was yelling, “He’s your fucking son! He killed my Ellie!”
Linda was crying and begging Hank to stop his attack. Hank didn’t stop. But before he could strike a third time, Shawn caught his arm and swung him around and onto the floor. Hank, too drunk to maintain his balance, struggled to get up. When he got on his feet, he walked toward Shawn in a menacing manner.
He swung at Shawn and yelled, “You fucking worthless punk!”
The full force of his punch was lost as Shawn, anticipating the swing, ducked. Hanks fist struck the back of Shawn’s head and shoulder.
Something snapped in Shawn. He had held his emotions out of guilt and remorse over Ellie’s death, but the dam burst, and Shawn struck Hank in the face, knocking him to the floor. Hank lay there, stunned, confused, drunk, and in pain. It was the first time Shawn had fought back. Hank did not immediately move. Shawn took this opportunity to turn to his mother and picked her up off the floor. He helped her walk to the kitchen and told her to leave by the back door if Hank got past him and came for her.
She nodded but said, “Don’t hurt him. He doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
Shawn heard some rustling and then a hinge squeaking, followed by a banging sound behind him. Initially, he wasn’t sure what it was, but with a shock, he realized it was the gun cabinet swinging open.
He whispered to his mother, “Go now, right now, get out of the house and hide!” Then he added, “I have to check on something.”
Linda stared with frightened eyes at Shawn and said, “I need to call my brother Jeff. We need him to talk Hank down.”
“Do it quick,” Shawn said. “Then get out of here!”
While Linda dialed Uncle Jeff’s number, Shawn listened intently for sounds in the living room and backed up to the kitchen wall by the door between the kitchen and living room. He heard Hank shuffling, and then he heard the front screen swing open.
“I’ll teach you to swing on me! It should have been you that died,” he grumbled as he staggered off the porch.
At first, it did not register what Hank was up to. Shawn peeked around through the door and saw Hank leaving the house with a 12-guage shotgun in his right hand. Shawn thought it was odd. He had expected Hank to come for him with the shotgun.
Shawn decided to follow him. He crept slowly and silently toward the door while watching for signs that Hank knew he was behind him. Hank half-marched, half-staggered over the lawn. Shawn watched as Hank grabbed a small chain from the barn wall and wrap it around the limb of a tree. He had propped the shotgun against the tree trunk, and Shawn could hear him swearing, but the words were unintelligible. Shawn edged closer while trying to avoid being seen.
Hank then looked around and spotted Nick huddled up against a large tree in the yard. He called the dog, but Nick tucked his tail and hesitated to move. Hank moved closer and finally was within reach. It was then that Shawn felt nausea building. Hank grabbed Nick, who struggled to get away. Hank nearly fell, but finally latched the chain to Nick’s collar.
He watched while Hank walked a few feet and picked up the shotgun. At that moment, it became clear what Hank was planning. Shawn stepped out of the shadows just as Hank called his name.
“Shawn, come on out, you punk,” he slurred.
“What are you doing, Hank?”
“What I should have done a long time ago. I need to teach you a lesson.”
While Hank said this, he pointed the gun at Shawn.
“I should just shoot you.”
He paused for effect. Then a stupidly evil grin emerged from his drunken sunburned face. “But I would go to prison for that. So I will just do this.”
Shawn watched in horror as Hank lowered the shotgun. Shawn’s urge to jump Hank came too late. The blast from the gun shattered Shawn’s young mind as it destroyed Nick’s body. Hank shot a second time, guaranteeing Nick’s death. Shawn tried to yell, but it came out as guttural anguish. He fell to his knees and reached out to Nick, whose body lay bloody and lifeless. Shawn’s mind swirled with horror, sadness, and disbelief. He began to gasp for breath for a few minutes. Then he became quiet, very quiet.
Hank started to walk off from the scene but turned back and laughed an angry, sarcastic laugh.
Finally, he looked down at Shawn and Nick and said, “Now you know how it feels.” Then he walked off toward the house. He didn’t make it very far.
Shawn was roused from his despair by Hank’s words. He got up and yelled, “I didn’t want her to die! What the hell is wrong with you?”
Hank did not turn around, and Shawn rushed and tackled him from behind. They tumbled to the ground, and Shawn wrestled the shotgun from Hank and struck him in the face with the butt of the weapon. The first blow incapacitated the inebriated man, but Shawn was just beginning. He threw the shotgun away and began to pummel Hank with his fists. He struck him several times, and in his anger, he did not hear the large diesel truck pull up to the house. He did not hear the door slam. He didn’t hear anything and continued to beat his stepfather until the large, strong hands of his uncle caught his arm and whirled him off the prostrate form of his stepfather.
Shawn’s story unfolded in the session. He was initially unemotional and revealed only the basic history related to his sister’s death and the following events, but when he reached the part of his dog’s death, he choked and coughed. He gathered himself and looked self-consciously at Lieutenant Commander Stevens. When he continued, tears welled in his eyes, and his voice was strained. Stevens knew his instincts were accurate and that this incident was the essence of why Shawn was sitting in front of him at this moment, facing assault charges.
Stevens nodded Shawn to continue. He learned that following the incident of his dog’s death and the beating of his stepfather, Shawn was charged with assault. Hank had to go to the hospital for treatment of cuts, abrasions, and a small fracture. He required only a brief hospitalization. When he was released from the hospital, he was charged with assaulting Linda. Eventually, Hank’s lawyer managed to get the charges reduced to disorderly conduct, if Hank entered a treatment program for alcoholism. At first, he refused, but when he was informed that his choice might be to go to prison, he agreed. He was sent to a program in Pendleton, Oregon, for one month, then released to go home and to continue in an outpatient program.
Shawn did not have a lawyer, but the judge was sympathetic to his story. Nevertheless, something had to happen. It would be too dangerous for Shawn to remain at home. He explained to Shawn that the best course of action was for him to join the military. If Shawn joined a branch of the military, the judge said that all record of his charges would be expunged, and there would be no evidence of his arrest.
Shawn was shocked and reluctant to agree, but when he thought about what had happened and what the consequences might be, he decided to explore the different branches of the military. He knew that most people from his area joined the US Army. But he wasn’t swayed by what most people did. Shawn did not know much about the various services. He knew Hank was in the army, and his mother’s father had enlisted in the Navy during the Vietnam era. He had heard his grandfather talk about his experiences of travel throughout West Pacific and Asian countries. He thought it might be a better choice than the army, given the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Shawn did not consider himself a pacifist, but neither was he “gung-ho” to do battle
