Not trying to garner sympathy here or anything, but when something bothers you, I find writing about it helps a little.
So last night, one of the windows in our apartment was shot out. Neither of us was hurt, thank goodness, but one of the shelves my grandfather made took a hit. It actually stopped the bullet. My grandpa is apparently a good woodworker (and strangely enough, we were all talking about grandfathers being woodworkers earlier in the day, now that I think on it).
But in all the years my mother and I have lived on the rough side of town, this is the first time something like this has ever happened to us. I mean, we see things like this on the news and say "that's terrible" or "that's a damn shame". To have it actually happen to us is...odd. And frightening.
I can't help but think that this wouldn't have happened in our old neighborhood. We had our share of drug dealers and the like, don't get me wrong, but back there, everyone knew the game. People knew where to handle whatever it is they wanted to do and people didn't fire in the neighborhood. Everything was pretty quiet at night. You could even tell what time it was by hearing the 3 a.m. train crossing the tracks.
Here, it's different. You can tell it's late at night because you hear gunshots. Five, six of them all in a row. They're usually distant, so I don't feel quite so nervous. It's a lot different when it sounds like they're two feet outside your window, even if we live on the second floor.
What's really funny is that my old neighborhood and the one where I currently live are about 10-15 blocks apart from each other. On the same street.
But we keep to ourselves to avoid this sort of thing. I suppose it's sort of a pre-emptive defense mechanism that we used since we moved here.
Great to know how much good it does us.
It could have been worse. I know that. But still, is it right for people to have to live like that to being with? I know the answer is no, and there's not a lot that can be done about it besides, but I can't help but ask that now.
Sigh.
