<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2017 a man shot out of his hotel window killing 60 people at an outdoor Jason Aldean concert. This man was named Stephon Paddock, he purchased a hotel room at the Mandalay Bay Resort for that night. Within one day Paddock drove 70 minutes from his house in Mesquite, Nevada to Las Vegas, Nevada, and in that drive, he brought over 20 suitcases filled with guns and ammunition. He checked in a little after three p.m. and workers at the hotel recognized him as a regular guest, as he played slot machines and visited the gift shop. He stayed in a corner room on the 32nd overlooking the Las Vegas strip. That night Jason Aldean was performing when what people thought was a firecracker started going off constantly. It wasn\u2019t long before people realized it was gunshots, people ducked and ran to the venue. The shooting lasted for a total of 10 minutes, killing, and injuring hundreds. After the shooting police were sent to his hotel room where they found Paddlock, with a self-inflicted gunshot wound (Hutchinson).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/em>I was driving back from my final trip to my house. The trip was only a little over an hour, but the time dragged as I got closer and closer to the Mandalay Bay Resort. This was already my fourth trip to my house to grab all the supplies I needed for tonight. No one knew what was going to happen tonight, but me. I had been preparing for weeks. I saved up all the money I would need to rent the hotel, buy the weapons, and buy the ammunition. After weeks of preparing, today was finally the day. These last few weeks have been long but today had been longer driving back and forth, to my house and back, but I can now see the Mandalay Bay Resort for the last time in the distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I haul my car and the trunk full of suitcases into the parking lot of the Mandalay Bay Resort. I look for a parking spot not too close because I don\u2019t want to draw attention to myself, but I also don\u2019t want to park too far away, because carrying that many suitcases that far could be problematic. I settle on a parking spot in the middle but off to the side, where not many cars are parked. I scan my surroundings and make sure no one is too close to notice me. I keep glancing from side to side to make sure no one is paying close attention to me. Finally, I start unloading my bags to take to the hotel. As soon as I get a few bags unloaded, a car parks in the spot right next to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I tense up and nervously look over at the car, as a woman stands up and gets out of the car. The woman is slim, in about her mid-50s, and has dark, long hair. She looks over at me curiously, probably wondering why one man would need this many bags. I try and act normal, continuing to unload my bags. She stops, looks for a second, and then walks over to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo you need any help?\u201d, the woman says joyfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before I could even utter a noise, she starts picking up my bags and unloading them onto the cart. I persistently tell her it is fine and that I don\u2019t need any help, but she insists that she has nothing better to do and can help me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy name is Charlette, I\u2019m here for the concert tonight. Are you going to the concert too?\u201d Charlette questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m Stephon and no I\u2019m not here for the concert,\u201d I say trying to keep a casual conversation to keep her focus off what could be in these bags. She keeps talking telling me about herself, her kids, and her now, ex-husband. I nod and agree with everything that she says because I am more focused on the bags than anything else. We continue the small talk when one of the bags falls to the group and slightly unzips. I freeze and look at the bag, from where I am standing you can see a gun, and cases of ammunition. Charlette can\u2019t see what is in the bag but if she takes a couple steps forward, she will see directly into the luggage. I try and hide my anxiety, and swiftly reach for the bag, but Charlette does the same. We both reach down, but thankful my hand lands on the bag first, and then Charlette\u2019s. We both tug on the bag, but finally, Charlette releases her hand, and I move the bag off to the side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We continue to unload and get to the last bag, and after all the conversation with Charlette, I have grown fond of her being there and talking with me. Then, Charlette asked me a question that I would have never expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat are your plans for the rest of the day?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This question hits me with a shock, and my body instinctually thinks that she knows something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUmm. Nothing,\u201d I say quickly, getting straight to the point. Charlette looks at me confused wondering why I am so nervous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, I was wondering if you want to go to the Jason Aldean concert with me tonight. It\u2019s right there across the road so you wouldn\u2019t have to go very far.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t take one of your tickets,\u201d I said trying to politely decline, knowing that I have other plans that involve the concert tonight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPlease,\u201d Charlette said, \u201cMy friend ditched me last minute and I have no one to go with me and I already paid for both tickets. You wouldn\u2019t want the ticket to go to waste, would you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I still kindly decline her offer again, but Charlette won\u2019t take no for an answer. She keeps asking and saying that she doesn\u2019t want to go alone. Then, I think back to the conversations we were having only ten minutes earlier, the compassion, and the happiness I felt being around her. Finally, after denying her countless attempts to get me to go, I give in and tell her that I will go. Charlette\u2019s face automatically lights up with happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since it was already close to the time of the concert starting, I take my bags up to my room and change quickly. I am walking out of the door, and I look back at all the bags and all the weapons I have unloaded in the room. All I can think about is Charlette, and what would happen if I went through with my plans. As I close the door behind me, I decide that as I close the door to the room, I am going to close that chapter in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I get downstair and meet Charlette and she is so excited, we walk over to the concert just in time for the opening act. Charlette runs into the crowd, and I follow behind her. We both dance and sing together, I don\u2019t think once about the plans I previously had before. The night goes on and we spend every moment of the concert together. The night slowly drifts away, the concert ends, and we head back to the hotel. On our way back we talk about how much we enjoy being around each other and how fun the concert was. We walk into the hotel and at the end of the night go our separate ways into our own rooms. I make it back and go straight to bed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I wake up the next morning to a call on my phone, it\u2019s Charlette. I pack my bags and load my car before Charlette meets me outside by our cars. I see her walk outside the doors, and as soon as she notices me, she raises her hand and waves. She walks over with a smile on her face. We say our goodbyes, but not our final goodbyes. We had already made plans to meet up in the next week since they both had realized they only live fifteen minutes away from each other. We both get into our cars and head to our own houses; the way home went by quickly. I thought about how I was going to start over, and how I will begin my new life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Works Consulted<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hutchinson, Bill. \u201cThe anatomy of the Las Vegas mass shooting, the deadliest in modern US history.\u201d ABC News, 23 December 2018, https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/US\/anatomy-las-vegas-mass-shooting-deadliest-modern-us\/story?id=59797324. Accessed 2 October 2022.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n