Monday morning, mommy gets up at around 6am to prepare breakfast for her kids not fully aware of what was larking on at the steps of our house. Four strange guys fully dressed in army clothing stood on our steps equipped with high powered M16 Rifles and hand guns. Half asleep and half awake I got out of bed with the intention of doing my daily morning ritual. Take a bath, wash my face and brush my teeth.
I passed my mother in the kitchen cooking breakfast and said Good Morning Mommy. Yuh ready fi eat breakfast yet, she asked. I replied, mi nuh ready yet mommy ? mi haffi guh wash mi face and brush mi teeth first. Ok, but bcase n? com? eat sumting before yuh get ready fi school, she said.
Still a little dazed from waking up I stumbled towards the door and slowly started to undo the locks and then I proceeded to open to door. To my surprised were four strange guys standing on my steps looking as if they were looking for someone to kill. So I slowing started closing the door while hoping that they didn?t notice that someone had seen them. As I slowly closed the door I heard the zinc fences at the back of my yard making an extremely loud noise. It sounded as if someone was trying to break it down, climb over or kick their way though.
After hearing the loud noise, I immediately got down on the floor and signaled to my mother that she should do the same because it sounded as if a horrible blood bath was about to happen in our yard. Because the four guys that were on my steps wasn?t from my neighborhood and there was already conflicts between rival gangs which resulted om the premature death of a close friend of mines two weeks. Suddenly, I heard one of the guys that were standing at my step said ?Si Di P*** Dem ah Com? and started to open fire on the others that were coming from the back of my yard. The gun battle lasted for close to 10 minutes none stop.
As I lay on the floor motionless I could do nothing but hope and pray that they didn?t try to use my house as a station to fire shots at gang members from my community. Trust me, I?ve seen and experienced a lot of things growing up in East Kingston but never once did I felt so scared. All I know was that my face was flat on the ground anticipating that someone will about to break down my door.
As quick as it started it ended, and then came the silence of uncertainty. Should I get up now or wait for a couple minutes? If I got up, will the guys outside see my shadow and start to open fire at me? A bunch of questions were running through my mind. I lay quietly on the floor with a dull look on my face waiting for something bad to happen to me and my family. But as the minutes went by my mind started to lift the thought of becoming another victim to gang violence.
The uncertain that attributes to been in a situation where the possibility of death hovers in a cloud of the ?what ifs? often causes one to wonder. Will my day be today? Or will I miraculously escape the jaws of what is about to become my reality. Death, the thought of it often welcomes fear, uncertainty and tearless eye drops. No one could have told me that I would have lived to be able to write about my experience on Monday morning but thankfully I?m still here to tell my story.
15 yrs old boy Remembers Monday Morning
I passed my mother in the kitchen cooking breakfast and said Good Morning Mommy. Yuh ready fi eat breakfast yet, she asked. I replied, mi nuh ready yet mommy ? mi haffi guh wash mi face and brush mi teeth first. Ok, but bcase n? com? eat sumting before yuh get ready fi school, she said.
Still a little dazed from waking up I stumbled towards the door and slowly started to undo the locks and then I proceeded to open to door. To my surprised were four strange guys standing on my steps looking as if they were looking for someone to kill. So I slowing started closing the door while hoping that they didn?t notice that someone had seen them. As I slowly closed the door I heard the zinc fences at the back of my yard making an extremely loud noise. It sounded as if someone was trying to break it down, climb over or kick their way though.
After hearing the loud noise, I immediately got down on the floor and signaled to my mother that she should do the same because it sounded as if a horrible blood bath was about to happen in our yard. Because the four guys that were on my steps wasn?t from my neighborhood and there was already conflicts between rival gangs which resulted om the premature death of a close friend of mines two weeks. Suddenly, I heard one of the guys that were standing at my step said ?Si Di P*** Dem ah Com? and started to open fire on the others that were coming from the back of my yard. The gun battle lasted for close to 10 minutes none stop.
As I lay on the floor motionless I could do nothing but hope and pray that they didn?t try to use my house as a station to fire shots at gang members from my community. Trust me, I?ve seen and experienced a lot of things growing up in East Kingston but never once did I felt so scared. All I know was that my face was flat on the ground anticipating that someone will about to break down my door.
As quick as it started it ended, and then came the silence of uncertainty. Should I get up now or wait for a couple minutes? If I got up, will the guys outside see my shadow and start to open fire at me? A bunch of questions were running through my mind. I lay quietly on the floor with a dull look on my face waiting for something bad to happen to me and my family. But as the minutes went by my mind started to lift the thought of becoming another victim to gang violence.
The uncertain that attributes to been in a situation where the possibility of death hovers in a cloud of the ?what ifs? often causes one to wonder. Will my day be today? Or will I miraculously escape the jaws of what is about to become my reality. Death, the thought of it often welcomes fear, uncertainty and tearless eye drops. No one could have told me that I would have lived to be able to write about my experience on Monday morning but thankfully I?m still here to tell my story.