"Puppy And The Gun"

Father had a twenty-six foot cabin cruiser, that we would go boating and fishing on weekends sometimes. It was one of the few times that my father would actually spend time with us kids.

On this outing, there was just my father, my older brother and myself.

It was one of the few times that I remember actually enjoyed being with my dad.

I was ten years old and we had been on a overnight fishing trip and was coming back down the river, heading back to the harbor.

Now, my father loved his boat and when he was on it. Sometimes he was even fun to be with and it was the only time, other then when mom was sick that he would cook.

When dad would cook at home the food he made was lousy!

But on the boat, cooking on a little propane stove, that was in the cabin....

" He Was The World’s Best Chef "

Making everything from potato pancakes with homemade syrup to steak covered with onions, peppers and mushrooms in a white gravy!

This was the only time in my childhood that I would even get a bite of a steak, was on the boat.

At ten years of age I could pilot the boat down that old river better then most adults.

I knew every channel, bridge passage and submerged log!

This day I was enjoying piloting the boat down the river, back towards the harbor.

When all the suddenly my father yelled ....turn the damn boat around now, boy!

Now when my father said to do something, you did it without question!

For to do otherwise, meant a hard knock to the head!

Turning the boat around, wondering what I had done to incur my fathers wrath once more? I saw him pointing to the sandbar on the opposite shoreline.

There on the sandbar was the biggest man that I had ever seen, a woman and an tiny little....

"Puppy!"

The man was picking up the puppy and throwing it up into the air, as high as he could!

Then he and the woman would laugh as the puppy would slam down into the sand.

The puppy would then try to run away, but the woman would run and catch it and bring it back to the man. On the sandbar the puppy had no where to run, the river on one side and a steep hill on the other side!

Onboard the boat we watched the scene happen again!

My dad went into the cabin and when he came out he had two items in his hands, a bullhorn and a.....

"German Luger Handgun"

My dad then told me to keep the boat pointed upstream and parallel to the sandbar.

Using the bullhorn, he then told the man to stop throwing the puppy....Fuck you, was the big mans reply!

The big man then threw the poor puppy into the air again!

Now as good as I was at piloting the boat. To beach an twenty-six foot cabin cruiser on a beach and get it back off the beach again, takes more skill then I had at the age of ten!

So my dad took the wheel, telling my older brother to go up on the bow (front) of the boat and as soon as he beached the boat, to jump off and get the puppy!

Handing me the Luger handgun, dad told me to shoot the man if he made any move towards my older brother while he got the puppy.

After pulling the boat onto the sandbar, my father told the man that we were going to take the puppy and if he or his bitch tried to stop us they would be shot!

The big man was screaming obscenities at us and the woman was saying it was her puppy and they could do what they wanted with it!

Holding the bow of the boat steady on the sandbar, my father once again told me to shoot the man if he moved. Then he told my older brother to get the puppy!

When my brother got near the puppy whom was scared and tried to crawl away from my brother as he approached it, the big man started towards my brother....

"Sweating, Scared, I Fired"

Once, twice, I fired the Luger at the mans feet. The shots landing only inches away from the big mans feet..... Now, I do not know who was scared the most!

Both my dad and my brother jumped a little, the puppy peed and the big mans eyes widen with fear as he looked up and seen that I no longer had any fear in my eyes and that I had the barrel of the Ruger pointed directly at his head!

As my older brother climbed back onboard the boat with the puppy and my father expertly pulled the big old cruiser off of the sandbar and we started back downstream, I calmly ejected the clip and ejected the shell out of the chamber, laying all three items down on a shelf. My dad told me to take the wheel once again and take us back to the harbor.

He then took the puppy from my brother and as he did he looked at me and said....

"You Did Good Boy!"

All the way back my dad spoke softly to the injured puppy, stroking the puppy’s fur gently and cradling the puppy in his arms!

Back at the harbor, my father called the police and they came and took a report!

My father left out the part of giving me the gun!

But it wouldn’t of mattered much anyway as the Officer was my uncle.

My dad then told us boys to secure the boat and button it down, while he left with the puppy.....

"Tears"

Tears was in the corners of my fathers eyes, when he got back.

He told us that he had taken the puppy to the pound to be adopted and also told us to never mention to our mother, that I had fired two shots at the mans feet.....

"Looking Back"

Looking back on that day, I now realize that on that day I learned several important things about myself, my father and life itself....

First: That I could kill a person in a heartbeat if they ever threatened my family!

Second: That fear can be overcome and being scared is sometimes a good thing!

Third: That fearing my mothers wrath, I can keep a secret!

Fourth: That a bully will always backdown when confronted with a man whom knows what has to be done and does it.....

Fifth: That my love of Animals came from my Dad.....

"As For The Puppy?"

Years later, I found out that the puppy was so badly injured with a broken back, that my father had took it out to my uncles place and ended it’s pain and that why there was tears in his eye’s!

Sixth.....

"That A Man Does, What A Man Has To Do!"