1994

x

"What are you doing?" Kara asked as she plopped down next to Danny on the rock.

He glanced at her, scowling. "Fishing."

Kara thought about all the times Danny complained about his father dragging him along on fishing trips. "Why?"

Danny sighed. "Everyone else went to the shooting range. Mom won't let me go. She said it's too dangerous. But she let Scott go."

Kara hadn't been invited to join the group either, but she didn't mind. After all, she did plenty of shooting at home. "Target shooting is boring."

"Not like I would know. Mom never lets me go," Danny grumbled.

Startled, Kara asked. "You don't know how to shoot?"

"You do?" Danny seemed surprised and Kara wondered if it was odd that she knew how to shoot when he didn't.

Deciding that she didn't care, she shrugged. "I can teach you, if you want. Dad took his Colt, but I think he left the BB gun."

"Hell yeah," Danny replied, before his face fell. "They'll hear us and I'll get in trouble."

"BB guns are quiet," Kara explained. She stood. "Stay here and I'll go get it. Then we can decide if you want to try shooting."

Fifteen minutes later, Kara was back. Danny had packed up his fishing gear, although he was pacing back and forth across the space, almost like he was nervous. Kara set the BB gun down while she located a tin can that they could use as a target. After setting it up, she lifted the rifle, showing Danny how to hold it. "Just be careful when you pull the trigger. It kicks."

But she didn't need to worry. Danny picked it up quickly, just like she knew that he would. After they both shot a few rounds, Danny looked over at her. "Your mom doesn't mind you doing this?"

Kara shrugged. Debbie didn't mind much these days, mostly because she was always drinking or crying and complaining to Kara about all the things that her father did wrong. "She probably doesn't know. I go with Dad."

Danny shuffled his feet. "She didn't come again. Is she still..."

"Drinking all the time?" Kara asked, not beating around the bush. "Yes."

"I'm sorry." There was sympathy in Danny's voice but no pity, and Kara smiled tightly. He changed the topic. "How did you learn to shoot anyway?"

Kara shrugged. "I live in Kansas. Everyone in Kansas can shoot."

Danny set down the gun. "This was the most fun I've had all year."

Kara snorted. "Yeah, right. I heard your dad talking all about that trip you took to the ocean where you saw whales."

Scuffing his feet, Danny was quiet for a moment. "That trip? It was all about some summer volunteer thing doing beach cleanups. Scott's good enough at soccer to maybe get a scholarship but I'm not, so Dad wants me to quit the team and focus on my grades. And Mom is always nagging me about volunteering and extracurriculars that will look good for college scholarships. I mean, I'm not even in high school yet. I just want to have a little fun, you know?"

The world that Danny was describing felt foreign to Kara — like when Jen's mother casually mentioned saving money for Jen to go to college, while Kara was hoping that Debbie remembered to buy groceries that week. But Kara could also tell that Danny's parents were driving him crazy, and that she understood. Sometimes parents were super annoying.

"Can you pick one of their ideas?" Kara asked. "Maybe that would make them happy."

Danny shrugged. "Maybe. Mom mentioned fencing."

"So do that," Kara said quickly. "Or join the shooting team. You have good aim, and you learned pretty quick."

But Danny's scowl was back. "How am I supposed to turn shooting into a way to get a college scholarship?"

"ROTC, duh," Kara replied, scoffing.

Danny's scowl disappeared and he blinked, as though he had never thought about that. "They have junior ROTC in high school."

"See? Problem solved." Kara grinned at Danny. "So, you want to shoot some more or go swimming?"

Danny grinned back. "Let's swim."