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CLOSE_GUNSHOTS
August 17, 2013
This afternoon, Dangerbaby and I had just
eaten at Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe on Telegraph
at 18th Street, in Oakland, on the border of
the "Uptown" neighborhood.
I wanted to peer in the window of Duende's
around the corner, and I saw that for once
the Bibliotecha bookstore was open when I
happened to be around, so we stopped in
there. Soon after, there was the sound of
loud echoing gun-fire outside.
Glancing out the window, I could see an older asian
woman across the street, she was looking fearfully
over her shoulder hurrying away to the right.
Dangerbaby commented on how close the sounds were
and asked about where they were coming from--
she doesn't have directional hearing-- I gestured
to the left, largely based on the behavior of the
Asian woman, and the people back at Rudy's who were
rushing inside.
I wondered vaguely if it were a good idea to be
just standing inside this plate glass window,
but the action seemed to have stopped. I could
hear a woman screaming up the street to the left,
and decided to step outside and look up the street.
I remembered my
There was a black guy lying on the sidewalk a social studies
block away, near the "Bad Boyz" hair salon, teacher commenting
directly across the street from Rudy's (where on how blood brings
our bikes were still locked up). There were everyone out.
a number of other people-- mostly black--
standing around, some were trying to help, THE_MIST
e.g. by covering they guy on the sidewalk
with a jacket.
Dangerbaby commented in anguished tones
"why do they keep doing that to themselves?".
I understood she was referring to black-on-black crimes.
This us/them distinction bothered me, though.
A girl on a bike pulled up-- slightly dark skin,
indeterminate ethnic background, a nose ring, I
think-- she said "I heard that all the way up I'm afraid from this,
the street. Did someone get capped?" and other comments,
I got a strong sense
I said I didn't know, someone was hurt-- of the spectators
gesturing up the street. (My impression is wanting a piece of
that they weren't killed, and Dangerbaby the drama.
later commented that when she saw the
paramedics working she had the impression
he was just wounded.) It had occured to me
that more than one
I shook my head and followed Dangerbaby person might've been
into the bookstore. The girl on bike shot, and that turns
commented "Where will it all end, eh?" out to be the case.
I made a palm-up gesture (as I often KGO news says 4 were
seem to these days) but said nothing. shot, one in critical
condition, all expected
Without speaking about it, we both took to live.
our time looking around the bookstore.
The story seems confused
It took the police a little less than and nonsensical, as such
ten minutes to arrive on the things often are:
scene... slower than one might like,
but actually a faster response time http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=9209964
than you'd get in many other places.
I picked up a couple of things (A
Geoffrey Household I was unfamiliar
with, in a slightly expensive and
inconvienient hardcover first
edition), and a D.T. Suzuki
paperback on Buddhism, originally I sometimes wonder
copyright 1947, and I would guess where Kerouac picked
one of the first things he published. up on Buddhism from.
It was most likely a
When we left, the street was blocked book like this.
off by a police car, lights flashing.
A block away, near the shooting, the ZEN_FLESH
intersection was cordoned off with
yellow tape.
Dangerbaby had to duck under the tape
to get her bike out of there. The cops Multiple people were standing
were all working on the other side of around at the boundary.
telegraph, and no one complained about A black guy was making
it. insider comments like
"It's always in front of
a barbershop".
I was getting the strong
sense that everyone
enjoys a good shooting,
The obvious point: much in the same way
am I any better? that everyone has fun in
Why am I writing this up? a blackout.
The actual reason I wrote
this up (at least as far
as I know): in retrospect,
I think my reactions sucked.
Standing around inside a
window, wondering if those
noises were really gunshots?
I should've ducked into
the back of the bookstore,
bringing Dangerbaby with me.
If I *wasn't* going to duck and
hide, I should've been out there
faster, when there might've been
a chance to see something important.
Did I note the time? No.
(It was around 4pm, that's DISTANT_GUNSHOTS
all I could say.)
Did I count the shots? No.
It was 6 or 8 or something
like that.
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