Slowly, I lift my head to look at her. "You’re kidding me, right?"
Frowning, she returns my gaze.
"Are you joking?" I clarify.
"Why would I be joking?"
I groan in annoyance and throw the cloth I used to clean the barrel onto the table. "Why do you want to learn to shoot?"
"For protection," she explains as if it were perfectly logical.
Blankly, I look at her and wait for her to call outApril Fools!,but she doesn’t.
"I amnotgoing to show you how to shoot. That’s… fuck. That would be insane."
"But why?Youhave a gun for protection. Why can’t I have one too?"
I’m having a really hard time staying calm with her, but then I remember she doesn’t know any better.
Just as I’m about to tell her again that this is not going to happen, she looks at me straight-faced and with her chin up, which makes me change my mind. "You know what? Fuck it. I’ll show you."
"Really?"
"Yes. But don’t think I’m going to let you have one of my weapons," I add before she can jump to the wrong conclusion. "I’m just showing you how to use it. Nothing more."
"You haveseveralof these?"
Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes for a moment before I stand. "Coffee?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Black?" I turn halfway toward her.
She inspects the Desert Eagle but then lifts her head. "Yes, please."
The smile she then puts on does weird things to me, which is why I turn away and wonder again what I’m doing here.
I must have lost my mind. There’s no other explanation for what I’m about to do an hour later.
The sun’s at its zenith. Birds are chirping, butterflies are flying around, and the scent of grass, flowers, and late summer is in the air as Sophie accepts the gun I hand her with wide eyes.
"It’s heavy," she says in surprise when I take my fingers off the metal. Her hands sink slightly at the weight because she’s not prepared for it.
"Four pounds. Unloaded." I watch as she examines the Desert Eagle, whose components and functioning I’ve just explained to her over the past few minutes.
The sight is grotesque. Her small hands look completely out of place on the almost eleven-inch-long Magnum. I also doubt that she could hold it steady with one hand. And the magazine isn’t even loaded yet. Which will stay that way as long as she has the gun because I’m not going to let Sophie shoot the Desert Eagle. It’s just too brute for her. The recoil could literally knock her off her feet. That’s why I brought along my old Glock17, which looks like a toy compared to the Magnum, but is just fine for Sophie.
She wraps both hands around the grip and holds the gun tentatively in front of her body while I walk over to a log lying onthe ground with a few empty drink cans. After placing the cans on the log, I return to her and hold out my hand.
Sophie hands me the gun and watches carefully as I insert the magazine. Then I load it, turn off the safety, grip it with both hands, and aim at one of the cans.
"Ready?" I ask, looking briefly at Sophie.
Her eyes are literally glued to the barrel shining in the sun as she nods.
"Cover your ears."
As soon as she obeys, I look ahead again and take a deep breath. I concentrate only on my target and block out everything else. My heartbeat slows down, my gaze focuses, and the sounds around us become quieter. Then I pull the trigger.
