My Katrina, Part 11

Brett Mohar

Previously: My homeboys and I went to see our beloved Miss Mary. She layin’ flat out on her couch, flies buzzing all over her and nibbling at the bloodied part of her grandma dress. We tipped upstairs to the horrible sight of four of her grandkids all stabbed up. Ain’t nothin’ we could do but say Lord and then paddle downtown to help others get to the Superdome. That’s where one guard asked “What y’all doin’ out here?” We told him about Miss Mary and the guards asked us to lead them there—they followed our boat in their motorboat. Afterwards we returned to the projects. Soon as we get there a grandma come running up to me and say her little grandson gone missing.

When we got back to the projects and the grandma tell me the little boy went missing, I say to myself, Lord don’t tell me the killing got close to us now. That’s how I was thinking.

I asked, “When the last time y’all seen him?”

She say, he was out earlier playing with the other kids on the balcony. He looked like he was mad or ain’t feel good or somethin’.

First thing that came to my mind was to tell KK, Calio, and the others to spread out and go floor to floor looking for this kid.

We start searching, but the projects was one big building, like 14 apartments on each floor. And there were four floors.

I asked the other kids, “Where y’all last playin’ at?”

You know how kids are, they just say, “we went up and down, up and down.”

As we was searching, we kept responding to each other with our walkie talkies. Then I got down on the third floor and Calio hit the red emergency button and it goes dididididi.

So I answered and say, “Calio what’s up?”

He say, “Come up here right quick! Hurry up! So we all run up there to the fourth floor.

We entered the apartment Calio was in. He say open that closet right there. So we open the closet and we see the kid. He’s wrapped in a quilt blanket and not moving.

I say to myself, Lord, please please don’t let he be dead.

We didn’t see no blood and then Calio said, “He’s breathing.” We still didn’t know if this was the kid they talkin’ about.

God knows, lookin’ at that child, I’m thinking, Please let this be the right kid.

So Calio went down to the third floor to get the family that say their little boy was missing.
The grandmother and the mother went running so fast. Everyone already knew about poor Miss Mary and her grandkids being murdered and all. We all feeling we balancing on a long, sharp edge. I know I told you this, but Miss Mary was more a mother to me than a mother.

After the family come in, we showed them the kid in the closet and we moved aside. You shoulda seen the expression on them all face. The first thing out the grandma mouth, “Thank you Jesus.”

And then she told us he had said he was tired.

God knows the feeling of this family really touches me. I’m so thankful this kid all right.

After that things calmed down for a while. But not for long.

To be continued . . .


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