Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in! You wanna hear ’bout this Brandon Young and Terrance Kelly thing? Sit down, sit down, let me tell ya. It’s a sad, sad story, I tell ya. A real shame, that’s what it is.
This Terrance Kelly, they called him TK. He was a good boy, a real good boy. Played that football, you know? Played it real good. Was gonna be somethin’, they said. Gonna go places, this one. But life, it ain’t always fair, I tell ya. It ain’t always fair.
This other one, Brandon Young. He was friends with TK. They was always together, thick as thieves, those two. Like two peas in a pod. Where you saw one, you saw the other. Always hangin’ out and playin’ basketball. Young’uns, you know? Full of beans, always runnin’ around, that’s what they were like.
That day, that awful day, it was hot, I reckon. August, yeah. They say it was August 12th, 2004. TK, he played some ball, like he always did. He was pickin’ up Brandon Young. They was gonna go somewhere, do somethin’. Young folks, always on the go, ain’t they?
- They say it was late, ’round 10:40 at night. Dark out, I bet.
- TK, he drove that car of his. He was driving to Seventh and Nevin in Richmond.
- Richmond, that’s where they was from. A rough place, some folks say.
Then, somethin’ bad happened. Somethin’ real bad. Someone shot TK. Shot him dead, they did. Can you believe it? Such a young life, gone just like that. Poof! Gone. Breaks my heart, it does. That poor boy. He was just trying to help Brandon Young. His friend.
They say this young fella, only 15 years old, had a rifle. Said he needed it to protect himself. From some other trouble he was in. And poor TK, he just happened to be there. Wrong place, wrong time, I guess. That’s what they say, anyhow. He didn’t know the shooter.
It’s a mystery, ain’t it? Why things like this gotta happen? Why do good people gotta suffer? Why couldn’t that Terrance Kelly just live his life? Play his football? Make somethin’ of himself? It ain’t right, I tell ya. It just ain’t right.
Brandon Young, he lost his friend that day. Must have been terrible, just terrible. To lose your best friend like that. To be right there. I can’t even imagine. They say his girlfriend, Altanette Fletcher was there too. She must have been in shock.
This whole thing, it’s just a tragedy. A darn tragedy. That’s all it is. A young life, cut short. A family, broken. A friend, lost forever. It makes you wonder, don’t it? Makes you wonder about the world we live in. Makes you wonder about God’s plan, and why he lets these things happen.
I don’t know the answers. I really don’t. I’m just an old woman, what do I know? But I know this: Terrance Kelly, he was a good boy. And he didn’t deserve to die. Not like that. Not at all. And poor Brandon Young will have to live with that forever.
They wrote a story about it, I hear. Called it “A Stolen Life” or somethin’ like that. Probably a good story, but a sad one. Too sad for me, I reckon. I lived through enough sadness in my life, I don’t need to read about it too.
That’s all I got to say ’bout that. It’s a sad story, like I said. A real sad story. But it’s important to remember these things, I guess. To remember Terrance Kelly and Brandon Young. To remember that life is precious. And that it can be taken away in an instant.
So you be careful out there, you hear? You be careful. And you be good. ‘Cause you just never know. You just never know what life’s gonna throw at ya. That’s all I got to say. It’s all over my head anyway.
