Chalk Line...

     Death can be so close up and personal, causing a trembling so intense, safe keeping can be anyone's guess, and bullet proof everyone's mission. For some to have a gun and not need it is as being a policeman without chalk line and have to run back to get some. Walking back home from the court house with her three small children, a young mother happened upon a scene to strike fear in any woman. A policeman was bending over a victim's body, and making a chalk outline from head to feet and back again. In silent disbelief, and quick steps she peddle her bunch beyond the flashing lights as her heart pounded in her chest while her children enjoyed a first hand view of the excitement. Not too many doors from where she lived, another dead teen lay without mercy on the same street that claimed so many before him. No one never knows just why crime and death go hand in hand, or just why death seems so final, all we do know is that no sooner the sun comes up or dies again, someone somewhere will get shot, and most likely die from their wounds.
     Waking up the next morning from what seemed a cold sweat, the young mother thinking of her children, decided to buy a gun just to be on the safe side. Yesterday in court, she learned that she is the sole provider of her children as the Judge granted her divorce and custody in one hearing. Very much use to the streets herself, but new to being a mother, she had an idea of what type of gun she wanted and walked in off the street into a pawn shop to make that purchase. The shop attendant was a female herself, and when asked about a gun, with a gleam in her eyes showed her female customer what her choices were. Before long, the woman had to sign this and that and also had to wait a day or two to make sure she was worthy to protect herself, for guns in the wrong hands make needing a gun all the more.
     The day came for our young mother to finally have her gun if indeed she could, so she made her way to the pawnshop to pick up and pay for her firearm.  The attendant with her boss, looked at the approval slip and took the money all in one motion, as the voices were  heard suggesting bullets as a package deal. Debating bread for the kids' lunch and bullets to keep them safe, safety won the match as she handed the store keeper her bundle of cash and in the exchange she heaped all in her purse and traded her steps for a revived trip to her home instead of the bread market. Some people need a bullet proof vest to be safe, this young mother felt she needed a gun instead.
     It's a wonder no one noticed her holding her purse a little tighter as she with quicker steps blazed a trail to her house and inside her domain, where she plunged on her bed with an eye for survival, steered at the sealing for what should come next. With the kids still at school and the house to herself, she pulled out her piece and got acquainted with it. Like a pimp his new, well...she made it known that it belonged to her and she was not about to take any back talking and it will respond when called and be ever ready when needed. It felt like it was alive in her hand, and the thought of having it, made all the difference for her in the world, for she was a woman with little kids and even a fool knows the sound of a gun shot.
     As a witty woman of the street she packed her pistol like ole pete, and putting on her go pick up the kids shoes, she slipped into her skirt and walked out her door a new woman, with a lift so much so that even her skirt had a smile. Holding the kids as they walked across the street was a bit different this time, for they had notice mom's pace was slower then usual, and before they knew it, they were enjoying the walk home as if seeings for their first time amid scenery  they now notice, whereas before they never had the time or space to do so before. They were a family with or without their dad, and not even mom knew a change had taking place, but the children felt mom's Ora and it fed them nicely. A few days a week when the kids were in school, mom would take her pistol and ride it at the pawnshop range, and man handle it like a beast to be tamed. With a gun permit to keep it on her person, and a small award to prove she knew how to use it, even the smell of the street slowed its stink to a minimal.
     Something about a confidant woman's walk in the ghetto, that makes for bad business. This young mother had a few admirers who did not take too kindly to rejection, and sized up their chance to make their odds favorable, and pushed up on a sister in such a way, that they knew her only option was to lay down and give it up. But what wanna be gangsta never could learn, is when a mother takes the time to purchase a gun instead of bread for her kids, one look into her eyes should have told them they got the wrong one. No, there was no need for a chalk line, but that mother came up out of that situation without a wrinkle in her garments, nor a tightness in her panties. The word did not get out as to what she did, for even a fool knows when to keep his mouth shut, but she wore a badge that said Mom, and her children now had a new lock on the door, and Mom was cool with it...nj