How Are We Not Dead?

The majority of my stories from my past are funny but I do have some scary ones. Here's one that when I look back I say to myself, "Thank God we made it out of that one alive."

Channelview 1994 - Second semester of my senior year.

In 1994 Latischia and I started running around together. We were both really sheltered girls that thought we had a handle on everything. We thought everyone was basically good and even if they weren't good...we were indestructible.

We met these two guys one night and exchanged pager numbers. The boys came over to her house a couple of times and we all talked on the phone...we thought they were harmless.

One night, we get a page from them and when we called them back they asked us if we could do them a favor. When we asked what it was they said they needed us to drive them to Greenspoint to pick up some "cookies."

OK, for those of you who don't live in the Houston area, Greenspoint is pretty much the ghetto and back in 1994 it was even worse because they had not yet built the police substation. Laticshia and I, being the good girls from Channelview, had no idea that Greenspoint was bad. We never went that far north...there was never any reason to. And when they said they had to pick up cookies, I thought Nestle Tollhouse, drugs never even came to mind. So, we pick the boys up...Latischia was driving, and one of the boys asked me if I wanted to get something to drink for the ride. Being 18 and a novice when it came to alcohol consumption I said, "Sure, get me some Strawberry Hill." (I was 18, what do you expect...Boone's Farm was easy to come by.) So, we're driving to Greenspoint and I'm drinking my classy wine drink. We finally make it to Greenspoint and we go to some apartments, Tish and I are told to wait in the car and they will be right back...

A half an hour later, they get back in the car and tell us they need to go to their friend's house in Cloverleaf. (People not from East Harris County - Cloverleaf is almost as scary as Greenspoint...it's just more compact.) So, we drive to some crappy, little apartments - it wasn't even a complex, just some old house that was converted - and we all get out of the car and walk in. Remember, I have drank an entire bottle of very cheap, very bad wine so I'm drunk. We walk into the apartment and I see a guy that was friends with one of my exes, his name was Big Dave. We hug and say hi and then, the boy that bought the alcohol for me looks at me and says...

Him: Hey Mandy.
Me: What?
Him: Come here.
Me: OK.

He leads me into a back bedroom and closes and locks the door. Then about 4 different guys come out of the bathroom and are looking at me.

Me: Who are they?

Latischia: *Banging on the door* MANDY, OPEN THE DOOR!!!
I go over and open the door
Me: What?
Latischia: We have to leave now!
Me: Why, what's wrong?
Latischia: Mandy, there are guns in the window and cocaine on the coffee table, we have to leave NOW!
Me: OK, let's go.

So, we get in her car and leave. But, for some reason, all the boys follow us back to Latischia's house. How they got in, has escaped my memory...I was still a little drunk at this point. So, I start walking back to Latischia's room to change clothes and those same boys start to follow me...then, Big Dave says, "Mandy, come here, I want to show you something in my car." So, I follow him outside and he makes me sit on the hood of his vehicle...

Big Dave: Look at me.
Me: What?
Big Dave: What are you doing? Why are you hanging out with those guys?
Me: I don't know...we've all just been talking and having fun.
Big Dave: You don't need to associate with those two anymore and you need to be careful who you drink around.
Me: Why?
Big Dave: Do you have any idea what they were about to do to you in there?
Me: No, what?
Big Dave: Mandy, you're smarted than this...they were about to rape you.
Me: Oh my God, are you serious?
Big Dave: I'm going to go get everyone out of there...don't talk to these people anymore.
Me: *dazed* OK, thanks Dave.

And with that Dave bends over and kisses me. He goes in the house and get everyone out and they leave. I saw Big Dave a couple of times after that and then we lost touch. I'm not sure what happened to him or where he lives now, but I do hope he is doing well.

Thanks Dave!

Until next time...

Mandy