Page 26 of Hale's Pawn
I tiptoe into my filming room and reach under my computer desk. I tap it three times and my gun is released. I lift up my shirt, tucking the gun into my shorts at the small of my back, then cover it with my shirt again. I tiptoe back to the pantry. Karessa looks up from her phone. “I was going to tell you something, but I’ll wait until after the gun demonstration,” she says.
I laugh. “Okay.” I sit down with my legs wide open, placing the gun in the middle. “I’m going to take the bullets out in front of you so that you know that I’m not trying to hurt you.”
Karessa smiles and nods. “A relief, really.”
I laugh. I take the bullets out, emptying the clip. “This is a Glock 43X. The frame is rose gold. My father got it for me for my 25th birthday. It's engraved.”
“A gun for your birthday?” Karessa asks.
I shrug. “I really wanted it,” I answer. “Want to time how fast it takes me to take it apart and put it back together. I haven’t done it in a while, but I used to do it in under five minutes.”
Karessa whistles. “Okay,” she presses a timer on her phone and she sets it “...go!”
I take the gun apart piece by piece, not thinking about anything else, and then I put it back together, trying my best not to be pressured by my five minute record. “Done! How’d I do?”
Karessa stops the timer, but she stares at me like I’m an anomaly. “Karessa? That bad? Ugh. It’s been awhile, so maybe I’ll have to brush up on it. I used to do it all the time because it was hard to fall asleep. A habit I picked up from my dad. When he can’t fall asleep or when something is wrong, his thought process goes along with stripping the guns and putting them back together. I almost beat his time but I couldn’t. He’s too good at it.” I realized I overshared. “Sorry, I’m rambling.”
“Ainslee...What the hell? How can you be so good at this? You did it in three minutes and fifty-five seconds.”
“What!”
“Can you do it again? Let’s see if you can beat the time or if you get close,” Karessa says with excitement in her eyes.
I nod. “Okay.”
Karessa sets the time again and as it starts, the music is changed and I hear Watermelon Sugar playing from the built-in speakers. I can’t help it as I break into a smile. It's the song that was playing when Oran nearly made me into a porn star. Luckily, he pulled me to the side, but now I get tagged in videos of me moaning and him groaning. I don’t even want to talk about it. “Done!” I yell.
Karessa shows me the timer. Three minutes and two seconds. I smile at my new record. I am going to beat my dad the next time we do this. “That was impressive.”
“Thank you!” I say. “Now, you tell me a thing or two about yourself,” I say as I check my gun out.
“Hmm, my biggest crush on the Island was Oran,” she says and shuts her eyes.
I stay quiet but then I laugh. She opens one eye and then the other. “Oran as in Oran Hale? The asshole Oran? Grumpy-ass Oran?”
Karessa nods, opening both eyes. “Yeah.”
“Holy hell. That’s a crush.” Then the smile falls away.
“What is it? Did I make it awkward?” Karessa asks.
I shake my head. “No, I just… I realized that I’m married to him and I’m probably making shit weird. I’m sorry.”
Karessa laughs. “Girl, it’s not like you knew. I’ll even do you one better, we didn’t get to really choose.”
“But I did choose him. My dad gave me a choice and I chose him because I thought he was the safest bet,” I confess.
“Safest bet? Who? The same Oran Hale sitting out there?” she asks.
I snicker. “Don’t remind me. I was obviously tripping on some new drug that’s not out on the market. I learned the hard way. He did not make it easy for me when he found out.”
Karessa laughs. “Question though, how did you convince him to go through with it? What kind of leverage did you have?”
I lift up my gun. “This. Well, not this particular one, but he was held at gunpoint. I didn’t exactly approve of the method. Apparently, no one can make Oran Hale do what he doesn’t want to do, but I’m sure when faced with death, people tend to make a decision.”
“I mean, I would’ve lost my mind if I was held at gunpoint too. I think I would’ve cried, not even going to lie,” Karessa says.
I shake my head. “Nah, I think you’re tougher than that. Let’s try it out.” I point my empty gun at her head. Karessa’s eyes widen, but other than that, there’s no other shock. “The Belles taught you well.”
