Page 118 of The Friend Scheme
I hate this.
I hate it so much.
All I want is to be someone else. Someone who doesn’t have to do stuff like this.
We end up driving for about half an hour. I only just manage to keep myself from freaking out and telling Luke that I want to leave.
Tony parks in front of a single-story, slate-gray house.
There’s a flower garden out the front. It’s nice.
Vince hands each of us a pair of black earmuffs. Military-grade.
“Masks on,” he says. He sounds just like Dad.
I pull mine on.
It feels tight and scratchy against my face. Then, copying Vince, I put my earmuffs on, and the world falls into fuzzy silence. Luke is wearing a mask now, and with his new, bulky frame, and dressed in a black suit, he looks like a true criminal, just like Vince and Tony.
Tony glances at me, and then at Luke.
We both nod.
We open the car doors at the same time.
I get out of the car on the side that isn’t facing the house and duck down so I’m shielded. Just in case they’re expecting us.
Vince and Tony open the trunk of the car.
There are four black guns. One for each of us.
Vince grabs one. Then Tony does, followed by Luke.
I grab the last of the guns. It’s cold and heavy in my hands. We walk out to the middle of the road and stand in a line.
I can’t do this. I can’t be this person. I can’t shoot at someone.
Vince raises his gun. Luke and Tony do the same thing.
I do as well.
And then Luke pulls the trigger.
The gunfire is so loud. Deafening, even. The glass front window of the house shatters as bullets shred the house. Bits of plaster explode off the walls. The peppering of bullets is relentless.
I join in, aiming low. I know how to shoot; Dad made me take lessons when I was younger. I started with a handgun and then moved up until I learned how to shoot one of these. I hated it even then, I guess because I knew I wouldn’t be aiming at paper targets forever.
I aim at the garden out the front. I hope our shots will all blend together so nobody will notice what I’m doing.
There’s a gunshot, higher pitched than the others, and then I see a spark on the ground to my left.
They returned fire.
I crouch and run back to the car. There are more sparks on the ground.
My heart pounds so hard. Luke, Tony, and Vince join me behind the car.
Bullets speak against the front of the car. Luke is staring at the ground. I think he’s concentrating. Counting, maybe.
