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I arrived, a few years later... before/after
I moved out here and fell in with my neighbors, one of whom is my roomate nowadays, and his brother. It was a quick and natural rapport. A certain off-the-wall ruthlessness that I like in the people with which I hang out.
I make friends easily. It is not a problem.
So I didn't question anything, until Roomies brother started reminiscing, calling me the New ---------*
It seems, a few years back, Roomie and his brother had a very close friend, and sometime roomate, named ------*, from -------*,---------*, which is something like 35 miles away from where I am originally.
Uncanny.
This metropolitan area used to be crime ridden. Gangs, corruption, random robberies....all kinds of problems.
And now it is cleaned up. Before the clean-up, came -------*.
They liked -------*, and grew to be brothers of a sort with him. He got married, and owned a local hip clothing store.
And was brutally murdered at close range by a high-caliber handgun. They abducted his wife, and over the course of the night beat and repeatedly raped her, leaving her for dead.
Why? Why such a random act? Do things like that really happen for no reason?
Anyway, I like the brothers as friends, despite the obvious pain that had occurred somewhere down the line, and respected them for the obstacles they had overcome in their time. I hold past problems against no one if they make a serious effort to surpass these "roadblocks" instead of simple self-pity.
Time passed, and we became better friends, and details surfaced.
Both the brothers had heard the deal go down. The perps took his cash, made him beg for his life, and when the moved to take his wife, he objected. Roomie came upon -------* after the fatal shot, and he died in Roomies' arms, a tunnel blown through his head, Roomie holding the peices together.
Roomies brother heard from inside the building, and called the police/EMS.
It was too late, of course, to save -------*, but not to late to bring the killers to justice. They were apprehended a few days later, and one of Roomies friends was an eye witness to the crime. (He appears in my journal in past entries, and is doing well now....)
There was an outcry of outrage and sentiment in the communtiy. Tony's band played a huge benefit for the family, to raise money for the funeral expenses. Thousands showed up to contribute. The outpouring was phenomenal.
The case made headlines for awhile, passed off as a racial event, and eventually was on a national media channel.*
In the meantime, the gang affiliated with the perps made a concentrated effort to dissuade any testimony. Daily death threats. Drive-by shootings. Eventually Roomie and his brother were taken to a gun shop by the sheriff and the mayor, and given concealed weapons permits along with an assortment of armaments. ("You have any problems, boys, you call ME" reportedly said the sheriff.)
Their landlord opened up their apartment one night unexpectedly , to be greeted by a racked and ready ak-47, as well as other small arms.
---------*'s wife survived, and recovered, bravely pointing out the two perps in the courtroom, who flashed gang-signs and cussed at questioners, showing no remorse whatsoever. They got life imprisonment.
Roomie had a breakdown, and recieved treatment for it.
----------*'s wife moved, and has recently gotten remarried.
And now that I have been exposed to all of this, new questions come to light. Crimes this savage rarely just "happen".
Evidently ---------* had a another side to him, and he dabbled a bit in the purveyance of illegal pharmecuticals. He sold a lot of the bad white stuff. Was it a random killing, as the papers say, a robbery attempt of a local businessman, a racial argument and brutal savagery unfolds?
Or was it something else entirely? Bad debt? Territorial dispute? Blatant rip-off's and gangs sunken into the drug trade make for a bad mix...and when a sizeable check comes due...say $80,000...it will be a stiff bill to pay. And that poor bastard got it in spades.
Maybe --------* figured no one would call to collect. Maybe he shifted finances around to pay business debts, figuring they could wait for their money, considering the source perhaps they would clamor too loudly. This shows a phenomenal naivte', or at least one example of monumental bad judgment.
The clique surrounding this incident has healed since...they are coming together, rumors and bits of information are being traded.
I can only imagine what they think of me...my original (now past) ---------* look and sounds, remarkably similar to their slain friend. I simply felt rapport, and being trained as I am, am a good listener. Evidentally I filled a hole in their wounded psyche'.
Now, I have a desire to know what really went down. I feel as a sort of karmaic photo-negative/analogue , sent to redress, examine, report...I DON'T KNOW what exactly, something, but this fucker is making me think. This cannot be coincidence. I am here for a reason. Whether its to find the truth, or help the survivors heal or what, I Don't Know.
The circumstances have changed since then. But how does a boy move from my area, and live such a dual life, that the entire machinery of the the local municipal government not find out after his brutal murder? How does a boy from my area get involved so deep that he can't get himself out?
Still too many questions.
* identifications deleted to avoid search engines and "other" related problems out of the equation
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