I was in an extremely good mood for multiple reasons. I had just gotten off work and didn't have to be back until the following Tuesday. I recently began taking a different route to my car just to avoid the awkwardness of me walking across the street while the traffic was making a left turn. This way was easier and I had taken it before.
Ever get those feelings that someone is waiting for you or wanting your attention without them having to say a word or make a gesture? That's the feeling I got from the man only a couple of meters away from me. Being the person I am, I have to prepare myself for social interactions. I have to make my facial expressions seem more inviting or else I'll come off as rude. "Hey there!" he said. I'm not one to judge, but based off his appearance, I knew how this would go.
He had on a hat, a tattered combination of a T-shirt and jeans that were covered in stains of a substance I couldn't exactly make out.
"Hi, how are you?" was my usual statement to anyone who had chosen to speak to me even though I didn't always care how they were. Having had people ask me for money before, I was ready for him to pitch me his sob story as to why he needed it.
He introduced himself as either Percy or Murphy. I'm not really sure because he didn't exactly enunciate his words. All I heard was the ending of the name, "erphy". He said that he needed money for food and was going in for dialysis in a few days. I'm an honest person and can be pretty nice and will sometimes over exert myself for a stranger, maybe that's why I come off as a bit naive.
I was honest, and gave him the only dollar I had on me. That wasn't good enough apparently, and he proceeded to ask me if I could go to the nearby ATM to get him more. I'm not exactly sure how much dialysis is, but it sounds expensive and he wasn't getting too much out of me. Although not as cheerful, I wanted to help, so I let him walk me there since I wasn't sure where it was.
On our way there, the man was ecstatic. He was rambling about things faster than my mind could process. "How old are you?" He was around forty-two. "Oh! I have a daughter your age!" This was going on longer than I had anticipated. I was so eager to purchase that slushy I had been thinking about all day.
Finally, I withdrew some money for the man and thought I was done, I could finally resume my routine of going home.
You guessed it, I had thought wrong. The man called me an angel and had promised to pay me back in car washes to which I declined. He insisted that he walk me back to my car, I declined that, too but he persisted.
"I'm not trying to come on to you or anything, but do you have a boyfriend?" he said. The irony of his statement stupefied me. Again, I spoke only the truth. He asked me for another favor, if I could give him a ride to a destination that was pretty far. I declined not because of its distance, but because the gut feeling I was getting while approaching the ATM earlier had only intensified.
After declining his request for the umpteenth time, the man, to my relief, finally stopped asking. With our encounter coming to a close, he reached out his hand in an attempt to shake mine. I try to accept this gesture only to be pulled in and kissed on the cheek. "Damn girl. People are going to think we're a couple." he said with a grin.
Remember how I stated that I try to fix my face for social interactions? In this particular instance, I simply couldn't. My face froze with a stare similar to that of an Omen. He reached out again in an attempt to "give me dap" and I had to resist the urge to slit his throat with the keys I had in my hand.
"I want to see you again." he said and went on his way across the street. I felt disgusted and furious at the same time. I was disgusted at the fact that he touched me without my permission and furious that I had helped such a person that would do so.
Aa I was driving home, I was attempting to rub his imprint off my cheek. I felt as if my kindness was taken advantage of and I myself was embarrassed to say that I had helped a person who just put me on edge from the get go. Maybe next time I won't be so naive and I'll allow my face to remain in its angry appearance.
To the man who needed money for food and dialysis, I kindly ask that if you see me, please do not approach me because I may not be as kind as I was during our first encounter.
