I'm What You Call a Writer

Chapter 2: Give me a Sharp Knife

It was good to be alive. The following afternoon I was so thankful to be back in my Berkeley apartment and resting from that horrible trauma. Local dog walkers and joggers saw my footprints that I had left behind in the park, and that was where California Coast Guard managed to find me at the bottom of that mysterious hole. They were able to get me out of there via a helicopter airlift. At the scene, they treated me for minor injuries to the hands, legs, and face. Marin County law enforcement professionals were also on the hand to recover those gruesome body parts. As anticipated, legal proceedings required a prompt, thorough, and systematic investigation.

I told them everything I knew, and told them I had nothing to do with the killing of anyone nor the discarding of human body parts. And told them not to call me or contact me going forward. Straight to the point, I wasn't the murderer or the person of interest they were looking for or going after. The thought of going to jail for a crime I didn't commit ran through the back of my mind from time to time. There was no way I would let that happened.

This apartment unit truly felt like home to me, the comfort of home, or home sweet home if you knew what I meant. After graduating with a 1.7 grade point average from Oakland High School, I took a gap year before enrolling in Berkeley City College. I spent that year helping out Uncle Henry in his restaurants, and traveling to places like Mendocino, Eureka, Crescent City, Humboldt County, and Redwood National Park. With a little bit of saving and federal financial assistance, I was able to rent an apartment unit with my friend David just a few blocks away school.

It was time to recuperate, refuel, reflect, rejuvenate, and recharge. I took a quick shower, and ordered some foods from Mad Buns Eatery, my favorite Vietnamese sandwich place in all of Berkeley. They always had long lines, no matter what time of the day it would be, and most of their customers were UC Berkeley students and staff. I had the options of ordering by phone or online, and of course, I chose the latter because it was the easiest and fastest with the matter of a few clicks. For any orders over $20.00, the delivery was free and complementary, just to my liking. I decided on the popular Hanoi-style lemongrass pork sandwich with hard-boiled egg and avocado and extra meat; for starters, I craved for their crispy and crunchy egg rolls, and lastly, their salt and pepper garlic fries.

As I waited impatiently for the delivery person to come to my apartment, I opened my mini-portable fridge and made myself a refreshing root beer afloat. Then turned on my laptop to check out the latest scoops and gossips around the bay. The first thing I read was, "Breaking News: Berkeley Police shoot, kill knife-waving suspect".

Portion of the content read the following:

...person allegedly wielding kitchen knife, shot dead after a long dispute near Berkeley Main Library at the corner of Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue. Road closed for both ways until further notice. Law enforcement advised drivers to avoid that immediate area whenever possible.

Berkeley Public Library spokesperson also announced that the downtown library would remained closed for the rest of the day following the death of Robert Eisenberg, 59, a black homeless man killed by Berkeley police this morning.

"This is a very difficult situation for everyone including all staff members. Patrons notified library security guard immediately when they saw a homeless man was cleaning himself in the public bathroom. Library policy clearly states bathing, showering, laundering and other inappropriate uses of the bathrooms are not allowed at the Berkeley Public Library. The guard approached the homeless man and informed him politely to leave the building. The man wasn't cooperative, and that was when we called Berkeley Police to the scene. The situation escalated and became much worse than what we could imagine."