Now this is the gary we all know and love. Gary Hurst wrote:
when i moved to atlanta, i moved to what appeared to be a very nice apartment complex in norcross. people moved out. less nice people moved in. i didn't pay it any real attention. in short order, it became a slum. it wasn't that bad for me as i was ok with most of my neighbors, except the crackheads would get on my nerves. (one woman bangs on my door at 2AM screaming it's an emergency and she needs to use my phone. so i give her my phone. at 2:30, the phone is not returned, so i go outside to see what is going on. she is sitting on my steps with her 2 young children and a phone book desperately trying to order pizza.) violence became a matter of course. one hot summer night, a friendly discussion amongst the drug addicts became a heated debate over whether shaka zulu or mike tyson was a greater hero and roll model. both sides presented interesting arguments, but there was too much passion over this issue and the next thing you know, someone is stabbed. and then came the coup de grace for me. the drug trade in the complex was pretty well organized and generally went on without incident. everyone knew where they stood. however, a new fellow moved in next door to me, and he felt he could independently distribute drugs from his apartment. i suppose it was silly of him to think this as such franchises are generally well protected once allocated, but he just went and did it anyway. so one of the other guys came to shoot him. but he was ready. and the two met to settle their difference. one was on one side of the 250 and the other on the other side. they emptied their clips moving around my car. both were hit and bleeding on the ground. naturally, i found this situation pretty stressful, so i went to my car to get one of the cigarettes i kept there. a very nice detective asked me what exactly i was doing. i explained that he needn't worry as i am the owner of the car. he was dumbfounded by my reply, but politely explained that one cannot simply enter a crime scene and go get a smoke, even if one is the rightful owner of the vehicle. and then came a moment of epiphany. i asked him how long it should take before i might get a cig. he explained that it all depends on whether either chap dies. if one dies, then they will be there all night and will conduct a proper investigation. if no one dies, they will pack up and go home and it will be as if nothing ever happened. in a few minutes, the hospital called and informed the detective that no one appears to have life threatening injuries, so they packed up the investigation and left. i got my cig and pondered the absurdity of thinking that i have a country anymore. i moved shortly thereafter.
-- Kaleb C. Striplin/Claremore, OK 91 300D 2.5 Turbo, 90 420SEL, 89 560SEL, 87 300SDL, 87 300SDL #2, 85 380SE 5.0 Euro, 84 190D 2.2, 84 190D 2.2 #2, 81 240D, 76 240D, 76 300D, 72 250C, 69 250 http://www.striplin.net
