She loved going to the movies early on. Lucky for her, an old family friend happened to own a theater, right on the main shopping thoroughfare, among the jewelers, shoe shops, and French patisseries. 

Eveline, the owner, would sometimes come down to watch with her. Of late, though, some unsavory characters began to frequent her establishment. One day, the little girl ran out of the theater right in the middle of one of the movies, and right up the five flights of stairs to Eveline’s apartment. Out of breath and crying, the little girl said a man had grabbed her knee and then tried to touch her

The very next time she came to the theater, Eveline had the hat check person hand her a little box and a note. A safety pin lay inside on a cotton pillow. The note simply read: “For unwanted hands.”

Today’s movie was the latest Bruce Lee. Eveline had been showing some very popular American movies of late. The theater was almost full.  She found three free seats near the front. She sat in the middle one. The theater darkened.  A last few stragglers took their seats. An older man and a younger one sat on either side of her.

The movie started and she quickly became engrossed in the plot. She began to feel a warmth creeping up from her knee. She shifted in her seat. The warm sensation turned into squeezing and pushing her thigh down. She felt for the box in her coat pocket. Two seconds later came the loud scream, followed by the sounds of disturbed patrons as a dark figure rushed to the exit.

She smiled to herself as she carefully closed the pin.