"Yes," Billy agreed. "He also knows that I'm going to teach you how to use it. Have you ever shot a gun before, young lady?"
Her eyes got wide and she looked to me first, then to Darnell. "No, I'm not supposed to touch them."
"Now you are," Billy told her. "This?" He tilted the gun so she could see the side, but it was pointed away from everyone. "It's for self-defense only. Someone left a death threat on your door. Now, we're going to hope they were full of it, but if they weren't?"
"Then I might need to protect myself," Faith mumbled.
Billy just leaned in. "Or your dad. Or those boys he's with. Or your best friend." He lifted a brow to make sure she caught that last part. "When you earn a color, it means you also agree to take care of the rest. That's the price for being in the rainbow. Think you're up for it?"
Faith jiggled her head in a nervous nod. "I'll try."
"No, you'll do it," Billy said, but his tone was encouraging. "Now, let me show you how to be safe with a gun. The first lesson is that if you don't want to shoot it, then you don't point the gun at it. Don't put it in your pants unless you want to shoot yourself. Don't wave it around to look cool. No matter what,do notturn off the safety unless you are ready to fire. Do you understand those?"
"Yes," Faith almost squeaked.
Billy just reached over and clasped her shoulder. "Good girl. Guns are dangerous, so we have to be careful, but that's not the same as being afraid." Then he passed her a pair of ear plugs. "Put those in one side. Leave the other out so you can still hear me." And then he started pointing to the weapon. "This switch? It means it can't fire. Keep your finger off the trigger. Now..."
Slowly, calmly, and patiently, he explained to Faith exactly how a gun worked. Over and over, he repeated the safety rules. She listened intently, but so did Darnell. In all honesty, so did I. It seemed that Billy was a very good teacher when he wanted to be. With Faith, he clearly wanted to be.
Chapter Eighteen
Icould hear the pops of the gun from down in the pasture. Beside me, Luke was tense, knowing Faith was probably the one shooting. Once, I caught him closing his eyes almost as if bracing against the next pop. The walls of the barn might muffle the sound, but it wasn't enough to stop it.
"If you hate the idea of her shooting so much," I asked, "then why are you letting Billy teach her?"
"It's not that," Luke admitted. Setting down the piece of wood he was working on, he turned to face me. "It's remembering when I found my brother's gun - in his bedroom and not in the gun cabinet. He wasn't planning on going hunting in his room, Cy. I can't even imagine what he would've done to himself - or someone else - if I hadn't caught him with it. That's why I'm worried that if she knows how to use one, then she might think about other uses for it later on, and school hasn't really been good to her."
"It will get better as soon as Southwind opens," I promised. "She'll also be right here, with us, all day long. We will never keep a weapon unsecured in this house either. Some of these punks will have used one before. We certainly don't want them to turn it on us."
Luke just blew out a heavy breath. "Yeah. I know. I also know that she'll be safer if she knows how to use it."
"Billy will make sure of it," I promised. "He can also be a scary motherfucker if he thinks it'll work for him."
Luke jerked his chin at me. "What's his story anyway? I'm not talking about the history you've already told me. I just mean - well, there's something off about that man."
"Mm." I nodded and moved across the workbench to find something that might keep my hands busy. "You know that some mental illnesses are inheritable, right?"
"Yeah..." Luke said, watching me carefully. "I've heard about Violet's mom."
"Yeah, well, Billy has the same thing," I said. "That's how Gran knew how to deal with him. All the mistakes she made with her own daughter, she had the chance to fix with Billy. Granted, back when Violet's mom was born, we didn't know half the stuff about how the brain works as we do now, and we'll know even more by the time Violet has a kid."
He nodded, accepting that. "Which is why Southwind is so important, right? It helps the ones who would fall through the cracks the way Faith is right now."
I opened my mouth to answer just as both of our phones began to vibrate. Luke was a little faster getting his out. I saw his brow furrow a moment before I looked at my own screen to see a notice for the front gate. Swiping quickly, I pulled up the app to see through the camera.
"Can I help you?" I asked.
"Fire Marshall," the man said, looking up the drive instead of at the box. "I'm here to do an inspection on a camp property."
"Come on up to the barn," I said, pressing the button to let him in. After turning off the app, I looked over at Luke. "Go get Violet. I'm sure they'll want to talk to her. I'll see what this guy wants."
"Cabins, probably," he said. "We'll meet you down there."
We both left the barn, turning in different directions. Sure enough, the large Blazer had the logo for the local fire department on the side, so it looked legit. When I was halfway there, the man opened the door and climbed out. I met him at the front of the truck with my hand out in greeting.
"Cy Marshall," I said. "I'm one of the operators of this facility. How can I help you, sir?"
He looked down at his paperwork. "I have here that the place is owned by a Violet Dawson?"
