[tsubaki]

The next scene is even more unbelievable than the day’s event. With the three of us in the truck, this gun comes to life, running around in circles with the butt beating Ricky with every rotation. We bail out the truck (even John in the bed of the truck), only to realize Ricky is almost incoherent from the beating he’s getting. “Shut the truck off Jay!” I scream. “Hell no, I ain’t getting in there with all that going on”, was his response. I finally made the way to the key and shut the engine off. Once Ricky came around naturally he too was mad and ready to go home. That day we shot 35 squirrels, 1 rabbit, a Ford pickup truck and tore up a Mossberg and Remington shotgun. I think John stayed in shock, because that was the first and last invitation we all got from him. Jay’s stepfather did sell the truck shortly after that and don’t believe he was the wiser. Jay’s mother sent the barrel to Mossberg and some reason they sent a new one. Ricky just sawed the barrel off a couple of inches and put a new sight on it. I ran across Jay and Ricky about twenty years after the fact while hunting and till that day Jay was none the wiser about the dud. The amazing part is not just the fact we all survived our adolescence but so did everyone that we came in contact with. God helped us all (a lot)