#647 Everyone Here Has a Gun- Lucas Southworth

#647 Everyone Here Has a Gun- Lucas Southworth

This is the opening and title story to Lucas Southworth’s 2013 collection. The book won the Grace Paley Prize for short fiction.

This is a parable about guns. A pair, a man and a woman sit together in a room full of people, each with a gun. There will be shooting, and there will be defending from the shooting which of course means more shooting. I will be careful in assuming this story is anti-gun, because often, the same arguments made in opposition can be used in support.

 Lets just day, this is a scary place to be, and we should all do our best not to end up in this room.

Notable Passage: “In the confusion, we’ve all drawn our guns. I have mind aimed at you. You have yours aimed at me.”

Rating: 7-8-8-7 Total= 30

#357 Never Was- David Dante Trout

#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.

Rating: 8-7-8-8 Total= 31

#127 Boot- Reginald McKnight

#127 Boot- Reginald McKnight

An old Marine Corps. Private is telling the story of his boot camp.

“You fear the [drill instructor]; you fear looking like a puss in front of the other boots; you fear shaming your family. You fear going to jail. It’s that fear that keeps seventy-five recruits with loaded m-16s from shooting their drill instructors to fucking rags.”

He was his squad’s best marksman. He was told by his Drill Instructor to take the marksmen tests for other recruits so that his squad’s marks would be high enough to get the DI a promotion. When found out, he was caught between being loyal to his DI or loyal to the Corps. He failed both and his future was shot.

I feel like I’ve read this story before, probably several times, seen the TV show and the movie. It’s hard to make marine stories new. This year I read Redeployment, Phil Klay’s collection of short stories about the Marines. Almost everything would pale next to those.

Rating: 6-5-6-5 Total= 22