by Koko Brown
“Enough of rehashing my personal history. You guys are going to have to make do without me ‘cause I’m gone.”
Before anyone else could stop her, Reese dropped the dice onto the countertop. All eyes watched the pair tumble to a stop.
“You rolled an eleven,” Otis mumbled, drawing everyone’s attention. Riveted, Reese watched him pull at the scruffy ginger beard concealing his double chins. “Your blow lands true, cleaving the Norseman from clavicle to hip.”
“Otis,” Reese warned, drawing out the vowels. “Want to remain on my Christmas cookie exchange list?”
“Okay…okay. As the berserker fell, Thor gifted him with enough strength to smite you with a deadly blow with his battle axe, decapitating you.”
Gulping, Reese unconsciously clawed at her throat. She definitely didn’t see that coming. Somewhat unsteadily, she pushed back from the checkout counter. “Well, that’s that…I’m out of here.”
Amid the group’s abject silence, she grabbed her windbreaker and the canvas satchel she’d woven during a Camp Makowee Super Saturday. Slinging both over her shoulder, she turned to leave, but was hit by the craziest idea.
Store keys in hand, Reese swung back around. “It’s your turn to hold down the fort.” She tossed her keys to Allen. Nerd that he was he missed them. “Tell Mr. Majeed I quit.”
Feeling a little like Norma Rae, Reese turned her back on her former co-workers and headed for the door. She barely made it past the Marvel section when Allen halted her with a hand on her shoulder.
“If you’re trying to talk me out of it save your—”
To her surprise, he drew her into a bear hug. “That was sooo freakin’ bad ass…of Catniss proportions…no…no better than that…more like Carol Danvers!”
Reese grinned. Being compared to a kick-ass heroine like Ms. Marvel felt kind of good.
Allen’s gray eyes narrowed. “You’re going to do it, aren’t you? You’re going to finally put your comic series into print.”
Faced with the gargantuan task ahead of her, Reese lost her tongue. What had she co-signed on to? With no agent or publishing house backing her, producing and distributing a comic book series wasn’t going to be a cake walk.
Somehow sensing an about-face, Allen grabbed her upper arms and marched her backward toward the entrance. “Always thought you were too talented to be schlepping around here.” He unlocked the front doors for her. “Call me tomorrow. I want to hear all about your plans and how I’m going to play a part in them.” Considering she hadn’t thought past the present moment, Reese didn’t laugh at Allen’s joke.
“Whoa…It’s raining cats and dogs out there,” he pointed out, oblivious to the tear his babble was causing to her insides. He let her go to pluck one of the umbrellas from a metal canister filled with them by the door. “What a great start to the next chapter of your new life.”
“Just my luck,” she mumbled, frozen with fear of the unknown. Immobile, Reese stood on the threshold, looking out at the deluge just a couple of feet away. Despite the torrent, the rain did nothing to subdue the humidity.
“’Life is like a rainbow. You need both the sun and rain to make its colors appear, as my grandpa Patrick McNeal from County Kildare used to say.” Allen stepped onto the sidewalk, and popped open the umbrella.
Allen tended to spout more nonsense than a comic book villain, but there was always a nugget in there somewhere. Back on track, with her spine thankfully intact, Reese joined. “Thank you for being the best sidekick a girl could wish for,” she whispered, somewhat choked up with emotion.
“Just call me Kato.” Gloating, Allen pulled at the ornamental black suspenders he’d worn with his jeans. From his tattoo sleeves to his neat lumberjack beard and signature haircut, high on the top, low on the sides, he was just as much a hipster as he was a geek.
“Funny, I was thinking more along the lines of Jughead.”
Allen’s lips twisted into a grin, exposing a neat row of metal braces. “You know I love a juicy hamburger.”
“Extra onions and ketchup, hold the pickles.”
Allen held his fist out. “Dynamic Duo?”
“Always.” Grinning, Reese rapped her knuckles against his.
“Hey! Do I need to kill you off as well?” Otis yelled.
Before she could say ‘SHAZAM!’ Allen scrambled back inside.
“Unlike you, I don’t have any special talents, only sarcasm.” He reached over and hit the power switch. “Live long and prosper,” he said as the doors slowly closed. Reese returned his Spock salute. The moment was more than a little bittersweet. For the first time in seven years, someone else locked up behind her.
Done with being the walking dead, Reese spun around, umbrella raised against the elements. She took only three steps when a strong gust of wind yanked it backward over its ribs -- rendering it useless.
“Life is like a rainbow,” Reese muttered as she tossed the umbrella into a nearby trash can. Without another to protect her, she popped the collar of her windbreaker. What good it would do her, since the bus stop was five blocks away.
