I knew today was not a good day to go to Wal-Mart. Now I’m standing in line with some fool pointing a gun between me and the cashier. Julius just had to get this videogame today. I told him to wait; plus I was still in my bed when he called. I got out of bed for this?

            Julius grabbed my hand as soon as masked man pulled his gun. When he did that, I got the feeling that something bad was going to happen to us. My feelings are rarely wrong. My grandma calls it a gift. All the women in my family have it. It’s like intuition on steroids. You just absolutely know.

            I squeezed Julius’s hand. The masked man screamed, “Don’t move,” and continued to wave the gun between me and the cashier. He demanded the money be put in a giant, black garbage bag he pulled out his back pocket.

            I felt Julius pull me back. I dug my heels into my sneakers and kept my feet stationery.

            “Don’t,” I whispered to Julius without taking my eyes off the man. But of course, Julius didn’t listened. He never listened to anybody.

            “Relax,” he said as he pulled me behind him and stepped forward.

            The man pointed the gun at Julius. I caught my breath. He better not die.

            Julius held up his hand. “I can’t have you pointing your gun at my girl.”

            “Well aren’t you Mr. Chivalrous?” the man replied. “Don’t try anything.”

            I tried not to roll my eyes. If we don’t get shot, I’m beating Julius’s behind!

            Julius didn’t respond and the cashier was putting the  money in the bag as fast as she could. I wondered where the security guard that was breathing down my neck earlier was. He was following me around like I was going to steal everything I had in my cart. I can afford basketball shorts and Gatorade.  I wanted to tell him to go look for someone who might actually be stealing something.

            Just then, the too-serious security guard appeared. I heard struggles at the other registers. The masked man was not alone and neither was the security guard.

            The masked man turned to investigate the noises of struggle with his gun held high in the air. The security guard tried to snatch the gun, but failed. The masked man pulled the gun back towards us. His tightened grip caused him to pull the trigger. Julius was shot in the chest. My heart stopped and we both fell backward. There were screams and panic broke out. I couldn’t breathe. I landed on my butt and sort of caught Julius; his head lied in my lap.  He was gasping for air as well. I realized I was having an asthma attack. I searched for my inhaler. I heard sirens. Police officers stormed into Wal-Mart. Before we both stopped breathing, I realized I left my inhaler in the car.