No

“Listen,” he said, “I know it’s scary, but I want to help.”

You stepped back out of his reach. Shaking your head “no” in a frantic manner. However, this must have only made you seem fearful of someone, because the man kept insisting.

“Is ok,” he said, taking another step towards you, “you don’t have to fear him now. If your nervous I can take you to the police and we can-“

NO

NO, no, no, no, no!

Not the police! You can’t go to the police! You don’t exist. No birth certificate, no ID, no nothing! What would they do when they found out?! Would they deport you? You had no proof you were a citizen after all. But where too?

Your heart raced and you started to hyperventilate as a full-blown panic attack took hold. The man took another step forward. You felt cornered. This man would bring only trouble. You had to get away.

You dashed down the street as fast as you could manage in a pair of heels. Away from home, away from the man. When the opportunity presented itself, you ran across a random front lawn and into an ungated backyard. But instead of a jumpable fence, you found a hedgerow of tall rose bushes separating this back yard from the neighbor’s. You contemplated turning back and continuing down the street. But, you heard the man in the jersey’s voice calling out, and it was getting closer.