Meet Me in the Middle

Chapter 10

August 2015

"I still can't believe you're letting me do this."

"Alright, control your libido."

"It's smaller than I expected."

"It's compact. You pull it out, do the deed, put it back in, and close the button."

"It fits perfectly in my hand."

"That's the purpose."

"One more question."

"Shoot. Pun intended."

"We are talking about the gun right? Because this conversation is beginning to sound a lot like we're discussing something completely different."

He glares at me and I grin in response. I look at the empty glass bottles in front of us. He signals me to go ahead. I take my stance and raise my arm. He frowns from beside me and lowers my hand just a bit. Then he straightens my shoulders and makes me stand a bit straighter.

"I'm not a child! I know how to shoot. I have used a revolver, you know?"

He scoffs as if I'm being completely ridiculous. "There's a lot of difference between a tamancha made in UP and a Glock."

I shoot at a bottle and it shatters but the recoil in unexpected. It pulls at my left shoulder and I wince.

"Yeah sure, noob."

"Are you really letting me keep this?"

He takes his stance, aims at the bottles and simultaneously shoots down three bottles. Holy mother of Glock!

"That depends."

"On?"

"You shoot down those five bottles simultaneously; we'll talk about you keeping the gun."

I take aim and shoot again but it completely misses the bottles.

"Why am I even keeping this black beauty?"

"I worry about your safety."

"And your solution to that is giving me a gun?"

"You're not going to be using it for anything other than life or death situations."

"That's weird. You worry so you give me a gun. Not that I don't love it, but I just don't understand why you would do that."

He stares at me for a beat then says, "Of course you don't."

He aims again and takes three more continuous shots, then reloads the magazine.

"What do you mean?" I squint against the sun.

"It's my love language. Everyone has one. It's for saying I love you without actually saying it."

"Well, that's dumb." On second thoughts I ask, "Do I have one?"

"Obviously, yes. You go into your mom mode for people you love. You'll start putting them before yourself. And if anyone disappoints you and you still hold no grudges against them, that's a clear sign." He yawns and stretches.

"Really?"

"Totally. You take the fall for them. Now shoot. Or do you need motivation? Should I rile you up?"

"You can't just rile me up."

"Hmm... let's talk about the time you almost cried on the phone because somebody put a drug in your milkshake. And you absolutely don't remember it either. Remember what you said? How you're not really sure if you love Abhi... how you're having second thoughts... how you had been unwell for so long and yet nobody knew... how one of your worst fears is everyone just leaving you...."