
last night, i was awakened to people talking loudly in the parking area of this complex. it just sounded like the typical late-night weekend party people. i used the bathroom and went back to lying awake in bed. all the while, i was thinking about how nice it will be to move away from here and into a place where dumbass people won’t be (at least, not so near as to be able to hear them through a closed window).
after about 10 minutes of staring at the ceiling, i heard some loud popping noises. i don’t know how near they were, but near enough to be fairly sure they weren’t fireworks. a few more and lady friend woke up. i told her it sounded like gunshots. i looked out the window and saw someone running toward the sounds, then stop. then he ran back toward the apartments. something bad seemed to be happening, so i grabbed my phone and dialed 911. i’m holding my phone to my head and nothing is happening. my heart is pounding and i’m running to the windows to see if i can see anything else. then i realize that i never pressed “send.”
within two seconds, i’m connected to emergency dispatch and i tell them what happened, they patch me through to the local police department and it rings and rings and rings. finally, i tell lady friend that they aren’t answering and i hear the dispatcher say, “just hold on, sir. they are experiencing a heavy volume of calls right now.” i’m like, “no, shit.”
after telling the lady the story, i hang up and then what? just go back to sleep? not bloody likely. you try sleeping when your heart is pumping pure adrenalin.
as i’m watching intently out the window, about 10 minutes pass and the loud people resume their chatter somewhere in the parking lot as if nothing happened. wtf? within 5 minutes of the elekant noibles chattering giddily, i hear some random guy bellow, “get out of here!!!” by this point, i really don’t know what the hell is going on or why i’m awake at 3:30 in the morning, unable to get back to sleep.
about 20 minutes later, i see multiple cop cars in the parking lot and the police talking to some people walking to their apartment. they also looked like they were searching the ground with their flashlights. i don’t know if they found anything, i don’t really care. we’re going to be out of this place in a month or less.
lady friend and i decided to watch cars to take our mind off of the craziness. light-hearted pixar movies are a good way to forget about people popping caps in the parking lot.
i really don’t think the noises were fireworks. they sounded too focused. but what do i know? the really strange part was that there was a news article on the local newspaper website this morning about 247 police calls regarding fireworks and gunshot sounds for this year alone. so, basically, it’s just stupid people with guns or fireworks. good.
sometimes i want a gun so that i can protect myself from the dumb asses, but then i think, just let them kill me because i don’t want to have to make the decision to end someone’s life. and i don’t think that more guns is the solution to gun violence. unless, of course, this becomes the new old west. then i will be the first to strap six shooters to my protruding bone hips.