The Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

There is no word on this, so I am going to assume it okay to post. However, be aware that it may be pulled without notice if I am asked to take it down.

When the Gladiator (not his given name) led me to Gino’s house (also not her given name), I was very happy to see her front door open. I parked in the driveway and called out to her as I approached the porch. It took the Gladiator a few extra minutes to park on the street in his white, damsel-in-distress rescuing-vehicle. [See my blog Knight in the Hood.]

Gino heard me calling to her and came out wearing a smile. She was surprised to see me, but even more surprised to see her “uncle” (not exactly the relation) with me. I handed her the birthday card I had brought and explained about my tire as we waited for “Uncle Tim” (still not his given name, believe it or not) to park and come up the walk to join us – which he did quickly.

After a very few moments of greeting, Uncle Tim called Gino down off her porch to get close to him. He began speaking to her in a very low voice. She just stood right up next to him, eyes locked on his and nodding with “Mm Hmm’s” in short intervals. Note: This is a scene you NEVER WANT TO SEE when you are staying two blocks from the “hood.” (Think West Side Story meets Milwaukee, without the music or dancing.) But I, totally unfettered and feeling safe with my friends, had no problem with walking right up next to them so I could hear what was going on.

Here is the story I was told:

(Keep in mind that everyone in the “hood” uses at least one nickname, and those nicknames are what I use here.)

Uncle Tim is an auto-mechanic by trade. He used to have his own shop, but is now disabled and does not work. Still, he is very knowledgeable and helps family with their vehicle repairs when they need him. This is how Gino’s cousin Bud was over at Uncle Tim’s house, about 30 blocks away from the hood, with his car up on blocks when his friend called his cell phone.

The friend, going by the nickname Sergio, had been walking down the street near his home when he “got jumped.” (From my limited understanding, this means that he was robbed. He may also have been assaulted, but I am uncertain of the details.) Knowing the police would be no help, given "hood" dynamics, Sergio then returned home to fetch his gun. As he moved, he called Bud.

Know this: Bud is about 7 feet tall, fearsome and fearless with fierce loyalties. He would have instantly flown to his friend’s side if it was at all possible. But his car was up on blocks on the outskirts of town. Remember? So he told Sergio to wait for him, got his car off the blocks and rushed over to find his friend. In the time it took Bud to get half-way across town, Sergio had taken his gun up the street and been ambushed by his previous assailants. They shot him five times, from different angles, and killed him on the spot.

That evening, the local newscast on Gino’s television was full of talk about a psychopathic 13 year-old who had unremorsefully run over and killed a bicyclist. But NO mention was made of Sergio’s gunshot execution. He was just a hoodlum in the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time.