Friends and Guns

Tommy had been watching out the window for the last hour waiting for Nate to come home. He had an idea in which house they lived because he already knew the rest of the neighbors. Finally a black car came up the street as Tommy turned to run out the front door he bumped into his mother. "What is the hurry?" she asked. "Is your new friend home? I'm so glad you have somebody close by that you can play with."

"Yeah sure Mom," Tommy said trying to get to the front door. By the time he made it both the Givens were gone. Now he had to knock on the door and hope he had the right house. He had always struggled with everything; he struggled with reading, writing, math, sports and making friends. He was a good kid but just seemed to say or do the wrong thing all the time. He made his way up to the front door and rapped his knuckles against the wood.

Nate set his back pack down while Raylan went to the table and set his gun and hat down. He ambled off to the bathroom and shut the door. Nate had been trained on how to respect a gun since he was old enough to understand English. He knew how to dismantle, clean and fire a gun and he knew that if he ever touched Raylan's gun without permission or supervision, punishment would be swift and severe. In all his years Nate had respected this, so Raylan never gave a thought to setting his weapon down unattended or leaving it loaded as he always did. In his mind an unloaded gun was 'damn near useless.'

There was a soft knock at the front door and Nate, as he was taught, asked who it was before opening it. "It's Tommy from school." Came the reply.

Nate opened the door and Tommy marched inside. "Hey I thought I would come over and say hi."

"Hi," Nate answered as he watched the boy walk past him into the house.

"I live in the yellow house just three down from here."

"Great, did you want to do any work tonight?" Nate asked.

"We could, I brought my book home and homework page too. Do you have yours?"

Nate opened up his backpack which was a disastrous mess full of papers of the past and present. "I have a different book to read, but we can work on yours," He said pulling remnants of important assignments to the top. Consumed by his paper trail he hadn't even noticed what Tommy was up to.

"Hey," Raylan shouted out as he came back down the hall.

Tommy jumped a mile. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I just…I didn't touch it I swear I didn't. It's just I've never seen a handgun this close before." He stammered as he stood next to the table his hand inches from Raylan's gun.

Raylan looked at Nate his expression a cross between fear, anger and exasperation.

"I don't mind showing it to you son, but you have to ask first. Now who are you?"

"Tommy from school."

"Oh the one Mrs. Simon mentioned."

"Yes sir," Tommy said his face flushed with embarrassment. He looked over at the hat on the table and Raylan's badge still attached to his waistband. "You some kind of cowboy?"

"Yep he's a cowboy," Nate said snidely.

"I am a modern day cowboy also known as a Federal Marshal," Raylan explained looking over at his son. "Do you want me to show you the gun?"

Tommy's head bobbed up and down wildly. "Please."

"This type of gun is known as a .45 caliber Glock," he explained taking the clip out and giving the full price tour.

"You know his parents might not like you introducing him into the world of weapons," Nate said after Raylan finished.

"I've seen guns, my dad and uncle hunt. Have you ever shot anybody?" Tommy rambled

"A lawman never shoots and tells," Raylan said winking.

"Thank God," Nate said under his breath.

After eating at Tommy's house Nate had come back and joined Raylan who was working on some paperwork at the table. Nate was not masking the fact that he was clearly upset about something as he slammed his book down and flipped it open, nearly tearing the pages.

"Easy there son, I thought you got your work done when you were at Tommy's house."

"No we did his; every time I got started on mine he had a question."

"Is that what has you so upset?"

"No sir," Nate answered biting his words.

"Then what?" Raylan asked his voice soaring to higher octaves.

"He thinks you're some kind of cowboy hero…he's already objectified you." Nate said, folding his arms across his book and setting his chin down peering over his arms.

"Well I'm sorry about that," Raylan said pulling his head back his face showing confusion.

"I decided not to fill him in on your shooting the other night."

"Is that what's bothering you? Do we need to talk about it?"

"None of it makes sense Dad. This whole place is like another planet. A woman shoots her husband and then his brother shows up and she's scared so she calls her high school crush to come save her. I walk in and it's like the old west, gun on the table, your trigger finger itching, Ava with a shotgun pointed at some generic spot on the wall. I mean does any of that work anywhere else but here?"

"Maybe Texas," Raylan offered.

"What do you think Boyd would have done if he had the chance to shoot?"

"I don't know and that's why I made sure to shoot first. I wasn't going to risk you or Ava or myself to his whim."

"Who would have ever thought that moving from Miami to Kentucky would have made my life more interesting?" Nate said shaking his head.

Weeks went by with Tommy and Nate spending a lot of time together and Lynn, Tommy's mother even offering after school care to Nate. "Please, I can come home after school, then we can get all of our homework done early."

Raylan smiled at his son's request but denied it. "I think the afterschool program works out best for us right now."

"Maybe for you but not so much for me, I get bored."

"Then do your homework, you already told me you and Tommy get his done during study group so use your after school time to get yours done."

"It's because you feel I'm safer at school isn't it?"

The statement hit Raylan in the heart because it is exactly why he wanted his son in the program. He didn't genuinely feel that Nate was in danger but he very much liked the fact that he was behind locked doors in the afternoon. "I like picking you up from there, it gets me out of the office on time. Now I don't want to hear any more about it."

"It's not fair," Nate yelled.

"Hey watch your tone. I don't know why for whatever reason you think this is a democracy but here's a newsflash; it's not. Now I'm new to this full time single parent realm and I'm doing the best that I can here."

Nate just shook his head and whispered, "Nazi."

"Now you can go to your room," he answered calmly.

"Fine Herr father," he said stomping off and slamming his bedroom door.

Raylan sighed and was grateful for the knock at the door to break up his tension. He opened it and was pleasantly surprised to see Winona standing there. "Bad time?" she asked.

"No, it's the perfect time," he said stepping back to let her in.

"I need my backpack," Nate said reappearing.

"Nate this is Winona."

"As in your ex-wife Winona?"

"Yes as in my ex-wife."

"Pleased to meet you," Nate said shifting his backpack and extending his hand.

"Now he's Mr. Charming," Raylan commented.

"Of course I am, how can I not be charming to a pretty lady."

"Room, now," Raylan said pointing. Nate turned and tromped back down the hallway disappearing into his room once again.

"Wow, is he ever like you," Winona said as they both laughed.

"So I've been told," Raylan answered with an uneasy smile.