The Stray Revolver

The first gun I ever held in my life was a large .45 revolver. I was 9 or 10 years old when I discovered it after climbing onto the roof of our house when we still lived in Oakland on 79th & Hillside. Much to my mom’s chagrin, I frequently sat on our roof when I was a child. I did that a lot while thinking. A lot of difficult events brought me to my favorite spot on the roof. I sat there after learning about the murder of my father, the shooting death of…