The Silent Witness

It was Saturday, January 20, 2018. I can remember this day as if it happened yesterday. I had gotten off work at the Emergency Clinic and needed to stop by the Zippy Market convenient store to pick up a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread. It was 11:30 pm; the regular grocery stores were closed. I had to get gas for work the next morning, so I parked my car in front of the gas pump. The lights inside the store looked a little dim, but I could still see Mr. Chen at the register. I waited outside the door and he saw me, beckoning for me to come inside.

“I thought you were closed,” I said.

“No, not yet,” said Mr. Chen. “You are my last customer for the night.”

“Can I use your restroom?” I asked.

“Yes, go ahead,” said Mr. Chen.

I hurried to the restroom. I almost pissed myself trying to pull down my panties. I had drunk about eight cups of coffee to stay awake at my job, and it came pouring out of me like a faucet. I flushed the toilet and washed my hands. On my way out of the restroom, I could see two men holding guns on Mr. Chen at the register. I couldn't move frozen in fear as my heart raced so fast that I could hear it in both my ears. Mr Chen's voice trembled as his hands fumbled desperately trying to open up the cash register to give the thieves the money.

“Hurry up, mutherfucker!” said the first thief.

“I'm trying,” said Mr. Chen.

“Try harder!” said the second thief.

Mr. Chen finally got the register opened, and the men jumped over the counter and grabbed all the money, stuffing it inside their jackets.

“Please don't hurt me,” sobbed Mr. Chen.

“Shut up!” said the second thief. “Lay your ass on the floor.”

Mr. Chen, shaking and sobbing, got down on the floor behind the cash register. The first thief stretched out his hands, pointed the gun and fired three shots, killing Mr. Chen.

“Goddamn man!” said the second thief. “Why did you do that shit!”

“Come on, man!” said the first thief.

I stood in silence as I watched both men jump into a white Ford Expedition with a blue right front door and drive off frantically. I slowly walked out of the restroom. The smell of gunpowder and fresh blood filled the entire store. I looked behind the counter and saw Mr. Chen's body lying face down with three gunshot wounds in his back. I picked up the store phone and called 911.

“911 operator, what is your emergency?”

“There has been a shooting,” I said. “At the Zippy Market on 10th and Washington Blvd.”

“What is your name?” asked the operator.

I couldn't bring myself to tell her what my name was and hung up the phone running out of the store. I sat in my car trying to gather myself after what just happened. I heard the siren from the ambulance and drove out of the parking lot. On my way home a got a pain in the pit of my stomach. I didn't feel like waiting around answering a whole lot of questions. I kept saying to myself that I would go in to the police department the next day and tell them what I had seen. I never got up the nerve to go to the police station. This was three years later and I sill hadn't told a soul what I had seen. I haven't had a decent night sleep since it had happened. It's like that night keeps playing over and over in my head. I had become addicted to coffee like a drug addict. One afternoon while getting off work, I noticed a white Ford Expedition with the blue right front door. I slowly walked to my car and got into the drivers seat. I waited to watch who was getting inside the vehicle. About fifteen minuted later, I saw it was my boss lady Mrs. Johnson. She opened passengers side door and got into the truck. The truck began to slowly back out of the parking lot. I started up my car and began to follow them. The truck put on their right blinker light at the stop sign. I did the same and continued to follow them. They stopped at the Food Lions grocery store. I parked one row down from them. The door to the drivers side opened up. It was Mrs. Johnson older son Charlie. I couldn't believe what I had seen. Charlie had been giving his mother trouble every since he was sixteen years old. This was the sign I had needed to go straight to the police station. I was a bit afraid of what they might do to me because I hadn't come forward with the information until now. Whatever the consequences were,I was willing to face them head on. I needed to do this for me to rest easy at night and to give me peace of mind.

I parked my car right in front of the police department. I had butterflies inside my stomach stirring madly. I began to tremble a little, but nothing would deter me today from doing what I should had done three years ago. I got out of my and went inside. There at the front desk sat a chubby, bald man with glasses in a police uniform.

“Can I help you?” said the officer.

“Yes,” I said. “I would like to talk to someone about the Chen case.”

“That's Detective Williams,” said the officer.” “Have a seat please.”

“Thank you,” I said.

The officer left from behind the desk and went to the back of the office. He came back ten minutes later with the detective. Detective Williams was a handsome, tall, slender, dark skinned man with a firm deep voice. He came over to me and introduced himself. I don't know if it was the scent of his cologne or just his charisma, but I was smitten instantly. I tried to compose myself professionally but my nerves got the best of me as I began to speak and my voice cracks.

“Hello,” I said. “It's nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” said Detective Williams. “Let's go to my office.”

I got up from my chair and followed him to the back. He held a folder in his hands that I believed to be the Chen case files. He led the way to a office shared with another detective.

“Have a seat,” said Detective Williams.

“I'm sorry,” I said. “It took me so long to come forward.”

“It's alright,” said Detective Williams.

I began to tell him what happened that night three years ago. How the two men robbed the Zippy market and shot Mr. Chen in the back. I told him also about new information that I found out about who was the owner of the white Ford Expedition. I wrote down everything that I saw and swear that it was true. Being a middle aged woman who stay alone, Detective Williams understood about my reasons for being afraid to come forward. I left the police department with a clear conscious that afternoon. My heart went out to Mrs. Johnson. She was always a kind woman to me, but her son needed to pay for the crime he committed. I got home that evening around 8:00 pm. My tabby car Grayson was waiting for me like he did every evening. I plop down onto my living room sofa, kicked off my shoes and turned on the news. The police had caught Charlie. They picked him up from his job at the local chicken plant. I heard him telling reporters that he didn't do anything wrong. Maybe through his lying tongue, he did think he didn't do anything wrong. Mr. Chen seemed like a nice man. I know it took me awhile, but I'm glad I could bring his family some closure. I thought about my grandfather Benny. He had told me and my brother, when he was a teenager he had witness a crime that ate away at his soul for not telling anybody what happened. I refuse to let history repeat itself with me doing the same thing.