LJ Idol Exhibit A (Second Chance), Round 5: "What the Heck WAS That?"
Too Close for Comfort
Jessie leaned against the frame of her front door, watching as her friends played a rousing game of Spin the Bottle. Hope things don't get out of hand. Turning to look outside at the rest of her graduation party, her face darkened as she saw them.
Marcus, her boyfriend of three months, saw her expression and walked over. "What's wrong, baby?" Jessie simply nodded in the direction of the three young men, all dressed in puffy vests and matching red bandanas. Marcus steeled himself. "Alright, baby. I'll take care of them."
Moving through the crowd to intercept the advancing trio, Marcus tapped Jeff and Chris on the shoulders. They stopped their conversations and followed him over. Marcus stood tall, his six-foot frame dwarfed by the tallest of the group--Dwayne, their leader. "You guys aren't invited."
"We're crashing the party." Dwayne stood with his arms folded, flanked by Sam and Jamal.
"No, you're not," Marcus insisted. "Jessie don't want you here. Now, just get outta here."
Dwayne stared Marcus down. "Look, we ain't here to cause trouble. We just wanna have a good time."
"Have it somewhere else, guys," Chris said. "This is a private party."
"A private party that's spilled out into the parking lot of your apartment," Jamal shot back. "Way to keep it classy, y'all."
"Yo mama was classy last night," Jeff cracked. He was too busy laughing at his own joke to notice Sam, loading up a right cross. The punch landed with a sickening crack.
"The hell?" Marcus shouted, before responding by going after Jamal. Chris was left to face down Dwayne--clearly a mismatch. The six of them continued to brawl, ignoring the bystanders, until Marcus noticed Sam pulling a knife from his pocket and looking ready to use it.
Pushing Jamal to the ground, Marcus reached into the back of his jeans and pulled out his pistol. Sam froze. "Oh shit..."
Jamal bolted immediately, making his way up the steps toward the next set of apartment buildings. Dwayne and Sam followed close behind. Not content to have merely chased them away, Marcus fired a barrage of six shots, eliciting a series of screams from the gathered crowd. He then raced up the stairs and into the space between the buildings, unloading another barrage at the trio as they scampered to their car.
Jessie, still standing in the doorframe, watched in shock. Then she calmly turned to everyone inside. "Party's over, y'all."
*****
That apartment building they were running past? I was in unit #1, right next to the stairs.
I'd just gotten home from a night at the casino, having noticed the large crowd gathered in the parking lot below as I walked in. Gonna be a long night, I thought to myself. Little did I know.
I was watching some video on Youtube when the shots rang out. One thing that watching TV or movies doesn't convey: gunshots are LOUD. Shocking, disorienting, and frightening.
Instinctively, I dove to the floor and protected my head with my arms, not knowing where the shots were coming from--or where they were going. As I crawled over to where my phone was charging, the second wave of gunfire came, probably no more than 25 feet from where I was.
By the time I reached the 911 dispatcher, I was informed that I was the fifth person to call the incident in, and that the police were already on their way. I stayed on the line until I heard the sirens, by which point the party had scattered.
Eventually, I reasoned it was safe to come out. I spotted a couple of neighbors on the balcony above me, watching as the police questioned people and a helicopter circled overhead. From talking to them, I deduced where the shots had been fired from--and silently thanked God for his protection. I informed the officer in charge of what I'd seen and heard; she calmly took notes and thanked me. Just another day in the line of fire for her, I suppose.
For me, though, this was decidedly not just another day.
The tenants of the apartment where the party took place were politely evicted. And I opted not to renew my lease.
Author's note: The first part of this entry is a fictionalized guess at what might have touched off the brawl. I know it was a graduation party, and that some "uninviteds" attempted to crash it, but what actually sparked the gunfire is anyone's guess. As far as I know, nobody was injured, and the perpetrator was never caught.
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