THE BUS DRIVER DID NOT PULL AWAY

Dear Delyara, I wear a hijab. Last winter, two men followed me from the subway, shouting things about terrorists and telling me to “go back.” I ran toward a city bus that had already closed its doors. The driver saw me. He opened them again. The men reached the bus and began hitting the side. The driver locked the doors, called the police, and refused to move until officers arrived. Then he changed the route slightly and dropped me directly outside my building. I never learned his full name. I knew only that his badge said M. Alvarez. For months, I searched for him. Yesterday, I found him driving the same route. I boarded with a thank-you card and a photograph of my newborn daughter. He remembered me. I told him I had named her middle name Amal, meaning hope. He looked at the photograph and cried. That night, he did not rescue my faith in the whole world. He did something more believable. He showed me that one person can choose not to drive away.