by Allen, J. C
“Oh, man, haven’t got that one before,” Derek said with a smirk.
“Never been to a shooting range, have ya?” Matty asked.
“No, I don’t have much experience with guns,” I admitted. “Well, not until recently.”
I saw Derek grimace at that and display feelings of guilt. I took his hand in mine, squeezing gently. I had to remind him that this wasn’t his fault.
I had already been thrown into this world before I’d even met him. And now, I chose to stay in this world. To stay with Derek, I would do whatever it took.
“Ain’t a big deal at all, sweetheart,” Matty said. “I suppose it’ll be makin’ things fun, startin’ ya from scratch. Naw dear, these here cover yer ears. If ya ever wanna hear Derek say somethin’ dumb again, ya better wear ‘em when yer shootin’ here.”
“Here?” I said in surprise, though I guess I shouldn’t have been. It’s not like Matty was wearing those for fashion. “Do you have a shooting range in here?”
“Not an official one, no,” Matty shrugged. “But I was able to rig one up easy enough.”
“Wait a sec, shooting lessons?” Derek said. “I thought you said—”
“I didn’t say nothin’ Derek, and don’tcha throw me under yer damn bus,” Matty said. “Cut it with the macho shit. Ya said earlier ya wanted Eve to learn self-defense, well, here we are. Eve needs to know this, Derek. Especially with Falcon and his crew out there. Ya know as well as I do that this ain’t over. Far from it, if Falcon has any say.”
“I guess,” Derek said, rubbing his hand over his neck. “I just thought you might have more relevant updates.”
“Bah,” Matty said with a snort. “This is relevant!”
“I know, but… I just can’t imagine that Eve actually wants to do this, you know? We had date plans, I just figured we’d make a quick stop. Think she’d rather—”
“I want to learn.”
Both Matty and Derek stared at me. Matty’s face filled with pride, where Derek’s was a mixture of pride and fear.
“For real?” Derek said.
“For real,” I said, deciding the less I said, the less I’d freak everyone out.
Matty was right, having confirmed all of my suspicions. With everything going on, I had to learn how to use a gun. Even if I still wasn’t comfortable with the thought, I needed to protect myself and I couldn’t rely on Derek all the time.
Matty nodded, seeming to decide that no more needed to be said, and turned back to where he’d come from.
“Seriously, for real?” Derek said. “I just thought it was something that you felt you had to do, not something you wanted to do.”
I was surprised to note that my reply was not something to assuage him, but a challenge.
“Are you going to stop me?”
Derek, too, didn’t seem to have anticipated this, because his eyes went wide.
“Just want you to be safe.”
Realizing that perhaps the agitation of the dream was still getting to me, I smiled and squeezed his hand once more.
“This will make me safe. I want to be safe. I don’t want to shoot for the sake of shooting. I want to shoot to be safe.”
Derek nodded, looked over to where Matty had gone, and led me in that direction.
I noticed that Derek seemed as confused as I was about where this supposed gun range was. I wondered just how recent this new “addition” was to the shop.
“She ain’t much,” Matty said. “But she gonna suffice.”
Matty opened the door to a room that looked to be an old storage closet. Inside, he’d set up two small booths built from what appeared to be old book shelves. On the far side of the wall, two long sheets of paper hung from the wall in front of both booths, and on the paper was a print out of a human outline with white dots that I imagined was used for targeting.
The answer to “how recent was this” was, apparently, five minutes ago.
Matty moved to a small table and picked up a smaller pair of the headphones he’d been wearing and handed them over. I looked at them, as if uncertain that I actually had to put those on.
“To protect yer ears, girly,” Matty said, shaking his head. “Ain’t ya never even watched a movie with a shooting range in it? Plenty of cop flicks out there show ‘em like this!”
“I have,” I protested. “But they weren’t shooting at people though… and I just didn’t recognize what you were wearing. Besides, we won’t have these in battle, no?”
“Jes’ make sure to secure ‘em on yer head,” Matty instructed. “And ya may not have ‘em in battle, but ain’t no use in killin’ yer ears when ya don’t have to. Not like yer using that bat sense with them ears.”
“Radar?”
“Yeh, sure.”
I heard Derek stifling a laugh as Matty helped me to one of the booths as I secured the ear muffs to my head. As soon as they were on, I was surprised to notice how little I could hear. They really did stifle quite a bit of the noise of the outside world.
Part of me found a strange peace in the new pseudo-silence; another part realized just how loud my thoughts could be without outside noise to distract them. I wasn’t sure how much they’d block out, but I suddenly had to focus on hearing Matty at that moment. Matty only stared for a moment before pulling one of the muffs off.
“Put these on after I instruct ya, okay?” he said, talking slowly to me.
I felt my cheeks flood with heat, embarrassed at how dumb I must have looked. I glanced over, seeing Derek preparing in the other booth. He gave me a reassuring nod and then glanced over at Matty.
“Be nice to her, Roost,” he ordered.
“Do yer own work, Derek, ya act like I ain’t ever speak to a lady before” Matty said before then turning to me. “I know it’s kinda scary, right?”
I would never say it out loud, but something about Matty could reassure me so much more than how Derek could. Maybe it was because Matty truly was like a big papa bear, making sure his little cubs were taking care of, whereas Derek was more of a partner than a protector. Not that Derek wasn’t, but I never had to worry about Matty being a certain way.
“Kind of,” I said, glancing down, surprised at how easy it was to tell Matty that. “I want to be strong, but I don’t want to kill. Does that… does that make me weak?”
“I get it, girlie, and don’t worry, Derek won’t let ya shoot any more than necessary,” Matty said. “Boy is maybe a little too protective, if ya ask me. And it ain’t make ya weak. If anything, yer stronger than that cat over there. He more likely to piss his pants and cry than ya ever were or are.”
“Thanks, Matty,” I said, chuckling softly at his mocking of Derek. “I get it.”
“There’s a smile,” Matty said, smiling in return. “Alright, let’s show ya how to shoot all proper-like.”
It didn’t take long before Matty had me familiar with the gun and its parts. He took it slow, but even still, I was surprised at how patient he was as he showed me everything, especially considering how little patience he seemed to have for Derek. Although, to be fair, I think that was more of a function of their relationship than Derek being a fool, despite anything Matty may have said.
After Matty finished showing me everything and was confident in letting me shoot, I slid the ear muffs on fully. I positioned myself, facing the target, and lifted the gun. I slid off the safety as Matty had shown me and aimed towards the head. After I had what I felt to be a good aim, I slid my finger over the trigger, preparing for the slight recall Matty warned me about.
I pulled the trigger.
The gun let out a muffled bang, and I could feel a thrumming vibration as the bullet was launched. While there was a definite push against my grip, I held steady and looked up, seeing the new hole that was through the paper target’s neck. It was strange how I had killed a man already, and yet here I was, learning the basics as if I’d never even seen a gun in my life.
I glanced over at Derek, who stared in amazement and then looked to h
is paper target, seeing that he got the forehead. I slid the ear muffs off when I was sure Derek wasn’t going to shoot again. I was surprised to find myself so invested in it, but I guess given the stakes, I shouldn’t have been.
“Did I do well?” I asked, saying the words like a child demanding praise from a parent.
“You did amazing! Especially for your first shot,” he said, grinning proudly.
“Yeah, yeah! Don’t stop now,” Matty ordered. “Ya got five shots left, use ‘em and then we’ll do this again with another gun.”
“Another gun?” I asked, biting my lip.
“Yeah, not every gun is the same, I’m gonna try and teach ya as many as I can,” Matty grinned.
“What are you doing, training me to be a Marine?” I said teasingly.
“Ya joke, but we got a few veterans on the squad here,” he said. “I can round ‘em up and they can teach ya if ya like.”
I couldn’t lie, this was so much more exciting than I had thought. Maybe since they were only paper targets, it didn’t matter nearly as much as it had when I shot Tyler. And maybe since the worst that could happen was that burned my hand, it felt like I was free to do whatever I wanted.
But… Derek was right in one way.
I did want to go on a date sooner rather than later if he felt sure of it.
But I also didn’t want to interrupt Matty’s training.
“I trust you, Matty,” I said with a smile. “You can keep training me.”
“Say no more, kiddo,” he said, disappearing for more guns.
I turned to Derek then, placing the pistol on the table.
“That was impressive,” he said. “We’d take my cousins here and it would look like they were trying to shoot everywhere but the target.”
“Thanks!” I said, unable to contain my excitement at my skill. “Hopefully won’t need to do this too much!”
“Not for much longer, if we can help it,” Derek said with a determined nod.
Before it went any longer, though, Matty returned with four different guns.
After learning the difference between automatic and semi-automatic, the different types of bullets, how to load a clip—“Not a ‘clip;’ it’s a ‘magazine!” Matty said—and so much more, I was definitely gunned-out for the day. I wasn’t sure how many rounds I had fired, but I was confident beyond any measure of doubt that it was far more than anything I had ever produced up to that point.
Even still, I definitely felt like I had a better understanding of guns and how to shoot. Who knew there were so many different techniques on just how to shoot and the proper way to aim? Either way, I was definitely happy when Matty had finished with his training for the day. I had satisfied the request of the bouncer of the club, and now, I got to satisfy the needs of the president.
Derek had promised me a date, after all.
“Alright, we’ll practice again in a day or so,” Matty said, glancing over at me. “Tara said she’d come to practice, too. Maybe ya two can have a girls’ day after or something.’”
“That’d be nice,” I said, stifling a laugh at the thought of Tara’s commentary while she shot.
It had been too long since Tara and I had really had any time to spend together. With how busy I’d been with helping Derek with the Saviors and spending time with him whenever I could, and Tara busy with the brothel, we both hadn’t been able to spend time together other than a few quick lunches or just talking on the phone. I missed her a lot and was glad I’d get to spend some time with her soon.
“You okay?” Derek asked, realizing just as he did, I had fallen into my own head.
“I am,” I said, smiling warmly at him. “Glad to be done with this training though.”
“Aw what? Don’t like spendin’ time with me?” Matty said, offering a pout that was super ridiculous on his face.
“You know that’s not true,” I said, wagging a finger at him.
“Good! Now, y’all get outta here and go on yer date,” Matty ordered, glancing over at Derek. “Gimme a call before you head out tonight, okay? Wanna make sure yer good.”
“I will,” Derek said, nodding. “Thanks again, Roost.”
3
Derek
Watching Eve hold her own on the target practice left me more than reassured that she would be fine out in the streets.
I had no intentions of putting her there. I had no intentions of letting anyone in my club put her out there—that seemed like pretty good grounds for laying down the law, Derek Knight style, with a few good introductions to my fists.
But at least if shit truly hit the fan—if this store got jacked, if my condo got broken into again, if somehow we got ambushed on our date—I knew she could defend herself.
“You’re a natural,” I said as we headed to my bike, smirking.
“Oh, please,” Eve said, her good natured side smiling through in full.
I was trying to be very cautious at first with my words, not wanting to sound too eager that she was excelling on the range. I didn’t want to make it sound like I saw her as a future Savage Saviors member—given all that she had come through, that seemed like a bad thing to implant in her mind.
But the more time that went by, the less I worried about it. It felt more and more like Eve was already handling that balance in her mind quite well, and if anything came out of it, it was just confidence, not self-doubt, not self-flagellation, not self-hatred. Just self-esteem and self-confidence.
“Derek!”
I was half a second from lifting my leg on my bike when Roost came running back out. I sighed, frustrated, but knew how much he wanted me to have a good time before I went out—this wasn’t something he was holding in.
“This better be real urgent,” I said. “And it better be detailed.”
“’Fraid it is,” he said. “Come into the office. Eve… probably ain’t gonna wanna see it, but—”
“I saw the photos from this morning, you think you can bother me with something new.”
“Spunky, and accurate,” Roost said, waving us in.
I hurried in, forgetting to hold Eve’s hand—which let her move quickly in front of me and seeing what laid out on Roost’s desk.
“What is this?” I said, not seeing any photos. “There’s no violence.”
“No, there ain’t, but look,” he said, pointing to the top. “Notice who this got sent to?”
Every single member of the Savage Saviors.
Except for me.
I looked through the rest of the email, which, good for Eve, was not a sign of what had been done.
But, perhaps ill-boding for us, it was a declaration of intention.
“To all Saviors,
Your time is coming to an end. The Black Falcons are rising out of the ashes and becoming more powerful than ever. You know your leader is weak. He does thing for a single whore that he claims to love, and yet he would not do the same if any of your loved ones were in danger. This is not the sign of a man, but an obsessed teenager in an adult’s body. If you stay with him, when the time comes, we will kill you. Join us, however, and you shall have infinite resources, endless amounts of women, and all of the drugs and pleasures your body can handle. You know where to find us.
-Falcon.”
I read the letter through a couple of times just to make sure I got it all. Then, I crumpled it and tossed it in the trash can.
“That’s hysterical,” I said, not having even smirked in the slightest. “Do the Saviors here really think the Falcon sent that letter himself? Do they really think that they—”
“Derek,” Roost said, clearing his throat and interrupting me. “Do the boys downstairs think this is legit? Well, if they did, they’da already left. So no, they ain’t. But ya know what they ain’t gonna like? A leader who ignores shit like this.”
I sighed. Delayed, again? At least it was only about 6 p.m. and not like three in the morning, when I’d have to leave Eve by herself.
“Make no mistake about it, Derek, this
shit is like spam,” Roost continued. “Most fools will see it, laugh, and delete it. It ain’t nothin’ to them. But when their spam blocker ain’t workin’? Just cuz they ain’t fallin’ for it don’t mean they happy.”
“I know, I know,” I said, sighing. “I just hate how dumb this is. It’s so blatantly… it’s just bad! You know!”
“Right, so it should be easy to squash,” Eve said with a smile. “It’s OK, Derek. Think of it as a chance to get in front of the crowd.”
I folded my arms, nodding. Just because I had to do it didn’t mean I like it.
“Ya know, ya ain’t spoken to the boys since Greg’s funeral two weeks ago,” Roost said. “Not sayin’ that’s bad. I ain’t seen a reason for ya to speak, so if ya had, I’dda said you’d be micromanagin’. But guess what? We ‘bout to go to war. Use this not just to address this, but to rally the troops. Cuz it’s ‘bout to get uuuuuuuugly.”
“Alright, alright,” I said, moving to the door already. “You two can stand wherever. I’ll make it quick.”
I heard Roost say something to Eve about waiting by the entrance, in sight, so we could move on our date faster, but the only thing that was going to speed up the actual date was me delivering this speech as quickly as possible. It wasn’t something I was keen on, but, as Roost had pointed out, it might be a nice way to get everyone together.
Leadership isn’t always easy, Derek. You know this. Your father taught you.
Yeah, I know… I just wish it wasn’t that hard.
Don’t we all. Just do this.
I stood at the entrance, instructing Eagle to gather everyone around as I cleared my throat. Once I felt confident that everyone could hear me, I began.
“Question for all of you,” I said. “How many of you received an email from the Falcon today from an obviously fake email address?”
Everyone raised their hand immediately. That didn’t surprise me—even the ones that didn’t check their email often would have heard from the rest, leading them to have checked. So, that confirmed that.
“How many of you have received similar emails over the past three weeks, ever since our raid on their neighborhood?”
