You are Here: Finding Yourself in Middletown “Where the hell are we goin’?” I ask again. “Well, I told ya…” George says, but I’m not hearing it. “Don’t give me that shit. Why are you two giving each other looks like you’re up to something?” They look at each other again. Both of ‘em got their eyebrows raised. Sam turns around and looks at me with a big smile on his face. “You got any money?” he asks. “Now you know I ain’t got any money.” “Well, how about we get some,” he says pulling something from behind his shirt. He lifts his hand over the seat and is holding a gun. George turns his headlights off as we drive into Lover’s Avenue. There’s another car just ahead of us with two White folks in it; a boy and girl looking to be around our age. “You know we can’t do this,” I say. “Who says we can’t?” Sam still has that smile on his face. I almost think that he’s going crazy over having a new car. “Man, my dad can get you a job driving for some White folks on the other side of town. You can get money that way, but this just ain’t right.” I put my hand on his shoulder to comfort him, but it only pisses him off. He takes my hand and places the gun in it. “You scared ain’t ya, Sam?” Sam asks. “And you’re not?” I ask back. “If we rob these White folks, we’ll never see the break of day again.” “Calm down, Sam. We’ll get the money then leave town for a while. Wait till all the commotion is over with then come back,” says George. I can’t believe the words that are coming out of his mouth. The both of them were crazy. “Don’t tell me you don’t need money or a car of your own. Don’t you get tired of George haulin’ us around everywhere?” says Sam. I take a second to think. I did need some money. It would help mama and my little sisters out a lot. “Ok,” I say giving in. “Let’s do this and get the hell outta dodge.” George parks the car a few feet away from the White folks’ car. We get out and sneak up to ‘em. I put the gun through the open window and point it at this White man’s head. “Give us your money!” The White man turns around and immediately I recognize him. He used to come to my old shoe shining stand a year ago. I put the gun down and hand it over to Sam, who’s standing right beside me. “I can’t do it.” “Just get outta here. You ain’t no man. A man can handle business!” yells Sam. He points the gun back at the White man’s head. “Give us your money, your jewelry, everything! We want it all!” I can’t believe this is really happening! Sam and George are really robbing these poor people. I take off running knowing in the back, front, and the sides of my head that nothin’ good was gonna come out of this. I headed for home, but before I could even get to the end of the street, I hear a gunshot. I run even faster with barely any breath in my lungs and without turning back.
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