The Camgirl's Assistant

Chapter 3 - Stefania's Walk Home

She was done with her shopping, and Stefania Toporov did not feel like waiting for the bus that could safely bring her to the house where she lived with her grandmother and two adult brothers. Her grandmother had always warned her about the streets she would now walk. They were dark, isolated, and in an abandoned warehouse district where there would be no one to hear her screams if she were ever attacked. This was a Russian industrial town that had been riddled with unemployment ever since the abrupt end of the Cold War, and many of its men behaved like animals, even when in public places.

        In this neighborhood the girls were so fearful of being attacked that they would often cut their hair short so they could appear as boys when walking its streets. But Stefania would not cut her long auburn hair or even tuck it inside her jacket. Her grandmother had often pleaded with her to at least wear jeans when she went out, but Stefania always insisted on wearing her standard outfit that included a skirt with leggings, although she never left the house without her black leather boots. Her brothers used to joke that she looked like the Daria cartoon character.

        Stefania never worried about taking this shortcut because her brothers had taught her how to defend herself, and she had often discouraged aggressive men on dates. One time a man even tried to rape her. He had caught her off-guard, punched her in the nose, and assumed she would submit. Stefania appeared to give in, pretended to cry, and huddled up while turning her back to the attacker. But all of a sudden she quickly turned and came back at him with a wine bottle across his face. After he went down, she hit him a second time, and he was never the same.

        Unfortunately the attempted rape had also changed Stefania: his punch was so powerful that it badly shattered her nose. But instead of having the nose fixed, Stefania decided to wear its battered bones as a badge of honor. Now with the nose of a boxer, she thought, any man would think twice about trying to push her around.

The sun had set hours ago, the streets were dark, and the neighborhood's few corner stores had all closed. After first removing a container of pepper spray from her bag, Stefania placed her purse into a small knapsack.

        The first part of the walk went without incident, and it seemed like she would not be approached or even seen by anyone. But as she crossed a corner and turned down a side street, she thought she heard something; however Stefania continued to walk between the brick buildings with their boarded windows. In fact she now crossed the street and stepped into an alleyway that was even more isolated. Again she heard a noise, but it only turned out to be the sound of a scared cat that leapt from a garbage can.

        But as she walked still further, she thought she heard footsteps. Then all of a sudden, two men appeared from a darkened doorway. They seemed to be in their thirties and wore shabby clothes. One man was short with clean cropped hair while the other was tall, skinny, and had long stringy black hair.

        "Hello, baby. Where ya going? Would you like to party?"

        At first, Stefania thought she would ignore them but then decided verbal confrontation might be the best way to nip the situation in the bud.

        "I'm not your baby, and I don't need a party!"

        She picked up her pace, but they persisted with their taunts while they walked behind her.

        "Come on... this is a very scary neighborhood, and we could protect you."

        "Funny you should say that," replied Stefania, "I was just thinking to myself... who's going to protect you guys?" The two thugs snickered.