The Trigger - Bonnie Smetts

They don’t know Roy’s got a gun. And all I can do is watch and hide and hope to a god I want with me here in the woods tonight.

“We got you surrounded, Roy, you chickenshitasshole,” says a voice attached to someone I can’t see. “Asshole, you’re good as dead now.” And then I hear the shadows laughing. I don’t know how many there are this time.

I’m breathing in tiny sips, trying not to let any sound escape. Jesusgod, Roy. I hope you know what you’re doing. I see the shadows move and I hear running, more like a scuffling and then the sound of breaking glass. “He’s in there, that chicken shit’s hiding in there.” And then I hear more laughing. And more glass breaking, this time maybe it’s only a bottle.

I move one boulder closer to the house. Jesusgod, Roy. I can’t save him and I’m not crazy enough to try. But I’m feeling sicker each minute this goes on and I can’t imagine an ending that I could live with.

And then a blast, a gunshot snaps past me. I swear it came right at me. I’m down on the ground now, holding my breath and trying no to throw up. My brain feels like it’s gonna burst right through my scalp.

Pop, pop, pop, again, then pounding feet in my direct. Big men are screaming and breathing and I’m praying they aren’t coming at me.

And then it happens. A truck starts up. There’s screeching and dust and thudding and lights and then it’s gone. I wait.

“The asshole’s left, that chickenshit asshole just left,” says one of the voices from the shadows. Judging by the sounds, the men were lying on the ground not that far from me. And they start yelling and screaming at each other. How could they let that chicken ass get away from his own house? And more and more.

I wait in the dark, holding my breath.

And then there’s another explosion. A truck engine ignites. I can’t hear nothing else, just the truck and then the gears and the gravel and then they’re gone. They gotta be gone. They’re can’t be anybody left out here now. I still don’t move.