The Day I Will Never Forget

City of Lima, Peru

March 15, 2015, a day that I will never forget. I was looking forward to what I was sure would be a fabulous day. As it turned out, the day marked my life. Since that day I realized that not all people are the same in this world. People around me, with different stories, anecdotes or difficult situations they are going through. No one knows what you are thinking or what you want to do with your life. Not only because I was going to have a great experience with my parents and friends, but because I was at risk of losing my life.

At that time, I was only thirteen years old. I was living in Lima, Peru, my country of birth. At school I was starting my first year of high school. I was a bit nervous. Not only because of the beginning of this new stage, but I had to learn the route by walking to get to the school, which takes fifteen minutes. We were in the middle of winter, almost every day totally cloudy and with temperatures reaching forty degrees. The first week, I did not have to worry about being able to take the school bus at the exit when I left school. 

School Bus

However, a rainy Monday arrived. I went to school with the bus, my class schedule was about 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. I normally attended the morning classes. During math reasoning class, I was in the middle of an exam and I got a call from my mom. So, I had to leave the classroom and I responded quickly. She told me that she had to come back in the afternoon at 1:00 pm because we were invited to my cousin's wedding and it was a significant event for us as a family.

Group of thieves

So I left school at that time. I had to walk about six blocks and use the learned route in situations like this. So, I was walking with my cell phone dangling in hand. But, the street was blocked by a construction that they were doing. So, I deviated from the route and went through another avenue. Suddenly, I saw a small group of three people smoking marijuana in the corner of the passage. They were tall, thin men, with brown skin, dressed in casual clothes, a little dirty and with a strong smell of drugs. Two of them were sitting on the floor while the other was standing up having a gang chat. I felt totally scared and nervous. As I passed by them, I was looking away to try to hide, with goosebumps and intermittent breathing. The first thing they saw of me was that I looked like a student and then they noticed what I was holding in my hand: my phone. I suspected they were thieves and I was absolutely right when they began to look at me as a bully. They realized that I didn't feel well going through them.

I hid my phone and started walking quickly, but it was too late. They found out and started chasing me. They did not stop looking at my cell phone. And I knew that cell phone theft was one of the most common problems on the streets of Peru. It is at that moment, in which inside of me, I said: "oh hell they are going to kidnap me or hurt me." They wanted to steal my phone, but I didn't want to give it to them. So, I had no choice but to run away. Running with leaps and bounds as if it were a prey escaping its predators. Nervous and sweating drops by drop like a marathon. I ran all the way to Everton Street, to the right where there was a dark alley, full of garbage, old things, old and useless cardboard boxes. They were all over the place. They kept running after me at a considerable distance. I thought quickly and climbed a wall that connected that alley with another and I did it with the help of the boxes. I felt like one of those people who do running stunts and overcome all kinds of obstacles because of their agility, like a professional parkour. They were trying to climb but it took too long. I got to reach the other exit with more security since there was more vehicular traffic and commercial stands. 

Mall Jockey Plaza

My nerves and worries went away when I walked into a small shopping center known as "Mall Jockey Plaza" in front of a gym. They were gone so I breathed a great sigh when I was in it. I didn't really know if I was breathing heavy and sweating because the mall was packed with frantic last-minute shoppers. That day they were bought various items of clothing and toys because of the great discounts that were available. Some people looked at me strangely and disdainfully as if I were crazy and unbalanced. They thought I was lost when actually I was trying to process everything that had happened to me. I looked at the time and I was 30 minutes late. "Damn it," I said frustrated.

I stood at the entrance to the mall, making sure that the bus would come as fast as possible. Through the reflection in the window I saw the bus heading to my house. I desperately left the store and ran to the next stop to take the bus. I sat at the back of the bus where there was no one. I quickly grabbed my cell phone and texted my mom that I was on my way. The whole ride there I was confused, torn between bewildered and pensive. I couldn't get that image of the thieves running after me out of my head. My hands were cold and sweaty. I couldn't wait to get home completely safe and sound and hug my family.

When I got home, I took out the keys from my pocket and I went in through the back door. My mother was sitting on the couch waiting for me. "Where were you?" she asked, wrinkling her eyebrows. "There was a lot of traffic because there was an accident on the road", I told her firmly. She stared at me for a few seconds. Those seconds seemed like an eternity. My heart was pounding. I felt the blood move throughout my body. Fortunately, she believed me and we didn't get to discuss the subject anymore. I had to lie to make sure she was not concerned. After that, we went immediately to the meeting we had planned at an uncle's home.

Image Credits:

"Lima, Peru Modern City Skyline" by Serious Cat is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

"Ladrones presentes en la huelga de dolores" by adels is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

"Schoolbus in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia" by Conny Sandland is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

"Centro Comercial Antara" by chapsRLZ is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.