Chapter 10

Daddy came home from work ... is it work if you love what you do? Daddy does.

He came in and said, “I smell gunpowder.”

“Shooting is my last class.” I said. I thought about the last few weeks. Then I said, “I may have made a mistake.”

“How so, Punkin?”

“I get these headaches after,” I said.

“After?”

“Shooting.”

“Umh, look it up.”

So ... I did. This is what I found.

Smokeless powder contains traces of nitroglycerin and other nitrates and nitrates are infamous for causing headaches via vasodilation. Better air circulation will limit the contact. Shoot outdoors.

The range IS outdoors. I couldn’t get more air than I already had.

I kept looking.

Some people are allergic to nitrates. Cease use.

I kept looking.

Nitrates can cause blockage of airways ... and I do have a problem with a glass of wine. Daddy is of the opinion that wine, taken in moderation is good for one’s health. He offers ... and I like some of the sweeter styles. Dry reds cause me serious heartburn and shortness of breath.

Check the label. ‘Contains nitrates’ is an automatic no no. However, Grape allergy, one of the rarest of allergies, can be deadly when combined with nitrates.

“I found that nitrates and nitrites affect me badly,” I told pop, “But I spent all this money.”

“Did it make a dent in your principal?”

“No,” I said. It was true. The interest on the principal was impossible to spend.

“How about your credit?”

“No ... if anything it gave my rating a boost.”

“And you’re how old?”

“15 ... almost 16,” I said.

“Do you know any 15 almost 16 year olds with a credit rating?”

Time to change the subject. Sometimes Daddy makes more sense than I want.

“Daddy?”

“Yes?”

“Can we watch the PBS?”

“Of your mother?”

“Yes,” he said.

“I don’t ever want to forget,” I said.

“Me neither,” he said.

So ... we both cried while mom was murdered.

PBS has some of the finest cameras money can buy. While the national networks deliberately cloud or unfocus the ‘warning not for the fainthearted’ shots, PBS makes it very clear what is going on.

Daddy has the very best of flatscreen TV’s.

Combined with a Mac Pro Desktop and the latest PhotoShop, Daddy could isolate any section of a video, expand it and see who was in the action and what they were doing. If a Redheaded Woodpecker M. erythrocephalus Piciformes Picidae Aves Melanerpes was nailing an oak tree, daddy could bring the splintering scattering bark into focus ... in slow motion. Watching the bullets tear my mother in half? My need for revenge is great!

I am the Watch holder and heir. Daddy bought his equipment using my educational trust. (PBS is educational ... so is a WarnerBros cartoon.)

So ... I dropped shooting and took up sailboat racing.