Charlena Williams

A Long Cold Walk

It was January 12th, 2008 and as 17-year-old Lucky sat in her Calculus class awaiting the bell to ring something just did not feel right. She was usually very involved in class and focused but today was different. One of her friends Latera in the class said “Ayo Lucky what’s up girl. You good”. Lucky responded that she was cool and just had some things on her mind. The bell finally rung, and Lucky could not wait to get home and see her grandmother. As Lucky begin to walk towards the door to exit the school Latera joined her on the walk home as usual and they chatted. Latera talked about the cute guys at school, prom, graduation, college, and all the normal things that teenage girls talk about. Today Lucky was not as interested in the conversation and Latera could tell. As they continued walking and were near Latera’s block, she said to Lucky “Girl I can tell something is wrong with you so just call me later if you want to talk. You know I got cha.” They hugged, said goodbye and Lucky continued walking home. See Lucky was a beautiful girl, about 5’8, brown skin with beautiful dreadlocks, smart, and talented in many ways but she was a loner. She had a few friends but really enjoyed just being with her grandmother. Her grandmother was 65 years old and battling some medical conditions. She always felt the need to make sure her grandmother was okay and never wanted to be away from her for too long. As she walked through her neighborhood that eerie feeling suddenly came over her again but this time worse. Although she was used to this feeling having grown up in an environment where violence, drug dealers, and being poor was common this feeling was unlike no other. It was normal to see the police, hear gun shots, or see fighting, and drug dealers so she was always prepared for the worst. She knew that something was wrong. Her heart began to race, and her mouth was extremely dry, but she continued walking. As she walked down the block that she lived on she could hear ambulances but again that was not uncommon. She continued her journey and as she got closer and closer to her home that she shared with her grandmother she noticed paramedics coming out of her house. She immediately begins to run towards them yelling and crying “That s my grandmother!!! What happened to her?” She kept yelling for her grandmother to wake up until one of the paramedics pulled her to the side. He explained to her that they received a 911 call from Tyler who was one of the neighborhood children she babysat after school. Tyler stated that after he got off the bus and entered Ms. Thompson’s home, he noticed she was not there to greet him as usual. He stated that she would have snacks for him after school but today that did not happen. He begins calling her name “Ms. Thompson, it is me Tyler. I am here! I am going to start my homework” He did not receive a response, so he decided to start his homework but after thirty minutes of not seeing or getting a response from Ms. Thompson he decided to go upstairs and check on her. He knew that there were a few times she was doing something in the attic or in her bedroom, so He walked upstairs to Ms. Thompson’s bedroom and there she was laying there peacefully. He thought that she was asleep and tried to wake her up, but she was not responding, and her body was cold. He immediately ran downstairs and called 911 but when the paramedics arrived, they attempted to resuscitate her, but it was already too late. She had a massive heart attack. We are very sorry for your loss and in the meantime, is there any family members that you can call to notify them of what has happened?”