Having Nice Things And Dying For It

I want to talk about Christopher Evans who was carjacked and murdered by some other teenagers that lived down the street from him. This is a sad story with all of the worst components of growing up in the city. It’s all disturbing and sadly familiar because these same things were going on when I was a teenager.

One of the worst things that can happen to you is someone that knows you planning to rob you. It almost assures that they won’t let you live. That’s why New Orleans has so many murders to cover up other crimes. Once those two guys decided to rob him it would have ended in someone being shot eventually even if it didn’t happen that night. The second thing is the carjacking part. They lived so close to this kid that I don’t think they were trying to steal his car. I think they assumed he was selling drugs and they wanted the money or the dope. The kind of ignorance on the streets breeds those assumptions about anyone in their age bracket who appears to be doing well. I remember when a friend of mine thought it was cool that guys in the neighborhood thought he was selling drugs because he had a lot of outfits. I told him it made him a target and he would do better telling them that his parents bought all that stuff because he didn't want any of those desperate guys kicking in his mom's door searching for his imaginary stash. Luckily when he did get robbed for his Starter jacket no one got shot.

I don't know how you train a kid not to like the things that all the other kids like. I used to really want a 1993 Cutlass Supreme. I thought that was an awesome car and was saving up for it. My girlfriend at the time told not to buy it. In her words it was a “drug dealer’s car”. That was a damn shame but she was right. People do question your activities by the kind of car you have and the way you dress. Having the right car and rims attracts a lot of attention and it isn’t always the kind you want. It’s not Christopher’s fault that he liked nice stuff and had a nice car. If he worked for his money and fixed up his car then he should be able to do that. It’s just a damn shame you have to be careful of the things you want to do for yourself just in case you happen to be around some ignorant, jealous kids with no home training that will want to take it from you. We have a long way to go.