It was a quiet evening; pre-exam testing was scheduled for Thursday, Friday and in unusual Saturday classes so the girls were deep in study. Ching Lee and Marcy were in the kitchen; Lorrie and Vicky were in the living room. Jen was in the office working on her laptop.

I was in the kitchen working on supper. A food store run was a sure thing for tomorrow; we were scraping the floor of the cupboard to get supper tonight. We girls had to worry about our figures so salad was main course tonight with tomato soup and crackers. Everyone took a break to eat.

After supper I decided that I was going to do the grocery run tonight. The Food King was open all night. I finished the list and asked if anyone needed anything, then I wrote down the special requests.

When I arrived at the store, Channel 14 news was set up off to one end of the parking lot interviewing shoppers about the high price of groceries. Luckily they were busy as I went into the store.

I spent the next two hours shopping. I picked up a lot of extra things for the house; six girls had many more different needs than a house with just a couple. I ended up with two full rounded up carts. Six hundred dollars later and now in bags I was glad the pickup was a crew cab, I had the back floor and the seat filled up. I even put the heavy bags that were full of cans in the back.

When I came out of the store I noticed a group of Spanish speaking men standing off to one corner of the building. They were laughing and carrying on as well as drinking. I kept an eye on them as I was loading the truck. I returned the carts to the rack and as I headed to the truck two of them headed to the truck to meet me.

I arrived at the truck a moment before they did; I turned to put my back to the truck facing them.

The lead one pulled a knife, “Give me your keys and your money or I’m going to cut you up,” he said.

“Are you sure you want to do that? It’s my truck; I just bought it and I kind of like it,” I said.

He lunged at me in reply. He must have thought I would frighten and run. He had one surprised look on his face as I grabbed his hand. In a move I had taught for years I twisted his hand and arm then with an upward thrust shoved his own knife into his heart.

As he was going down his partner decided it was time to get into the act. At the same time the other two made the same decision and started towards the truck.

Number two was just as dumb as the first one but a little more of a showman. He made a wide amateur swing with the knife that I easily dodged and then he lunged at me. I side stepped the lunge and hit him across the bridge of the nose as hard as I could, breaking his nose. I added a palm thrust, driving the bones into his brain and killing him instantly.

The other two were close by then; they must not have had any weapons and thought they could win with their fist. A kick in the nuts doubled over the first one; he went down hard. I spun grabbing the arm of the second one doubling it behind him, breaking his elbow and shoved him head first into the door pillar of the Ford truck, knocking him out.

I reached into the truck for the extra cuffs that were in the consol, putting a set on each of the living ones.

I called 911, telling them the location and to send two ambulances, the police and the coroner. I then called Jenny and told her to bring my shoulder rig, the Glock, and a light jacket to cover it all. I also told her to bring the Crown Vic and one girl and to do it now, saying it would be self explanatory when she got here.

I could here the sirens just as the Channel 14 camera crew arrived carrying their portable camera with a light person.

The reporter said, “We got it all on film from the tower camera; we had it up and were recording some filler for a report. That was some fast action. We already sent it to the station for the 11 o’clock report. Are you OK, can we do an interview?”

“I don’t think it would be good for me to make a statement until after the police get a report,” I said.

I checked the pulse on the first two to confirm that they were dead. As I was doing that a deputy sheriff arrived with the ambulances from KIVFD close behind. I could hear more sirens in the distance getting closer. I backed out of the way to give the EMT’s room the do their thing; they confirmed that the two were dead.

Jenny showed up and handed me the shoulder rig saying, “Put this on over it,” as she handed me the light jacket.

The deputy liked to have had a fit.

Jenny pulled out her ID and said to the deputy, “You call your boss and I will call mine if we have to.”

About that time a state police sergeant – Jim Spears from the C-ville barracks – showed up and Jenny introduced us. He knew Jenny and that put an end to most of the crap from the deputy.

I asked the EMT’s for some cleaner sanitizer for my hands, I had blood on them that I wanted off. We walked over to the ambulance where they helped me clean up. They also wanted to know if I needed an ice pack. As usual the guys tried flirting a little.

Jenny had brought Lorrie with her. I got her attention and asked her to help me transfer the groceries to the Crown Vic.

“I’m going to be here awhile; the cold and the frozen items will be ruined it they don’t get in the refrigerator and freezer. You and Jenny can take the groceries home and put them away. It’s more than likely going to be morning before I get home by the time we get through with everything,” I told her.

We had just started when Vicky, Ching Lee and Marcy showed up.

The girls walked over to the police tape to look at the covered bodies then walked back to me.

Vicky said “I can’t believe four men attacked you, two of them with knives, you killed them and disabled the other two with no weapons and don’t have a scratch on you”.

“There may be no scratches but my soul will carry the scars a lifetime,” I said.

We finished transferring the groceries and they left, taking Lorrie with them.

The detectives arrived and the hard questions began. I told the detectives that the news guys had the entire thing on tape. Sergeant Spears went to get a copy from them. When he came back with the CD he loaded it on a laptop sitting on the back of the police cruiser. Jenny, Sergeant Spears, Deputy Carl Winters, SP Detective Walter Books and I watched the video.

Two minutes and ten seconds with two men dead, and two men in the hospital. Two minutes ten seconds the difference between being alive and dead. I knew it happened fast, I also knew I would relive it more than once, it was always that way. Some of them were just images in the distance. Some of them you got to watch the life leave their eyes as they went dark. I always seemed to relive it.

They played the video several more times, even slow motion. Then they played it one frame at a time. I turned and looked away I had lived it one frame at a time and didn’t need to see it that way.

The discussions, questions and reenactments went on for two hours. Finally everyone was satisfied. They said we were through, that I could go. It was a clear case of self defense. The county DA would have to make the final decision.

“I told the news guys I would give them an interview; do any of you guys want some PR time?” I asked. They all shook their heads no. Jenny said “I guess I get drafted.”

I called the news guys over and we gave them a five minute interview. By then they had most of my life’s story from the net so I threw in a plug for the college. Jenny threw in a plug for the Governor’s task force along with the normal safety in public places speech.

The sun was rising as we drove into the driveway. The girls had put all the groceries away. I grabbed a couple of beers and Jenny and I hit the hot tub to relax. We saw the girls off to college and Jenny and I went to bed. I held her close and found a restless days sleep.

Edit by Alfmeister