|
Plop,Plop |
|
The paramedics used a
pair of scissors to rip the sweater off his
torso. A blood-soaked sweater. Dustin thought it was
a waste.
Earlier in the week, he paid a small fortune for it. Then,
Dustin
thought that his thoughts were supercilious, inappropriate for
the
solemn moment.
In a few minutes, or a few hours, he would be dead. How
couldn’t he
bring himself to think of something more valuable than his
sweater?
He had two bullets in his head, by God’s sake!
……….
It happened on a Monday afternoon in March. A clear and cool day
of
March. “Too clear and not cool enough for March,”
Dustin told
himself while driving his cab to the intersection of Ave O and
Dillingham Street in Newark. The traffic light was red.
A foreign policy expert was on the radio. Dustin switched
to a hip-
hop station. At 31, he was still a hip-hop lad.
In his rearview mirror, he saw the boy coming. He could
not be any
older than 13 or 14. He was walking on the driver’s side
of the cab,
his hands in his large pockets. He was coming to Dustin;
Dustin was
immobile at the light.
Dustin heard PLOP, then PLOP, in quick succession. He felt
a burn
behind his left ear. He knew he was shot. He played
dead. The kid
reached through the window, searched his pocket, found the
$120.00 he
had in his wallet, and quickly ran away. He did not take him two
minutes to shoot, search, rob, and flee. He must have been
an expert.
Dustin had enough strength to radio the base. The police
showed up
soon after.
………..
Dustin did not die. He spent 49 days at the University
hospital in
Newark, half of them in a coma. No one gave him a chance,
but he
pulled through.
I saw him in the office today. He used to be a noisy,
happy,
handsome dude. No longer. He has lost the use of the left
side of
his face. He has no strength in his right arm and leg. His
head his
covered with surgical scars.
He no longer parties out on Saturday night. He regrets to
have
cheated on his wife. He has accepted Christ as his
Savior…
(OdlerRobert Jeanlouie, Wednesday, September 18, 2002)
|
|
|
|
