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So this is that story of the shootout. I mentioned days ago that I might write this

I seriously contemplated if I should even tell it here in the first place but eh. I'll delete it if I feel the need to. I'll also mention that any investigations are over with & I no longer put myself in these positions anymore. Also, sorry for the length lol.

I realize there are people who will judge me regardless so screw it. I'll take that 馃し

To start, it was another regular day. I worked my ass off on a long shift, got off work, then I decided to stop by a friend's to see what he'd been up to (I'll call him A). His best friend had just gotten killed a few weeks before & he was going through a really hard time. Not only were the same people trying to kill him too, but my friend wanted revenge on the people who did it. Typical hood story. One of my closest friends (I'll call him B) & I would stop by to visit him almost every day to keep him company & make sure he was safe. We didn't want him getting attacked or doing anything stupid.

This one particular night, we were outside by the parking lot because we were smoking. It was late at night on a work day so we weren't expecting anybody to really be looking for us. We were laughing & joking around, telling stories like usual. Suddenly A got a text message that was only a picture of the street sign closest to the corner we were next to.
We knew that picture was sent as a warning that we were being watched & immediately we all changed our whole demeanor.

Every single one of us owned guns & at that moment there was four of us standing together. We all cocked our guns back (put a bullet in the chamber) & kept them at our sides because we already knew something was about to happen. We just didn't know where, what, or how it was gonna pop off.

We decided to start walking back to the apartment so we walked in line, one by one at a distance so we weren't all grouped together at once.

That's when a black sedan pulled into the parking lot. We had our eyes on the car as it pulled up across from the spaces we were next to. Both front doors opened & two men leaned out of each of the doors. We heard the *click clack* of pistols being cocked back. The first shot went off & I heard the bang as I saw the ground spark up right in front of my feet, meaning that's where the first bullet hit. Each of us aimed back & started shooting immediately. My guess is they didn't expect all those shots to be returned. There was only two of them & four of us but we were running for cover since we were in the open while they were ducking, closing their doors, getting ready to drive off. Shots still flying back & forth the whole time.

Thats when we all took the cue to split & started running in different directions. I parked my car outside of the complex when I arrived because I didn't want to risk my car getting towed (since I didn't live there). As I exited the complex from the opposite direction I saw the same black sedan pulling out of the complex on the other side of the street as me. I don't even know how they got there so fast.

I saw the windows rolling down & I knew what that meant so this time I shot at them first because when you're in that state of mind, your thoughts are "hit them before they hit me". They fired back only a few shots before hitting the gas hard & peeling out of there. The way they drove away seemed like the driver definitely got shot. I found out later that's exactly what happened. He got hit in the leg when I shot at his car.

I got to my car & left as quickly but calmly as I could. Of course speeding would draw attention & I could already hear the police sirens so I was just driving like I normally would've. B called at that moment & told me that A is by a tree around the corner. I pulled up, he hopped in my car, then we drove back to B's house.

I was still on high alert when I got there. Every car that passed by his house had me watching them just waiting for something to happen again. I felt like with the amount of bullets that went off that night it's amazing my friends & I didn't get hit.

The next day we found out both of those people in the sedan were shot. Both lived. It's hard to say which of our bullets hit the other guy though. I know I hit the driver but idk who hit the 2nd person. I haven't heard anything about him since. Maybe he didn't even make it.. but I think if that happened I would've heard about it. That shootout was a huge deal & the streets knew about it. So I think he just vanished on his own after.

That was the last incident I got into before I took a step back from that lifestyle. I got tired of looking over my shoulder, wondering if this might be the day I get locked up or maybe even shot. I got tired of being there for my friends & not worrying about myself. When their stupid asses are gonna do what they wanna do no matter what. At a certain point I can't be there anymore. I can't stop them. & Why throw my own life away for other people who are throwing theirs away too?
Even out of all those people in the shootout that night, only two of us are still alive & free. Just me & B.. he's still one of my closest friends.
A is in prison now. So is the other friend who was with us that I didn't name.

As for the other two who targeted us, one of them is dead. He pointed a gun at A's sister a week later so A killed him in broad daylight in front of witnesses. Shot him more than 20 times. So not much of a defense for that in court. The other guy, I have no idea but it wouldn't be hard to guess.

I know there's people who will read this & think about what a lowlife piece of shit I am. The disregard for the safety of others. The recklessness of knowing what could result from the positions I put myself in. I don't disagree with that at all. I'd tell you you're right.

I'm here because I like telling my stories from time to time, giving my input, & accepting others. The same reason I joined EP long ago. I've always liked writing & EP allowed me to write my experiences in a place where people can actually relate or ask questions. Because I ain't telling my family on Facebook these stories 馃槀 I mean I'm honest with them but I ain't out there writing shit like this for them to read me like a book. Especially this one because it's too much.
I can say I'm a good person.. I can tell you all that I've changed, but words aren't enough for things like that. You guys can decide that yourself. If you think I'm a bad person.. then I am. I won't argue with you.
I'm just here to share my experiences & hope it does something.
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馃槥 This is quite depressing to read. I鈥檓 glad that you realize that you can no longer put your life at risk because of the other people you care for in your life. 鉂わ笍 I鈥檓 so proud of you for realizing that, because I know it鈥檚 not an easy thing to realize and it鈥檚 a super hard pill to swallow that you come first in your life. Because, honestly if you don鈥檛 take that into consideration how can you even show up for the people you care for in the way you want if you can鈥檛 breathe?
So, you鈥檙e doing wonderful and you handled this situation in the best way you could with the only tools you were given in life. It doesn鈥檛 make you a bad person or even the others who were involved in this a bad person. I think it鈥檚 just the only way you guys knew how to survive and live life based on the experiences you had growing up and what you endured. You guys weren鈥檛 set up for great opportunities and the system definitely did fail you all in that. As to why this story makes me so sad and heartbroken. 馃ズ 馃 because it鈥檚 extremely challenging to unlearn harming behavior and survival instincts when it鈥檚 all you know. It鈥檚 not something you can just switch off simply because you want better for yourself and your future.

Sorry I鈥檓 replying to this so late. I saw this earlier, but I wasn鈥檛 able to give a deep and thoughtful reply at the time because I was distracted, and I didn鈥檛 wanna reply without true meaning and love put into it. 馃槤鉂わ笍 Now you know why I didn鈥檛 comment on it right away.
ChiefWalksWith40oz26-30
@Stark react to this comment so it helps me to remember to write back to this when I get home 馃槍
ChiefWalksWith40oz26-30
@Stark I often tell people "how can you pull anyone out the fire when you're still drowning?", which to me means the same thing you just explained. I think I want that as a tattoo in some way but not in words, I want an illustration but idk what yet. But thank you for saying all of that 馃ズ your comments always mean the most to me but I'm just playing favorites I suppose 馃き

I do feel like many people can't get past that life because it's what they're accustomed to. Which is sad. I feel like I was blessed with being able to think like I do & understand myself.. but there's many who don't & never get to learn any other way of life. We don't have to be at war all the time
ChiefWalksWith40oz26-30
@Stark oh & hi nice to meet you.. you're hot 馃槍
@ChiefWalksWith40oz hi I鈥檝e never seen you on here before 馃き now I鈥檓 shy because you鈥檙e hot too
ChiefWalksWith40oz26-30
@Stark I've never seen you either idk how 馃槷 but stooopp you're gonna make me nervous 馃き