Page 71 - Demo

“Actually, it’s an HK.” He steered the cruiser out of the parking lot, shooting a wave at the other deputy get- ting into his car.
“Heckler & Koch?” Sonny said, excited. “You got a P2000?”
The deputy looked at the boy in the mirror. “Yeah. You know guns?”
“Why don’t you carry the SIG?”
“The HK’s LEM.”
“Yeah, LEM, I guess that would help you guys so you don’t accidentally shoot people and stuff. HK pistols are fired like a standard DAO semi-automatic pistol. That’s where every round is fired when you pull the trigger all the way back with the hammer starting at the, what-do-you-call-it, the, the forward, uh, forward rest position. You know that, right?”
The deputy watched him in his rearview mirror.
Sonny bobbed his head, smiling as he continued talk- ing about the pistol. “The trigger makes the, what-do- call-it, the weight of the DAO trigger pull, like, more smooth, like about 6.18 to 8.5 pounds, because the two-part hammer is pre-cocked every time the slide moves back. Guess how much the trigger pull on most double-action pistols is? Like twelve to fifteen pounds.”
The deputy drove in silence for a few blocks, glancing every so often in his mirror to see what the boy was doing, and the boy was smiling, checking out the scen- ery as it whisked by the windows.
“Why do you like guns, Sonny?”
“They protect us. Guns are the most important tool man ever invented.”
“What about the knife?” the deputy quipped. “What about it?”
“Experts say the knife is the most important tool ever invented.”
“That’s dumb. I can shoot you from so far away that you can’t get me, but you’re going to hurt me if I’m trying to kill you with a knife.”
“Tools don’t just kill, Sonny.” “A good tool does.”
They rode in silence for a few minutes. Then Sonny said: “I let all the pigeons go free.”
“What pigeons?”
“The clay pigeons.” “Oh.”
“Can I just go back to the Foundation? Mr. Wister’s gonna be pissed, but that’s okay, he likes me.”
“No, I’m sorry, Sonny, I have to book you. You pulled a gun on an old man and took his money. That’s against the law.”
“It’s against the law to pay someone only two bucks an hour.”
“Yes, it is.”
“So arrest Mr. Lindsay for not paying me.”
“It doesn’t work like that,” the deputy said. “We’re here.”
Sonny looked out at the backside of the Sheriff’s sta- tion, with its bland, brown stucco and darkened glass. The deputy helped him exit the vehicle, holding the top of his head down to keep him from banging it, took his arm and led him into the station. He was booked, fingerprinted and put in a cell with three Mexicans, who held little regard for Sonny, until he be- gan speaking fluid Spanish to them.
~
Sonny rode with Rhonda in her white Volvo into Can- yon County, the radio playing “Yesterday.” Rhonda glanced over at Sonny, who watched her singing along with the tune.
“What?”
“You sing good,” Sonny said. “Thank you.”
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