Leo Troast
In the Woods 1/18/2010
"If a man does his best, what else is there?" My dad always used to tell me that when I was little. I didn't make much of it then, that was until he died about ten years ago. From then on it shaped my life, I wouldn't be the man I was now without my dad. He influenced me more than anyone else, even though I only got to see him on the weekends. I followed right in his path not straying a step. I don't know why I do what I do, I guess it’s to serve the people or something. Being a cop isn't exactly the best job out there, little pay and a death rate above the roof. I like it, gives me a sense of protection. You can't live without something to cling on to, that little feeling is holding be back from the sheer drop to deep depression.
This warm sensation covered my face as I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was my best friend licking away at my face. Struggling to get him to stop I'm finally forced to get up. I sit on the side of my bed flopping his ears around as he smiled. Finally, more awake I get up and wobble to the kitchen. Shuffling through the cabinet stacked high with cereal, I blindly grab the Fruit Loops. The milk quickly follows. I go to the couch and start munching on it thinking about the day to come. Woody comes up to me and lets out a long whine.
“What, what do you want?” I asked.
“Come on, I can't know what you want unless you tell me.”
Woody goes into my bedroom and comes out with his food bowl and then I remember I didn't feed him. I get up and grab the food. I drop it in his dish and he happily chows down.
“There, you happy now?” I joked “You've lived here long enough shouldn't you know where the food is?”
I go back to my Fruit Loops and finish them about the same time as woody finished his. I go into the bathroom and get ready for the day ahead of me. Once I finished my morning rituals I whistled to woody and we got in the car. I drove over to my sister's house. I knock on the door and my sister answered the door and instantly hugged me.
“Hiya,” I said surprised
“I missed you!” she exclaimed
“I was only gone for two weeks.”
“Ya but I hate it when you go on those undercover cops or whatever they are.”
“Someone has to do it why not me.”
“Because if you're gone then I don't know what I would do.”
“WOODY!” the blur that was flying past me screamed I instantly knew it was my niece Emma. I could tell by the pure girth of hair blowing behind her
She dashed to the car door and ripped it open, Woody jumped on her and immediately started to lick her face. Woody loved Emma they were best friends, we were all really close to each other. I whistled to Woody to come in the house and Emma followed. We all sat down in the living room and Natalie went to get us some drinks. She came back with an apple juice and a beer.
“So Emma how’s kinder-garden going?” I tried to make conversation
“Its super fun I love my teacher, she is amazing,” she answered ecstatically
“So, Blake what did you have to do in your quote, assignment,” Natalie questioned
“You know I can't tell you that,” I responded
“I hate your job you know that right,”
“Yep, that doesn't mean I ca......” I was interrupted by the sound of a car screeching around the corner down the street. I get up and walk to the window trying to see what’s going on. Everyone else followed me to the window just in time to see a car speed by with automatic guns pointed out the window.
“Get down!” I screamed
Everyone got down on the ground and behind something, we instantly heard the sound of gunfire and shattering windows. Almost instinctively I pulled out my gun and ran out the door. I ran after the car hoping for something to happen to them. I couldn't keep up with them though. After I lost them I went back to Natalie's house. I walked in the house to a screaming niece and a bleeding out sister. I sprinted to the phone and called the paramedics. I ran to Emma and picked her up to try to quiet her down.
“It's gonna be okay honey,” I caressed
She started calming down so I put her in the living room with sponge bob on. I rushed to Natalie and started looking at her wound. I rounded the corner of the hallway still pumped full of adrenaline. I hear sirens in the distance. I finally get a look at her and I lose all of the breath in my body. She was as white as a ghost, just laying there in a torpor head cocked back and mouth gaping open. I felt like I was alone in the world at that moment like everything was gone, but then I heard a breath of air and I jumped back into my skin and ran over to her. She was alright, she just lost a lot of blood.
We were waiting in the hospital and we weren't hearing anything from the doctors.
“Is mommy going to be alright,” Emma asked with sad eyes
“Yes she is gonna be fine honey,”
“How do you know?”
“Because mommy is strong and she won't let this hurt her.”
“Why did those people hurt mommy?'
“Well, those people they were bad people that don't like your mommy.”
“But why would anyone not like mommy?”
“Listen honey there are bad people in this world and no one knows why they don't like you mommy they just do.”
The doctor came out and started to tell us that she was going to be fine and we should just go home. I thought that it was a good idea and drove back to her house. I put Emma to bed and I started to try to salvage the house. I worked myself to the bone and then went to sleep.
I woke up to the sound of sirens blaring in front of Natalie's house. I got up and walked to the front door. I was instantly greeted by my partner Rick.
“Have you heard?” rick asked
“About what?”
“Your sister she's in intensive care.”
“What!”
“Ya last night the same people that shot up your house came by the hospital and put one in her stomach.”
“How did no one tell me?”
“Nobody could find you we didn't think you were going to be here.”
“Shit!”
I got in the car and rushed over to the hospital speeding and rushing through all the red lights. When I got there I went into the operating room and say her lying there like a vegetable with all those machines attached to her. I knew I couldn't let this go so I drove over to the police station and started yelling at the chief.
“Why in the hell haven't we made a move?” I yelled pounding on his desk
“Because we can't, there is no evidence we can't get court order.” he replied
“Who else would it be god damn it?”
“No matter how obvious it is we can't go after them if we have nothing on them.”
“Fuck this!” I stormed out of the room back to Natalie's house. I went to look into Emma’s room and she was still asleep. I walked over to woody and sat down next to him and he flopped his ears from side to side I chuckled at him. Woody and I sat next to each other for a long while and I thought about what I was going to do. I knew what I had to do but it was scaring me. One man taking down a whole gang it was unheard of. I couldn't wait for my sister to just die and I wasn't waiting for the gang to come back and kill her. I grabbed my pistol and got in the car and drove to the gang's known area. I saw the faces of the people that attacked my family so that's who I was trying to kill.
I got there around two in the afternoon and I started to drive around the area. I quickly saw the gunners that shot my sister and I started to drive closer to them and I rolled down my window a bit. When I got in firing range of them I rolled down the window all the way and without thinking I quickly fired two shots and hit both of the people. I speed away hoping that no one would see me. I got away clean and I went back to the house. I saw Emma awake and playing with Woody she had cheered up so I was happy about that. I was exhausted so I went back to sleep.
Yet again I woke up to sirens but this time they were in the distance and they were a fire truck's siren. I got up and went to go find out what all the commotion was about. I drove to the sirens only to find my house engulfed in flames. I got out of my car in shock hoping that I was just dreaming but I had a deep down feeling that this was all too real. Why did I have to go and shoot those two people why in the hell didn't I think about what was going to happen. When I went and fucked up like that.
I sat in front of the charred remains of my house still in shock of what had happened thinking about what had gone so wrong that my like got fucked up this bad. As I sat I saw my partner pull up in his car.
“I got great news man,” he yelled
“About what?" I asked
“Your sister she’s going to be all right.”
“Thank god.”
“Ya they saved her in surgery, she’s going to be messed up for a while but she will live.”
“Take me over there.” I demanded
We took the patrol car over to the hospital and went to see my sister, when we got to her room there was a doctor outside and he said that it would be better if no one went in right now. So we just went over to the station. The chief had more good news for me, they found prints on a gun that was used to shoot up Natalie's house in a dumpster 2 blocks away. We had a warrant to go down and arrest everyone that could have had a connection to the shooting.
We all suited up and rode up to the neighborhood of the suspected gang members. We swiftly went through and arrested everyone we had a warrant on. It was easy to take them all down they came without resistance, yes lots of kicking and screaming but no real resistance. We had taken down key elements of a gang that almost ruled these streets I think that I had done the best that I could. I was proud of myself and I think that my dad would have been proud of me too. Things were shaping up and it looked like it was going to be a good future. I went home and saw that Natalie was there talking to Emma about her experience in the hospital. I sat down next to them and started to talk to Natalie.
“So you doing okay,” I asked
“I'll live,” she responded
“I knew you could do it”
I sat down next to woody and started to pat him gently when I heard the door get kicked down and lots of yelling. I pulled my gun out and took cover behind the couch. When they came through the hallway I started shooting I got two bullets in one of them but the other sprayed around the whole room and I say Emma get nicked in the neck and Natalie get shot in the head. I got up and ran next to them praying that they were okay I checked to see if they were alive and both of them were dead in my hands.
I had forgotten about the shooter I didn't hit and he came up behind me and unloaded into my chest. That was my last moment of life was holding my lifeless sister and niece in my hands.
http://students.hthma.hightechhigh.org/~lrey/Leo-Luna-Mitch-Travis.pdf
