Fake Guns

I wonder if the police would shoot Kenneth if they saw him on the corner, 7 years old in a hooded sweatshirt, cap gun in his hand. The orange tip's been popped right off taking away the toy-ness and he knows it's wrong to have it in school today but still he brought it and now it's waiting on my desk for his father to show up.

How can I let Kenneth know it's more serious than a whooping? In an elementary school where the month of August saw two children's brothers slain, this gun feels heavier than the cheap shiny plastic encasing a round of caps. In a neighborhood where walls are sprayed with epitaphs and white crosses line far too many furrows of the hill, how can I give it back to him?