This is Tommie - Why Tommie doesn't fucks with cold weather

Well Jason was in school, this is out of school. We lived in an apartment complex named Popular Pointe that was walking distance from the school there was this girl that lived in my apartment complex and she was in the 9th grade, she was 14 or 15 or something like that. I didn't like her or anything we were just the only two in my neighborhood who were in high school. We would walk from school and pick up my brother who was on the way home and the three of us would walk home. Well she had a boyfriend who was 19 or 20 or something like that and I guess he didn't like us walking together.

One day we were walking home from school and it was cold, I mean it was bitter cold outside. It was good and winter and I had just happened to notice that I could see my house from the trail. You couldn't see it during the summertime becasue of all the summer growth, I just happened to notice it that particular day. Well we were walking home and this guy was standing in the middle of the path between the back of the middle school (where my brother went) and the apartments. He said let me talk to you for a bit, I'm like ok and then he pulls out a gun. I'll never forget it, it was a chrome revolver with a black handle. He said to me, "If I ever see you around my girl again I'll motherfucking kill you."

Time froze I had a true out of body experience. When you think you are going to die all of your senses go into overdrive. I could feel every molecule in the air I realized how dry it was and how cold, it was so fucking cold outside.I saw my brother, I saw the girl (shame I was going to die because of her and I have no clue what her name was), I saw myself and I saw him. I felt my spine go out and my legs went weak. I wanted to throw up. I remember thinking tell him please don't kill me, promise that you'll never be around her again just please don't shoot me. I was about to mouth to beg, to plead for my life at that exact moment I felt the barrel of the gun touch my temple and I heard a click from him pulling back the hammer. He started poking at my head with the gun. and said "Do you understand me nigga? I said I will motherfucking kill you if I see the two of you together again."

I'm thinking to myself, yes I heard you the first time poking me in the head isn't really necessary. The gun was freezing cold it was like he stored it in an ice box.

At that very moment my brother bolted and I thought to myself he is going to kill you if you don't run. It's amazing the clarity you have when you know you only have one chance to live. I thought to myself you need to run but, don't go the same way your brother did he might miss you and hit your brother or if he kills you, he'll kill your brother he won't want any witnesses.

I have no idea to this day why I thought that or where it came from I'd never been in a situation like that before. I told myself go through the woods you can see the house from there plus he'll have to choose a target. Either you or your brother and he is going to go for you make him pick. He can't target you in the woods. Break for the woods. You can out run his bullets (I have no clue why I thought that or if it was even me thinking). So I bolt into the woods I know this sounds like a long time but the whole thing went down in about 20 to 30 seconds. Time had just slowed down for me. With my brother breaking it stunned him I think and he took the gun away from my head for a split second and with that I break for the woods. I felt like the bionic man or something. I feel ever strand of my muscles flexing and releasing I run. I feel the cold air burning in my lungs, I see every tree, every root, every branch. I feel ever twig as they flick against my ear. It was funny because I was taking this zig zag path by every larger tree so he would have to aim carefully. I see everything clearly, I've only been that aware once in my life. I've never felt the feeling of clarity and awareness again. At the end of the woods where it becomes a field between the apartment complex not big maybe 10 meters or so between the boundary of the woods and the corner of the apartment complex. I see my brother out of the corner of my eye starting the scramble up the stairs to the door and I breathe as sigh I know he has made it but, I also know once I break from the woods that guy has a clear shot at me again. I hear it again (you can out run his bullets) so I break left and get another burst of speed. I think I teleported because next thing I know I'm right on top of my brother he is opening the door with his keys. We spill over each other as we get into the house. He grabs his keys, we close the door, I lock it, and then we break from the door just in case he is chasing us and wants to shoot down the door.

My brother says, "We have to tell Mom and Dad."

I said "Don't tell them, I didn't want to get in trouble I was just satisfied with getting to the house alive (I realize now that I was in shock)."

He said, "Fuck that Tommie I'm am calling Mom."

So my Mom and Dad get home and he tells and them my parents start yelling at me, I felt so low. I realize now that they were terrified. My Dad asked me where she lived and we went over there I don't know why we did the fool had a gun and besides that I don't know what my Dad would have done if he had gotten a hold to the guy. She told my Dad she didn't know where he was (he probably was in her house). My parents called the police I think and then I was instructed never to be around her again (hell they didn't have to tell me that).

To this day I don't like cold weather and would never move to a cold weather city. I don't even like to think about cold. And any time I run I think about this guy trying to put two in my skull when that is your motivation you tend to push yourself harder. I don't think about that situation but being out in this Iraqi cold has made me think about it often.

I often wonder what happened to that guy. I like to think that he went to Mexico for some big coke deal and it went bad and now he is in a Mexican prison trying on sundresses for his cellmate known only as el Babuino.

One can only hope.