A man who was almost a man
...gun. Because his mother holds all of his earnings, he has to convince her to give him money to purchase a gun. His reluctant mother gives him the two dollars under the agreement that the gun will be for Dave’s father. After making the purchase, Dave tells his mother that he hid the gun in a field for safekeeping and will bring it the next day. The next day, while Dave is out doing his plow work for his employer, Mr. Hawkins, he takes a break in order to shoot his new gun. After shooting the gun, he realizes that he has shot Mr. Hawkins mule. After attempting to save the mules life, it dies. Dave tries lying to Mr. Hawkins, his parents and the rest of the employees, but his mother urges him to tell them the teal truth. When Dave confesses, Mr. Hawkins and the rest of the staff laugh at him. Mr. Hawkins tells Dave that he will work to pay off the dead mule. Dave feels ridiculed by the others. That night, Dave wakes up and sneaks out to fetch the gun from the creek where he left it. For the sake of feeling powerful and releasing anger, he shoots the rest of the roun...