Bravery

 

His world was black and white. He was a good guy with a gun.

She asked him what he would do if confronted by “a bad guy” and he didn’t hesitate. “I’d shoot him.”

“Just like that?” she seemed skeptical.

“Just like that” and he laughed. She couldn’t possibly understand bravery.

She asked him if he’d ever been in a physical fight, and he hadn’t. No one had ever laid a hand on him in violence.

Quietly, she said, “I’ve only been physically hurt by men I loved and trusted” and she shook her head. He couldn’t possibly understand bravery.