Take Your Best Shot

Tiger closed his deep blue eyes before he pulled the trigger. His 9-year old fingers could barely wrap itself around the pistol's grip. But he pointed it straight, aimed, and shot.

At the ripe age of two years old, Tiger Alfonso Hosseini hit his first golf ball. Tiger's father named him after the greatest golfer in the world, Tiger Woods, and hoped that he would eventually become the next, well, "Tiger". His life dripped with potential. Before Tiger would hit a ball, his father would always say, "Take your best shot!"

He and his father, Amir, would play golf inside the house, on the front lawn, in the snow and on occasion, Amir would sneak Tiger on to the beautiful rolling hills of golf courses in Florida. Tiger would enjoy those cart rides and he enjoyed chipping and putting on the greens that seemed to stretch forever.

He especially loved hearing his father cheer when he hit the ball well. He loved when his father would scoop him up after he holed a forty-foot putt. He loved playing golf with his father. His father would always say, "Think positive. Think good thoughts. Think you are the best and you will be!" Tiger would repeat those words every day.

He spent every moment he could with his dad. He loved his father.

Tiger only saw his father treat his mommy like a princess. And in turn, Tiger looked up to his mom and treated her the same way. He was more in love with his mom than any man could ever be.

But, that all changed a year ago.

Amir left home two weeks after Tiger's 9th birthday.

Tiger heard the yells from downstairs. His father was pleading. Desperate. Mad. And when Amir was mad, everyone knew it. He had a temper that would send fear to anyone - and if he gazed at you in that way he did, you knew to keep your mouth shut and go away.

But he never got mad or raised his voice toward Tiger or his mom, Stephanie. It was always those, 'inconsiderate, ignorant, jerks' on the freeway. Or that man who'd call asking about collecting something and the 'vig' running it up or something like that. Tiger thought the man's name was Boogie. But why would Amir always refer to him as 'My Boogie'? Tiger wasn't allowed to play with Amir's cell phone after that. "When my Boogie calls, I don't want you talking to him. It's very important business my little Tiger."

That night, when he heard the yells, he looked downstairs and watched his father on his knees with his hands over his face, crying desperately. Stephanie stood, her arms crossed, her face filled with sadness, yet despite anything his dad said or did, she didn't shed a tear. And when his father walked out the door his mother stood there, finally crying, tears streaming down her face. Her whimper sounded like his neighbor's puppy. It made him want to cry too.

Tiger fell asleep at the top of the stairs that night. He didn't know how he got back into bed. All he knew was that when he woke up in the morning, his pajamas smelled like his father's cologne and his father's ring was under his pillow.

His mom said he had gone away for a while and not to expect him back any time soon.

Tiger didn't hit a golf ball for a year. He never asked about his dad, but dreamed about someday seeing his return.

When Amir left, Stephanie Hosseini changed her name back to her birth name, Stephanie Madison. She didn't want to have anything to do with her ex-husband and his 'ways'. It was her excuse to hate him for what she said, 'a man should never do to a woman'.

Her family was also happy that Amir was gone. After the attacks on September 11, things were never the same with her family and Amir. Amir put up with it, only once saying her parents and family were racists; although he never did say the word 'racist'. But she knew what he meant by saying they were 'ignorant fools'.

Stephanie and Tiger moved to California and into a studio apartment in Culver City shortly after Amir's departure. The plane ride was better than any roller coaster ride Tiger had ever been on. He enjoyed every minute of the flight and wished he could live in a jet plane. But he liked Florida better. It was always blue he thought. And Los Angeles was always brown. He didn't like the dirty clouds that draped over the city.

His mom said it would be closer to family. Living in Florida was just too far from family and it was hard for her to raise Tiger, keep a job, and pay rent. At least in Culver City they were closer to Grandma Reba, who would make apple pie and hot chocolate for Tiger whenever he or she came over.

As he got home from his walk home from school, he smelled something familiar. It made his stomach sink. He felt depressed and suddenly felt alone. But when he opened the door he remembered the old familiar smell he last smelled on his pajamas, and a rush of emotion ran through his body.

Amir stood tall in the living room. His familiar smile, his caring eyes, and the smell of cologne filled the room.

"Ahhh... My little Tiger", his father said as he knelt.

Tiger's eyes darted to his mom. She had her arms crossed like she did a year ago. She gave a little nod and Tiger sprinted into his father's arms.

Amir held Tiger tight. He lifted him in his arms and kissed his face. Tears ran down his face and Tiger wondered why he had to cry. Tiger held his father's face in his arms and asked, 'where were you daddy?'

"I had very important things to do but, I'm here now," Amir said.

"You're here to stay? With us? With mommy?"

Amir looked at Stephanie but she turned away and walked into the kitchen.

Amir paused a moment, but instead of telling Tiger the truth he pointed to a brand new golf bag with a set of clubs in it. "We'll go play golf."

It was years later that Tiger understood that his father went to jail for a gambling incident. His "boogie" as Tiger remembered him, was collecting money that Amir did not have. In a bit of rage, and self-defense, Amir had beat someone up who came to claim money Amir promised to pay. The incident led the police to an illegal gambling ring and to Amir's bookie, who in addition to taking bets, also dealt drugs and smuggled 'Illegals' across state lines. The small part Amir played as a gambler with debt to pay, led to a bigger scheme of things.

Amir went to jail for a year for things Tiger didn't understand. He left Stephanie with credit debt, a default in mortgage payments and, a drained checking account. She was barely able to scrape up enough money for a plane ticket to California and first month's rent in Culver City. Their house, their cars, their beautiful life was taken away from them. And it was all because of Amir's addiction. But now he was back.

Tiger heard his father tell Stephanie, "It's all over now. Things will be better."

And for the next few months, that's the way it seemed. His father stayed in an apartment about a mile away. He would see Tiger everyday. He worked at the local golf store and went to a Gambler's Anonymous meeting every single week. He wanted to win Stephanie's heart back. He didn't need to win his son's.

They played golf every weekend, and slowly but surely, they were back to where they were before. Father and son: enjoying every moment together. Stephanie even made dinner and Amir was allowed to stay the night on some occasions. Tiger was happy. His parents were giving it 'their best shot'.

On the eve of his 10th birthday, Tiger heard the yelling again. For a year when his father was gone, the yells would only be in his nightmares. He would wake up and the ringing in his ears would eventually lead to silence. But this time, even with his eyes wide open, the yelling didn't stop. The nightmare didn't end.

He heard his mom scream and glass crash on the floor. He heard the sounds of a struggle and the sound of two bodies slamming down onto the floor.

His heart raced as he looked down the hallway. His mom was cowering in the corner of the dining room in shock and fear. Amir was wrestling with another man on the hardwood floor. They were fighting for something in the man's hand and after Amir rolled on top of the man, that something flew out of his hand and slid onto the hard wood floor to Tiger's feet.

It happened faster than his 10-year old brain could comprehend. But he picked up the object at his feet, held it in his hands and walked quickly toward his dad and the strange man. The strange man struggled to get on top of Amir and started to pummel Amir's face with his fists.

"This is for the money you owed me!" The strange man yelled as he punched Amir in the face. But he stopped cold when he saw Tiger. His fist seemed to freeze in mid air as Tiger stood there with the gun pointed at the strange man's face.

The room seemed to hush, like someone hitting a mute button. It was absolutely quiet - like the calm before the storm. Then, it all happened in an instant.

Amir yelled, "Tiger, No!"

The strange man growled, "Take your best shot, camel boy!"

Tiger closed his deep blue eyes before he pulled the trigger.

He expected a loud bang. He expected the gun to feel hot. He expected everything he saw on TV when someone shot a gun. But all he heard was silence.

Nothing came out of the gun. All that was heard was a click: the click of an empty gun.

The strange man stood up, laughing. He grabbed the gun from Tiger and slapped Tiger across the face! Tiger fell hard to the ground, his head pounded the wall and he felt his eyes roll back into his head. He struggled to stay conscious and watched the strange man look inside the chamber of the gun.

"Yo, kid. You messed up!"

The man turned to Amir's beaten body, pointed the gun at Amir's head and-

BANG!

Tiger's heart jumped into his head and simultaneously sank down to his stomach with the sound of a gun being fired. The smell was something he could never forget. It burned his nostrils and made him cough.

He looked at his father. There wasn't a bullet hole in his head as Tiger feared. His eyes weren't closed. His father didn't look dead like the dead guys on TV.

The strange man fell to his knees and held his chest as he gasped for air. Blood seeped out of his shirt he fell on his face, holding his chest, blood gurgling out of his mouth.

Amir struggled to get up as he watched the man die on the hardwood floor. Then Amir and Tiger looked up and saw Stephanie in the hallway. A smoking gun in her hand and tears down her face. She dropped the gun to the floor.

Tiger ran to his mother's side and hugged her. Amir got up and scooped up the two guns from the hardwood floor.

Tiger looked up at his father. His blue eyes covered with tears.

"I'm so sorry my little Tiger." Amir said.

Tiger's 10th year seemed to come and go. His 11th birthday party was held early in the morning - right before his very first Junior Golf Tournament in Los Angeles.

It was hard for Tiger to forget the incident from a year ago. It was hard to deal with the ups and downs of being a 10 year old. It was hard for him to see his mother cry, his father sad, and his family torn apart.

He saw Amir every two weeks. This week was special. His mom said it was okay for Amir to watch him play golf and to celebrate his birthday.

When Tiger was on the golf course it was like an escape from every bad thing that happened in his life. He was in his own little world and nothing else mattered. Amir watched from the side and cheered as Tiger walked up to the first tee box.

Tiger looked down the 350-yard fairway, lined up his ball and all the voices, the cheers, the thoughts of the past year quieted down. He wiped the image of the strange man dying on the floor. He put away the images of his mother crying alone at night in her room. He took one last look down the fairway. He took a deep breath. Then he closed his eyes and whispered under his breath, "Think positive. Think good thoughts. Think you are the best and you will be."

Tiger opened his deep blue eyes before he took his swing. His 12-year old fingers wrapped themselves firmly around the golf club's grip. He pointed it straight, aimed, and... he took his best shot.