#357 Never Was- David Dante Trout
Booby Hall had a gun, a pearl-handled automatic, that he
carried around everywhere. “He had the gun because it was the thing that says,
I am.” He was also patriotic, so when his brother went off to war, he also
wanted to serve.
It was “A war so large it refitted every tool, swallowed all
belief, threatened to change the tomorrow of a continent, or the yesterday of a
country.”
“If you can bear arms against your enemy in Europe, you can
protect yourself against your enemy anywhere.”
But black men weren’t wholly welcome to serve in combat,
apparently not good enough to die for their country. But bobby got a job
working for the military auxiliary services. It didn’t get him to Europe but
let him do his part, and let him proudly walk around in a uniform.
Of course, the sight of black men in a uniform set many up
in arms, and seeing one such as Bobby, strong willed, and carrying a gun just
wasn’t going to be tolerated. So, they faked an ordinance and a warrant, and
took Bobby’s gun away. The battle in Europe was far away, but there was a
second battle at home, juts as important, that one was for freedom as well.
Unfortunately for Bobby, the side with the biggest guns usually wins.
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