“Unraveling Mysteries: How Subtraction Reveals More Than Just Numbers in Paula Burke’s Compelling Narrative”
Another way to say subtract is “less than” and Dad tells me giving up his guns makes him feel denuded which I interpret as emasculated, or less than a man.
Another way to say subtract is “remove” and removing Dad’s guns takes multiple tries. Either Dad forgets that he’s agreed not to have his guns, or he pretends to give them up to get us off his case. We arrive at the solution when a neighbor offers to store Dad’s guns in his gun safe until Dad is ready to have them back.
After subtraction there is a number that remains and, though we don’t know it, when we take the guns, Dad will remain at home only six more months. Minus his guns, he defends the house one morning with a butcher knife, pacing the driveway to protect against intruders only he can see, refusing to put down the weapon when my stepmom asks. This time, when his wife calls the sheriff, it is Dad who is taken away.
