Page 58 of Cognac Secrets

“You did, indeed!” I said with a smile and a laugh.

“Help yourself,” True said, pushing the basket of beignets in Louie’s direction.

“Aw, you’re lucky Bennie’s not here,” he said. “He’s such a sucker for these things that’s how he got his name.”

“So, his name isn’t actually Bennie?” True asked, making a face.

“Same as mine isn’t actually Louie,” Louie said with a grin. “It’s short for Loup Garou. Bennie is short for beignet.”

“How did you get the name Loup Garou?” True asked, fascinated.

Louie made an ‘mm’ sound as he finished chewing the beignet he’d popped into his mouth and after swallowing said, “Biker culture is a little weird for citizens who aren’t in the know, and we like it like that. Technically, you aren’t supposed to ask a biker how he got his road name, but I opened the door – so I’ll go easy on yah.” He grinned and winked at her and glanced at me and I couldn’t help it. My smile grew. He was flirting so hard with True and it was so cute – I hope he wasn’t going to be disappointed if he found out she was trans. I loved my best friend and I could tell she was charmed by Louie so I made it a point to make a mental note to get him aside and bring him quietly into the know as gently as possible to spare True any drama.

I was her wing girl in that way. A sharp and slightly panicked look from True when Louie wasn’t looking let me know she both liked him andoh shit, what do I do?

I smiled at her and winked in that way that’d become our silent code forI’ve got your back, baby.

She looked relieved as Louie looked expectantly from one of us to the other, “What?” he asked, clearly picking up on our silent exchange, to which True and I burst out laughing and assured him it was nothing.

He laughed too and said, “I don’t believe you, but I’m glad you get it – because yeah, biker code is pretty much just like that and for a reason. Keeps the riff-raff out.”

True laughed at that and Louie grinned at her and winked.

“Okay, back dat ass up,” I said jokingly. “We were talking about your name – how did you get it?” I asked,

“Glad you asked,” he said. “I saw one.”

“Saw what?” True asked.

“A Loup Garou, or Roux Garou – depending on what part of the swamp or city you’re from.”

“What?” I asked, brow furrowing and disbelieving smile painting my lips.

“Okay, first off, what the hell is a Loup or Roux Garou?” True asked, crossing her eyes.

Louie laughed and I answered her, “It’s like the Cajun version of a werewolf.”

“Oh, no. It’s a werewolf, alright – that’s exactly what it is,” Louie said.

“You saw a werewolf?” True asked and Louie nodded putting his hand over his chest and saying, “My lips to God’s ear, I saw an honest to God fucking werewolf around these parts.”

“Okay,how?” I asked.

“I was a teen,” he said. “Out late one night. Had a group of other guys from the hood I’d play basketball with. One night we were out playing hoop and getting high, just fucking around you know?”

“Yeah,” True leaned her elbow on the edge of the table and her chin in her hand, transfixed by what Louie was telling us.

“So, it’s late at night, like before midnight, but still late. We were out in the park shooting hoop and cuttin’ up and then all of a sudden, the lights all cut out – right? The lights stay on ‘til midnight then boom. They just shut off, automatically, and that’s all she wrote – time to go home or fuck off and do whatever else. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here kind of vibe, right? So me and the guys decide, hey – we’re having a good time and we ain’t ready to call it a night just yet, let’s go hang outside the convenience store and see if someone feels like contributing to the delinquency of some minors, yeah?” He gave a laugh and True and I laughed along with him, following along – even thoughI could neverwhen I was a kid. Mostly because I was too scared of my daddy and what he’d do to me if I stepped atoeout of line.

“So, we start walking across the park, headed out, and like I don’t have a way of describing it. Just one second, we’re laughing and talking, and the next we’re all looking at each other real spooked.”

“Why?” True asked, bewildered. “What happened?”

“Well, it was late, and we left the park, right? And we crossed a few streets and got onto the railroad tracks, and we’re following ‘em along like we usually do and about a mile down the tracks, it gets heavily wooded to either side, right? Like, I don’t really know how to explain this part. We were walking, talking, laughing and joking – passing a joint between us, and the woods they’re just woods, you know? Nothing ever scary about ‘em – me and my homies we’ve walked this route like a thousand times before. Just all of a sudden, it gets real quiet around us and it was so sudden and so out of place, you couldn’t help but take notice, right?”

“Okay,” I said carefully, drawing out the word, genuinely engrossed in his story and wondering where this was going to go.

“My buddy J-dawg, he notices it first, calls the rest of our attention to it and we all just sort of shut up and listened and I meannothing, no bugs, no frogs,nothing. So quiet you could hear a fuckin’ pin drop which is weird at night outside out in the great wide open like that, you feel me?”

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