Our first grandbaby. Needless to say, we were super excited. Julie was over the moon. She insisted we drive right over for a visit. Drive right over is more than a thousand miles, so we booked a room about halfway, just outside of Buffalo. We got there after nine. The parking lot was pretty full. I lugged in just the one suitcase, the one with essentials. “A nice quiet room,” we asked the desk clerk, who greeted us with a smile a bit disturbed by painful looking jewelry.

“I’m so tired, so very tired,” Julie said, slipping in bed. “Forgive me if we don’t ... I didn’t sleep at all last night, and in the car, you know...”

“That’s okay, baby,” I whispered, and I gave her a goodnight kiss. I think she was already asleep. I followed. I wasn’t sure how long later Julie nudged me. “Ken,” she whispered.

“What’s wrong?”

“The noise. It’s so...”

An outdoor lounge of some sort was adjacent to our room, and several people out there were talking non-stop with mirth and enthusiasm. It was eleven o’clock.

“Maybe they’ll stop soon,” I said to Julie.

Half an hour later they hadn’t stopped. I pulled on my jeans and went out there. Three guys and two women. “Uh, excuse me,” I said, holding up a hand, a finger raised like I was back teaching. They stopped talking. “Um, we’re trying to sleep,” I said. “No problem,” one of the guys said. “Okay,” I said, nodding.

I went back to the room, shucked off my jeans, nestled next to Julie. She sighed. A minute later she was snoring. A minute later the talking out in the longue resumed. Laughter. Talk. Laughter. Nonstop. “Oh Ken,” Julie said.

“I know,” I said. “Some people...”

“Maybe if I talked to them.”

“Maybe,” I said, “but I don’t think...”

“Can’t hurt,” she said. She dug her robe out of the suitcase. I pulled on my jeans.

Out in the lounge the group looked at us. “Hey, we’re on vacation,” one guy said. “And it’s a free country,” one of the women added.

Julie pulled the handgun from the robe. It had been her dad’s. I didn’t know she’d taken it along.

“No need to...” one of the guys said.

She shot him in the head. Four more shots and then it was quiet. We went back to the room.

“Do you think that was maybe too—” I started to say.

“Huh?” said Julie. Or I think that’s what she said.

Julie packed the gun and robe in the suitcase and slipped into bed. I followed. She was asleep instantly. It occurred to me that shooting them was overkill. At about 150 decibels each, one or two shots into the night air would have done the trick.