Ninety Degrees Out

“Okay Ari, do you know what the most important rule of gun safety is?”

Hakan had her out back of the barns. For once he didn’t have to caution Kallik to behave. His son was always serious when it came to his gun. Armaruq’s first gun was now going to Arimina. His thoughts saddened as he wrestled with the reason a child of five would need to know how to protect herself.

The motorcycle gang running wild on Dahl road worried him more than he cared to admit. He’d increased the patrols around his property, instructing his guides and stable hands to arm themselves. The looters and other lawless types were banding together. Anchorage was turning into divided ghettoes run by various factions. Some trying to make a safe space for families to survive the others intent on taking whatever they wanted and indulging every vice under the sun.

Each area divided by waterways that would probably never recede. Brackish water, not good for drinking ran between streets bringing seals and aggressive walruses right into city center. Even the polar bears were discovering how easy it was to kill careless humans if they couldn’t catch a seal.

“Always assume a gun is loaded.”

Arimina’s voice penetrated his contemplation, and he smiled.

“Good girl, what’s the next one?”

“Always point the muzzle of your firearm in a safe direction, until you have checked to make sure it isn’t loaded.” Arimina said proudly.

“That’s really good, Ari, but do you know how to check this rifle?”

“Could you show me? I think I know the parts.” She pointed at the rifle, and continued, “this is the bolt and I move it back to see into the chamber, right?”

“Exactly, grab hold of the knob, push it up and then pull it back.”

He had to chuckle, but he swallowed it quickly. She looked so cute with her tongue between her teeth as she concentrated on the strange new skill. Her smile was blinding when she opened the breech and the both checked to see if there was a bullet in the chamber.

“It’s, empty, but this gun has a magazine,” she pointed to the cover on the back of the stock where it would be hidden against her shoulder when she shot the gun/

“If there are bullets in the magazine, one will show up if you close and open the bolt again. Good for you for knowing that.” She surprised him, this fairy like child with the dark curls and pale gold skin. With all the time the children spent playing in the sun, Arimina’s skin color never changed.

Arimina cleared the chamber once more and there was bullet in the chamber this time.

“Can you get it out?” Hakan asked.

“I think so.” Arimina turned to point the rifle away from everyone, toward the line of cans he had set up on straw bales about fifty feet away. She tilted the muzzle up and shook the rifle until it fell out. The she turned the magazine cover on the butt, and pulled the spring out, shaking four more bullets out.

“How did you figure out how to do that?” Hakan asked. It stunned him that she knew the mechanism.

“Mr. Chay told me what type the gun was and we found a You Tube video to watch. I watched five times last night. Guns make sense. I like how they work.”

Arimina put the spring back into the gun and turned the lock to hold in place. She checked the chamber one more time, and then said. “Now it’s really empty!”

Hakan snuck a peek at his son, wondering what he thought about this girl. His brown eyes were round, and his mouth was wide open.

“Do you really like guns?” Kallik asked. His voice squeaked in surprise.

“I think they’re neat. Now there are two more rules, right?” Ari asked looking at Kallik like he should know them.

“Always keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot,” Kallik said. “And make sure you know your target and where your bullet will go if you miss.”

“Good job, son. Arimina has shown us she knows rule two very well. She knows to always point her firearm in a safe direction. She pointed hers toward the targets when she was clearing the chamber and magazine.”

“So, can I load these bullets back into the magazine?” Arimina asked.

“Do you understand this gun is a semi automatic?” Hakan questioned.

“Yes, I don’t have to pull the bolt back to load a new bullet into the chamber. The spring in the magazine pushes it in for me. How many bullets will this gun hold? Mr. Chay says nine plus one in chamber if I put one in it.” Arimina looked up at him expectantly.

“We’ll use what we had in the gun already, Ari. Next time I’ll bring more ammunition and we’ll let you fill the magazine.”

“Today, put the five bullets you have back in the magazine, and we’ll teach you how to stand properly and aim at the targets down there.” Hakan gestured toward the cans standing down range.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Alicia stood in the barn door looking through the rails of the corral where three horses stood in the afternoon sunshine. Chay had an arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him comfortably. She itched to go out and teach Arimina herself, but she knew it would better if she didn’t interfere with Hakan. She could hear snippets of the instructions her baby was following. Kallik young voice carried clearly, across the distance between them.

“Come on, Ari,” he cheered her on. “I know you can do it. You already understand how the gun works better than I do.”

Hakan corrected her stance.

“Remember, squeeze the trigger. You jerked it last time,” Kallik reminder her.

It had been the first gunshot that brought her out to observe. Remembering the instructor, she half wished she’d been as young as her daughter when she first got acquainted with firearms. As it was, the guy had been her age and her first serious relationship. He couldn’t handle the fact that she learned enough to out-shoot him inside of a week.

Arimina stood with her dominant foot back, and her check against the rifle, peering through the simple scope. Alicia crossed her fingers and held her breath as she watched her daughter carefully squeeze the trigger.

The can on the left straw bale skittered into the air with a ping. Arimina flipped the safety on and lowered her weapon.

“I did it!”

“She did it!”

Alicia threw her arms around Chay and kissed him.

“She did it!” Chay shouted when Alicia let him breath again.

Hakan waved them over and they skirted the log rails with saddles resting on them. Walking along the hard packed dirt path, they wound their way past the water trough and over to where Ari put her gun down on a small table sitting under the lone lodgepole pine providing patchy shade.

“Mommy, I can shoot!”

Arimina’s excited squeal carried through the thick humid air and applause echoed from more than one interested spectator.

Alicia dropped to her knees to hug her.

“I’m so proud of you. Now you have to practice. Tomorrow you can do more.”

“Tomorrow I get to shoot ten rounds. That’s how much my gun holds. Thank you, Mr. Chay! Thank you for helping me last night.” Ari spun out of her mother’s arms and threw her arms around his waist squeezing for all she was worth.

“She’s a natural. And she understands exactly how the gun works. She cleared a jam for herself a little while ago and like she said, we’ll do more tomorrow. She has the rules down pat,” Hakan said. “I’d like to teach her more about how guns go together and how to make small repairs.”

“Please, Mommy?”

“I don’t see why not. The more you know about firearms and how they work the safer you will be around them. Good job, baby.”

“Mommy, can you please stop calling me baby?” Arimina looked her mother straight in the eye. “If I can shoot a rifle, I’m not a baby anymore.”

Alicia swallowed hard. Her heart fisted in her chest. Her little girl was growing up too fast. Arimina, five-years-old and going on fifteen.

“I’ll try Arimina, but you’ll always be my baby.”