“Thanks,” Chuck replied.
Doctor Hurley smiled and extended his hand towards Chuck. “Well then, we’ll see you both again in a couple of weeks.”
“See you then,” Chuck replied as he returned Doctor Hurley’s gesture.
A few seconds later, Doctor Hurley exited the room and as he did, the door clicked closed behind him.
“Oh my God,” Tina said as she dropped her head into her palm.
“Man,” Chuck exhaled. “That was close.”
“Yes,” Tina said as she nodded in agreement. “Way too close.”
Fifteen minutes later, Tina stood near the rear of Chuck’s pickup as he secured Bosco’s kennel. A slight sheen of sweat coated his arms as he fastened the restraints and locked them in place. Tina’s eyes roamed up and down Chuck’s backside as he worked in the early afternoon sun.
“Well,” he said, as he jumped down from the back of the truck and brushed his hands free of dirt. “That should just about do it.”
With the sun straight overhead, Tina raised her hand over her eyes and squinted at him as he spoke. The bright light of the early afternoon made Chuck’s already white smile appear that much brighter.
“I should get him back to the gym,” he said as he did a half turn over his shoulder. “It’s pretty hot out. He’ll overheat in no time if I don’t get going.”
“Yeah,” Tina said.
Chuck inhaled and then nodded his chin in the direction of the clinic.
“Sorry about that earlier,” he began. “I hope that didn’t get you in trouble.”
Tina glanced over shoulder towards the office and then turned back towards Chuck.
“I appreciate that,” she said. “I think everything will be all right.”
Chuck nodded and reached in his pocket for his keys. He pulled them out and then walked towards the driver’s side door.
“Hey… I almost forgot.” he said as looked back towards Tina. “We’re um… having a little welcome home party for Bosco. It’ll be sort of a pool, volleyball, summertime thing… we’d um, love to have you… you can bring your brother if you want.”
“Oh,” Tina said with a hint of apprehension in her tone.
“No pressure,” Chuck added.
“No, it’s not that it’s just Jericho, he…”
Chuck raised his eyebrows. “Yeah?”
“Nothing… never mind,” Tina said. “Um, yeah… I’d love to go.”
“Great,” Chuck replied as he climbed into his truck and slammed the door. “I’ll text you all the directions and stuff. We’re starting in the afternoon Saturday, but feel free to come by whenever you want.”
“Okay,” Tina said. “Thanks, Chuck.”
The engine of the classic truck rumbled to life as he turned the key. He revved the engine and as he did, the parking lot echoed with the sound of pops from a muffler far past its prime.
“Gotta fix that,” he said with a wink as he threw the vehicle in drive. “I’ll see ya.”
Tina stepped back a bit as the vehicle rolled forward. A few small clouds of gasoline-fueled exhaust wafted past her as he drove away. Tina turned, walked back towards the clinic and kicked a small stone across the parking lot as she did. The rock bounced in every direction much like her emotions did after two near-miss kisses with the Granger twins.
Later that same evening, Tina pulled into the driveway of her home when she arrived home from work. As she got out of the car and locked the door, a cloudy, gray haze appeared to her right. Alarmed, she snapped her head towards a bay window that stretched across a large section of the front of the home.
“Fire!” she exclaimed as she darted towards the front door. She fumbled for her keys as she staggered towards the entrance but at the last instant, they slipped from her grasp and into a thorny bush nearby.
“Shit!” she cursed.
She glanced towards the window once again only to see the smoke thickened with each second that ticked by. Frantic, she struggled for a glimpse of the keys through the sharp limbs. As she scrambled for them, the front door of the home of flew open and Jericho fell through it. A lumpy, acrid cloud hung to his shoulders as he stumbled towards her.
“Jericho!” Tina said as she jumped to her feet and grabbed hold of her brother. “What… What the hell is going on?”
Jericho hacked and coughed as he dropped to his knees in front of her.
“I think it’s out,” he said as he gagged.
“What?” Tina said as she looked down at him. “What’s out? What’s going on in there?”
Tina strained to peer through the smoky blanket. Her eyes fought to stay open as the combination of heat and ashen aftermath burned at the exposed white of her eyes. For several more seconds, she waved at the space in front of her face until at last the thick, black air started to clear. Around that same time, Jericho seemed to regain his composure. She could tell, because it was around then he began to laugh… in an almost uncontrollable way.
“Jericho!” Tina yelled as she grabbed him on the shoulder and started to rock him back and forth. “What the hell is happening? What is so funny? Are you okay? Who did this? Was it the enforcers?”
“No… No!” he exclaimed as he choked and laughed. “It was…”
He collapsed to the ground and rolled around. “Oh shit, Tina… I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?” Tina said as she glanced back towards the final wisps of smoke. “For what?”
“For…” Jericho said as he made his way back to his knees. “For… trying… to make you dinner. You said there was nothing I could do to change your mind. I figured I had to try something you’d never expect… Shit, Tina, I’m sorry about the past few days… for making you feel the way that I have… I’m sorry for everything.”
“Oh, Jericho… sweetheart,” she said as she helped him to his feet. “Come on. I know a way you can make it up to me if you really want.”
***
As penance for his grease-fired apology, Jericho agreed to go with Tina to the party on Saturday. Yet in spite of his initial proclamations of regret about the way things stood between them, he didn’t exactly leap at the chance to spend an evening with several dozen humans. In fact, as the hours neared, he became downright bitchy about it.
“You promised not to complain about this, Jericho.”
Tina’s brother fidgeted in the passenger’s seat as they drove across town to Chuck and Max’s house for Bosco’s welcome home party. A warm early evening breeze swirled through Tina’s hair she glanced over towards him. She pulled aside an errant strand of it and grimaced as he tapped his fingers along the interior of the window.
“I didn’t say a word,” Jericho grumbled.
Several seconds later, Tina eased into the brake pedal as they approached a traffic light.
“Well,” Tina began while she grabbed her purse from the back seat. She reached inside and fished around for a small cylinder of lip gloss. “You sure seem pissed. I’m telling you right now though… You better not have an attitude while we’re there tonight. I’m really going to be frickin’ aggravated if you do.”
Tina shot a look at him to put an exclamation point on her statement. Unmoved, Jericho blinked in disgust as he turned and looked out the window. Tina shook her head and applied a fresh coat when the light flipped green. The scent of the berry-flavored shimmer spread throughout the interior of the car as an impatient driver honked from behind them.
“Yeah, yeah,” Tina said as she let her foot off the brake.
They drove along in silence for several minutes until, out of the corner of her eyes, Tina noticed Jericho continue to shuffle about in his seat.
“What?” she said.
He pulled his hair back out of his eyes and held it in place with his hand. “We… don’t have time for shit like this party, Tina. Now, I know what I told you… that I was cool with it but I think it’s a bad idea.”
“No, you don’t have time, Jericho.” Tina snapped. “I’m making new friends, doing new thi
ngs… I like my new life. You can either choose to be part of that, or do what you do best and disappear.”
Jericho looked away from her and stared out the window.
“Take that back, Tina.”
Tina gripped the steering wheel with her left hand and with her right, she reached down and squeezed Jericho’s thigh, just above the knee.
“Jericho, I’m sorry,” she said. “You don’t even know what’s going to happen for sure. There’s no way of predicting when or where the enforcers will show. Can’t we just enjoy a little bit of time together? Just for one night?”
“All right,” he said as he exhaled. “One night. But after that, no more avoiding the issue. We have to come up with some kind of plan, Tina. We have to.”
“Okay,” she said. “We will… I promise.”
The sound of the blinker on Tina’s car tick-tocked as they turned down the street towards Chuck and Max’s home. Cars lined the street in a parked procession that stretched all the way to their house at the end of the block.
“Wow,” Tina said. “Bosco’s pretty popular, I guess.”
After she managed to find a place to park, Tina and Jericho came upon a sign that directed them towards the back of the house. They rounded the corner to see the summertime celebration well under way.
In every direction she looked, hard-bodied men and women lounged by the pool, played volleyball and socialized. The aroma of salted beef hot dogs and juicy burgers filled the air as tendrils of smoke from a nearby grill wafted in their direction. Bass heavy beats thumped from large speakers set high up on a hill in back of the home. Tina scanned the faces to see for anyone familiar when Max appeared to her left.
“Hey!” he said as he approached and hugged her. “Glad to see you could make it.”
Tina wasn’t sure who squeezed harder when they embraced, but she did pull away first. Max resisted it a little, enough to make a point… maybe. Tina smiled as they broke their embrace and then gestured towards her brother.
“You remember Jericho?”
“Of course,” Max said as he nodded. “How could I forget? Hey, no hard feelings man… my bro and I were just doing what comes natural. I’m sure you can understand. After all, we were only trying to protect Tina. There’s a lot of psychos out there, you know.”
Unimpressed or indifferent to the sentiment, Jericho nodded. “Yeah.”
Tina scowled at his gruffness. Max seemed not to take any notice and instead returned his attention to her.
“Hey, you want anything?” he said. “A beer? Something to eat?”
“Um, not right now,” she began. “Thanks, though.”
“What about you, man?” Max said as he gestured towards Jericho.
Jericho shook his head. “No. I’m good.”
“Well, all right then,” he said as he looked at Tina. “‘Scuse me for a second… Gotta go mingle.”
“Okay,” she replied. “See you later.”
“Heads up!” a voice yelled out from behind them. Jericho spun on his heels just as a stray volleyball bounced in his direction. He snatched it just before it hit him in the face and then tossed it back in the direction from where it came.
“Not bad,” Tina said. “Why don’t you go over there and play? You know… maybe make a new friend or two?”
“Not interested,” he said. “Look… Tina… I’m gonna go. You stay. Have fun with your friends.”
“What? Go?” she said. “But we just got here! You said you wouldn’t act like this.”
“Act like what?” Jericho replied. “You stay. What difference does it make if I’m here or not?”
“Well, it makes a difference to me,” she replied. “How are you going to get home anyway?”
Jericho shrugged. “I dunno… a cab, bus, rickshaw… whatever. I’ll figure something out.”
Tina frowned as he spoke.
“Come on, Jericho… You’ll have fun if you just…” Tina paused for a moment as she caught a glimpse of Allison in the distance.
“Hey,” she began. “My friend Allison is over there. She’s really cute… and fun… let me introduce her to you.”
“No, no way,” Jericho replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. “No humans. Not interested. At all.”
“Uh, come on,” Tina said as she grabbed onto his arm and tugged him. “You said we could have fun. Can’t you just talk to her? She’s really sweet.”
In spite of her effort, Jericho remained glued to his spot. Arms crossed high at his chest, he shook his head.
“No,” he said.
Tina glared at him but just then a smile took its place as Allison caught sight of her and started to walk in their direction.
“He, he,” Tina chuckled. “Too late turkey.”
“What?” Jericho said as he turned in the direction of Tina’s gaze.
“Here she comes,” Tina said. She rubbed her hands together in satisfaction.
“Ugh,” Jericho groaned as Allison bounded in their direction.
“Hey,” Allison said as she approached. “God… Where have you been, Tina? I haven’t hardly seen you at all for the past week.”
“I know,” Tina said. She tilted her head in Jericho’s direction for an instant and continued, “But… I have good excuse.”
Allison glanced at Tina’s brother and widened her eyes. “Oh,” she said. “Are you?”
“No, no,” Tina said. “It’s not like that. This is Jericho… he’s my brother.”
“Brother?” Allison replied. Her voice lifted an extra octave at the end. “You didn’t tell me you had a brother.”
Tina nudged Jericho in the back with her elbow. A frown flashed across his brow before he extended his hand with reluctance.
“Hey,” he said through a forced smile.
“Hi,” Allison replied as their hands met. They shook a moment or so before their grips fell away from one another. “So are you in town visiting, or…”
“Yeah,” Jericho began. “You could say that.”
“Will you be staying long?”
“Dunno,” he said. His voice, as well as his interest level, drifted off until silence dominated the space between the three of them once again.
“Oh,” Allison said. Her head dropped a little and as it did, a strand of her curly blond hair fell in front of her eyes. As she made a nervous tug at it, Tina pinched Jericho in the back of the arm. He winced and snapped his head in Tina’s direction.
“Excuse us for a second,” Tina said, as she looked at Allison.
***
Allison smiled and took a sip of her cocktail as Tina pulled Jericho to the side. They walked about ten feet away when Tina stopped and glared at him.
“What is the matter with you?” Tina said.
“What?”
“Why are being so rude to her?”
Stone-faced, Jericho crossed his arms and looked past Tina.
“Hey…” she said as poked him in the chest. “I’m talking to you.”
He tilted his head and looked down at her through a scowl. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Tina. I don’t want to be here… I shouldn’t have come… and I sure as hell don’t want to make small talk with some… human.”
“Listen to you,” Tina scolded. “It’s attitudes like that make me never want to be in the pack… any pack… ever again. It’s so typical… to think you’re better than humans.”
“We are!” he snapped.
Several partygoers nearby glanced up from their meals and paused their conversations as Jericho bellowed. Allison, too, cast a wary glance towards them.
“Shh! What is the matter with you?” Tina replied as she looked around. “God. Jericho… I know you don’t want to hear this, but we aren’t better. We’re born the way we are. Just like them. Why does that makes us any better?”
Jericho rolled his eyes, but didn’t respond.
“Fine,” Tina said with exasperation. “Stay over here by yourself… or go home… I don’t care, but you aren’t going to
ruin the evening for me, Jericho. I wish you had never shown up. I can’t believe how you’ve changed. You talk about how much you despise the pack but you’re no different than any of them.”
Disgusted, Tina turned her back on him and walked back over to Allison.
“Sorry about that,” Tina said as she approached.
Allison looked past Tina in Jericho’s direction. “Everything okay?”
“Yes… no… I mean, it will be or whatever.” Tina said. “I need a drink. Get one with me.”
Allison held up her half cup of melted ice and jiggled it back and forth.
“Way ahead of you.”
A few seconds later, the two friends made their way towards a makeshift Tiki bar by the pool.
As they inched forward in the line for the bar, Tina watched as two couples in the water engaged in an intense chicken fight. The women sat high atop the men’s shoulders and listed back and forth for several seconds, until the one closest to Allison and Tina tipped back and fell into the pool.
As she did, a plume of water splashed out. Allison and Tina shrieked as they attempted to jump out of the way. Except for a few large droplets of cool liquid that spattered across Tina’s arm and Allison’s leg, they escaped in relative dryness.
“Did that get you?” Allison asked.
“A little…” Tina replied as she wiped the moisture from her skin.
Only a few people now remained between them and the bar as they waited.
“Hey,” Allison began. “What ever happened with you and Kimmie? You never filled me in on any of it.”
Tina hadn’t been to the gym since the bizarre incident with Kimmie outside the office several days earlier. But, even though she was concerned at the time, the truth was that she’d forgotten all about it. She remembered Chuck told her he’d speak to Kimmie, but otherwise it slipped from her consciousness. Allison reached the front of the line and ordered her drink. After she did, she turned back over her shoulder towards Tina.
“What do you want?” she said.
Tina shrugged. “I don’t care… Something fruity. With rum.”
“K,” Allison replied.
As her friend waited for their drinks, Tina scanned the faces nearby in search of Kimmie. If she was there, Tina couldn’t see her yet.
She Howled, They Came Page 9
