path. Houses and wood skeletons lined what was going to be the street. A few houses were wrapped in white paper that read KINGSPAN GREENGUARD NV HOMES. Porta-Johns stood on one corner, among piles of white pipes and lumber wrapped in plastic.
Allie watched Sasha and Julian finish their race at the end of the street. Julian hugged Sasha, laughing.
“She won.” David’s dark eyes narrowed in the sunlight as he looked up the street.
“Where did he get the bullets?”
“I don’t know. Sasha wanted them, so he got them.”
“But where?”
David shrugged. “I assume he bought them.”
“Can you just do that?” Allie was getting close enough to see Sasha and Julian take out the newspaper with the gun and a small cardboard box, which probably contained the bullets. She shuddered. “You can’t walk into a store and buy bullets at our age.”
David didn’t answer, and they passed a big white trailer with a door and windows, with a brown banner that read BROWNE LAND MANAGEMENT, then walked down the gravel street, rutted deeply, passing numbered signs that read LOT AVAILABLE. Boxy green drains stuck up out of the dirt among piles of boards that were broken and studded with nails. A rusty red Blosenski dumpster brimmed with drywall, boards, and trash. There was nobody around, but that didn’t make Allie feel better.
“You okay?” David shot her a sympathetic look, and Allie would have been sorry she’d come except that she was standing close to him.
“I’m worried. Why are we even doing this?”
“Sasha wants to shoot.”
“Why?” Allie kept an eye on Sasha and Julian, who had reached the wooded area.
“Because that’s Sasha.” David glanced over. “Julian says she has too much MAO, or not enough, I forget which. It means she likes risk.”
“Oh great.” Allie watched Julian and Sasha open a yellow box of bullets that read REMINGTON, then load the gun. “Do they even know what they’re doing?”
“It’s not rocket science. Do you want a turn?”
“No way. Do you?”
“No. I’ve shot a rifle. Relax.” David patted her back, and Allie loved the warm weight of his hand. They reached the end of the street, where scraggly grass struggled to grow through the stones, silt fences, and construction debris. Allie heard the whoosh on the turnpike, but it didn’t sound loud enough to hide gunshots.
David asked Julian, “Dude, where’d you get the bullets?”
“The job trailer.” Julian snapped the gun’s cylinder closed. “I’ve known Mac, the project manager on this job, since I was little. He keeps a gun and bullets in his desk. There’s payroll checks and petty cash in the trailer. Sometimes people steal tools, copper piping, and scrap metal.”
Allie felt more worried. “Won’t he notice the bullets are missing?”
“No, I don’t think he’s ever used the gun.”
“And the bullets go with your gun?”
“They’re the same caliber.” Julian had barely finished answering before he stood up with the loaded gun, aimed it at the woods, and started firing.
Pop pop pop pop pop!
Allie jumped, startled. She covered her ears, and David winced. Birds flew panicked from the trees. Leaves fluttered to the ground. A weird smoky smell filled Allie’s nostrils.
Julian laughed, his eyes oddly animated. “Cool!”
“Let me!” Sasha burst into giddy laughter. She and Julian crouched, reloading. Allie edged backward, shaken, liked she’d been on a roller coaster.
David crossed to them, frowning. “You guys don’t know what you’re doing. Let me show you how to reload. Give me the gun.”
Julian handed him the gun. “I thought you only shot a rifle.”
“My uncle has a revolver, too. I know the basics. Look, here.” David pressed the lever with his thumb, and the cylinder flopped open with the shell casings inside. “These are warm. Heat expands them, so they won’t come out by themselves.” He pressed the ejector pin in the center of the cylinder and pointed the muzzle skyward, so the shiny shell casings tumbled onto the grass. “See? You push this and they fall out the back.”
“Cool.”
“Now you can reload.” David handed Julian the gun. “This holds five shells, which is pretty common. My uncle has it, too.”
“Thanks, cowboy.” Julian smiled crookedly while Sasha grabbed the gun from him, took some bullets out of the box, and reloaded, then stood up and pointed the gun toward the woods.
“I see a squirrel!”
“Don’t you dare!” Allie heard herself shout, then couldn’t believe it came from her.
“What?” Sasha whirled around, her face contorted with anger.
“Don’t kill anything!” Allie shouted again. She’d seen something die, and she never wanted to see it again.
“I’ll do what I want!” Sasha