Chuck asked us to write about a world without guns... this took me a little while to do because, well, it had me stumped!
enjoy.
I had been searching high and low for a
piece just like this – even though the news said all of our weaponry had been
collected and destroyed.
And what a sweet piece it was!
I ran my hands over its contours – its beautiful
shape and feel, and how it felt in my hands was perfect!
No, it was ... meant to be.
It was mine!
I looked up at the dealer, “How much for it?”
“Hey dude, there’s others on offer here, take
your time.” He swept his hand over the table in front of him in the dim light
of his basement, “I’m not gonna be here tomorrow.”
“Can I pick more than one?”
“If you have the dosh you can have as many
pieces as you want.” He chuckled.
Holding the one I loved so much closer to
me, I perused the make-shift table of others on offer. I didn’t want to let
this one out of my sight, just in case it would vanish if I put it down, “Well,
we haven’t discussed prices yet.”
“The nice piece you have in your hot little
hands there, sonny-boy, is a neat round sum of $50. But there’s bigger ones
which have multiple uses – unlike that one you have in your hands.” He turned
and picked up a massive one which was leaning against the wall with a strap
attached to it, “You have this whopper to take some bastard out with; and you
can bet your bottom dollar nobody will be messing with you if you bring out
this bad boy!”
I hesitated, “Well, I don’t want to be
caught with something like that on me... not by the police or the government. I
want to have something small enough to get away with; yet big enough to scare
the shit out of the assholes out there.”
The dude shrugged, “Well, okay... the piece
you have there is good for everyday use. But may I interest you in having
something for around the house?”
“Okay... what have you got?”
He opened an old, wooden cigar box and
showed me a pair of nicely-cared for pieces, “These are perfect for home
protection... I haven’t had these very long and am prepared to sell them to you
– with that one there – for $1000. This box comes with its own lock and ammo.”
I didn’t hesitate this time around. Pulling
out my wallet, I took out one of the money clips I had there with my dosh in
$1000 sections. The first one came out, I unclipped it and handed the money
over as he handed to box over with a key which he slotted into the lock, turned
it and the box unlocked. On top of the box he put gave me another two boxes of
ammo and wished me a good day.
Before leaving, I slotted my single piece
into my empty shoulder holster, where my service pistol used to be; and felt so
much better about having it there. Then, I pocketed the ammo and locked the box
up before slotting it into a large pocket inside my trench coat and closing the
flap over.
I was now ready to leave the building.
Two days later, I was home looking over the
pieces I had bought with my hard-earned money; and I was pleased with my
purchase. Such a pity one was so heavy that I had to be careful how I wore my
jackets; and the others were to be stored away in a safe in my bedroom.
“Honey!” my wife’s voice called from
downstairs, “Are you home?”
Holstering the piece, I had purchased and I locked away the large cigar box and looked out of the bedroom
door, “Yes, I’m here!”
She slowly climbed the steps towards me, “So,
how did it go?”
“We got a real bargain.”
“The kids aren’t home for a few hours, can
you show me them?”
An hour late, she sat on the bed tentatively
touching them, “Okay, now I know how to use them, what happens if the kids get
a hold of them?”
I smiled, “They won’t. There’s two keys for
the box and that’s it... and we have a floor safe.”
“What worries me the most is if The Main
Departments will find out.” Her eyes locked with mine; knowing we’d both be
screwed if they did.
“Sir. Wake up.” I was shaken awake three
days later in the middle of the night, “Are you Captain Sean Allan Richards?”
I was blinded by a bright torchlight, “Who
in the hell wants to know? I’m the Captain of Police of District 12, Area 35 of
the Logan Quarter. So, get that torch out of my face. Who in the
hell are you!” I demanded reaching over
and turning on my bedside lamp, to find the bedroom filled with The Main
Departments people. My three children were standing in front of our wardrobe,
bleary-eyed without a clue of what was going on and the Department of Child
Services were ready to take them away, “Put my children back in their beds... why
are they here?”
The man in the mandatory bullet-proof vest
groaned, “We have reason to believe you recently purchased a few new – and illegal
– pieces for your protection. You know it’s illegal to own fire arms, Captain;
even for the police to have them in their homes.”
“Sean, just give them the pieces.” My wife
whispered, “So we can have our children back.”
I sighed, “Okay. You can have them.” I reached
under my pillow and showed my first one, “It’s not loaded... it’s one to use as
a threat; it’s why I liked it.” Getting out of bed, I knelt on the floor,
pulled out the key from my pyjama pants pocket (Jeanie had made this pocket in
all my pyjamas pants especially for this reason) and pulled back the rug covering
the lose boards. I took up two and placed my hand over the locking mechanism
where it clicked open, and I retrieved the cigar box, “There’s a pair in there –
and here’s the box of ammo that goes with them.” I put both boxes on the Glory
Box at the end of the bed, where they were retrieved by the man in charge.
“Is there anything else in there you shouldn’t
have?” he peered over my shoulder.”
“Just our last Wills and Testaments and my
wife’s mother’s engagement ring.” I said.
“Okay, then.” He nodded as he took the keys
to the cigar box and opened it. His eyes widened in admiration, “Woah, these
are really nice.”
“Thanks. I am the police and the guy took a
big risk selling to me.” I closed the safe back up, relocked it and replaced
the boards again, pushing the rug back over.
He pulled out one, opened the box of ammo
and smiled, “Yeah, but you didn’t know he was an undercover dude did you?”
“No. Why wasn’t I informed about him?”
Putting the piece down, he shrugged, “We
knew that you collected pieces; and just couldn’t live without them.”
“Neither can you.” I snapped, “Look at you!
You’ve all got pieces with you. The main thing is that you don’t have anything
that’s as nice as mine; and...”
He picked up the piece from the box and
pointed it at me, “Shut up and get on your knees.”
“Daddy!” my eldest girl screamed, tears in
her voice.
“What you’re gonna shoot me in front of my
family? Pretty cowardly seeing I’m unarmed.” I smirked.
A whisper came from behind me, “Captain...”
and a piece was shoved into my hands at my right hip.
I picked up on the impromptu assistance and
stood in the way of my children immediately as I raised my piece, ready to use
it, “Ally, get your brother and sister out of here.”
“I’ll pick ‘em off one by one.” He moved his
aim to my kids, and I moved with it, “Move!”
“No... you have the ammo and I only have
what’s here in this piece... this is an unlevel playing field.”
For a moment, there was silence.
For a very long moment of our lives – the longest
moment of not knowing what to do – silence engulfed the bedroom.
This was until Jeanie suddenly moved from
her side of the bed, throwing a box of ammo at me! Without moving, my hand
moved out and caught it from the air, cracked the box open and I tilted the box
sideways where a stick slid out ready.
Slowly, I slid that piece into my mouth, bit
down and the let the fresh minty taste fill my senses as I knew what to do, “Ally,
honey, get inside our wardrobes... it’s gonna get messy.”
“Yes, Dad.” She nodded taking her brother
and sister with her inside our wardrobes and pulling the door closed, “Can I
have some ammo?”
I chewed on it slowly: “No, it’s only for
adults.”
“Aaw, now you’ve got yourself all ready, let’s
go then.” He stuck his nose in the air, took off out of my room, down the
stairs! I followed him immediately out into the early morning light with my
piece drawn and ready to use, “Come on, Captain! Catch me if you can with your
useless piece! Pew! Pew! I’ll get ya!”
I dodged and snuck behind a tree, “Missed
me, you yella belly!” I took aim and: “Pew! Pew! Pew! Hey gotcha! Right in the
arm!”
