When I was a kid,
parents
teachers
and community leaders
taught me to never approach the car
of someone asking for directions
because they likely wanted to abduct
molest
and possibly kill me.

It was not until I was driving around
completely lost
years later
that I realized the absurdity
of such claims.

Regardless of whether I asked children
or adults for directions,
in the span of two hours
I had seven people run away
four called me a pedophile outright
two a killer
and one shrieking woman beat the trunk of my car
with a stick.

Thank god
I didn’t stop off at the convenience store
for some candy
for the road trip
as I had planned to do.

I’d probably be serving a life sentence now
and I still wouldn’t

have directions.