Page 47 of Shadow Wolf
“Welcome to our home, sorry it’s not very big. But I’m just so excited that my boy has brought a girl home for the first time.”
I rolled my eyes and smiled when Clare looked back at me. But I loved this, more than Clare could have known. Mom was being…well, mom. The mom I remembered when she wasn’t drinking or on something. I could see it was making Alex happy too. If all I needed was to bring Clare home to keep my mom sober, I would bring her home every day. But I knew that wasn't how it worked, this was a special day, one that we would take.
“I’m Alex and I have your cat.” My brother darted into our room and reemerged with a squirming black cat.
Clare chuckled as he handed Bagheera over. She stroked his black fur and my panther rose inside me, wanting her to stroke him too. Never had that thought before.
“No, I haveyourcat, Alex.” Clare smiled down at my brother. He was small for his age but I was waiting. Any day now and he would shift. I could sense it getting closer, my panther could feel his coming to the surface.
Clare moved over to the stained couch and took a seat. She didn’t even blink or flinch away from the stains I couldn't get out. She sat down and started to talk to Alex about Bagheera. Telling him the story of how she would feed him, and he would hide from her. Mom offered some water and chips. Clare nodded and thanked her, and I relaxed.
This was going so much better than I expected. I had been stressed all night, I hardly slept. But I knew I had to do this. She had wanted to know more about me, and I kept this part from her because I didn’t want to see or feel her pity. But there was none of that here and I should have known that about Clare. She was genuinely happy to be here. My panther purred and everyone looked at me.
I held my hand on my chest and chuckled.
“Sorry, my panther likes Clare. A lot.”
Then everyone laughed.
It was getting late, and I wanted to take Clare to dinner then the park. The one I spent most of my childhood and teen years at.
“Okay, well we need to get moving before we’re late for our dinner reservation.”
Clare smiled and gave Alex his cat back. I think the fact she had said it was his made him happier. Like he needed her to say it to him to make it real. That Bagheera was officially his.
Mom said she would see me when we got home, but she was itching her arms and I could tell the moment I left her she would be gone. I knew it wouldn’t last, but it was nice for half a day.
“You have your phone?” I asked Alex. He nodded and looked at mom. She was distracted saying bye to Clare and I almost wanted to take him with me.
“Call me, I don’t care. You just call if you need me.”
He nodded but grinned.
“I really like her. Please can we keep her?” I rolled my eyes at him; you couldn’t just keep a person. But if I could, I would keep Clare.
Dinner went well, she did laugh when I turned up at Taco Bell. It wasn’t a gourmet place that needed a reservation, like the pasta place we first went to. Hell, it was the worst food ever. But it was also the best growing up. If I was ever hungry, I would take Alex here with me.
There was a nice manager who would bring us out food and drinks with a huge smile on his face. He never said anything other than “enjoy boys.” He never asked for money, never said it’s “on the house.” He just treated us as if we had ordered it ourselves.
Unfortunately, he passed away last year from a heart attack. We went to his funeral, a lot of people from around here did. They all shared the same stories we did. How he would bring out food as if they had ordered it. That he truly saved their lives.
I told her the story; her eyes welled up at hearing of his passing. But the stories at the funeral was what got the first tear to fall. I didn’t want to make her cry, but she was just so grateful that he could be here for us when we needed him.
“Thank you for sharing this with me, Frankie. You don’t understand how much this means to me. I can see why this is your favorite place to eat. I like the tacos here, but I think I’ve eaten too many.” She patted her belly and laughed.
“You’re a tiny little thing, I was surprised you ordered that many to start with.” She giggled and shook her head.
“Like I could say no to tacos. And they had a deal… It was a bargain I couldn’t pass up.” I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face. This had been the best day, I didn’t expect it to go this well.
“Well, the next stop is my old park, you wanna go for a ride on the swings?”
Her eyes lit up with mischief.
“Is there a slide too?” I nodded “a metal one, to burn your ass on a hot summer day.” She chuckled.
“They’re the best kind.”
Chapter31
