Boy, Boy, Crazy Boy

Chapter 9: The Gun

The old man tossed the gun onto the counter in front of Riff. It was a revolver, he knew that much, but beyond that...

"You ever fired a gun before?" The black guy seated at the bar asked skeptically. 

Riff glanced at him, trying desperately to look like he knew what he was doing. "'Course."

"What kind?" The guy, Abe, leaned forward. 

The Jet's gaze flicked back to him. "Colt. Revolver." 

"That so?" Abe asked skeptically. "What'd it shoot?" 

"Bullets!" Action cut in loudly from behind him. 

Riff silenced him with a glance and turned back to his stare down. ".32s." 

"Colt shoots .22s." Abe mocked. 

At least he wasn't too far off. 

"We got money." He tossed a roll of bills next to the gun. 

The man behind the counter, Rory, finally joined the conversation. "I don't sell heaters ta unscrubbed boys." 

"These guys," Riff persisted, "the ones we're rumblin' with, they're bringin' heat-"

"'Cause they think we're bringin' heat-" Ice jumped in from behind him. 

"- so we gotta bring heat so they know that we ain't defenseless, and vice versa." 

"Mutually Assured Destruction." Abe finished, unimpressed . 

Riff's expression didn't change. "I don't know what that is." 

Abe inclined his head towards the gun. "That's a Smith and Wesson Model 10. Classic of its kind." 

"Take it, why doncha?" Rory dared. 

There was a fleeting pause before Riff grabbed for it, but Rory was faster, snatching it up with inhuman speed and pointing it at Riff. 

"Fires trey eights." Abe said from his stool, unperturbed by the other man's actions. "Makes quite a hole for a little gun." 

"It's loaded." Rory continued. "You don't gotta cock it, even. You just squeeze the trigger and-"

Riff was done letting this guy talk. He placed his forehead against the barrel without hesitation. "Might as well." 

Rory seemed impressed. He flipped the gun around and offered it to Riff. "You remind me of your dad." 

He put the pistol back on the bar and Riff offered him the roll of bills. 

"Leave it on the bar." Abe cut in. 

And without a regret, he did. 

<~•~•~>

A little while later, Riff, Ice, Action, Tiger, and Numbers were near the dockyards, playing around. 

Riff slipped through a hole in the fence, aiming back through with the gun. "POW! POW! POW!" 

Tiger pretended to fire back while Action fell to the ground dramatically. The sight almost made Riff laugh. It reminded him of when he and Tony used to play around as kids. And speaking of Tony... 

"Pow." 

Riff spun around, aiming the gun despite knowing who it was. He stopped short when he caught sight of Tony sitting on a crate next to the cargo ramp of a dilapidated pier. Something was off with his boy. Something was wrong. 

Tony held his hands up in mock surrender. "Gee whillikers, Batman! Since when d'you carry a rod?" 

Yeah something was definitely wrong.