An Hour I Won't Soon Forget

I went to a shooting range in Van Nuys on Thursday. I knew it was a bad idea from the start, but I pushed through anyway, not wanting to disappoint MH, whom I had been promising I would go since last season.
The morning before our adventure had been filled with emotions. My boss, K, and I had been in the trenches...so to speak. We were in the midst of a battle involving "the poaching" (not my words) of K and I to another show within the same company. There was anger, stress, and hurt feelings swirling around our fish bowl. There were doors being slammed and feet being stomped. There were raised voices and closed door meetings. It was a bad day to be doing anything, let alone holding a firearm.
The shooting range wasn't what I had expected. I think I was picturing something more glamorous, maybe it was because K had said, "You be Jodie Foster in The Brave One, and I'll be Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs," or Vice Versa. This place was in a back alley, shoved between rows of mom and pop auto repair shops with men wearing sword earrings and goatees and one piece jumpsuits. I could hear the gun shots from the tiny parking lot and I knew I was in trouble.
I felt like I was floating above watching someone else's adventure as MH picked the gun from the glass case and told us to sign our names on the X. On the wall in front of us multi colored stuffed animals hung on nails like they were at a Carnival dart toss. I guess some people prefer shooting an object. We opted for paper targets with the outline of a man stenciled in black. MH instructed me to grab earplugs plus eye and ear protection and we headed to our lane in the farthest corner of the backroom. In the other corner of the room, three Asian guys took turns firing a giant gun and I watched them and wondered, what are they doing at a shooting range in Van Nuys at 1pm on a Thursday? My mouth became dry and the black walls began closing in on me as I stared blankly at MH as he mouthed words I couldn't hear. He handed me a bullet and wanted me to put it into something that to me resembled an extra large metal Pez dispenser. My hand shook and I knew I was not present...I knew I had checked out to protect myself....I knew I had to abandon ship. I again looked at the Asian guys across the room and realized that at any moment they could easily turn and fire their giant gun at me and I wondered, what am I doing at a shooting range in Van Nuys at 1pm on a Thursday? I left the boys to play with their guns and I staggered outside to wait in the 100 degree San Fernando Valley heat. The cool air conditioned lobby beckoned me, but I knew even that was too close to the action. I sat on the burning pavement for an hour, talking on my cell phone and watching the parade of men entering and exiting the building with black bags and shotguns.
Soon, my boys emerged proudly carrying their shot up paper targets like prized deer or pheasants. They patted me on the back and presented me with my empty target as a remembrance of the day. S now has it hanging on the wall of his office. MH wanted to write "One Day" at the top next to my name. I guess he still thinks that "one day" I will unload some rounds at the Van Nuys shooting range. I suppose you never know. Maybe "one day" I'll want to relive one of the most uncomfortable hours of my life....strangers things have happened.