This weekend’s Trifextra challenge is calling for something different. Non-fiction, as in “a real account of a period in your life that can be clearly identified by (wait for it) the number three.” And it must be 333 words or less.
I thought about it for a while until I finally came up with two real life experiences. After vacillating between them for a while, I finally decided on this one, figuring the other to be better suited for a much lengthier piece. My life is full of arbitrary, defining moments. And I would certainly count this experience among them. Only the names have been changed.
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A memorable night made MORE memorable
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It was the night of my sweet sixteen party. There were nine of us celebrating our milestone birthdays that night. The event was perfect and, when it ended at midnight, my date, Gus, and I left with my friend, Sarah, and her date, Stephen. We were headed to a music club in the Marigny, a neighborhood just downriver of the French Quarter.
We had a hard time finding a parking spot and had to circle the block a few times before finally grabbing one nearby. As we stepped out of the car onto the sidewalk, three men … teens, actually … rushed us and demanded “Purses, wallets and belongings.” I remember staring into the eyes of the boy who couldn’t have been more than a few years older than me as he pointed a pistol directly at my chest.
I never moved or spoke. I froze and my bones and muscles all locked, as though by rigor mortis. The boy literally used his gun to knock the purse out of my rigid fingers.
But all three of my co-victims had distinctly different reactions.
My date, Gus, was oddly cool. He remained totally collected and produced his wallet with the speed and compliance of someone at the supermarket.
My friend, Sarah, was angry. Furious. The long string of relentless expletives that she thew at the three gunmen would have made even the saltiest sailor blush.
And then there was Stephen. Poor Stephen who had just been violently mugged over Spring Break two months earlier. Fearing for his life, he yelled “Run!” and took off on foot down the street. But there was a fourth man waiting at the corner. And he took Stephen’s wallet (but, mercifully, not his life) from him there.
As suddenly as it happened, it ended. I’ll never forget it. And it cripples me with fear as I think about my children creeping up on their teen years. I don’t know how my parents did it.
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OldDogNewTits 
Wow, that is frightening! Good thing no one got hurt
Thanks. It’s been a lot of years. Now I’m more afraid for my own kids.
Hell of a story. I like your friend Sarah. Everyone needs one of her.
good 333, dude
Agreed. I may have actually BECOME her a little as I’ve aged.
My heart was in my throat the whole 333words. What a scary experience. So glad you all were not physically harmed.
Incredible writing. I liked how you shared each person’s different reaction.
Thanks, Mel.
I’m so glad Stephen didn’t get killed. Good lord, to imagine those sons of bitches just stalking that parking spot. And you did everything RIGHT. You weren’t alone, you weren’t unalert. Wow. Scary.
Thanks, JQ. You crack me up sometimes. 🙂
How awful! I am glad no one was hurt.
ME, TOO!
Yikes! That street looks ominous. I would hope to be like Sarah because I can string an awesome line of expletive together. I know I wouldn’t run. Poor Stephen!
It’s a great area actually when guns aren’t being pointed at you.
Holy shit! That could have gone so wrong so easily. I have no idea how I would react. Thank God no one got hurt!!
And here’s hoping you’ll never know. 🙂
WHOA, how horrible for you and your friends. And to think how easily that situation could have turned deadly in a split second.
That’s always what I thought, too.
OMG! This started off as a happy party story… 😦
Well, I am glad no one got hurt – especially the kid that ran, and the girl who cussed them out. I have been in a couple somewhat similar situations, and I am always super nice to the person with the gun!
Well told.
He really deserves your manners and respect. :-z
This is horrifying (one of my many fears, actually.) I’m so glad none of you got hurt, especially the runner. In high school, a boy in my class was killed during a mugging – because he asked if he could keep his driver’s license. I think I would have been frozen just like you were.
That is awful. I’m so sorry. I actually pictured it in my head. What city?
It happened in Phoenix.
Never been there. Or not since I was a kid anyway. Just curious.
What everyone else said.
And what you said, well put. There’s a lesson in this.
Thanks, BT.
That is terrifying. I can’t imagine what I would do in that situation, but I hope I’d be like Gus. I’m glad you made it through that okay and I hope your kids never know a similar experience.
Thanks for sharing this with us. Be sure to come back tomorrow for the new prompt.
So scary! Like you, I keep relating this back to my kids. Heck of a way to end a birthday party.
Happy Birthday!
Thank you!!!