November 03, 2008

Life in Da Hood

There are times when you wake up, not quite sure why, but knowing it isn't good.

Two men and a woman, all 19, suffered non-life-threatening wounds when they were shot about 1:35 a.m. Sunday near 1012 E. 21st St., said Minneapolis police spokesman Sgt. William Palmer. The motive was unclear, but it was not a random shooting, he said.


I woke with a vague memory of loud noises and only consciously heard people yelling in what sounded like an argument. There was a cop car at the intersection by the time I was aware enough to move and look. The two ambulances were the big hint that it was serious.

Mostly, I knew that the election was making me sleep deprived (as though I didn't already know). Usually gunfire wakes me up instantly, so that I've been able to count a full clip unloading as I come to consciousness. Not this time. There wasn't even any adrenaline.

For the curious, no, it doesn't happen very often. Less than half a dozen times in over ten years, although this is the first time there were injuries to make the paper. The arguments that pull me out of sleep are much more common, especially now, when the economy's in trouble, but they're still less frequent than the kids running around after my bedtime who are having too much fun to be quiet.

No, I'm not scared, and no, I'm not moving. In all the time I've lived in the city, I'm still further from the closest murder than I was growing up in the suburbs. It's life, people.

There's just a little more of it here.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So what's the big deal? That's several hundred feet away from your house ... And a sturdy house it is, would stop most bullets.

Stephanie Zvan said...

It isn't a big deal, except, of course, to the people who were involved and the people with an interest in understanding why it happened--the understandable parts anyway. It's an opportunity to answer the questions, really.

And yeah, the house was in much more danger from the car accident in May (finally got the fence fixed). It would have been in trouble had the elm not been there. We'll see how the elm winters over.