Page 4 of Hawk

“Hey, Zeva, we’re headed out to get Mexican. Do you want me to bring you something back?”

“Nah, Charlie’s going to bring me something. But why don’t you just call it a day? It’s slow today, and you know you’re going to be up here all day Saturday for your mom’s class.”

“Are you sure?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure.”

I looked at Mars. “Isn’t this your store?” I teased.

He looked at me and shook his head. “You know, we only pretend it’s mine. Zeva’s the one who really runs the place.”

“Oh, I’m aware, my friend. I’d already figured that out.”

“I’ll see you in the morning, Zeva. If you need anything, call me.”

I hadn’t had really good Mexican since I left Las Cruces, so I left our destination up to him. We went to Farolitos because Mars said they had the best food. I’d never been there before, but I was willing to give it a shot.

“Do you want to sit inside or on the patio?” he asked. “The weather is so nice.”

For the first few months after I’d left Butch, I wouldn’t have dreamed of sitting out in the open, but eventually, I realized I was being silly. He had no idea where I was and probably didn’t give a shit anyway. The money I’d taken was a drop in the bucket to him, and finding someone else to slap around wouldn’t have been hard for him either.

“You’re right, it’s a beautiful day. Let’s sit outside.”

A few minutes later, we were seated and had ordered appetizers while we looked over the menu. Our server pushed over a cart and started on our guacamole while we chowed down on the delicious, fresh-made salsa and warm tortilla chips.

When she was done, she put the bowl in the center of the table.

“Dig in, guys. I’ll grab you a fresh bowl of chips and then take your order.”

I took a bite of the tableside guac, and the flavors burst on my tongue.

“Oh my god, this is the best guac I’ve ever tasted.”

“That’s what I was trying to tell you.” Mars laughed. “Wait until the tacos get here. They’re even better.”

“We’re coming here all the time from now on. How are the margaritas?”

“Out of this world. Want to try one?”

“We should, shouldn’t we?”

“Yep, especially since it seems I have the rest of the day off since Zeva kicked me out of my shop.”

“She did, didn’t she?” I laughed and waved the waitress over so we could order our drinks.

“So what are you doing Thursday night? We’re going to be having a class working with your spirit guides. You should come.”

“I wish I could, but I have self-defense class on Thursday.”

“Really? I didn’t know you were taking self-defense classes.”

“It’s new. Andy talked me into doing it. Gator suggested them back when he was hanging out up here at the shop, but I didn’t have the time or the money until now. I took the first class last week.”

Last fall, there had been a serial arsonist running around town, and Samuel had been worried about Mars, so he hired Gator to keep watch over the shop, and he’d told me about the classes. Andy and I had had a run-in with a jerk out behind his boyfriend Jesse’s club—or I should say I had a run-in, and Andy saved my ass, and that brought back a lot of old fears I thought I’d buried. So when Gator had mentioned the classes, I decided that while the self-defense classes might not make me completely safe, they couldn’t hurt.

“Oh, are those the classes that Hawk’s teaching?” Mars asked, and for a second, I was surprised he would know that, but then I remembered that Hawk and Samuel were close friends.

“They are. I don’t know what I think just yet. The first week, we really just went over stuff like situational awareness and ways to avoid needing what the class teaches. Believe me, I’m totally aware of my surroundings.” You didn’t go through something like what I went through with Butch and not come out hyperaware.

---