noticed how he kept saying how pretty I was every 5 seconds until she said, "Stop it, I don't like the way you talk about my daughter." I felt relieved but not 100% relieved. He kept winking at me and looking down at my body.

Things got even more scarier when he took the wrong turn, on purpose. My brother started to ask my mom what was happening, and I was trying to cover my parts with my mom's jacket. My mom instantly called my dad, and he was about to call the police. The man heard their conversation and left us at our stop. We left the car, and my mom got him fired.

It was the scariest moment of my life. I asked my mom why she was so mad, and she said, "He called you pretty many too many times sweetie, and that's wrong." Of course she was just trying to protect me. I was only 7 after all, but I remember that day, every little detail, and I don't think I will forget it any time soon.