Sweet Penelope

Have Mercy

I still felt furious with Kirk, he knew I felt uncomfortable to share my past with him, yet he crossed my boundaries. I stood in the barn, tossing hay bales into the loft. Kirk walked in behind me and leaned against the barn doors. "Mason, I think we should talk about this. You can't stay mad forever." I sighed. "And why is that?" He shook his head. "Not the right way to go about things. I know what I did was uncalled for and I'm sorry for it." I tossed one last hay bale into the loft and turned around to face him. "Just surprised you'd do that, I guess." Kirk nodded. "Well, me too honestly. I was just worried about you, I needed to know what you've been through." I looked down at my feet, unsure of what to say. "I am so incredibly sorry, Mason. For reading your journal, invading your privacy, and just for everything you've went through." There was a short silence and then Kirk spoke again. "I'll help you kill that piece of shit." I looked up quickly and he had a small smirk drawn on his grim face. "It's something that I need to do alone." He nodded. "I agree. We're going deer hunting in the morning. You're doing everything, I'm just a tagalong. I don't know if you're against torture, but I would like you to know, that I am not. Especially when it comes to the scum of the Earth. So, take some notes. Apply them to your murdering technique, I'll help you in that way." I was shocked to hear Kirk say that but I was so happy at the same time. "Thank you, I will." He smiled and stroked his beard. "Are we good now, kid?" I nodded. "Yeah, I forgive you." He patted my shoulder. "See you inside, then."

It was dark and freezing outside. I had on a few layers, but it didn't seem to matter. It was four in the morning and I wasn't sure what Kirk found fun about this. I felt miserably tired. He was excited, on the other hand. He talked my head off the whole time we were in the truck. I hadn't ever been hunting, my dad always said he wanted me to take me but he never did. I didn't know what to expect but I missed my bed.

Sitting in a tree stand was no better. I shivered and my teeth chattered but Kirk was perfectly used to the cold weather. My back hurt and I hated being up so high. But, I refused to complain. He was having the time of his life, and I could tell. He probably always went hunting alone so having a companion meant a lot to him. Kirk removed a bottle of doe pee from his jacket and poured it on the ground beside of us. I cringed. "God, that stinks." Kirk chuckled. "Well, it is piss. It attracts any bucks in the area." I raised my eyebrows. "They're attracted to pee?" He nodded. "Yeah, they're odd dudes but I try not to judge." I smiled and shook my head. His sense of humor was definitely special.

I fell asleep on Kirk's shoulder, he didn't seem to mind as he kept still and quiet. Even when I woke up, he said he still hadn't seen a thing. The sun was in the sky now, but it still didn't produce much heat. Chills shot down my spine and I shivered. Kirk reached into his camouflage jacket and pulled out a bag of candy. "Just be quiet opening it," he whispered. I nodded and carefully unraveled a caramel piece of candy. I knew if he didn't put it up soon, I would devour the entire bag.

I heard leaves crunching and a few twigs breaking, Kirk heard it too because he turned to look into the same direction as me. "Deer?" He nodded. "More than likely, too big to be a squirrel." I slowly got my rifle ready and I was focused on loading on it when Kirk gasped. "Huh?" I looked over my shoulder and my eyes got wide. I found myself making eye contact with a mountain lion. I had never seen one in person, as they are usually a rare sighting in Illinois, my heart almost skipped a beat. Kirk slowly touched my shoulder and whispered into my ear. "You shouldn't have made eye contact. Shoot it if it gets any closer." The mountain lion had bright yellow eyes and huge paws. He was beautiful but he was dangerous, and by making eye contact, I only opposed a threat to him. He walked slowly and carefully, keeping his keen eyes on me. I swallowed hard and lifted the rifle. The big cat hissed, as he walked closer towards the tree stand. Although we were high up in a tree, the cat could easily climb up to us if he wanted. I looked down the scope and put the crosshairs on the mountain lion. I almost felt guilty for killing an innocent animal, but if we stayed here much longer, he wouldn't be completely innocent. Kirk took a deep breath. "Shoot." I gently pulled the trigger back and closed my eyes. The gun kicked me sharply in the shoulder and heard the lion cry out. I opened my eyes and Kirk was smiling. "Good job, kid."

Kirk still expected me to skin the animal, even though it wasn't a deer. He showed me where to begin and how to hold the knife. I felt disgusted with the blood and the guts. It smelled bad and I hated touching them, I could've vomited. Kirk was on the phone with the game warden, explaining our situation. When he was done, he put his flip phone into his pocket. "I'm proud of you. Thinking about having him stuffed and putting him by the fireplace, what do you think?" I wiped my brow and sat the knife down. "Yeah, I didn't do all of this cutting and gutting for nothing." Kirk laughed. "Nope, you didn't."