I once stood in a room with five people, the year was 2012.
Two of them are dead now.
True Story.
My Life.

S, V(r.i.p), C, C, R(r.i.p).*

We all witnessed LeBron win his first championship with the Heat.
We played pool, had some beers, discussed politics, and watched the game.
Two of them are dead now.
I know the victims and the accused killers
Three of us are alive still.
One of them is my best friend.
The other a friend of a friend.
They deaths were unrelated.
Both were aggravated.
One execution style.
The other worthy of a Cain and Abel reference.
What troubles me at night is the night we all were watching the game...
One was my best friend older brother.
The other I never knew but ran into them once
On the unpredictable, unforgiving
streets of my hometown 'Wartown'
and never saw them again until.

The First One happened 6/18/13
....
'Blood splattered the walls
of a large room that served as the kitchen,
dining and living room-area of the three-story house.
Bullets pierced an adjoining wall.
Blood soaked a cushion of the living room couch.
The odor of bleach permeated the air.'
said John Doe on his arrival to the local Sheriff's office.
Authorities called the killing
a planned “execution-style slaying”
and labeled it drug related.
Authorities also recovered a .45-caliber Glock
handgun believed to have been used in the slayings
as well as a yellow Ford 2004 pickup truck
believed to have been used to transport the bodies
to a secluded wooded area.

.
The End

The Second one 7/6/13
The story of my best friend and kindred spirit.
I remember the morning my friend C
from up the road
ran down to my house and woke me out of my sleep
saying come quick there's been an accident V hurt.
I'm remember rushing up to the regional Hospital
early in the AM with my pajamas still on.
I  remember getting and first being denied access to see my dear friend
who was hanging on by a thread of life
because it was "on the blacklist"
We finally gained access to the proper codes
to visit him.
I entered the room slowly and braced myself.
Instantly breaking down as I witnessed my dear friend
motionless
unable to breathe on his own
the look in his eyes
pierced through my soul and water
released from my tear-ducks.
All the memories raced though my head
All the plans we had ran through my mind.
I remember holding my friends hand and whispering in his ear
as he lay on his unknowing deathbed unconscious and on life support.
"Vonnie it's Sean, I'm here man, I came as fast as I could, you can make it. I love you bro"
I once stood in a room with five people.
Two of them are dead now.

Moral of these stories:
Tomorrow's not promised.