Theresa Lewis



After the breakup of my marriage, I found myself living alone for the first time in my life. I had gone from my family home to my marriage home. I never expected to be on my own. All that I could afford on my income was a small two and a half room apartment in a rough area. Because I was single and living alone, I knew that I would have to be extremely vigilant at all times. I never went out in the evenings unless I was certain that I would have an escort to my apartment door. I did all my shopping during the daylight hours and was constantly aware of my surroundings at all times.

One day, I read in our community newspaper about a young man who was going around the area raping and beating women. Though the police were constantly on the lookout for this man, he always seemed to be two steps ahead of them. According to the article in the newspaper, the man had raped and beaten numerous women over the past couple of months. The article alarmed me because I lived near the targeted area and I lived alone. I kept my windows and doors locked at all times. I felt like an easy target for a guy like that. I became suspicious of all men who seemed to fit the physical characteristics of the rapist. My suspicion turned into intuition on the first day I felt I was being followed.

Several times over the first few weeks that I lived there, I felt that I was being followed. I crossed the street and so did the man that I believed was following me. I quickened my pace and so did he. I darted into a grocery store at the first corner, but the man did not follow me in there. I looked out the window and he seemed to carry on his way without looking back in my direction. Perhaps I was becoming paranoid and had imagined that I was being followed.

That scenario repeated itself several times over a period of a few weeks. It seemed to me that every time I went out during the day, within moments the same young man would appear. It became very apparent to me that I was not being paranoid and I was actually being stalked and it terrified me.

Early one afternoon, there was a knock at my apartment door. I looked through the peek hole and noticed that it was the same young man that had been stalking me. I didn’t answer the door. I stayed as quiet as a mouse inside until he left. Around supper time that evening, he came back and knocked on the door. Again, I did not answer it. Later, I called a friend and explained what was going on. My friend was a big man and incredibly strong. He came over and stayed with me that night as I was petrified to stay alone. As soon as the young man knocked on my door again, my friend yanked the door open and demanded to know what the guy wanted. The young man was startled and mumbled something about looking for his friend. He said he realized that he had the wrong apartment. He apologized for disturbing us and he shuffled off. I did not see him again for a few months, but I was always vigilant just the same.

One day, my brother and I went out for dinner. After dinner, we sat around his apartment and discussed the complexities of life. By the time we were done, it was after midnight. Even though I had driven over to his apartment, I asked him to see me home to my door. I had an uneasy feeling that night. Because of the late hour, I had offered my brother to stay overnight at my apartment. He agreed.

Just as I was parking my car across the street from my apartment building, I spotted that young man again. He was standing on the lawn near a basement window. I told my brother not to get out of the car until we saw what the man was up to. We sat in the shadows and waited. He kept looking around as though he was planning to do some mischief. Finally, I saw him open the basement window and slide inside a darkened apartment. Once he was inside, my brother and I went up to my apartment and I called the police.

When the police arrived, they came up to my apartment and I told them my story about being stalked by that man. They went down to the basement apartment and learned that the man lived there with his wife. The wife had no idea that her husband would sneak out at night after she had gone to sleep. He even tried to pretend that he had been there all along and was sleeping. Luckily the officers were on their toes and they arrested the man because they knew who he was. He was the area rapist who had eluded the police for months. Until then I had no idea how lucky I was not to have been caught by the man. Heaven knows, he tried hard enough.

The End