Chapter 14 - I Buried My Father's Gun Beside the Mansion and Promised My Son He Would Never Need to Hold ItOn Leo's third birthday, I took him outside.
The garden was peaceful.
No guards.
No weapons.
No fear.
I carried the old gun my father had given me.
The weapon that had protected me.
The weapon that had destroyed lives.
I buried it beneath an oak tree.
Leo watched.
“What are you doing, Daddy?”
I smiled.
“Putting something away.”
“Why?”
“Because you don't need it.”
He hugged my leg.
I knelt beside him.
“You'll grow up knowing that strength isn't hurting people.”
“What is strength?”
I looked toward Clara.
Then toward my mother.
Then toward the house.
“Protecting the people you love.”
Leo smiled.
“Like you protect me?”
“Yes.”
He hugged me.
“And Mommy?”
My heart stopped.
May you like
I touched his hair.
“Especially Mommy.”
