I woke up this morning thinking it was going to be like any Saturday morning. I walked into the kitchen to see what Mom was making for breakfast. She was mashing up maize in a huge bowl. That’s when I knew she was making Tamales today. That also means she’s going to ask for my help making it, which is going to take all day.  I’m watching my mom smash up the maize, thinking of a plan to get away without her seeing me. When I watched her turn around to start making the sauce to put in the tamales, I knew this was my chance. I ran toward the microwave hiding my face. I looked over the microwave, making sure that she wasn’t looking, and I ran for it. I dashed toward the front door. As soon as I opened the door to make my quick escape, I heard her shout toward me, “Hey, where do you think you’re  going?”  Right then, my phone went off. I looked down, seeing a text from my best friend Brandon. He comes over so much that he can actually speak fluently in Spanish. Anyway, I looked at my phone to read the text. It read, ‘ Hey, want some KFC, I got money?’ I looked back up to respond to my mom. 

“Umm… I’m going to KFC with Brandon.”
“Ooo...is he your boyfriend yet?” she said with an annoying grin that all moms have.
I rolled my eyes, “No he’s just a friend.”
“Are you sure?” she said again with her grin.
Again, I rolled my eyes, “Yes, ma.”
 

I wanted to get away from the awkwardness with my mother. I look down at my phone to reply to Brandon. I texted, “Yea, I’ll be there in a couple minutes. Go ahead and order for me.”  At almost the same time I put up my phone, I got a text back from Brandon. “Already did. Now hurry, before it gets cold.” After reading the text, I put my phone back in my pocket. I continued to walk to the KFC building as slow as possible because I knew how uncomfortable he gets when he’s in public alone. I know it’s mean to do that to my best friend, but his reaction to when I get there is going to be entertaining to me.

I reached the stop sign at the end of the road. I pulled my phone out to text Brandon and let him know that I was almost there. When I reached into my pocket, I got a message from Brandon. It read, ‘Hurry up, slowpoke!’  I smile. Just then, I heard three loud shots, bang bang bang. When I heard the gunshots fire, I froze out of fear. I closed my eyes not knowing what was going to happen next. All I could hear was the sound of burning tires against the road making a skiirt sound going past me. I opened my eyes when I heard the car go by. The smell of the burning rubber from the vehicle brought me back to reality. I opened my eyes and started to think of Brandon. Being the person I am, I didn’t think twice about running toward the KFC building to see if Brandon was okay, even though I was having a panic attack.

When I got there, there was panic and shock all around me. There were people running toward their cars, not knowing if the shooter would come back. Others were already contacting the police station. I watched the frightened customers react to the shooting, scurrying all over the place. I found him, Brandon was running toward me reaching out his hand. Before, I could say a word, he took my hand and ran me out of the door. We kept running until we reached the end of the street and met the stop sign. That’s when I jerked his arm back, making a halt.

“Stop!” I shouted.
“What is it?”
“What happened?”
After taking a deep breath, “I don’t know! Maybe, the shooters were gang members from Shelby, the ones that are always hanging out in front of city hall.” said Brandon.

After seeing Brandon as scared as I was from what just happened, I dropped the questions that I had, knowing he wouldn’t have had the answers, and continued to walk back to the house. He followed. When we made it to my house, he reached to turn the door handle, but before he could turn the knob, I turned him around and gave him a hug. It felt like forever before he [/] wrapped his arms around me. I smiled.

“I’m glad you’re okay.” 
When I said this, I could feel his smile as he said.  “Me too.”

Now I know to be happy with the people in your life. You never know when you’ll lose them...the same way I almost lost my best friend that Saturday.