Unfortunate Circumstances

Checks Wristwatch.

“It’s 12:42 in the morning; why did I randomly have to be so hungry at this time of night?", DionTre thought to himself.

“I just need to hurry back home and get to sleep,” he thought.

‘It is not safe out here at night for anyone, especially me. I just did ten years in prison for driving a getaway car for a bank robbery. I did testify against JaTwan and Joshua in exchange for a lighter sentence. In the courtroom, they both had an outburst and told me I better watch my back”, DionTre remembering as he continued walking down the road.

"The first thing I did when I got out of prison; was buy me a gun. The law says a convicted felon cannot have a gun but, I'm not trying to hear that," DionTre mumbled to himself. 

DionTre finally sees the gas station.

As he approaches the gas station he looks around and notices that there are only three cars in the parking lot.

"One car is parked at the right side of the building, which is most likely a worker's car,'' he thought to himself.

Another car is parked on the left side of the building with no one in it.

The final car is on the right side in front of the building with no one in it.

He continued walking to the front door of the gas station and opened the door.

Ding, Ding the door makes as he enters the store.

He starts to look around for some good snacks to eat.

While looking around for snacks he notices that no one is in the other isles.

As a matter of fact, the store seems empty. It's silent.

"Maybe they're all the back,'' DionTre told himself reassuringly.

He continues looking for snacks until the silence is broken by a raspy but heavily deep southern accent.

“How are you tonight son”, said the store owner.

DionTre paused and looked up and saw a man and woman that are about in their late fifty’s waving.

“Good”, replied DionTre.

"If there's anything you need let us know", said the woman in a raspy voice.

“I got to pee,” DionTre thought to himself.

“Yes, where’s the bathroom?”, DionTre asked.

“It’s in the back hallway to your left past those two shelves; can’t miss it”, said the man.

“Okay thanks’’, DionTre replied while making his way to the bathroom.

DionTre finds the bathroom door and enters.

The door creaks slightly.

He locks the single bathroom door and began his business.

Urine begins to splash the toilet water.

“Ugh, that feels good’’, DionTre said.

DionTre starts to finish up until he hears glass being shattered several feet away from the bathroom door.

He looked up quickly and said, “What was that?”

He zips up his pants slowly.

There is shouting and screaming followed by a lone gunshot.

BANG!

“Oh, no I just wanted some snacks,” said DionTre to himself.

He walks over to the door and slowly puts his ear to the door to listen for anything.

He can hear the woman yelling, “STOP, STOP!” franticly over and over.

Followed by, “SHUT UP WHORE!”, by an unfamiliar voice.

He moves his head from the door slowly and thinks.

“I realized now that I have to leave out of this gas station because my life is in danger for two reasons. One, the commotion happening in the store. Two, if I get caught by the police with this gun in my pocket, I will go back to prison for an illegal firearm. I'm not going back,'' whispered DionTre to himself.

There is still a lot of screaming and loud thudding noises against the ground.

When yelling began to take place again, DionTre creaked the door open and closed the door silently behind him.

DionTre crouches down.

His heart is racing.

He can hear the voices and thudding noise much more now.

‘’Help… Stop,’ said a familiar raspy voice.

“That is the man at the front of the store,” thought DionTre to himself.

The thudding sound like someone is stomping on something near the front of the store.

The bathroom hallway is concealed by two rows of horizontal shelves consisting of chips and candies.

DionTre starts to sweat profusely.

He walks and crouches very slowly to the shelves.

He starts to look around to spot any cameras.

“SHUT UP, GIVE ME THE MONEY!”, yelled another unfamiliar voice.

While looking up for cameras, he spots two circular mirrors adjacent to each other above the isles.

Then he starts to carefully examine the mirror's reflection.

His heart drops.

He notices that a body is on the ground belly side down.

He also noticed the women was cowering in fear in the corner by the cash register.

DionTre also noticed two additional figures that were masked.

The masked figures were stomping the body on the ground.

“Stop wasting my time, I want the money now!” yelled a masked man angrily.

DionTre puts his hand in his pocket and lightly grips his gun.

“I’ve got to get out of here,” DionTre thought.

He kept his eyes fixed on the mirrors and quietly shifted through an adjacent aisle to the right.

“I’m closer to the exit,” DionTre thought.

DionTre peeks over a shelf near the front of the store.

He is about 30 feet from the cash register where the masked men are.

While peeking from the shelf he notices that the male owner is on the ground bleeding profusely.

The two masked men are stomping the male owner out.

Then, one of the masked men hits the woman across the face.

DionTre ducks back down.

"It's enough talking, I am going to kill the both of ya!" a masked man yelled.

“Let’s get the money too,” another masked man said.

"Please no… Please Stop," the woman said sobbingly.

"OH MY", a masked man says angrily as he strikes the woman across the face again.

DionTre is nervous, he puts his hand on his gun and grips it tightly.

So tight his hand goes numb for a split second. He releases the grip slightly.

DionTre peeks at the front doors of the store.

He notices that the glass door was shot out.

DionTre peeks over the shelf and sees the two masked men pointing guns at the women and male owner.

DionTre ducks back down.

“Dang it, why haven’t I left yet,” he thought to himself.

“PLEASE,” the woman says sobbingly.

DionTre takes a peek at the masked man and the distance to the front door.

“I can sneak out now while they are occupied,” DionTre thought.

DionTre takes a deep inhale, and a slow quiet exhale.

He draws his gun from his pocket.

Then whispers to himself, ‘’Lord… protect me.”

“Let’s do it and split,” a masked man says.

“Look at you begging… pathetic,” says a masked man.

DionTre swallows his spit and rises up from the shelf fast with his gun drawn and aimed at the masked men.

“HEY, STOP!” shouted DionTre.

The two masked men turn around and try to aim their guns at DionTre.

Gunfire erupts and roars throughout the building.

Then complete silence.

DionTre is crouched down and peeks over the shelf to discover three bodies are now on the ground.

He is breathing heavily.

He franticly starts patting all over his body.

“HUH, HUH, nope…I’m clean”, said DionTre.

The woman starts screaming again, “HELP, HELP!”

DionTre rushes over to the woman's aid with the gun still pointing at the masked men’s bodies on the ground.

He asks, “Are you okay?’’

Then suddenly…

Three police officers burst through the front doors of the gas station.

One officer immediately starts describing DionTre on a radio.

"Black male, with a dark grey hoodie and black jeans. He has a gun," says the officer on the radio.

Simultaneously, the other two officers shout out, ‘’SUSPECT HAS A GUN.”

“DROP YOUR WEAPON!” says two officers.

“I NEED BACK UP, ‘’ radios an officer.

The officers now notice the three bodies lying on the ground.

DionTre’s body freezes up with his gun still pointed at the masked men’s bodies on the ground.

“PLEASE, STOP!” the woman shouts.

All three officers in unison, shout “DROP YOUR WEAPON, SCUMBAG!”

Unfortunate Circumstances