Beautiful Darkness - Maurice Mitchell (best inspirational books txt) 📗

We were willing to die for each other that night, that was the realest thing I’d ever felt. Needless to say we’d never return to his hood again, but we didn’t have to, the mission was accomplished. We were brothers forever and nothing could come in between that. We seemed to have been lucky that night, or maybe it was divine intervention. Maybe Nana, Tay, J.R. and the rest of my guardian angels played a part in us leaving that bar. Either way we dodged a bullet, unfortunately, we all weren’t able to dodge the next one.

Chapter 22 (A Shot In The Dark)

We all decided to go out one night, Ray, Dolla, Dolla’s friend, and I. It was a great night, one of the few nights where we enjoyed the club without having to fight. It was a really nice night with a nice breeze, the moon was out and so were the woman. The party was over and we were hanging out on the strip, talking to people and doing what we do. Everything was good. I was sitting on a ledge a little bit away from Ray and the guys talking to a friend of mine. They were all talking and laughing and having a good time reminiscing on the night we just had. I looked up and I noticed there were about six dudes walking down the street, they appeared to be really intoxicated and loud. They were walking towards us and for some reason I got a funny feeling in my stomach. I still didn’t think much of it, until I heard one of them say something to Ray. Whatever he said was small, something in the area of “what’s up blood?” However it was still offensive, and it was something you didn’t say to Ray. I looked up and I saw Ray approaching all six of them, I asked the girl I was speaking with to excuse me, I knew this wouldn’t be pretty. I ran over and before I could get there Ray punched one of them in the face and the fight was on. Next thing I knew Dolla punched one and I caught another. They had us outnumbered, so they tried to jump us, but it didn’t seem to be working in their favor. Right when it seemed as if things could not get any worse, out of the corner of my eye I saw Ray stabbing the guy he was fighting in the neck. I saw blood running down that kids shirt, I stopped punching his friend and yelled for Ray to stop. It wasn’t pretty, and apparently the victims friend didn’t think it was either. He backed up and pulled out a shiny black Glock. I saw the darkness from the gun reflect off of his white tee shirt and immediately paused. The only thing darker then that gun was the kids face, and apparently his soul. The next few moments would seem like forever, everything went in slow motion. I remember yelling “Gun! Gun!” But it didn’t matter, Ray kept stabbing that kid. The shooter pointed the gun directly towards me and Dolla and I remember being stuck in my tracks. I felt my heart pound faster then a speeding bullet and my legs felt heavier then ever. The other kid Dolla was with ran and became a ghost in the night. I wanted to move, but my legs wouldn’t let me, nor would my pride. The last thing I remember seeing was the gun pointed at my head, and all of a sudden I felt a hand sort of push me out of the way. I had no idea who’s hand it was, Dolla would later proclaim that it wasn’t his. Next there was a pause, and then all I heard was “Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop!!!” There was a moment of silence as the gun smoke filled the air and then the sounds of feet hitting the concrete at rapid speeds. As the shell casings hit the ground, so did my heart and I. I laid on the ground for what seemed to be an eternity and then looked up, checked myself for blood and asked if everybody was ok. Ray responded and said he was good, I heard nothing from Dolla. I looked over my shoulder and saw Dolla lying there in a pool of blood, I yelled “Dolla!” I didn’t realize he was hit, I didn’t hear him mutter a sound, not an ouch or any other expression of pain. He just looked up at me and said “My brother, we got to get to a hospital.” Ray and I quickly got him to his feet and carried him to the car. Seeing my friend in that way, covered in all that blood took a toll on me. I ended up letting my temper get the best of me again. I yelled at Ray and told him to drive Dolla to the hospital while I chased the guys who did it. They begged me to get in the car but it was no use, I was gone. I sprinted down the block with no gun, and more importantly no common sense. I was hot, and somebody was going to pay. After about three blocks I finally caught up to the assailants. I saw bright lights and it appeared they were already being questioned by the police. To this day I don’t know who was luckier, them or me. I counted my loses and called Kevin and let him know we needed to make it to the hospital. Turns out Dolla took a few bullets and one of them penetrated into one the bones in his foot. The doctor said it was a really good chance he may never walk again. This was a hard time for all of us, seeing Dolla in critical condition. Then seeing him laid up in that hospital bed for weeks at a time. Having to watch him go through physical therapy and practically learning how to walk again. I wished there was something I could do, I hated seeing him like that, and it brought another level of hate into my heart. I knew we’d see them dudes again and I couldn’t wait for the day. I kept having visions of what took place that night, and once again I couldn’t wrap my head around how I got out without a scratch. The last thing I remember seeing was that gun pointed directly at me, and after hearing all the shots I laid there untouched. I just wished I could say the same for Dolla. The hardest part of it all was having to watch his family experience it. Being that I was with him I somewhat felt responsible, so it was hard to look at his mother. Turns out that wasn’t the last time I would have to face them through a hard time involving a son.

A few months after that, all of the things Ray got himself involved in over the years finally began to catch up with him. We’d got into another fight in a club, which was completely self defense. It always seems like the one time your not wrong is the time you finally get caught. It was a huge club and there seemed to be fights left and right that night. The club had three different levels and it was hundreds of drunk people everywhere. One of the fights that broke out involved someone Ray and I knew pretty well. We were coming to the aid of a beaten friend and we jumped in to help. Long story short, the guys we were up against ended up getting beat up pretty bad. One guy was broken up everywhere and had to get quite a few stitches in his face, I’m not so sure his mother would of recognized him. They picked Ray up for the charges and he took the blame for it all, he never gave any of us up. In my eyes he did what any good friend would of done, but this time he couldn’t get out of it, this time it was for real. They brought up several other charges against him and gave him a court date to face his fate. We were all there on that court date and we went through it with him. He came out with a brand new suit on and his head held high, he’d already been in prison for over a year. After a few hours of listening to the prosecuting attorney depict Ray as an animal, he’s fiancé and uncle stood up and delivered heart felt speeches on his behalf. It was well done, but in the end, it didn’t matter. The judge sentenced Ray to 11 to 15 years in prison, and my heart fell into my stomach. I felt like someone had just punched the life out of me and I couldn’t breath, I looked up and saw his Mother and his Grandmother fall to the floor with tears pouring from their faces. I felt that familiar anger rise once more. I looked at Ray and he looked at me, I pounded my chest and he nodded his head, I knew he would be alright. I knew the pain I felt and couldn’t imagine what his Mother, Grandmother, or brothers were going through. I felt helpless, I felt like I failed him. I knew better and still allowed my Brother to get caught up in the system and fall victim to streets. I should of stopped him, I should of done more, that’s just how I felt. I left that court room feeling angry, hopeless, and tired. All I could do was pray, and that’s what I did, I left Ray in God’s hands. Seeing Ray face that kind of time was a wake up call, I knew I had to get myself together. I realized that ultimately what got him sent to prison was the same type of things I was doing. I was right next to him in that fight, who’s to say it couldn’t of been me. It could of easily have been me. I could have been shot and I could have been in prison, so why wasn’t it me, I couldn’t help but wonder. I wanted to change and I wanted to keep myself out of those situations. I never looked for trouble, but my problem was I never ran from it either. When it came knocking I answered, and I’d end up answering one more time before I made it through the year.

It was the beginning of spring and I was with a few of my school friends at this annual spring college event. It seemed like every student from every college was there, it was crazy. The streets were flooded with students and the hotels were packed with parties. It felt like a Mardi Gras in Virginia. In the beginning it was a good time and everything seemed good, but I’m no fool I know trouble is never far. We ended up going to this hotel party and getting in free. It was a good look, girls everywhere, free drinks, my kind of party. Only problem was I had a gut feeling and I couldn’t ignore it. My gut told me something bad was about to happen and I needed to get out of dodge. After about twenty minutes of debating, I finally convinced everybody that we should leave. They were upset, but I didn’t care, I wasn’t staying. We ended up leaving and going to this other spot, but that one was whack so we left. We planned on trying this other one out, but we didn’t make it to the place, we found trouble on the way. One of the guys I was with was a short, slim, light skinned gang member from Harlem, and a very loud