The Merger – 15

 

 

"When I told you I have a brother, it was the truth, as far as it went." Josh looked down at his now-clenched hands. "When I was ten, I had two brothers—Nate, who was two years older than me, and Bobby. He was the baby of the family—six, at the time. That summer we went to visit my aunt and uncle for the month at their house in the country. We did it every August. It gave my parents a break from having to deal with us." He smiled briefly without humor. "And gave my aunt a chance to have kids around. She and my uncle didn't have any of their own, no matter how much they wanted to.

"My uncle loved to hunt. He had a large collection of guns—or at least it seemed large to me and Nate. I suppose it's all relative. He was smart enough to keep them in locked display cases so we couldn't touch them unless he was with us. Of course, being kids and boys, Nate and I were fascinated by guns. Bobby was too young to really understand anything about them. He'd sit and play with whatever toy was his favorite at the moment while my uncle explained what each gun or rifle was for and how they worked.

"We—well, my uncle and my parents—figured later that Bobby must have been paying more attention than we thought. One night… It was about three weeks after we'd arrived that summer and my aunt had put Bobby to bed. The rest of us were down in the living room, watching some TV show." Josh swallowed hard.

Mike had the feeling he knew what was coming next and wished he'd never asked Josh why he hated guns.

"I heard Bobby going down the hall to the bathroom. A few minutes later, we heard the door to my aunt and uncle's room squeak. We used to call that squeak an early warning system if Nate and I were playing in our room when we should have been sleeping. My aunt shook her head, asking if I'd mind going upstairs to see what Bobby was doing and take him back to bed.

"I went up. Their bedroom door was open, of course. When I got to the doorway, I saw Bobby standing by one of the nightstands. The drawer was open and he was… He said, 'Look. I got a gun, too.' He, he was holding it backward, pointed toward him. 'Bobby,' I said, trying to be as firm as a ten-year-old can be, 'put it back where you found it.'"

"He didn't," Mike said, gripping Josh's hands.

"No. I think he was going to, but his thumbs were on the trigger and it was heavy for a kid his size. It started to fall and he tried to keep that from happening."

Josh's eyes glazed over and Mike knew he was seeing it as it had happened.

"The bullet hit him in the chest," Josh whispered. "He didn't stand a chance."

Without a second thought, Mike gathered Josh into his arms, holding him tight. Josh let him for a moment then pulled away. "My uncle was devastated. Well, everyone was, but especially him. It was the only gun he didn't keep under lock and key. He told the police it was there and loaded in case someone tried to break into the house, since it was fairly isolated. He said it had never occurred to him that any of us would go into the bedroom and find it. After all, we'd been told more than once that their bedroom was off limits. Bobby…" Josh heaved in a breath. "He was just a little kid who liked to explore, like kids that age do, you know."

"I'm so sorry," Mike said softly. "I'm sorry it happened. I'm sorry you saw it. No wonder you hate guns."

Josh nodded slowly, looking at Mike, his eyes moist with unshed tears. He wiped his hand across them. "I won't… I can understand why you carry one when you think you might need it, and I won't make an issue of it. But please don't put me down because I won't."

"I would never do that! Everyone makes their own choices. Yours are as valid as mine. I've got the feeling that even without a gun you're more than capable of keeping the people you protect safe."

"They seem to think so."

"Have any of them given you grief because you don't carry?" Mike asked.

"No, because I make it very clear when they want to hire me as a bodyguard that it's not an option." He barely smiled. "I lost a couple of potential clients because of that, and I've fielded some questions. When they ask, I tell them it's personal and leave it at that. They accept it."

"As well they should." Mike took his hand again. "Do you want to…? Are you ready to go back to the bar now or would you rather go home instead?"

Josh stood, rolling his shoulders as if relieving the tension he'd been feeling. "Let's go back. After all, we are supposed to be celebrating our new partnership."