Chapter 1
The sun’s rays were trying to streak through the clouds as more and more dark looking nimbostratus looking ones kept rolling in. At this rate there would be no sun in a very short time. The weather report called for a thirty percent chance of rain. It was definitely looking more like that percentage was way off. The air even smelled like water. It appeared as if the rain would scuttle the odds and we were going to get a shower spout turning on sometime in the very near future. You could see a full spectrum rainbow in the distance off to the west. It was only two o’clock in the afternoon but the darkness made it seem as if it were much later. With the way things were looking and the forecast being off by something like seventy percent no one was prepared when the clouds suddenly looked like a giant water balloon bursting and the rain came down in sheets of water falling almost like we were under Hoover Dam. The thunder and lightning surprised everyone because you hardly ever get any thunder showers in Southern California. You have thunder and lightning in the Southwest but not near the Pacific Ocean.
I was going to meet Dan for lunch at Laney’s Bistro. This was a popular outdoor “come as you are, sit where you want”, restaurant here in the city. Since it was after the lunch hour, it shouldn’t have been too crowded at this time. The rain however did put a crimp into my plans. We were going to meet in the patio area but now that the rain had scuttled that plan, it went right out the window. Laney’s patio area was closed unless you wanted to get a full clothed shower. Because the patio area was closed, the dining area was very crowded. As soon as I spotted people getting up and leaving I would rush to that area to grab a table. I finally snatched one and sat down to wait for Dan and set my briefcase on the chair next to me.
Because I was waiting, I decided to open my briefcase and review the file I knew I would have to go over it with Dan again as soon as he got here. I had never met Dan but he told me he would be wearing a light blue shirt with a blue tie and a brown wool coat with dark brown pants and of course shoes. You could wear anything in this place but I was pretty sure Dan wouldn’t come bare-footed. He said he was about six feet tall and weighed over two hundred pounds. He told me he had black hair and brown eyes. He was in his early forties but he said he looked thirty because he had all his hair. With all the commotion going on around us with table space, it was very noisy here at Laneys. I was having second thoughts about meeting Dan here and was thinking of telling him that we should go to a quieter place as soon as he arrived. Some fast food burger joint may have been a better choice or maybe a morning breakfast place would have been a winner.
As I sat there and opened up my briefcase and started looking through the papers, a heavy set Hispanic man wearing a blue work shirt with the name Rocky plainly visible on his shirt pocket comes up to my table and asks.
“Don’t I know you?” Aren’t you David Castillo? David it’s me Rocky, we graduated from Kennedy High School together. In 1989, remember?”
“Sorry buddy, my name’s not David, you must have the wrong person. My name’s Jim, and I never graduated from Kennedy High School. In fact I’m from New Jersey.”
Looking at me puzzled Rocky says, “Hey, sorry buddy, I thought you were someone else, but it doesn’t matter anyway”, as he pulls out a gun and fires five shots in my direction. Blam…. Blam… Blam… Blam…. Blam….
In that moment a stunned silence suddenly envelopes me, as he pulls the weapon from under his shirt. I can see him doing everything in slow motion. I can see that it’s a small 35 caliber handgun, usually called a midnight special for the stealthy way it can be concealed. In my startled and horrifying moments after the first gunshot my eyes roll slowly around the room and I can see people scattering toward both exits in shock and in a panic mode. Before the first bullet is out of that barrel I see him lift his shirt up to get the weapon. I can see a belt with a belt buckle. On the buckle are three initials on a Texas map. I clearly see the letters TOB almost like a dream. I see him grab the gun handle and slowly pull out the gun. At this point there is a blank expression on his face and his eyes look cold and blank almost like in a trance. He points the gun directly at me, directly at my body. I can see him pull the trigger not once but five times. The first one hits me in the lower right side just missing my kidney and I don’t feel that it has exited through the other side Oddly enough, I hear no other sounds, no yelling or crying, or running or talking, it is eerily quiet but there is pandemonium all around me. Each time I can see the bullet heading straight for me and I can hear it. The bullet is whistling toward my body and I can hear it striking me as it tears through my body and I feel the hot sensation of my blood coming out through the bullet hole. The second bullet misses me by inches and I hear it hit the bench and I can see it burying itself in the wood. How odd I think, wood is so much harder than muscle and I can see how much damage is done to that. The third bullet I can see coming straight for my heart and I remember moving slightly to the left as I react to the pain of the first bullet. That third missile was the deadly one that barely misses my heart but by some miracle it goes through my right lung and out the other side of my body. The fourth one hits my arm and the fifth hits my upper shoulder as I lay semi-conscious on the table bench. As I look at his face I see anger, I see pain, I see darkness and fear. He drops the weapon and runs out of the restaurant knocking over some chairs on the way out and pushing people out of the way as everyone is running out.. No one stops him, no one intervenes, there are no heroes this day.
I get what’s been dished out, what my fate has in mind, what my life is all about and I think to myself, is this the end? Is this all there is to death? If it is my time to go than it is my time. I lay there with blood pouring from my arteries and veins. The world is getting slower and slower as it seems that I get no help for hours when it’s actually just minutes. The end is so quiet. Is it this quiet for everyone or just me. Calm and quiet and peaceful.
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I am incuding what I wrote on my Journal Blog in case you didn't read it. I just got an idea. I will start a blog and will give you chapters in a book I will write. What I need is critique and suggestions from anyone and everyone reading the blog..If I implement the suggestions or get a comment from you I will include you in the credits. You can guide the direction of the book. I will first give you the narrative of what I want to write about and will start with the first chapter and then we can go from there. This isn’t a new idea but it may be fun and maybe we can get a book published. Let me think about it and I will put it up on the (www.connectoursite.com) website and the (www.buysomeproperty.com) website. Be on the look out for it on those sites. Don't be shy about commenting on it because all comments will be looked at and I'll decide whether we should go that route and if you want to comment on the comments and support them than that will influence my decision. However, the final decision will be done by me.
It's time for chapter2 and I have no idea where this is going. Chapter1 can actually be the start of the flashback story about why this happened or it could be the start of the rest of the story. I have no idea where this is going. Any ideas about where this story is going? Comments anyone? Any comments welcomed on the English, the spelling and especially on how the story flows ahead and if you ideas on the next chapter. Whatever the comments, they will all be appreciated and seriously looked at. You can suggest where the story is foing and you can actually write a paragraph or two for the next chapter. I may take it whole or rewite it but either way I will give you credit for it. I may just write it myself If I get no comments. I'll have to think it out myself, but there will be a chapter2, however if I get no suggestions it may take a little longer.
