2 With Spirit

5:36 a.m., October 25, 2003

The window next to the bed was raised just enough to allow a breeze to drift in. I’d been asleep for a couple of hours, the sound of sirens in the distance woke me.

The air was different, charged. So much that I commented outloud to myself, "so much electricity in the air….can almost see it spark." My eyes traveled slowly down the wall to the corner, then along the adjoining wall, all the way around the room. The air was vibrating, like the sound of an electric transformer on a utility pole- could hear it, feel it, ….almost see it…

I was sitting there glued to the bed when I remembered something I’d left in the car the night before. Rick had told me in no uncertain terms not to forget it  because it would get stolen. Damn! can’t believe I forgot that. I jumped out of bed and walked to the front door. When I stepped outside -there it was again- the buzzing – not as strong, but still there. I walked down the driveway, cutting between the 2 cars parked there. Flashing lights and the sound of a revved motor caught my attention. I looked up as a police patrol car flew by. As it passed, the officer turned and looked at me, making direct eye contact. I remember thinking to myself, "wonder who pissed them off? …whoever it is, may God protect and watch over them."

Two hours later, I would wake to the sound of my sister screaming and beating on my front door. "Ricky’s dead," she would say. Later that day I remembered the electricity in the air and realized it was you dying a few short blocks away. The police car that raced by was in route to the scene of the crash. I wonder, when he looked me in the eyes, was he thinking, "Your husband’s dead, lady. He’s dead."