Shooting A Monkey  I'm at the end of the alley hill on the block where my house is in Oak Valley. I'm talking to the lesbian woman I met at Fishing Haven who stayed in a cabin near mine, and a man who may be her father. I'm talking about where to camp and what to bring. They both pull out cash to tip me. The woman walks over and puts $10 in my left front pants pocket. I'm wearing my cream colored corduroy pants. I watch my mom and one of my siblings chase a rabbit in the snow. My mom grabs a clump of snow where the rabbit would be, and it runs. My sisters Heather and Ramona and my dad see a big brown dog in a tree. They chase it. It goes from tree to tree. I run home to get my gun. It is a .22 caliber rifle, but has characteristics of a shotgun and a BB gun. My mom says Grandpa Redding is getting married to Ramona, who I know is Grandma Redding. It's for their anniversary. Heather has a case of Schlitz beer. My mom is going to a meeting at Carter School. The people there won't want me shooting. They are meeting at Felix Sand's house, across the street from my house. I say that the shooting will not take long. I go out and ask my dad, Heather, and Ramona where the squirrel is that they've been chasing. They point to a branch of the tree that used to have the old swing on it. I brace my gun on the tree and aim. I'm shaky. I see though the scope that it is a squirrel and a little monkey. I fire and hit it directly in the stomach. It falls to the ground. I shoot more when I get close to it, not steadied on a tree. I see the BB's fly by the animal, not hitting it. There is a little dead monkey lying on the ground in the front yard. Heather grabs her beer and puts it in my dad's car, which is also my uncle Rusty Redding's car. Heather wants me to wait, but I go inside.