“Come on, we got to tell Mom about this.” I said and we headed back through the living room towards the kitchen.
As we went through the living room Lucy was holding Ronald Bear and was quietly watching another Clifford, I figured Old Man Tucker had a DVD of them or something. Everyone else was sitting at the kitchen table and they were talking quietly but I could tell that they were not all getting along about something. I stood there a second, waiting to get Mom’s attention. Finally she looked at me and asked
“Johnny, where is Lucy?”
I pointed back the way we came and said she was watching TV in the living room then I asked if I could talk to her for a second. She said that they had a lot to talk about and could it wait. I said that I didn’t think so and that it was important. She finally agreed and Billy and Mom and I went into the living room with Lucy, Billy’s Mom coming along too at the last moment.
“Ok Johnny what is up?” she asked, running her fingers through her brown hair and looking very tired.
Before I could answer Billy chimed in
“Old Man Tucker is a GUN NUT!!!”
He was so excited he was practically jumping up and down and we had to show Mom and Mrs. Driscol. They wandered around in there gawking just like me and Billy had, Mrs. Driscol said that some of these must be worth a lot of money and all together a small fortune, she then said
“Well, I just don’t understand why one old man should need so many guns.”
“He doesn’t need them Amy, he obviously collects them and I for one am pretty happy he does.” Mom said quietly to her best friend.
After that they pulled the door shut and said that we were not to go in there again or let anyone in there either, especially not Lucy. I guess I looked disappointed but Mrs. Driscol said we could be the “Guards of the Armory” and that was pretty cool so Billy and me said we would do it. Billy found an old newspaper and we folded special army hats for us to wear. I think they look like old sailor hats but it was the only one Billy knew how to fold. We marched back and forth in front of the door for a while and then just sat down in front of it and talked for a bit, halfway watching Clifford with Lucy. I have to admit, sometimes that show made Billy and me laugh.
I don’t know how long we were there, a Clifford and a half I guess when Mr. Franks came storming in with everyone else behind him. They were all talking at the same time. I guessed that Mrs. Driscol must have told the others about all of Old Man Tuckers guns. Billy stood up and said
“HALT, who goes there?”
Mr. Franks just grabbed him by one arm and threw him across the room, I pushed forward into his stomach, I guess I surprised him because it did make him step back a little. I could hear Mrs. Driscol yelling about Mr. Franks attacking her son. Everyone was talking all at the same time. Suddenly a loud whistle got everyone’s attention, we turned back towards the kitchen and there was Old Man Tucker standing there in jeans and a sleeveless T-shirt.
“Now just what is going on?” he asked.
We all just looked at him but before anyone could answer he turned to Lucy.
“Miss Lucy? Do you know?” She didn’t take her eyes off of the TV but she did answer;
“Uh huh, Billy and Johnny were Almond Guards, and Mr. Franks wanted to go in and they didn’t let him.”
Old Man Tucker turned back and looked at us and Billy said
“Armory not Almond”, he looked a little ticked about that.
“Right” was all Old Man Tucker said, it was clear he was thinking about something.
Mr. Franks pushed his way through everyone towards Old Man Tucker,
“If you have HALF the firearms in that room that they say you have I am going to have you arrested.”
Mr. Franks threatened. Old Man Tucker said nothing he just crossed his arms over his chest, for the first time I saw just how, well, hairy Old Man Tucker was, there was so much on his arms it looked like it was laying in layers, and some of it was long enough to actually have a curl. But as hairy as he was it didn’t hide an old, faded tattoo on one arm. I couldn’t read it but I thought it looked military.
“As home owners association president I DEMAND that you turn over all firearms in your possession to us immediately!”
Now I was only 12 years old at the time, but even I knew Mr. Franks had made a big mistake, Mom and Mrs. Driscol started saying something about private property and Mr. Caulfield just rolled his eyes. Mrs. Franks touched her husband’s shoulder and asked him to calm down. But Mr. Franks was going to have none of it, he stepped forward again towards Old Man Tucker and poked a finger towards Old Man Tucker. For the second time whatever he was going to say was lost when Old Man Tucker reached up with Frank’s opposite hand and grabbed Mr. Franks wrist, he pulled Mr. Franks towards him hard almost spinning him 180 degrees to face us. Old Man Tucker put his other arm under Mr. Franks arm pit pinching it between forearm and biceps, now Mr. Frank’s right arm was stretched across Old Man Tucker’s chest. I can see it almost in slow motion; Old Man Tucker slowly turned and leaned into Mr. Franks who went down like a ton of bricks. Mr. Franks was on his stomach, his right arm stretched out behind him, and Old Man Tucker’s considerable weight pressing that one shoulder to the ground. I didn’t think a man that, um, heavy could move that smoothly or that fast but he did. Billy looked at me and said “Wow.” and I could hear Mrs. Franks asking for her husband to be let go. Old Man Tucker didn’t say anything yet but he shoved Mr. Franks down flat once more then stood up. He put his foot on Mr. Franks hand and pressed down on it. I winched because I knew that had to hurt and Mr. Franks yelped in pain. I had the feeling that if he wanted to Old Man Tucker could break every bone in that hand. Old Man Tucker held up one hand to get everyone to be quiet for a Moment and when Mr. Franks quieted he said,
“I am going to tell you this only once Franks, I am not in your ‘ass-o-see-ation’ and even if I was I wouldn’t answer to you. I have a license for those guns and that is all you need to know. You are in my house, my house, my rules. Do you understand?”
Mr. Franks hesitated and Old Man Tucker leaned forward just a little and Mr. Franks barked
“Yes, yes I understand!” Old Man Tucker looked over to Lucy, still on the couch watching the ending of another Clifford.
“What do you say Miss Lucy?”
Lucy sat there for a Moment then in a long drawn out manner as good as any umpire she said
“Steeerike TWO!” Old Man Tucker laughed again.
“Franks, that little girl is your best friend, don’t go for three.” and he removed his foot from Mr. Franks’ hand.
“Guards, please allow access to the armory.” Old Man Tucker said to Billy and Me.
“Yes, Sir” I said in reply and started to open the door. Old Man Tucker smiled and said
“Don’t call me sir, I work for a living.” Just then Lucy on the couch turned towards us and asked
“Mr. Tucker do you have any more cartoons?” He replied and pointing to a door in the TV stand he said
“Right in there Miss Lucy.”
Mom looked confused for a minute then said
“Cartoons? You have power? How come you have power Mr. Tucker?”
As he entered the den, he said over his shoulder,
“Solar panels mam.”
“Of course” Mom said a strange smile on her face.
I wondered why she said that, how could she have predicted that he would be solar powered? I guess I just had missed something. Lucy had found another DVD and was just settling back onto the couch while the rest of us followed Old Man Tucker into the ‘arsenal’.
He showed us the work table with his press and other reloading tools. He showed us that he had a melter and could make bullets but brass was another story. He started rearranging some of the guns putting all the ones he thought we might use in the first case. The others he said were just relics or he didn’t have enough ammunition for them to be much use. When he was done he said
“Alright, in this cabinet I have a number of handguns, two SKS rifles, two semi-auto shotguns, an AR-180 and a 30-06. I also have two replicas in 22 long rifle, a GSG 522 and a STG 44.”
He turned to Mom and Mrs. Driscol
“They would be perfect for the boys.”
Mom hesitated but Mrs. Driscol put a hand on Mom’s arm.
“Sharon, they need to know how to defend themselves.”
Mom looked at her and they shared a silent sadness.
“Alright Mr. Tucker, will you give everyone a lesson on how to use the weapon you give them?”
Old Man Tucker’s voice was quiet and kind; it surprised me how much so,
“Of Course Mrs. Williams.” and he smiled softly.
Things were quiet while Old Man Tucker showed me and Billy how to use those rifles. He showed us how to load them, unload them. How to never point them at anyone unless you were willing to kill them, we stared at each other for a moment while that sunk in.
“But you pointed a gun at Mr. Franks” Billy said.
“That’s right Billy, I did.” and his face was like stone.
He drew pictures for us and talked about sight alignment and sight picture. We practiced over and over again. Then he showed us how to clean those rifles. We both learned on both rifles. When he finished he said,
“Tomorrow we will try to practice a little, if it’s safe of course.” Then he said, “I got something else for you two.”
He rose and went to the handgun cabinet.
“These two revolvers use the same bullets as your rifles, they are quite a bit simpler than those two rifles.”
He held one out to each of us, they were just like the big revolver that he carried, just a bit smaller. He opened one of the base cabinets and produced two matching holsters and a big plastic bucket that said ‘Remington, 22 Long Rifle, 36 grain hollow point’ on the side. He had two extra magazines for the 522 and one extra for the STG. He said
“Fill them up boys, and load the revolvers too. Then put the holsters on your belts and I want you to wear them all the time. Never be out of reach of these guns.” Then he paused “And I want you to look out for each other. I want you to take the 6 for each other, which means I want you to watch each other’s back.”
We nodded and promised that we would. He smiled,
“I am giving these to you, they are yours, and never let them out of your sight. Never give them up to anyone, okay?”
We quickly agreed and promised, and I wondered why we had been so afraid of Old Man Tucker.
Mrs. Driscol came and got us, she had made the chili she seemed in a good mood until she saw us with our rifles slung over our shoulders and revolvers on our hips. I could see that she had something to say but she kept it to herself for now. My Mom was waiting behind as Mrs. Driscol led us to the kitchen.
“Mr. Tucker, a word please” she said, not really a question but more of a royal suggestion.
“Of course Mrs. Williams.”
She hesitated but not like she was intimidated more like she didn’t want to forget something. When she spoke her voice was steady and strong,
“First Mr. Tucker I want you to know that Mrs. Driscol and I are both grateful to you and we realize what would have happened if you had not come out for us.”
He cut her off and said she was welcome and started into the kitchen but stopped when she put a hand on his arm and said
“But...”
He stopped and waited.
“While we appreciate that you asked before arming and taking the time to teach Johnny and Billy, we were wondering why you did not arm the rest of us?”
He blinked at her in shock.
“I really do not intend to arm the Franks but Caulfield, of course...”
This time Mom was the one who interrupted him,
“No, I meant Amy Driscol, Elaine and I. Do you realize that you armed two twelve year old boys before even considering two adult women? That has to be one of the dumbest, most misogynistic things I have ever seen. Were you trying to be condescending or were you just being stupid?””
She watched him, she nearly laughed in his face as he wore the expression of someone whose rusty wheels had just started to grind and move once more. Mom crossed her arms and patiently waited.
His brows knit together, she didn’t know if he was going to scream at her or what, but she didn’t care, he was being an idiot and he needed to know it. After a full 60 seconds he nodded,
“You are right Mrs. Williams. And if it’s okay I will correct that in the morning.”
He paused then added
“I want you to know I don’t think of women as secondary, inferior or incapable in any way. I knew female Marines and was proud to be by their side. I have no excuse or even an explanation for why I over looked you in favor of the boys. I can’t even promise I won’t do it again, but I can promise two things, if I do it again it won’t be on purpose and second I won’t take it personally when you correct me.”
He looked uncomfortably at the ground, then finished
“I hope that’s good enough of an apology.”
Mom stared at him then just as a hint of a smile reached the corner of her mouth
“Well, it could have been worse, thank you, and correct you I will. Now let’s you and me get some food.”