CHAPTER NINE
Roger
“With that? It’s barely more than a cap gun. Really?”
The guy looks at me without the slightest comprehension on his face. His bravado takes a hit, though. He looks down at the handgun and back at me. Of course, by the time he looks back at me, I’m in action.
I don’t want to hurt the kid. It’s clear he has no idea what he’s doing. He’s done something stupid and there will be consequences but not consequences as severe as they might be if I thought he was a career criminal. I’ve got his wrist in one hand and the gun in the other inside of five seconds. He stares at me in shock.
I glance at the gun and shake my head. The safety is actually on. “Have you ever fired a weapon before?” I ask.
He shakes his head.
“Daddy?” Vanessa asks from next to me. She doesn’t have to ask anything else for me to know she’s trying to find out what I’m going to do to the poor guy.
“Why?” I ask him.
He looks at me, still terrified. Finally, he says, “My brother. He’s sick.” I’m sure he’s telling the truth.
“What about your parents?”
He winces because the pressure I have on his wrist is substantial. He fights against showing his pain, though. “They’re gone,” he says. “Died last year.”
I glance at the gun again. “Your father’s gun?” He nods. “I lied to you,” I say, “because this is one of the finest handguns available.” I put it in my pocket and let go of his wrist. “We can go to the police if you want, son,” I say, “or you can earn this gun back from me and while you’re at it, earn money to take care of your brother.”
I pull out my wallet and count out some bills. I hand them to him along with a business card for my parents’ development company’s office. It’s not really used by anyone other than property management companies who lease space. “You get your brother a good meal tonight and some medicine. If you want, that’ll be the end of it. Go on like you have been. Or you can meet me at seven o’clock at that address and we’ll get to work.”
I don’t wait for a response. I offer Vanessa my arm and just keep walking through the alley toward the restaurant. She doesn’t say anything until we’re at the door to the restaurant. She finally says, “You’re… you’re larger than life, Daddy.”
“I don’t know about that, little girl,” I reply. “I think I’m just trying to make it through the day like everybody else is.”
I step to open the door but she pulls me back. I turn to look at her and she says, “That’s not what you’re doing. That’s what I was doing before I met you. Now, the days don’t happen to me. I happen to the days. That’s because of you. That guy back there. You could have hurt him. I thought you were going to. You would have been justified, too. You could have hurt him but you didn’t and more than that, you helped him.”
She shakes her head vehemently. “You’re helping everyone else get through their days. Even if he doesn’t show up tomorrow, you’ve changed his life. If he does show up, you’ll change his life even more. You won’t ever let me sell myself short, Daddy. You can’t do it either. You’re the best kind of man. You’re the best kind of man and I won’t let you tell me anything else!”
I smile broadly to her and pull her close, this beautiful little girl who loves me. I kiss her and say, “And you’ve changed my life, too, princess. You’ve changed my life in so many wonderful ways and I’m so happy to have you, so happy you’re my little girl.”
Her smile is about as wonderful a reward for my words as I can ever imagine. “What do you say we go get dinner now, baby doll?” I ask.
She nods and says, “Yessir, Daddy, Sir!” She gives me a salute and a giggle.
“Under ordinary circumstances I would have to tell you not to call me Sir because I work for a living but I’m going to let this one pass.”
She giggles again and says, “I meant in in the Dom way, not the military way.”
“Well then, little girl,” I reply, “it’s a good thing I let it slide.”
“Silly Daddy!” she says and giggles as I lead her into the restaurant.
The table is already set up and that nice waitress, Anna, leads us there. There’s already wine chilling and I say, “We don’t have to order, little girl. The chef has our menu all planned out for us.”
She blushes and says, “This place is really fancy.” I can hear the nervousness in her voice.
Anna smiles and says, “Don’t worry. You can use whatever fork you want to use and you can use whatever spoon and drink from whatever glass and if anyone says anything about it, I’ll whack them upside the head with a wooden spoon from the kitchen.”
Vanessa giggles and says, “Now I need to buy a wooden spoon. Maybe a hundred of them.”
“Not while I have a head to protect,” I reply.
The whole exchange loosens Vanessa up and gets rid her nervousness, which makes the evening wonderful for her. It’s wonderful for me, too, but of course, I know the surprise. Later, as she’s crying and laughing and trying not to shake as I get the ring onto her finger and the other patrons in the restaurant are clapping and cheering, it occurs to me the gun from that kid is still in my pocket.
I wonder about all the stories I might have to tell my grandkids.