Real Encounters

*Her skin's so pale...*

About 4 years ago when I was 15, we were holidaying in Orlando, doing the usual tourist stuff; Visiting the theme parks, shopping, visiting the famous beaches etc. It's also worth noting that I'm from England and my complexion is naturally very, very pale as I don't really tan easily. Anyway, on this particular day my family had traveled to Daytona to spend some time at the beach. Now if memory serves me correctly, I wasn't really wanting to go in swimming, so was sat on the beach with my mum as the rest of my family were busy playing in the sea.

So there I was, sat on my towel, deeply engrossed in a book when all of a sudden I hear this weird whirring noise. I look up briefly to spy a battered old ice cream van/cart thing trundling along the beach, not being overly interested, I continue reading my book. All of a sudden, the whirring stops.

Slightly confused by this, I glance up, only to see the van stopped right in front of my towel and the driver leering down at me. He looked about late 50s, a scraggy rat tail hair do and had a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. I put my head back down, not really wanting to engage him in conversation when all of sudden he inquires "What you reading there, sweetheart?"

Being raised to be polite to my elders and with my mother sat at my side, I responded with the book title rather bluntly before returning to my book. Realizing I wasn't going to speak to him, he then engaged my mother in conversation.

Now, my parents were having a bit of a rough time in their marriage during this period and my mother was experiencing a fair bit of jealousy towards my younger auntie who was holidaying with us. So when this ice cream man began lightly flirting with her she was more than happy to take the compliments, however, the fact he continued staring vividly at me throughout their entire conversation began to set alarm bells ringing for me.
Eventually, he said he had to continue with his work, and trundled off up the beach in his little cart thing after deliberately making a point in saying bye to me. So, time passed and I had finally began to relax again, my mum only giggling about how funny the guy had been flirting with her. But then to my horror, what do I hear again? A loud whirring. This time I didn't look up, kept my eyes trained to my book under the belief if I ignored him then he might just leave me alone. Then there was the screech of brakes halting, and a brief glance up through my sunglasses confirmed that he had stopped right in front of my towel again. I returned to reading my book intensely.

"You need to watch her." Was the first thing he said to my mum, a quick nod to me.

"Why?" Was my mum's initial response, quite friendly in tone which irritated me tremendously.

"Her skin, it's so pale." He replied, his eyes slowing skimming over me as he licked his lips. "You don't want her burning out here. She's so beautiful."

By this point I was incredibly freaked out, hair standing up on my arms, alarm bells turning to sirens as he continued to leer at me. My mother, continuing to remain oblivious, simply assured him that I was caked in sun cream and treated his comments as simple, friendly advice. He stayed there for a few moments watching me before suddenly driving off again with no real reasoning. Either way, I didn't care why he'd left, I was just happy that he was nowhere near me.

Much to my horror, my mother announced she was going to join the others swimming in the sea. I wasn't wearing my costume so wasn't able to follow in after her and had been instructed to look after the towels etc. So there I was, alone, my family out of earshot, and with knowledge that creep was somewhere on the beach.

It had been a while, and I hadn't seen him on the beach. Once again, I began to relax with my book, hoping that he'd left the beach for some reason or another. But then it came again, that God awful whirring. I didn't look up from my book. I remained glued to it. Hoping that he may for some reason or another he might just ignore me now that my mum wasn't around. It would look creepy for him to chat to a young girl on her own, right?
But then came the familiar screech of the brakes halting.

I didn't bother looking up this time, I knew where he would be.

I could feel his eyes burning on me as he leaned out the window, but still I refused to acknowledge him, praying he'd get the message to leave me be and drive off.
"Do you want an ice cream?" Was his first question, I simply replied with no, not looking up from my book.

"You sure, you're a skinny little thing? Something sweet might do you some good." I simply shrugged in response.

"You're very pale, sweetheart. You're skin's just like snow. Where are you from?" The little grin he had plastered across his face by this point was serving to make me extremely anxious. I'm naturally quite shy by nature so telling him to fuck off wasn't really in me. Plus, he was just asking nice questions right? Nothing really valid that I could complain about.

Except I could tell something wasn't right, the way he was watching me so vividly, the way his eyes kept skimming over my body. These weren't just innocent questions.
I very bluntly responded with "England" hoping it would stop all of his comments towards the paleness of my skin.

"Cute. How old are you, honey?"

At this point I was hoping someone would intervene. A shady looking guy in a battered van continuously stopping to chat to a young girl, surely that looked dodgy to someone? But up to this point, no one nearby had taken any notice, and I was starting to get very frightened with my lack of family nearby and my lack of knowledge on how to seek help from authorities in the area.

However at his final question, I noted one mother at my side look up from her book and begin watching the conversation that was occurring between the girl with her head stuffed into her book and the creepy old guy that was being a little bit too persistent.

"Fifteen." I said curtly, hoping that my age might put him off.

"You're really beautiful, angel. Don't get your pretty skin burnt, okay?"

At that comment, I noted the mother prod her husband sharply and nod in the direction of the ice cream man. Thankfully, so did the creep and he sharply sped away from me up the beach without another word. The mother continued to watch me for a while after that, but eventually lost interest when she noted that I didn't seem too visibly shaken by that ordeal.

My own family returned after a while, and they were all in such good spirits that I decided against telling them what had happened. Not wanting to spoil the fun they were having after all. We were all packed up and heading back to the car, when what can I hear, that horrible whirring again. I glance in it's direction and note him coming straight towards us. Then my cousin announces she wants an ice cream and went over with my auntie to get one. I stubbornly refuse to get one, which in turn angers my dad as he simply thinks I'm being deliberately difficult.
Either way, we left and I was thoroughly delighted I'd never have to see that creep again.

Or so I thought.

A few days later, my entire family announced we were going back to the beach as everyone had enjoyed Daytona so much!

I was devastated.

But thankfully this time I knew not to hang out on the beach, brought my swimming costume and played out in the sea with my cousin for the entire time we were there.
I couldn't see him the entire time we were there either, and actually was able to relax and have a good time with everyone.
But as we were walking back up the beach to the car, I could hear it. That awful familiar whirring sound came again, a quick glance behind me confirmed it was that guy again, and once again he was driving straight towards me and my cousin very quickly. Thankfully, I'd told my cousin about the events a few days before and we both managed to leap into the car before he got close enough.

Then a hailstorm came, and we were forced to change in to our dry things in the back of the car.

I will never forget the horrible moment when I was trying to pull my underwear on and I heard that awful whirring sound only to look up to see that creepy old man driving slowly past the back of the car and winking at me as I got changed.