(this is annie)

I left my bag, phone, money, everything at home. Sometimes I like to leave the house with nothing on me, because it makes me feel unencumbered. When I arrived at Paul's building, a young Ukrainian couple was cuddling conspiratorially in front of the steps. They looked like amorous criminals, the man spitting and the woman gazing lovingly at his phlegm on the sidewalk. As I locked my bike, I listened to them hiss as they moved closer. Half-expecting them to push me from behind, I tightened my body and prepared to duck, jump, or do whatever you're supposed to do when you're being attacked by Ukrainian thugs in love. But it didn't happen. They just watched me and talked with each other. I could feel their hate on my back as I rang the doorbell.