Taken by Two by Sam J. D. Hunt

of his pistol going off. He was smiling, eyes twinkling from behind his tinted shooting glasses.
    “Just like that, Penny. You want to be surprised when it goes bang. If you try to anticipate, you’ll end up missing the target.”
    “Good, now with the safety off, point at that target down there of the body and aim for the center of his chest.”
    “Oh, I couldn’t shoot at a person…”
    “Penny, for fuck’s sake, it’s a piece of paper.”
    “I know, but…it feels creepy.” I lowered the ready-to-fire gun down to point at the dirt.
    “Would it feel creepy to shoot the mother fucker if he was about to rape you? Kill you? Make you wish he’d killed you?”
    “No, I…You’re so negative.”
    He shook his head. “Penny, you have no idea how dark this world can be. Shoot that goddamn target.”
    “Shouldn’t I aim for a limb to immobilize him first?”
    “Tell you what, Princess—if you can do that, go right ahead. I’ve been shooting for over twenty years, and I still don’t have the skill to aim so well under stress that I can shoot a moving guy in the arm. So, no—if you try that, you’re probably going to miss. If you’re willing to aim a gun at someone and pull the trigger, you’ve already decided they have to die in order for you to live. Shoot to kill, not to injure.”
    “Okay, okay—but why then not aim for the heart?” Rex intimidated me, but I wanted to understand.
    “The biggest area to aim for that will do the most damage is the center of the torso,” he thumped the center of his muscular chest with his fist. “Aim here, the center of mass of the body. This is your first time, baby, you’ll be lucky to hit anywhere near that damn target. Shit, you’ll be lucky to keep the fucking bullet in South America.”
    “Fine,” I snapped, pointing the firearm at the paper target.
    “Now or never…” I took a deep breath and pulled the trigger smoothly. Before I knew it, with a crack the gun went off, the sharp jolt as it fired pushing me back before I regained my grip. “Did I hit it?”
    “No, Penny. You closed your eyes when you pulled the trigger.”
    “I did?”
    “It’s a subconscious thing, like a flinch. All new shooters do it. Concentrate on keeping your eyes open and looking at the target even after the shot goes off. Now, shoot again.”
    I aimed again, holding the dot of the front sight on the black silhouette of a man and slowly squeezing the trigger. Keep your eyes open…
    BANG! The shot again took me by surprise, but this time I was looking at the target and I saw it gently sway back and forth. “I hit it!”
    “We’re not done yet. Again!” Rex snapped. I aimed and took a breath, held the front sight on the target, gently squeezed the trigger, kept my eyes open, and was surprised at the bang. I saw the target paper jolt again. This time I wasn’t startled, in fact, it was starting to be fun now that I knew what to do and what was going to happen. I continued to shoot until the weapon was empty, Rex holding up his hand in a stop gesture. “That was fun!” I couldn’t help but be surprised at how good it felt to shoot.
    He smiled. “See? Let’s see how you did. Look and make sure the chamber is empty, then set the weapon down on the bench over there.”
    I did as I was told, and waited as he retrieved the target. “Do you need your glasses? Should I bring my younger eyes to look?” I teased as he shot back his middle finger to me.
    He stared at the paper for a minute before turning to bring it back for me to see.
    “Holy shit, Princess can shoot! Mother fuck—that’s amazing.”
    He held up the target, riddled with bullet holes, most in the center in a cluster the size of my hand. He counted the holes. “All but two hit the target. I think he’s dead. That’s wicked good for a beginner, baby girl. Let me unload this round in mine, and we’ll go back and play the way you wanted to.”
    “Can’t we shoot all the bullets that you brought? What’s