Serenity
November 29th, 2007, 04:34 PM
Monday afternoon, I was called down to the office towards the end of last period where my dad was waiting for me. He told me my cousin Marcus had been shot. And killed. He just turned 18.
The story:
Marcus went to a rough high school, riddled with crime. He himself never got caught up in it- he was a good kid. Pretty much all the guys hated him because all the girls liked him better because he was sweet, funny, and fun to be around. My aunt and uncle recently took him out of school to homeschool him because he was getting so many threats to be jumped.
On Sunday afternoon, Marcus was leaving a friend's house. A car full of guys pulled up to the curb, one jumped out, ran up to Marcus, pulled out a gun, and shot him in the chest. There was no hope. When my uncle got there, the meds refused to let him touch his son's body because it had to be photographed for the crime lab. My uncle was forced to stand by and watch his son's body bleeding, surrounded by cold, uncaring people who unceremoniously put it in a body bag and hauled it off.
I've worn black all this week for him. The funeral is tomorrow.
It's amazing how much my family has come together now. 2 other cousins on my dad's side, Danny and his sister Danielle, go to school with me. We don't really talk much, in fact I don't really like them all that much. However, when I came into the school Tuesday morning, I found tough-guy Danny at a table alone, crying to himself. I sat down with him for the first time. After leaving his table, I saw Danielle and immediately collapsed on her shoulder, sobbing. Family members I haven't spoken to in months, years, have all gathered together to support each other through this. It just goes to show how something beautiful can come out of something tragic.
I am trying not to be bitter about Marcus's death. I didn't know him that well, and technically we're not related by blood anyway. But he was such a good guy, never did anything wrong against anyone else. And he was so young...I know there's nothing anyone can do to make this right, but what I do know is that the rest of us need to learn from this. We need to learn to not take life for granted, not take our family and friends for granted. I know we've all heard it before but, we don't know how long we'll be here. I don't want to die with regrets, wishing I'd called more often, wishing I'd been a better person.
Marcus was the kind of person everyone should be like, but someone couldn't handle the fact that he was a better person than them and so they stole him from us. Nothing can bring him back, but we will never let him be forgotton. He will be with us always.
The story:
Marcus went to a rough high school, riddled with crime. He himself never got caught up in it- he was a good kid. Pretty much all the guys hated him because all the girls liked him better because he was sweet, funny, and fun to be around. My aunt and uncle recently took him out of school to homeschool him because he was getting so many threats to be jumped.
On Sunday afternoon, Marcus was leaving a friend's house. A car full of guys pulled up to the curb, one jumped out, ran up to Marcus, pulled out a gun, and shot him in the chest. There was no hope. When my uncle got there, the meds refused to let him touch his son's body because it had to be photographed for the crime lab. My uncle was forced to stand by and watch his son's body bleeding, surrounded by cold, uncaring people who unceremoniously put it in a body bag and hauled it off.
I've worn black all this week for him. The funeral is tomorrow.
It's amazing how much my family has come together now. 2 other cousins on my dad's side, Danny and his sister Danielle, go to school with me. We don't really talk much, in fact I don't really like them all that much. However, when I came into the school Tuesday morning, I found tough-guy Danny at a table alone, crying to himself. I sat down with him for the first time. After leaving his table, I saw Danielle and immediately collapsed on her shoulder, sobbing. Family members I haven't spoken to in months, years, have all gathered together to support each other through this. It just goes to show how something beautiful can come out of something tragic.
I am trying not to be bitter about Marcus's death. I didn't know him that well, and technically we're not related by blood anyway. But he was such a good guy, never did anything wrong against anyone else. And he was so young...I know there's nothing anyone can do to make this right, but what I do know is that the rest of us need to learn from this. We need to learn to not take life for granted, not take our family and friends for granted. I know we've all heard it before but, we don't know how long we'll be here. I don't want to die with regrets, wishing I'd called more often, wishing I'd been a better person.
Marcus was the kind of person everyone should be like, but someone couldn't handle the fact that he was a better person than them and so they stole him from us. Nothing can bring him back, but we will never let him be forgotton. He will be with us always.