My parents ran a very large dancehall and restaurant with two bars. Need I say more?

My life was interesting to say the least.

My friends were mostly adult criminals and addicts. They were very nice to me for the most part.

One night while going home way past my bedtime, a strange car came up quickly behind us and almost bumped us.

It then went past us and pulled up in front of us closely and nearly stopped. Myself and my siblings were scared to death.

My parents were not.

They had dealt with the world and with each other for years and had some tough times. Tough times make tough people.

The car soon pulled up next to us and the man yelled something at my dad.

My dad pulled his long barrel .45 from under his seat and just held it up in his window. He didn’t point it at the crazy nut in the car. He didn’t have to.

The car left quickly and we were safe.

As Simon says to John in my novel, “Dreams of Costa Rica, “John, do you have a gun?”

“Do I need one Simon?”

“Well John, it’s better to have a gun and not need it, than to need one and not have it.”

Most police officers never fire their gun at work, only in training.

Most people react in the proper manner when a police officer arrives to do what ever he or she has been called to do. Just the site of the gun and the respect for the officers role in our society is usually all that’s necessary for most people to behave properly.

My book of nine short stories, “Sunrise, Sunset” will soon be an Audio book. It is production now.

As always, thanks for coming to my website and be nice to each other. R.C. Hand