Veteran's Day 2016

Standing on the corner across from the firehouse turned restaurant, a woman is arguing with a man dressed in all black except for pristine white shoes.

She owes the man in black money. Her boyfriend owes him money. Someone owes him money. It's not clear.

They exchange words as she gets into her black luxury SUV and starts to drive away. His face grimaces as if in pain. He raises his right arm, points the blackened steel in her direction, and tugs his index finger in a come hither motion eight times. Her back window explodes like fireworks, glass falling in slow motion.

Tink tink-tink tink-tink-tink.

She slumps over the steering wheel. Her luxury SUV decides to high five every car along the street before it comes to a rest on the bumper of a gilded chariot, the savior, a block away. Her last breaths fill the cabin while a concerned onlooker on the corner makes a phone call to summon the blue uniforms.

News crews later join the chaos.

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This creative writing story was written for a class assignment where we were asked to write a true story as if it were fiction. Using hyperbole, creative use of adjectives, and an onomatopoeia. I chose an event that happened on my street in front of my house the fall prior to this class.

The woman in the story passed away before the vehicle finally came to a rest against the bumper of the "golden chariot", or a gold colored sedan, a whole block away from when the first bullet made contact with the back of the victim's head.

This event happened in the early hours of the morning on November 11, 2016 in Tacoma, WA in the United States.

The two met in front of the Engine House 9 restaurant on North Pine street. The speculation is that it was a drug deal gone bad. The only thing that was confirmed was that they were meeting at around 2 am.

I spoke with a night janitor who was on duty at the time. He claims that an argument ensued regarding money. She claimed that she didn't owe him money, and that her boyfriend owed him money. She continued that whatever issues he has with her boyfriend is between them, not her and him.

The next part that happened was unintelligible, so the janitor couldn't follow the conversation. He watched the victim return to her car as the assailant went to the trunk of his car. She drove off turning the corner onto North 7th street. He immediately opened fire on the vehicle shooting eight rounds into the car shattering the glass of the back windows of the large black SUV hitting her in the back of the head with the first shot.

She died immediately losing control of her vehicle and accelerating down the street. The theory is that her foot came off the gas as the her SUV bounced off the vehicles lining the street. She decelerated before hitting the rear end of the gold sedan and coming to rest.

Immediately following the shooting, the assailant proceeded to jump in his car and drive off. He was wearing all black with white sneakers. He was driving a large grey coup.

I was in my bed when I heard the gun shots. I was behind a brick wall and stayed there until I knew it was safe. But I called the police and they were already dispatched to the area for gunshots. I spoke with the police that night. They were there until 7 or 8 am investigating and doing clean up. They knocked on every door talking to all the residents to see if they could piece together what happened. I spoke to the press as well, but could offer nothing but the time I heard the commotion and what I saw when I went outside.

It would be the next day when the press was poking around for more information that I would run into the janitor. He refused to talk to anyone, but told me what he knew. All the information the police got was from cameras on the local businesses and from the assailant.

The assailant was caught, but argued in court that he was defending himself against someone who robbed him. He was charged with manslaughter and got 10 years in prison. The story he spun in court was that he was asleep in his vehicle and that car prowlers broke into his car, woke him up, and he proceeded to defend himself. But according to one of the eye witnesses (the janitor), who was afraid to come forward, this was false.

Though I wish the janitor came forward and spoke to someone, I also understand why he wouldn't. I can go into the culture of not speaking to officials, but that would make this article a book. But please understand that this janitor did not know the assailant. He was also working to support his family and feared losing his job or endangering his family. That's just the superficial aspect of him deciding not to report the details he witnessed. If you're interested, there are plenty of articles and books you can read on the subject. I googled "Why people don't report crimes" and found a plethora of articles explaining the psychology behind not reporting. I recommend reading multiples from different angles.

In the end, justice was served. Hopefully the assailant learned his lesson, but I suspect that he learned that lying will minimize your sentence.