The Hip Hop Murderer. Dwayne Bowen
the ground, people came forward to say their final goodbyes, dropping flowers onto his casket.
After the burial, Bruce, Lisa and Joe walked back to the limo. Joe stood next to them and said, "Don't worry because justice will be served. I will make certain of that."
Once they all arrive at the church for the Passover, everyone eats and exchanges kind words about their fondest memories of young Bryson. While Bruce walks around thanking everyone for coming, Joe accompanies him. They overhear people mentioning how beautiful the arrangements were and how peaceful Bryson looked. Many could assume this was soothing for Bruce to hear and, for the most part, it was. But it just made Joe even more upset—so much so that he had to walk away into the men's room and punch the wall several times.
He then enters the bathroom stall, drops to his knees, and pleads, "Please God, please help Bruce through this tough time and please watch over my wife and twin boys, Bryan and Ryan...especially Bryan."
As he rises from the floor of the stall, he walks over to the sink to wash his hands. Looking in the mirror, he says, "Somebody's going to pay." As he exits the bathroom, he hears something. Listening closely, he thinks his ears are deceiving him. Looking around to see where the music is coming from, he sees a group of teenagers in the corner, listening to rap music. Joe decides to sit on the bench outside the bathroom and observe their behavior and body language.
Continuing to watch the group of kids, he notices them smiling at the song playing, mentioning that it was Bryson's favorite. At that point, Joe pops a peppermint before he gets up off the bench and storms over with a very angry look on his face, pounding his chest and balling his fists up. He reaches out for the radio and smashes it to the floor, yelling, "Have you kids learned nothing from the eulogy the pastor gave in church this morning?!"
Everyone's attention turns toward Joe and the kids. As they all look on, they point and shake their heads in disbelief at his actions.
Bruce runs over to Joe and pulls him back, saying, "Easy, man, not here...not right now!"
Joe yells back, "Why not now, why not here?! You just lost your son and these teenagers still don't seem to get it!"
Bruce looks Joe directly in the eyes with his head slightly tilted to the side, pleading. "Please Joe, for the sake of my family and Lisa, please tone it down." Bruce squeezes Joe's shoulders with both hands, trying to snap him back to reality.
Joe obliges his request but not before casting an angry look toward the teenagers and everyone else looking on. Then he storms through the crowded room, bumping into a few people as he heads outside to cool off. Flinging the church doors open, he walks down the steps, talking to himself. "These kids these days are ridiculous!"
An older woman walks up behind Joe and placidly rubs him on the back to calm him down. "God bless you. I understand your pain because I lost two grandkids from listening to this rap music. It's like no one cares enough to monitor what is being played on the radio stations or in videos these days. I just hope God helps you to find peace."
Joe slightly turns his head toward her. "You can say that again. No one wants to be held accountable for what's going on in our community."
"Don't worry, God is always watching—He'll take care of it."
Joe mumbled to himself, "God needs to work faster."
As the woman slowly walks away, humming an old gospel tune under her breath, Joe gazes into the cloudy sky, feeling a sense of peace overwhelm his body.
Taking a deep breath, he adjusts his uniform and heads back inside the church. Once he re-enters the crowded room, he notices that a handful of people are staring at him. Without making direct eye contact with anyone, he walks over to the table to make himself a plate of food. Just as he's putting macaroni and cheese on his plate, Bruce walks over to Joe, gently bumping into his arm. "Hey, big guy, you calmed down now?"
With a slight smile on his face, Joe says, "Yeah, I'm all right." He then turns around and extends his hand to Bruce. "I apologize for my outburst...I know that was a bit rude. I meant no disrespect to you or Lisa; you know Bryson was like a son to me."
"As hard as it is on Lisa and me, you know we're representing Bryson and 177 right now."
Joe responds with a pound and a hug in agreement. "177, baby."
Just then Lisa walks up to Bruce and Joe Joe. "Hey, sweetheart, can I steal you for a moment? I'd like you to wrap things up with a closing prayer."
Joe turned to Lisa. "Hey, Lise, how are you holding up?"
"I'm hanging in there; just ready to go home and mourn on my own, alone."
"Okay, darlin," Bruce responds, "lets go home. Joe, take some food back to the hotel with you because it's just going to go to waste here."
Joe replies, "Will do, man."
Chapter 2
Back to the Barracks
As they head back to the barracks in South Carolina, Joe looks out the window of the train while Bruce talks to him about their final weeks in the army.
Bruce says, "Hey man...you don't know how long I've been waiting for this month to come. It seems like we've been in the army forever. What the hell are we gonna do now?!"
"I don't know about you, B, but I plan on going home, making love to my wife, and putting the strap to Bryan if he doesn't straighten up."
"Why, what's going on with him?"
Joe takes a breath and continues to stare out the window. "Bryan is so into this rap music that I can't seem to fathom the person it's turning him into. His mom has been telling me that he's being very disrespectful toward her, not doing well in school, and always ripping and running the streets with this one, bad news crew. According to Leslie, it's not an actual gang that he's in but a clique that he always hangs out with that doesn't seem to want to go to school either."
"So what's your plan of execution, man?!" Bruce asks with concern.
"I don't know...I don't know, man. I'm gonna go home and hopefully God will give me the right words to say to Bryan that'll help guide him out of this dead-end he's headed down. All I can do is pray about it, man."
"That's all we have left to do at this point, my brother. I prayed for the strength to make it through Bryson's funeral and now I'm left with praying for strength to do without him in our lives. I pray God gives Lisa the strength to hold on until I come home. I feel so vengeful that I want to just go out and kill someone for taking my son away from me. You know...eye for an eye. Only thing is, I don't know who did it, but I guarantee someone at his funeral does. Until that day comes, I'll be waiting patiently for the son of a bitch. This hip hop music is so damn reckless and our kids are feeding right into it."
With his head tilted on the seat, eyes staring at the ceiling, tears start to stream down Bruce's face. "To be honest with you, Joe Joe, I'm dying inside and I know Lisa is feeling the exact same way. The army has occupied my time but every minute I'm not doing something, I'm thinking about my boy. I've been beating myself up about not leaving 5 years ago like I had originally planned. I know if I had left when I set out to, Bryson would still be here; I know that for a fact. This is all my fault, man."
Bruce puts his palms over his eyes and shakes his head in disbelief as if to seek understanding.
Joe looks over at Bruce and puts his hand on his shoulder, shaking his head in disagreement. "Bruce, this isn't your fault and you know it. We can't protect our kids from what God has ordained for them. I know it hurts to hear that but we have to believe it to be true right now. That is what's going to get you through these last weeks in the army. The last thing you want is to end up like Lester Reed. He thought killing himself was the only answer after his wife passed the same month he was retiring from the army. They had made big plans to see the world together once he was honorably discharged. But God had other plans for his wife."
Joe repositions his body so he can face Bruce. "You see, Bruce, things just happen that we have no control over and ninety-nine percent of the time,