It’s a lovely day today. I know where I am, know what to expect. I also know danger lurks in Rock Creek Park and am prepared. Mace is in my left hand and my cell phone in my right. My eyes are everywhere, especially on the red sun rising over the cherry blossoms that are already winking to a few visitors. My lips pucker to whistle Yankee Doodle Dandy but my expertise seems to have left me. All that comes out is spit and bubbles. I try it again but my lips must be broken.
It’s only 6:30 in the morning, perfect for a walk around the Lincoln Memorial. With it in sight, I almost trip and fall. My shoe lace must be undone. There are plenty of empty benches. I take the first handy one, bend over to tie my bulky walking shoes. There is a thud, a crack. My face feels wet. My fingers turn red with blood when I touch my nose. The redness runs fast down my face. It is all over my jacket before I can pull a Kleenex out of my purse.
Darkness covers me. With the slightest amount of light leaking in, I see bikes and a few men in work clothes around me. A soft voice asks my name. All I can say is ‘please’ and the blackness washes over me again. I’m too scared to be scared and tumble into a gray swirling abyss. My hand touches grass that is still damp with dew. I feel dizzy.
A soft voice tells me to lie still for a few more minutes.
In a trembling voice I ask questions. ‘What happened? Why am I here? What happened to the sun? Who took it away from me? Did somebody tie my shoe?’ A teen sitting near me tells me I’m wearing flip flops with no shoe strings. He asks me where all the blood came from that is on my blouse. ‘Egads!’ I yell. ‘Who hit me? Why? With what?
A tall policeman asks the crowd to move back, give me some air. ‘Officer, I have plenty of air, what I’m missing is some blood.’ He asks, ‘Are you dizzy? Anything hurt you?’ ‘Damn right, Ossifer, if it’s still on my shoulders, my head is going to split. Somebody conked me. How about my nose? Is it all in one piece?’ The officer looks closely and he regretfully tells me it looks like my nose is broken. ‘Do you want me to call an ambulance, Ma am?’ ‘Thank you but no. I would appreciate a ride back to my car, Lot C4 near the Lincoln Memorial.’ ‘I’m on patrol duty but will call the station and a car should be here in about ten minutes. Come sit over here on a bench. I’ll wait with you.’ He looks at the folks still watching the action and tells them to go on about their business. ‘The show is over.’
Everyone is gone is except one young man, standing behind the bench I am using. Sheepishly he comes around to face me, to apologize. He threw a stone, a big one to chase away a dog that was chasing him and it accidentally hit me. Tears were in his eyes. He apologized over and over. The officer took his name, address etc. and gave him a citation for misconduct.
‘Lady,’ he said. ‘Please, please excuse me. I wasn’t even going to hit the dog, just scare it away. I have a part time job on week ends, so don’t worry, I’ll pay your doctor bill. It will be slow, but I’ll do it.’
Surprise, surprise! He did do it and I donated the money to his church.
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