Gunfire at Night

[swimboy]

When we moved into my neighborhood about 12 years ago, we soon became inured to the sound of sirens, but gunfire continued to get our attention. When you hear gunfire, you don't run to the door as they often do on television; you hit the floor.

That night, I was ironing when we heard gunshots, obviously very nearby. After a prudent amount of time passed with no further shots fired, we resumed our activities. Before long, however, there were flashing lights at the window. I stopped ironing and went carefully to the window. There was a man lying shot in the street with the police standing around him. He was dead, I was standing on the radiator in my underwear peering through the shade and I could hear the studio audience laughing at David Letterman's opening monologue in the background. I knew I would always remember the jarring incongruities of that instant. The police covered the body with a plastic sheet and taped off the crime scene.

It wasn't long before a small cluster of onlookers had gathered at the corner to peer across the yellow boundary, discussing what had occurred. A light wind began to pick up, and the sheet over the body began to rustle and flutter. From my window I watched as the breeze lifted the sheet suddenly and blew it directly toward the gathered spectators. I have never seen people go so immediately into motion, and I understood it completely. I don't know if you are a superstitious person, but a wind-driven shroud is indisputably a bad omen.

The house across the corner from ours had been a party house for a while and I guess it was inevitable that something of this sort would occur in relation to what was going on there. I was wrestling with several feelings and briefly angry that violent crime so often sets the tone in the city, thought "So let the drug dealers kill each other off." Then I remembered to remember that he was somebody's son, brother, father. This point was driven home over the next several years when on every anniversary of the shooting we woke to find someone had emptied a can of red paint on the spot where the body had lain. That had to be done by someone who cared for him, and I had nothing but respect for that.

[Midlodemocrat]

1. .

:thumbsup: Beautiful post.

[swag]

2. Quite a story.

Thanks for posting that.

[tjwmason]

3. Kick - and golly gosh.

:kick:

One can't really say much at all in reply to that.

[khashka]

4. This is why I love swimboy

Not because he calls me "sir" or flirts with me or is deadly sexy..... but this:


"I was wrestling with several feelings and briefly angry that violent crime so often sets the tone in the city, thought "So let the drug dealers kill each other off." Then I remembered to remember that he was somebody's son, brother, father. This point was driven home over the next several years when on every anniversary of the shooting we woke to find someone had emptied a can of red paint on the spot where the body had lain. That had to be done by someone who cared for him, and I had nothing but respect for that."
 
If you don't understand that, then you have no soul. But swimboy does.....

Khash.

[Midlodemocrat]

12. Swimboy is awesome!

One of the best DUer's.

[madinmaryland]

5. There really are people in this world that care!

Thanks for the story.

[In_The_Wind]

6. Your story of someone's loss gave me a chill.

Tragic needless pain fills the hearts of those left to mourn.

[terrya]

7. You're a good man.

Thank you. It's so easy to think "oh, it's a drug dealer". But that man or woman was also someone's family member. He or she is someone who was loved.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

8. This is an elegant piece of writing

thanks

[AussieDave]

9. Great post, mate - I don't know that I'd have the nerve

to stay in the area. It must have been a very terrible thing to see, and you've treated it here sensitively - and I think deep down I'm not really surprised you did so. And you're right - the man who was killed WAS someone's son, husband, brother - reminds me of Elvis Presley singing "In The Ghetto".

Thank you for sharing this with us all. :hug:

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. Yeah, I got to see a couple guys shot on my street in Harlem, too.

And we, too, had gun fire most days, at somewhere in the neighborhood.

It's a very weird experience to look out the window and see a dead body and the people gathered around, some wailing, some just trying to see what happened...

[AussieDave]

11. I'm not sure what I'd do - probably freak out completely

It must be so surreal - seeing on a cop show on TV is one thing, but the real thing...............

[jukes]

13. nice post, swimboy

your prose has a very nice style.