What does the incident with the silver handgun tell us about Charlie and about Squizzy?

This tells us that Charlie is seemingly fearless and Squizzy is reckless. Charlie wants his freedom but not before he passes a a test from Squizzy. Squizzy points the gun to the left of Charlie’s head and fires. When he opens his eyes, Charlie sees that he and Squizzy Taylor are the only two people standing, the others having ducked. Squizzy concedes that Charlie has a set of balls on him and sends him away. On the street, Charlie runs with a sense of freedom, whooping and hollering. His days of running with Squizzy Taylor are over; now he’s running for himself.