“You need help with class today or are you going home to sulk and pine over your girl?” Chris asked.
“Asshole.”
Chris smirked. “Is that a yes?”
“Yes.”
“Just checking. You want some eggs?”
“Sure,” Jase headed back to the bedroom. “I’m gonna grab a shower.”
“Put my sheets in the wash, fucker,” Chris called out at Jase’s back.
Jase stacked the hale bales used behind the targets on his 10-acre property near Haven Springs, twenty miles south of Raleigh, North Carolina.
“We’re going to have an extra guy today,” he told Chris.
“Last minute addition?”
“Yeah. One of the guys already signed up called and asked if he could bring his buddy along.”
“You good with that? Has he been vetted yet?”
Jase sighed. “No. He said he’s turned in all the paperwork and he’s just waiting on the shrink to sign off on it. We’re using blunt tips today anyway.”
“Still bleed like a motherfucker if a guy manages to shoot you with an arrow,” Chris said.
“I know, but I can’t turn a guy away.”
Chris gave a curt chin lift. “Yeah.”
They worked together without saying anything more. Jase appreciated Chris’s willingness to help him out with the archery classes. Most of the other volunteers were willing to help on the trips because they got to go out and hunt or fish, but they didn’t like the mundane part of the business. Maybe if his funding came through he’d be able to actually hire some guys to help out on a regular basis.
“Trucks are coming up the drive,” Chris said.
Jase and Chris introduced themselves to each guy as they arrived. Ryan introduced himself as the extra.
“You understand you’re going to have to share equipment with your friend, right? I usually limit beginner classes to six.”
“That’s no problem. And I really appreciate you working me in. The doc at the VA said my paperwork should be faxed to your office no later than Wednesday.”
“I’ll keep an eye out for it.”
They walked over to the group and Jase began his introduction. “Okay, let’s get started. Welcome to V.E.T. Adventures. This is an introduction to using a hunting bow, so when you are able to go on a hunting trip, you’ll actually bag a kill. Chris is going to help me demonstrate the basics: stance, proper posture, aiming, and release. Everyone here went through Combat Arms Training so it should all be familiar. Are there any questions before we begin?”
“Why a bow and not a rifle?” Robert, one of the students, asked.
“Really it comes down to preference. I think a bow requires more skill, more patience, and more concentration. Much harder to bring down a deer with an arrow than it is with a rifle. Anything else?”
When no one responded, Jase took them over to the small tables set up about eighty feet from the targets. He walked them through the different parts of the bow before he had Chris demonstrate the proper stance.
Jase stood close behind him to adjust his support arm. “Hey now, you just got you some last night,” Chris said.
“Shut it, asshole.”
The group spent the next hour trying to hit the circle targets pinned to the hale bales. Jase kept an eye out for when guys became frustrated. One guy, a below-the-knee amputee, seemed to be having the hardest time.
“Hey, what’s your name again?” Jase asked.
