Bang!

I woke up to the sound of a loud, and I mean loud, bang at about three in the morning. Me and J had the house to ourselves and if anyone was coming home or over, they would have showed up before midnight. I nudged J as I reached for my gun and asked her if she heard it. She mumbled something I didn't understand so I loaded the chamber and had my thumb at the ready, over the safety. I maneuvered through the room in the dark, trying not to knock over anything and quietly unlocked our bedroom door. I opened it just enough but didn't see anything or anyone. I pulled the rest of the way open and the bathroom door swung open. I pulled my gun up and aimed...Jules threw her hands in the air and yelled, "Whoa!"

I started laughing. I guess it was my nerves. Shit...we live in the middle of the woods for Christ sakes. People around here leave their keys in their cars and sleep with the doors and windows open. You don't do that where I come from. Jules, who is Rock's girlfriend by the way, started laughing with me. Her yell brought Rock out of his room.

"She almost shot me," she said, still laughing.
Rock looked stoned out of his mind and just laughed with us.
"Well, you scared the shit out of me. And if you were an intruder, you wouldn't be walking out of here. That's for sure." I ejected the clip of my gun, emptied the bullet from the chamber, and took a deep breath. I don't want to ever have to use my gun to kill someone but if it comes down to me or J's life, I sure as hell will.

I crawled back in bed. Adrenaline was still pumping through me. J rolled over and placed her hand in the center of my chest and draped her leg over me. "Thanks," she whispered, "for protecting me."




When I woke up with a desperate need to quench my ache for another adrenaline rush later in the morning, I grabbed the key for the four wheeler. What can I say? I don't do drugs...who needs them when life and living is the best drug I've ever encountered. I talked J into riding with me so I could show her the new paths I had made up the side of the mountain and the one down by the creek. As butch as she is, she held on to me for dear life. I promise, I was taking it easy, but when I showed her the incline we were going up, I thought she was going to jump off. Anyway...I showed her the paths and then told her to take a solo run through it. It was funny, she is so damn careful and slow.
Finally, she came back and hopped off. She sat on the porch and watched me take my turn. When I can back, she looked white.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Please be more careful," she begged. "At least until we get some helmets. You were on two wheels and you caught air coming up the driveway."
I wanted to tell her that that was nothing. That if I had full gear on, I probably would have took the machine to its extreme. But the look on her face made me turn to mush. I promised I'd be more careful and proceeded to crawl around the paths at turtle speed. Until I saw her walk in the house and then it was all out. I was having a blast. I flew down the driveway at full speed. The air was cold and my fingers and face were going numb but fuck it, right. I splashed through the creek, shot out to the driveway then slid sideways into the woods. When I emerged from woods, J was standing on the porch with the camera and a look on her face like it was the end of my riding for the day. She shook her head and I winked. I rode the path one more time and parked the four wheeler. I definitely fulfilled my need for adrenaline.

Now, if J ever lets me ride it again...that's another story.

Our pal, Shannon, should be here any minute. We are heading out to astronomy night at Unicoi State Park. It starts at 8. Come one, come all.