*
I stood in front of the gun store for over ten minutes, trying to convince myself to step inside. Owning a gun didn’t mean I would ever use it, but just having one in the house scared me. Yet I couldn’t dismiss Hayden’s warning or his logic. I had to have some sort of protection.
“Fuck it.” I stepped inside, glad of being the only customer. The grumpy-looking man behind the register nodded at me, indicating he wouldn’t bug me. I walked around among rifles, shotguns, and handguns, all locked behind glass. I needed help because I wasn’t going to choose based on the prettiest gun.
I walked over to the register and cleared my throat. “Hi. I’m here to buy a gun.”
“Your first one?”
“Is it obvious?”
He shrugged and put down the magazine he was reading, which was unsurprisingly about guns. “You walked around like you were shopping for shoes, so yeah, it was obvious. What are you in the mood for?”
I didn’t know how to answer that, but I also didn’t want to stall and look suspicious. “I’m looking for something easy to handle and maybe something that doesn’t make a lot of noise.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You mean with a suppressor?”
“What? No, just not something very loud.”
“Are you on a budget?”
Did I look poor?“Yes.”
“I have a few on sale.”
I left the store with a gun and some ammo, hoping to feel safer but feeling like a walking target.
*
“Someone’s in a good mood,” Jenny declared as I entered the studio the following day.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She eyed me before nodding knowingly. “You had sex. No doubt about it.”
I shrugged and walked to my station. “A gentleman never tells.”
“That’s for ladies.”
“Then I’m a gentlelady.”
“You sure are!”
I turned on the stereo, which Jenny had decorated with stickers of flowers and kittens, always adding her personal touch to anything she found plain. I expected her to try decorating me eventually. “Mind if I put on some music?”
“Put on Meat Loaf.”
“Too dramatic. Oasis?”
“I’ll settle for Coldplay if we’re taking a trip to bloody Britain.”
“Coldplay it is.”
I worked for three hours on a new sculpture that one of my anonymous clients had requested. When my muscles started aching, I took a break and updated my eBay page. It was ridiculous how quickly my silly jewelry sold, even after I’d raised the prices a few times. I’d need to make more of those.
Toward the end of the day, Jenny and I took a break to share a joint next to the open window. I wasn’t a fan of anything that reduced my self-control, but Jenny’s weed wasn’t strong.
“So…” She nudged me with her elbow.
