Angels & Imperfections
Chapter 37
As I was driving to the shooting range, I spotted Dustin pushing his cart along, so I pulled over to talk to him.
“You gots to confront that devil face to face,” Dustin said. “He don’t like it, so you gots to do it.”
Today he was still wearing his sweatshirt, as usual, but at least the weather was starting to get cooler.
“Is that what you do, Dustin?”
“Naw suh, it’s not my fight.”
“It’s everyone’s fight. Sooner or later, everyone has to choose which side they’re on. Unless or until you choose to serve the Lord, you are already serving the devil.”
“Oh, He knows that I knows who’s I am, but I’m too wounded in the head to be in the battle,” he said, tapping his head. “But you, Mr. Angel, you is in the battle. You can’t get lazy, and you can’t fall asleep.”
“I get tired, Dustin. Sometimes I just want to take some time off and let the world go on, without my interference for a while”
He laughed.
“Ole devil don’t need to kill you, or take you prisoner. He just needs you to quit fighting.”
I nodded again. “Somebody once said ‘all it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing’.”
Dustin narrowed his eyes at me.
“Most folks don’t even know there is a battle. They just wants to be left alone, long as they got their TV to entertain um, feed um lies and make um stupid. They follow that devil like sheep, doin what he want um to do.” He said.
“Some people know what’s going on.” I pointed out.
“Maybe so, but they figure the politicians and preachers can fight the good fight, so they don’t have to choose up sides, but you, Mr. Angel, you is in the battle.”
“You can’t win if you don’t fight.” I pointed out.
“I can’t fight no more.” He replied.
“Sure you can, Dustin, as long as you speak the truth, and as long as you watch and pray, you’re in the fight.”
“Oh, I is watching and praying, sho nuff.”
I clapped him on the back.
“I know you are. You see a lot, and you always speak the truth.”
“I got me my rounds, Good Angel. You watch your back. That devil means to ambush you,” Dustin informed me as he set his cart in motion.
So, as usual I was still enjoying my conversations with a homeless crazy person. Oddly, his advice is usually far more sensible than any of the expert talking heads on the television and radio. But then, I know where the message comes from, on both sides.
Back in my car, I continued on to meet Tony and Christine at the shooting range.
“Hey, Christine, I want you try this out,” I said, as I pulled the Taurus “Judge” revolver out of my bag. “It’s a popular home defence gun, because it shoots both .410 shotgun and .45 calibre shells. These low velocity shells make it safer for use indoors, especially in an apartment, where bullet penetration has to be contained.”
She took it from me and hefted it.
“It’s kind of heavy,” she said.
“Yep, and even heavier when it’s loaded. It’s not a good concealed carry gun for most women, because of its size. However, it could be very useful in close quarters, if you were to keep it handy in your bedroom or wherever. Go ahead and load it. Put one or two .410 shells in, then .45s in the remaining chambers.”
After she had it loaded, she fired on the target down range.
“Wow,” she said, “I expected it to kick worse than that. The muzzle lift isn’t too bad either.”
Tony and I had been helping her with her shot placement. We were emphasizing muzzle control and improving her stance and breathing. She was getting better at longer ranges. With this gun though, longer ranges were not really a consideration. We saw that she had placed all five shots tight in the ten ring at fifteen feet.
“That’ll do,” Tony said. “Run a few more rounds through it. This time, try to reacquire your sight picture a little more quickly. The goal is to fire all of your shots just a bit faster, without losing accuracy.”
Christine progressed quickly. She went from one shot per second, to five shots in about three seconds, all of them in the ten ring.
“Outstanding,” Tony said. “I’d like to try it out.”
He fired five rounds at twenty feet.
“I’m not a big fan of revolvers, but this is a fine weapon for its intended purpose.” He said.
When we had all shot the gun, I gave it to Christine.
“I know you like revolvers. Keep it handy in your bedroom, but don’t tell anyone you have it. Do you use a housekeeper?” I asked her.
“Are you kidding me, John, on the salary you pay me? I’m the only housekeeper at my place. I’ve even given up on getting Lori to keep her room clean. She helps out in the kitchen occasionally, but that’s about it.”
I laughed.
“I told you having a teenage roommate would offer some challenges.”
She rolled her eyes, “You have no idea!”
Tony interrupted.
“On that subject, J.W., Orlando’s trial has been scheduled for Monday the twenty third of this month. That’ll be the end of him; you’ll only have to watch over Lori for a little more than a week.”
“Oh, Tony, that’s great news!” Christine said.
I nodded, grimly.
“What’s the problem, John? You should be as thrilled as I am.” Christine said.
“I guess so; I’ll be glad to see Orlando put away, but it means things are speeding up.”
“What things, J.W.?” Tony asked.
“I’m not exactly sure. How’s the murder investigation coming along?”
“…Which one?” Tony asked.
“…The Edward Nordstrom murder.” I reminded him.
“Not. We’ve got nothing, officially. We’re pretty sure our person of interest, who we all know too well, had something to do with it, but we’ve got no hard evidence and he’s unshakable under interrogation. It looks like this one may go on the books as an ‘unsolved’ cold case.”
I shook my head. “No, Tony, he won’t get away with it. He’s been slippery and calculating, but he’ll trip up. It’s just a matter of time now. He’s always been able to worm his way out of tight spots. He’s deceived his teachers, employers, superiors, and anyone else he wanted to, all of his life, and he got away with it. He’s very good when he’s forced into a corner. I wonder if he would respond differently if he thought he was safe, and he was the one in control.”
“We’ve tried that angle, J.W. We’ve used some very good interrogation techniques, even suggesting to him he was brilliant and superior to our investigative abilities, but he just acted smug. He never gives up anything useful. Believe me, he’s a master at self-protection.” Tony said.
“His whole life revolves around himself, and how clever and powerful he thinks he is. That’s how he’ll get himself nailed. He’ll go too far and then he’ll fall.” I predicted.
“…From your mouth, to God’s ear, J.W.” Tony said.
I shrugged.
“We’ll see.”