Shots Fired! Lost Opportunity. My Life
Edward E. Felder, Jr. - MBA
TheFundingGuy.Com Private Lender, Hard Money Lender, Buyer Of Ugly Hotels + Distressed Apartments. Nationwide!
He was hell-bent on revenge. I remember it like yesterday.
Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow!
Pandemonium broke out! It was New York, New York! The city that never sleeps. For those fleeting seconds for the people, I knew it was more like the city they'd R.I.P in.
Bullets were flying all over the dingy, rat-infested train.
There was nowhere to hide.
No one to cling to! They were trapped.
Hearts were racing. The lights flickered. It was every man for himself.
Damn the woman and children!
They were trampled on, kicked, and for all intent and purpose, shoved to the forefront of the mayhem.
It December 22, 1984!
When the smoke cleared, 19-year-old Darrel Cabey, who I mercilessly torched on the basketball court across the street from our 21 story housing project, lay paralyzed with brain damage.
9 days after letting off 5 rounds, and escaping via the grimy subway tunnels, Bernhard Goetz surfaced unrepented to a crowd of joyous New York City reporters!
Although it was alleged, that he screamed, "You don't look too bad, here's another," before lodging the bullet that made Darrel a paraplegic, Goetz was given the keys to the city, and hailed as a hero!
The first shot hit Canty in the chest; the second struck Allen in the back; the third went through Ramseur's arm and into his left side; the fourth was fired at Cabey, the 5th hit him in the back!
Damn, my boy was paralyzed!
Goetz who let off the first shot less than 60 seconds after entering the subway claimed he feared for his life.
He calmly shared how he was robbed years earlier and vowed he'd never be a victim again. No How! No Way!
He said they asked for $5.00 too aggressively. They said they were only panhandling.
My neighborhood was pissed.
Every day after that, I watched my back intently.
The only thing I could think about was how the hell am I going to escape New York.
I was in survival mode!
Every little step I took, I was prepared for it to be my last.
I wanted wealth for my family! I wanted to blow up, rather than be shot up.
From that moment on, I dreamt of being an entrepreneur. I slept with Black Enterprise Magazine under my pillow the remainder of my senior year of high school.
I wore $1.99 skips, but my mindset screamed new money!
As I saw Darrel wheeled around the neighborhood watching me on the basketball court . . . I quietly cried But God!
33 years removed from arguably the most pulverizing shooting in my hood (New York City) . . . on the eve of Christmas, I boldly cry thank you God!
33 years removed from arguably the most pulverizing shooting in my hood (New York City) . . . I still cling to and sleep with my Black Enterprise Magazine underneath my pillow.
Although, there are many who shout, damn the woman and children! ( Politicians )
Although, you might feel paralyzed with bullets flying all around you ( excess bills, bad relationships, etc. ) and you feel trampled on, kicked, and for all intent and purpose, shoved to the forefront of the mayhem, and you tell yourself there is nowhere to hide, no one to cling to, know He'll make a way out of no way.
I'm told that he knows every tear you've cried and every hair on your head.
In 2018, I joyously await your But God story!
If he did it for me ( help me escape the impossible) He'll do it for you.
In 2018, I'm stepping waaaaayyyyy out of my comfort zone and releasing a FREE spoken word album entitled " Street Cred : My Life, My Struggle, To Wealth Do We Part"
I pray it inspires you to reach your greater!