Drunk New Yorker

Chapter 3

"Ladies, we have arrived!" I said with a flourish. From the outside the apartment wasn't impressive, hell, the inside wasn't much better. The door had dents and one bullet hole at the upper right corner, not to mention a few alarming cuts that looked like they were done with a knife.

Choosing to ignore that, I then put my key in and struggled to get the door to open. The landlady showed us how to open the door but it was incredibly difficult, you had to put pressure in a specific spot to open it. After a minute or so I managed to open the door. As soon as I walked in I regretted it though.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" I shouted as soon as I heard the gun go off. There was someone in the apartment and that person was not excited to see me.

Quickly I closed the door and turned to face the two ladies in front of me. I didn't get a good look of the squatters face and I don't think I want to go back in. "So. I don't think they want us here." I said in a surprisingly casual voice. Jessie seemed to be genuinely terrified, but Jade, with her bleach blonde pixie cut, seemed to only be slightly fazed.

"No shit, Rylie. No shit." Jade said as she began to walk backwards down the hall to the stairwell. Jessie and I both followed her, Jessie kept looking over her shoulder nervously, I couldn't blame her for being nervous. Of the three apartments I have lived in, this is the first time I almost got shot, at least on the first day.

We all raced down the stairwell and went into the landlady's office. Our landlady, Ms López, was an old Cuban woman who constantly reminded us during our tour that she did not like to be bothered. But I think a random person shooting up our apartment is probably worth discussing.

As soon as we entered her office López looked up from her papers and said in her Cuban accent "Did your parents not teach you to knock before you enter?"

"Listen, I am going to cut straight to the chase, there is a person in our apartment and he nearly shot my roommate," Jade said gesturing towards me. This seemed to catch her attention and she put her papers down.

"Have you called 911, darling?" López said to Jade in a rather patronizing manner. Already she seemed to dislike Jade, or maybe that's just the way she talks to everybody. I looked over to Jade and she didn't seem to like the fact that López had pointed out something very obvious.

"Now we have," I said as I plucked my phone from my black purse and typed out the number.

"Hello 911, what is your emergency?" The 911 operator said in her oddly calming voice.

"Hi, so we just moved into our new apartment and there is a person in there," I said.

"Go on, ma'am."

"So this person has a gun and when I entered the apartment they attempted to shoot me."

"Did they hit you, ma'am?"

"No." I said looking myself over to be sure, I've been known to have a delayed reaction.

"That's good. So, ma'am, tell me, are you in a safe and secure place?"

That's when I realized that we had all been just standing around, in an unlocked room with no weapons, correction, López's nails could count as weapons, but other than that... All while a person with a gun was running around. Not only that but the people on the floor must have heard the gunshot, and they were all up there.

"Hey Jessie, can you lock the door?" I asked her quickly she locked the door and I heard the click.

"Wait should we be locking ourselves in, shouldn't we get as far as possible?" Jade asked to no one in particular. I then realized that Jade made a good point.

"Don't worry, darling, I have my own weapon," López said reaching into her drawer and pulling out a handgun.

"Is that how you stop people from asking for extensions on their rent?" Jade asked her, nodding towards the gun. I must say, Jade seemed smart but she is arguing with a woman with a gun sooo...

López simply stared her dead in the eyes and said "Yes."

"Anyways, yes we are safe." I said to the 911 operator. I am assuming she heard the conversation because she was quiet for a minute.

"Can you tell me where you are, ma'am?"

"Jessie! What's the address!" I said to her. I'm absolute shit at remembering anything beyond my own name and birthday.

"2753 Gateway Road. We're in apartment 6D." She answered me, nervously staring at the door the whole time.

I quickly repeated the number to her and she tells me that the police are coming.

After 30 minutes we hear the police come into the apartment building. Jessie unlocks the door and lets the police officers in. One of them raises an eyebrow at López but does nothing about it.

"I'll stay here with you ladies until we get the suspect." One of them says and the rest go upstairs.

Everyone nods but no one tries to make any conversation, it is incredibly awkward. Almost as awkward as when I was in middle school and a boy told me that he loved me and tried to kiss me, though that situation veered more on sexual assault rather than awkward.

Suddenly we hear the sound of gunshots and everyone looks up. Soon we also hear a thump. Even Jade and López seem to be concerned, the officer with us though also seems to be nervous. Probably because there is a good chance that that was one of his friends.

"Don't worry, it's more likely that the bullet hit their leg or something and they can't stand anymore." I said trying to lighten the mood, I then realize what I was said was highly inappropriate and everyone in the room stared at me like I was a serial killer. Except for Jade she is holding back laughter, and I do not think I want to know why.

Soon we hear feet thudding down the stairs and Jessie cracks the door open so we can see out. I see a woman in cuffs walking down the stairs and I also see two police officers carrying one of their colleagues around their shoulders. We all walk out of the room to see an ambulance and a news truck outside of the apartment building. A journalist comes up to Jade, Jessie, and I and starts asking us questions.

All I have to say is that this is not my worst moving day.