His hazel eyes were written all over with malicious ideas, and they bulged out of his eye sockets abnormally. His body blended in with the shadows as he hovered over Dai-Tai. The frightened girl stepped back and banged into a pale green wall. She was cornered by the murderer; there was no way to escape now. Realizing her condition, he hollered with laughter like a hyena; his voice boomed throughout the hallway of Chenglei's building.
His gloved hand, the size of a boxing glove, reached toward the girl. Dai-Tai squeezed her eyes tight and shielded herself with her arms. "Stop it!" she cried. "Stop it!"
Dai-Tai jolted up from her bed. Oh, it was just a dream, she thought with relief. She frowned at the second nightmare. The girl touched her tear-stained cheeks; she had been crying in her sleep. A bird calling outside from the window broke her thoughts. It was morning already.
Rolling lazily off the bed, Dai-Tai shuffled to the bathroom.
I wonder if Itzal is still sleeping. She stopped in front of the open bathroom door and stared at the closed door across from it. Dai-Tai slowly approached Itzal's room and touched the golden doorknob. She twisted it slowly and tried to open the door, but it was locked. She wondered if Itzal was still sleeping inside the room.
Returning to the bathroom, she stepped onto a small stool chair by the sink and examined herself in the mirror. Her short black hair was all greasy and messy. The crinkle, baggy, green t-shirt, which had been given by Itzal, fell past her knees like a dress. It covered the shorts she was wearing; it was the only thing she still had on from home. Wait, she thought suddenly. She pulled out the maneki neko keychain from her pocket.
There was something different about the miniature cat this time. Its painted smile sent a warm comfort to the girl. It became an important thing to her all of the sudden; the only thing she had left that still belonged to her. Setting it aside in her pocket, Dai-Tai made a mental note to herself to take better care of the miniature cat.
After Dai-Tai brushed her teeth and washed her face, she headed downstairs. The creaking of the stairs still stood out in her mind; she was not yet adjusted to it. As her stomach grumbled, she went to the kitchen to find something to eat. Hopefully Itzal had some food in the refrigerator. Though, Dai-Tai was hoping she would not find liquidy rice porridge.
To the girl's surprise, there was an opened bag of whole wheat bread and a jar of peanut butter on the dining table. Dai-Tai helped herself to a slice of bread. While she it buttered it with a knife, a sound of clunking soda cans was heard from the backdoor. Peering through the door's window, she saw Itzal outside.
Dai-Tai dropped everything on the counter and opened the backdoor. The cool morning air rushed out touching her dry skin. She stepped barefoot on the backdoor porch. The scenery was not what she expected; the back of the cabin slightly resembled a playground.
A large patch of the land was stripped of grass into an arena shape. All that was left was an exposed layer of sandy soil. Bricks were placed a few feet apart from each other on the left side resembling a step of stones. Farther north were two brick walls facing each other; the tallest one was approximately six feet and the other one was half its size. On the right side, pull-up bars were lined equidistant from each other with enough space apart. Righter, the grass grew back where the hickory tree stood. The abundant, pecan-shaped nuts littered the ground in that area. Itzal was standing in the middle where there were stool chairs. There were several soda cans rested on each chair; he had taken them from the collection of soda cans and miscellaneous bottles in the transparent white bag he was dragging.
When he heard the door opening, he knew it was Dai-Tai. Dragging the bag, Itzal approached the girl on the porch. "You finally woke up," he said. "It's almost 9:30."
Dai-Tai nodded. "What are you doing?" she asked regarding the soda cans.
"I'm going to plink."
"Plink?"
Itzal's eyes filled with enthusiasm. "Yes, I'll show you. I'm going to teach you afterwards." He placed down the bag of bottles and pushed back the flap of his unbuttoned flannel shirt to reveal a gun. The blood left Dai-Tai's cheeks when the polished dark weapon glared back sinisterly. A flashflood of memories of shooting the murderer rushed into her mind. The blocky thick gun almost looked exactly like the gun she had used, except it was slightly bigger and the hand grip was covered by a full grip sleeve.
"You shouldn't fear a gun when it's not loaded," Itzal said. He pushed back the gun's slide to show its empty interior to the girl in different angles. "Without bullets, guns can't work."
Dai-Tai relaxed her shoulders. With the slide pulled back, the gun's new shape intimidated her less. Itzal held out the gun to her, but Dai-Tai hesitated to take it.
"It's a Glock 17."
A Glock 17? Dai-Tai stared with confusion at him. "Is that the gun's name?" she asked.
Itzal grinned at her. "Yes. Each gun is different, so they need names. It's the only way to tell them apart, so you won't mix them up together." He turned away from Dai-Tai to face the soda can obstacles he set up and inserted a magazine inside the gun. The gun made a loud click startling the girl. He pushed down the slide stop, and the slide snapped back into its original position.
"The gun is loaded now," Itzal said. "But there is another way to do it. Anyway, you better put your hands over your ears."
Without hesitation, Dai-Tai covered her ears tightly with her hands. Itzal pointed his gun toward the soda cans in the middle of the three stool chairs. Leaning toward the shot, he concentrated on the first soda can. The gunshot crackled like lightning deafening her sensitive ears; her covered ears helped little to muffle the noise. As the gunshot echoed above the canopies scaring off the birds into flight, the first soda can was thrust several feet through the air. The middle stool chair was empty within a few seconds.
Dai-Tai's hands were still covering her ears. She stood in awe like the first time she had seen Itzal doing parkour. It amazed her how he perfectly knocked down all the three soda cans. Itzal lowered his gun and unloaded it.
Amused by the girl's admiration, he said, "You can uncover your ears now."
The girl dropped her hands down. "Are you going to teach me now?" It made much sense if she hated the sight of the gun, but Dai-Tai found herself strangely attracted to its power. Maybe it was Itzal's smooth demonstration that gave her a different perspective on guns or the anger that still lingered in her veins. Her mother was killed because she was unprotected. If Dai-Tai knew how to shoot as well as Itzal, it would give her a sense of control in her life. Nobody would ever try to harm her again. Either those reasons seemed logical.
Itzal liked Dai-Tai's eagerness. As he slipped the Glock 17 back inside his holster, a certain beam filled his rugged face like it hadn't for years. "Yes," he replied. "Follow me."
~~~
Dai-Tai stepped inside Itzal's room which he had locked before. The girl underestimated the spacious bedroom; it was much bigger than she had expected. There were rifles and shotguns displayed proudly on the walls, and a large bookshelf in the middle of the room. A large desk and a wardrobe were next to his bed which was facing a curtain-covered window.
Itzal motioned the girl to the drawer. He unlocked the first drawer with a small key and pulled it back. Dai-Tai stared speechlessly with her eyes wide open at the row of guns. Some were blocky and thick just like the Glock 17 and some were much slender. There was even a metallic revolver that stood out from the dark guns.
Dai-Tai watched Itzal's large hand select a small gun that had a similar style like a Glock 17. The number '26' was embedded on the weapon. He pulled the slide back and double-checked the gun's chamber before handing it to the girl. Dai-Tai this time didn't hesitate to take the gun from him. The firearm barely weighed one and a half pounds, and it seemed the gun hadn't been used for a long time. It was light and cold in her small hands while she tried to figure out how to hold it.
"That's a Glock 26," Itzal said. "It's the smallest handgun out of the Glock family. The rubber sleeve you're holding it by makes the gun more comfortable to grip." He showed her how to hold the gun properly which took Dai-Tai several times to get it right. Before they headed back outside, Itzal grabbed a pair of earmuffs for the girl to put on. It was a bit big on her, but it would suffice.
Itzal gave her a long lecture about loading and unloading the gun. The girl listened to him carefully as he made it sound it was a matter of life and death. He nearly scared her off when he mentioned some people forget to unload their guns and injure themselves accidentally.
"Now it's your turn to load the gun," Itzal said handing back the Glock 26 to Dai-Tai including a magazine. "There are thirteen rounds which mean you can shoot thirteen times, all right?"
Dai-Tai fully nodded her head. She was relieved that Itzal didn't stop her in between while she loaded the gun. After the gun's slide snapped back, Itzal praised her for loading it on her own. It made her feel good about herself, but she didn't know that the next step would be much difficult.
Dai-Tai pointed the gun with both of her hands at the first soda can on the first chair. Doubt swam in her mind when she realized that the cans were too far away from her. She glanced back at Itzal whom was watching her intently. The expectation in his dark brown eyes made her swallow hard. Would he be upset if she didn't get at least one can knocked down?
"Move a bit up until I tell I tell you to stop. If you don't get any of them, don't be so hard on yourself."
Dai-Tai relaxed as Itzal told her to stop fifteen away from the target. While she focused on the can, Itzal's voice tore her attention away. His face had a slight disapproval look yet it revealed that he was a bit amused.
He laughed lightly. "The way you're holding your gun seems that you're trying to back away from it. Remember, the gun is in your hands. There's nothing to be frightened about it. Learn toward your shot."
"Okay…" Dai-Tai muttered. She leaned a bit more forward and assumed her posture was correct since Itzal didn't say anything to her afterwards. Focusing on the soda can this time, she let a few seconds passed. When the time felt right, her finger pulled the trigger.
The brass of the bullet's shell missed a few inches from her face. Her shot flew above the soda can disappointing the girl. It was way off the target. However, Itzal encouraged her to try again and to aim lower. "You're not going to get it in the first time," he said. "You can't expect to get the can when you just started using the Glock."
Despite Itzal's pushy reassurance, Dai-Tai grew frustrated after her fifth round. She also got burned by one of the brass that flew toward her forehead. It didn't make her feel any better. It reminded her of the time she was trying so hard to get the rocks in the basket that it broke Kwan Yin's finger, and the time she hurt herself from doing parkour. But then there was the murderer whom killed her mother; she didn't miss that shot.
The familiar boiling anger seethed through her like a stinging scorpion. She hated him for being wicked. She hated him for taking away her mother and destroying her home. He took everything from her, and she took his life. Yet, his death wasn't enough.
Dai-Tai didn't realize that she had pulled the trigger and knocked down the first can. She felt a hand squeeze her shoulder and glanced up at Itzal. Lines of worry creased on his forehead.
"You got it in the sixth round…." his voice trailed.
Dai-Tai stared at her gun, and she blinked back a tear.
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