I Was 13 When I Found a Man Bleeding in the Street

When I was 13, I found a man bleeding out from a gunshot wound on the side of the street in Edgewood, Maryland—and it changed everything. I later learned the man died, and one of the suspects was the older brother of a girl I once loved, who’s now been missing for years. This is a story about violence, survival, and the unbearable truths we’re forced to carry far too young.