bite the bullet

he held the .22
oiled and clean
across his lap
pulling two bullets from his pocket

"you better take these,
and hide them
where i can't find them,"
he said

she doesn't want anything to do
with them

"why?,
why?"
she asks,
"what were you going to do?"

"just do what i tell you!,"
he says

so she does,
she hides those better
than she has hid anything
her whole life