Unspoken - 12. To the Range! - Part 2

“Now Bryce, you’ve got your sight picture, and you’ve got a solid grip. You have your target. Now put your finger on the trigger.”

“O-okay.”

“Good. Now just like with dry firing there will be a soft travel before it goes firm. The 320 has a nice short break, so when you’re ready, pull and fire.”
About half a second passed, before a muted gunshot rang out. Once Mike had told him to fire, my gaze drifted from Bryce’s grip on the pistol to the target five yards away. At the sound of the shot, a small hole appeared in the target. I blinked. Looking back and forth between Bryce and the hole.

“Very good, now, again. Same as before.”

Another shot rang out. The small hole widened just a tiny bit.

“Again!”
It widened a bit more. Mike kept instructing Bryce to shoot, until all fifteen rounds were fired.

“Okay. The magazine is empty. You know what to do next, right?”

Bryce nodded, still stanced and holding the gun up and downrange. His finger shifted minutely, off the trigger, and as he lowered the gun, his left hand caught the mag as he dropped it. He set the mag down, and the pistol down, the slide still locked back, muzzle pointed downrange. He reached up, pushing the button to recall the target, as Mike and I shared a look behind his back. Mike was bent, hands on his knees, behind and just to Bryce’s left. I was a bit further back and to the right.

The target arrived quickly, and Bryce’s tilted to the side slightly.

“I don’t get it. I only hit it once?”

“No, Bryce, you managed to get all fifteen shots within half an inch of the bullseye!”

“WHAT?!” He screamed. Well, screamed louder. They were both talking at a higher than normal volume due to the hearing protection we all wore. He turned incredulously to face Mike. “I did?!”

Mike beamed at the boy, nodding like a fool. “Yeah, Bryce, you shot amazingly well! You have a natural talent!” He stood and reached to switch out the target with a fresh one, as Bryce turned to me. “Did I really, dad?”

I nodded, beaming at him. ‘B you did amazing.’

He turned back to face front, as Mike hit the button to send the new target to the back. The target looked smaller at the back of the range, though it was only fifteen yards instead of five.

“Now Bryce,” Mike put a hand on his shoulder. “Do the same thing you just did. Even measured breath, fire only when you feel ready, and stay calm. You’re doing well.”
Mike dropped the hand as Bryce nodded. He picked the pistol back up, one of the nine remaining full mags, and inserted it, racking the slide to load it. It rose again, his stance shifting back into a firing position, and I could see that he’d deliberately slowed his breathing. After a few seconds, his finger was back on the trigger, and the first shot rang forth. He only paused maybe two seconds between each shot, so the mag was emptied in less than a minute. He again dropped the mag and placed them both down, standing back upright.

All three of us looked downrange. Mike hit the target return, and I held my breath. It was apparent before it even got back that Bryce had done just as well. Fifteen shots all within an inch of dead center. Holy fuck I’ve never seen anyone new shoot like that, and based on his face Mike hadn’t either.

“Bryce, are you sure you’ve never shot a gun before?”

“No, mister Mike, never. Why?”

“Because, little dude, you’re the best novice I’ve seen in my life!”

“W-what? Really?”

“Really!”

Bryce shot a look to me again, the craving for a approval shining in his eyes. The glinting safety glasses didn’t diminish his gaze at all. It was my turn to smile and nod like a fool.
‘Send the target back, shoot the other magazines.’ I signed. ‘Try a bit faster.’
Bryce did so, emptying the other eight magazines in under two minutes. Target returned, we all stood gaping at a one and a half inch hole where the bullseye should have been.

—

‘I feel emasculated.’

‘Why?’ I typed, sending the response to Nicolo through Telegraph, the chat app we used to communicate when SMS texts weren’t enough.

‘My son shot better than I did his first time!’

‘-_-‘

‘Alex,’ he typed, ‘you’re not embarrassed?’

‘No! I’m proud! I want to take him to the rifle range in a few days, see if he shoots as well there. Mike wants him in the IPSC and the ISSF. I haven’t talked to Bryce about it yet though. He’s already doing so much; theater club, judo, barre, I don’t want to overload him.’

‘Well, they aren’t school clubs, so it wouldn’t be such a rigid thing. We can discuss it more when I get back next week, but I agree. He’s a kid, we don’t need to run his life for him.’

There was a pause, as I digested what he’d said. If Bryce did want to get into competition shooting it would definitely not be through his school, and getting him enough practice and the proper firearms would take time.
‘Mi manchi,’ the next message appeared.
‘Mi manchi anche tu,’ I sent back, followed by a heart emote. ‘Is the conference still going okay?’

‘Okay? Love it is amazing. I’ve learnt more Japanese in the last six days than in my first year working! I can’t wait to bring you and Bryce back next year. The staff is so kind, and all the guests are polite.’

‘No issues at all then?’

’Well…’
I paused for a moment.

‘Yes?’

‘Some of the production houses… really want to meet you. When the topic of marriage came up and I shared some photos of us together, they started calling you a ‘shota’ and it took our entire crew to convince them you were really an adult. Apparently drawn pornography of underage characters is not illegal over here. Supposedly it is quite common. Guynax, one of the production houses, has a division for shota dojinshi. They wanted to use your look as a character reference.’

I had no reply. Nicolo continued typing. ‘I told them no straight away. Told them I didn’t share,’ I let out a sigh of relief, ‘and that even if I did you wouldn’t be willing anyway.’

‘Yeah no. I don’t want to be in porn.’

Nicolo replied with an emote of a laugh.

A little chime and a short vibration accompanied a notification popping up, telling me I had a reply from Mike. Switching over, it confirmed that he would be available to join us at the rifle range as well. It also said he was bringing his Rigby. I rolled my eyes. For all the esoteric rifles he had, it was his Rigby that he showed off the most. I had planned on taking one of our AR-15s, the AR-10, and the Enfield. If Bryce wasn’t Bryce I’d be concerned about his slight frame firing Mike’s Rigby, it was .375 H&H Mag, but Bryce was hardy for his age, and at least Mike wasn’t bringing his .700 Nitro. Knowing Mike and his military history, I was afraid to ask how he managed to afford a rifle more valuable than our house, but it didn’t stop me from being curious. Bryce would be fine. I’d bring the shoulder pads anyway though. Better to be safe than sorry.

Switching back to the conversation with Nicolo, I told him about Mike’s response. We further chatted about inane things and flirted in Italian a bit, before we signed off. I missed him and it was difficult to get time to chat because of the time difference. It wouldn’t be too long before I got him back though. I was itching for sex.

I shot a quick message back to Mike, telling him it would be okay to bring the Rigby, but I wouldn’t be paying for any of the ammo used it was expensive as hell, before putting my phone on the charging cable, flipping the light off, and making an attempt to sleep in the mostly empty bed.