Chapter Thirty-Seven
Emily
Sophie and Harper and I arrive at the meetup point just before the designated time. We step out of our cars and into the parking lot of a store on the outskirts of town called Gary’s Guns and Games. The sign has a picture of a few animated Japanese cartoon characters on it, and they’re all carrying automatic weapons. The parking lot is empty, and Sophie and I occupy ourselves staring up at the sign and then looking over to Harper, who seems to be doing her best to hide herself in the darkness.
“So his name is Gary?” Sophie says.
“Yes, our contact is Gary. He owns the store,” Harper says.
“And he loves guns and little cartoon animals and animated girls with gigantic tits?” Sophie says, slowly, her eyes going back and forth from the sign to Harper.
“Maybe,” she replies.
“And this is the guy you enticed to help Emily get a gun? I’m guessing you did something sexual for this guy, right? This guy who really likes guns and cartoon girls with tits bigger than any bra could ever contain?” Sophie says. After a moment, she adds, “Fuck, I mean, the back pain alone. How do they manage those things?”
“Yes, I… did things… with Gary. I did what I had to do to help our my friend. I have no regrets, because he said he’d help get Emily what she needs and, after the shit Jay has pulled, you know that we have no better options,” Harper says.
“Thank you, Harper,” I say. “I mean it. This whole thing is scary, but I’m going to feel so much safer knowing I can protect myself.”
“You’re welcome, Em,” Harper says. “Now, both of you, be quiet. I think I see his car’s coming.”
A pair of headlights appears, and as it gets closer, I see those headlights are attached to a boxy station wagon with fake wood paneling.
Sophie and I trade a long look. Harper had sex with this guy?
In a way, I feel grateful knowing she’d go to those lengths to help me, at the same time, I feel terrible for her. It twists my stomach into knots and, if things weren’t already in motion, I’d call them off out of remorse.
The station wagon pulls up near us and out of it steps a man who looks like he’s come right from a movie set. Tall, muscular, hair in a sharp side part, eyes that glitter like the stars, and a smile that could light up the entire parking lot.
“Hey Harper,” he says. “These are your friends? Which one is Emily?”
For a moment, all I can do is just stare at how gorgeous this man is.
“Holy fucking shit, you are one hot man,” Sophie says.
“Thank you,” Gary replies. “That’s the nicest thing I’ve heard in a while. I appreciate it. Are you Emily?”
“I wish I was. I’m Sophie. She’s Emily.”
I nod. “I’m Emily. It’s me. I’m her.”
“And you need this gun for your own protection, right?”
“I do,” I say. My voice shakes a little as I think of the reason.
“A handgun, right? Something small and easy for you to handle while still feeling safe?”
“Yes.”
Gary nods. His eyes are so sharply stunning; out of the corner of mine, I see Sophie wipe sweat off her forehead and mutter the words ‘ God fucking damn ,’ under her breath.
“Why don’t we step into my store and I’ll see what we can do for you?”
He leads us into his shop. Inside, it is a disorienting mishmash of animation and ammunition; colorful characters and carbon steel creations of death.
“What’s with all the cartoon shit?” Sophie blurts out.
Gary shrugs. “I enjoy them, but, mostly, it was a business decision. I did some market research and noticed there wasn’t a store providing these kinds of products — outside of a few shops in Portland, that is — for anywhere within two-hundred miles. I have a friend in Japan from my time in the Marines who has connections and can get me these things at an excellent price, so my profit margins are huge.”
“And your weird car?”
“It’s my grandfather’s. I was over at his place, helping him rebuild his kitchen. My Porsche has been a little temperamental lately, and I didn’t feel like taking it out to this meetup.”
“Fuck me. No more questions,” Sophie says. She shoots a jealous look at Harper.
“So, how does this work?” I say. “You’re going to help me get a gun, right?”
Gary nods and approaches the glass case at the front of his store, on which sits the cash register, and inside of which is a mixed collection of trading cards and hand guns. As he nods, his hair does this thing where it lazily falls over his forehead and then he casually brushes it away, and both Harper and Sophie quietly gasp. “For starters, I’m going to take you in back, which is where I have a small practice range, and you’re going to try out a few guns to see which one works best for you, feels most comfortable, and so on. I’ll show you how to shoot it, reload it, all that.”
“And then she pays you the money and walks out of here, right?” Harper says.
Gary shakes his head. “No.”
Harper’s mouth falls down to her knees. “No?”
“No,” Gary says. He handsomely raps his knuckles on the glass in a handsome fashion. “After she tries a few and I’m satisfied that she knows how to operate that firearm, we’re coming back up here to my computer, where I’ll run your friend’s information through the background check database. It’ll take a short while, and then, assuming she checks out, she can pay for the gun and take it home.”
Somehow, Harper’s mouth falls open further. Her chin scrapes the floor. “That’s just how a regular gun store operates.”
“I know,” Gary says.
“Harper, you blew this guy for nothing?” Sophie says, laughing.
“I didn’t blow him,” Harper says.
“You fucked him?” I say.
“I didn’t fuck him, either.”
“Then what did you do?” Sophie says. “What sick, demented, nasty thing did you do just so your friend could buy a gun like any normal person could?”
Gary clears his throat. “She didn’t bow me, she didn’t fuck me, she just… Look, I have an oral fixation. She helped me satisfy that urge.”
Sophie takes a step toward Gary. “Wait, you went down on her?”
“Yes. The deal was, I’d help your friend get a gun in exchange for her letting me go down on her. That was the deal. I’m sticking to the terms, and, at least based on how she reacted earlier, I’d assumed she was quite satisfied with the arrangement.”
“How satisfied?”
“Very,” Gary says. “I know what I’m doing and I love to do it. It’s my favorite thing in the world, along with the proper selling and handling of firearms.”
“Harper?” Sophie says, voice rising, urgent. Both Sophie and I stare at Harper.
“Four times,” she says. “Four very hard times in ten minutes. I saw colors I’d never imagined and my left foot is still numb. I… have no regrets.”
I feel my cheeks flush, and Sophie and I both stare at Harper in disbelief while Gary stands there, looking unperturbed and devastatingly handsome.
"Well," I finally say, breaking the awkward silence. "I guess we should... get started?"
Gary nods, all business now. "Of course. Follow me to the back, Emily. We'll find the right firearm for you."
As we walk toward the practice range, I hear Sophie whisper furiously to Harper behind us, "Four times? In ten minutes? How is that even possible?"
Harper's reply is barely audible. "I don't know, but I think I saw God. She was smiling, and She gave me a high five."
“Sounds about right,” Sophie says. Just as Gary and I are about to step into the back shooting range, she calls out, “Hey Gary, hold up a minute.”
He stops and handsomely turns toward her. “Yes?”
“When you’re done helping her, I might need some extra help. Do you think you and I can come up with a deal?”
“Yeah, I think we can work something out. Later.” Gary turns his attention back to me. “Are you ready for this, Emily? Legal or not, a gun is no joke.”
I think of Jay, the anger that would always flash in his eyes, the threats he’d yell, and now, the damage he’s done to my car, my work, and how everyone I care about is in danger because of him — Maggie, Sophie, Harper, Charlie, Hunter, they are all at risk. All because one pathetic man can’t take that I’ve moved on and has decided he wants to ruin my life and hurt the people I love.
“I’m ready, Gary.”