Little Story #9

I walked to and from school every day. I used that short cut through over the street car tracks. (shhhh) One afternoon a man called to me from a truck. He was asking what street we were on. He was parked under the street sign. I pointed at it and said - Park Blvd ... politely. Then he said - come closer. I took a step toward him and realized he was holding his erect penis.
I think I was eight, nine, maybe ten at the time. I had never met my father. I grew up with my Poppop and my Uncle and my male cousins but I didn't really know much about male anatomy. I had no idea what was happening. I was someone who was raised to be polite. So I sort of backed away and said something about needing to get home. He asked me if I'd ever seen anything like that. I said I had seen my cousin in the bathtub.
Looking back I am so worried about myself. I was being polite to someone who had nothing badness in mind. I should have just run. I made polite conversation.
He asked if I wanted to touch it. I said - no thank you. No ... thank you.
Sigh.
I kept talking about my grandmother and how she would be watching for me as I backed away. When I was too far away to grab he sped off.
Grandmom was in the tub. In our family many conversations happened in the bathroom while people bathed so I went in, leaned on the sink and said - well, you'll never guess what just happened to me. I wasn't really afraid. I thought the guy was weird. Crazy. I had no idea that I had been in any kind of danger. Grandmom stood up rather quickly and dramatically, which I thought was funny. I imagine she called the mommie at work. The mommie walked me to my Brownie meeting that night. Normally I would have gone alone. It was in a church at the top of our street. She came to walk me home. When I got there a police man was waiting to ask me questions. I remember feeling bewildered. Why was everyone so worked up? I was a little bit embarrassed to describe what happened. I think the cop was very kind but stern.
Apparently the guy had stopped two of my class mates a little farther down the road.
This is one of those stories that doesn't come up very often. I don't think about the impact it had on me. I still feel like I was safe but why do I feel that way? I knew enough to keep my distance but I was being so ... polite. I knew enough to say my grandmother would be watching for me. I like who I was in that moment. I also am now aware of how much worse it could have been.
The adults were just whacked out. They did not have the skills to handle it. I'm sure there was conflict between the mommie and Grandmom about how to handle it. It was like something that was happening around me.
I'm not sure what might have been better. I don't really remember what they did tell me. It was a time when we just didn't talk about things.