Free Owned by Scott Hildreth Page A

man. Now, would you consider yourself pro or anti-gun, if you were to place yourself in one of those two categories?” I waited at the cupboard for him to try to weasel around the answer.
    “Pro, sir. I have a concealed carry permit, and I carry at all times,” he responded proudly.
    “What do you carry, and why?” I asked as I poured a cup of coffee.
    “A Glock. I carry for many reasons. Because I can. Because I don’t ever want to be in a position that I need to defend something or someone and I am not able to do so without it. I would much rather have it and not need it than feel a need for it and not have it,” he continued to stand while I was in the kitchen.
    I walked into the living room with my cup of coffee and sat down.
    “You think your gun is a first line of defense? The answer to stopping a fight? Ending an argument?”
    “No sir, I’ve never pulled it, and never had a need to do so,” he sat down into his chair as he responded.
    “Well, you’re a big bastard. Probably intimidate a few with your arrogance and size,” I said as I sipped my coffee.
    “Daddy!” Kelli complained.
    “I’m sorry,” I chuckled, “your confidence .”
    He nodded at me.
    “Well, I’d qualify as a gun nut myself. Former military, you know. Hell, all of us are gun nuts. Saved the police chief as a matter of fact. 1969, month of September. 16 th to be exact. We were on a swift boat, headed down that damned river when I saw him. I was Navy. Learned later that he was a Marine. Never seen a kid so scared in my damned life. Standing there on the bank shaking, out of fucking ammo when I lit up that fifty. They’d been over run. You don’t wanna know what a .50 cal. can do to a hundred and ten pound gook, Ead, but that’s a story for some other time.” I looked intently into Ead’s eyes and cleared my head of that damned war.
    “Tell me, Mr. Ead, what you would do if someone ever tried to hurt my Kelli. She’s mine , you know. She’s the only woman I love. I’ve loved two, her and her mother. Her mother’s been gone twenty-two years, God bless her. Kelli’s all I have, and all I care about. If someone tried to hurt her, what would you do?” I leaned in my chair and waited for a response.
    “Well sir, I’m different than most. I believe in options. If someone was disrespectful, I’d give them an opportunity to apologize. If they didn’t accept that option, I’d resolve it. Sadly, I suspect it would be in a violent fashion. If someone tried to hurt her in any way, I would immediately assess the situation, and resolve it with whatever force was necessary to assure that she was safe,” he nodded at me when he finished speaking.
    Kelli leaned toward the boy and whispered to him. He whispered in her direction and shook his head softly. As she sat down in her chair I spoke.
    “You two want to share with me? Hell, I’m way over here, I can’t hear you. My ears ain’t so good anymore either. Twenty years of the military made my eardrums soft,” I raised an eyebrow and took a sip of coffee.
    “Daddy, the other night we were in the bar, and a guy from college said some things to me. Erik took care of it immediately, and it made me very proud of him,” Kelli said as she motioned toward him with her hands.
    “Is that right? What did you do, give him some options ?” I asked, jokingly.
    “I gave him one option. As a matter of fact, I told him this, ‘Life is about opportunities and options. I’m going to give you both. An option to apologize, and an opportunity to walk away’, he chose not to apologize. I guess that eliminated his opportunity to walk away. He got a ride though,” Ead responded, smiling.
    “So you gave this fella an opportunity to apologize, and he didn’t do it, then someone gave him a ride home?”
    “An ambulance sir. He got a ride to the hospital in an ambulance,” he tried rather unsuccessfully to hide his smile.
    “Is that right?” I placed my cup on the end table and stood.
    He