Page 9 of Blood and Bonbons

The douche canoe watched us approach. I hurried past and let Doc do his thing as I served the drinks to table thirteen. I couldn’t help listening, though.

“Are you management?” the man asked.

“I’m Doc and management enough. I hear you have a problem.”

“Doc?” The man laughed, and I internally cringed. “What kind of name is that? I don’t need a doctor; I need someone to get rid of the sludgemuckers next to us.”

Doc’s low laugh was chilling. He set his hand on the man’s shoulder and leaned in.

“I’m called Doc because that’s the next person you’ll see if you don’t get up from this table and walk yourself out the door. Your invitation to Blur has been revoked indefinitely.”

The man was about to argue, but his friends shoved him from the table and hurried him out the door. The troublemakers never stayed long after a visit from Doc. Friendlier people who’d tipped better sat in their place, and thanks to the skewers and a little kindness, I had two twenties in my pocket from the dwarf’s table when I headed home after closing.

My college and dream bakery fund grew little by little every night I worked.

* * *

Sleeping until ten hadn’t been enough to prepare me for Vena’s enthusiasm for our “hike.” As I followed Vena up the steep incline, my legs shook from exertion, and the sun beat down on my head. The backpack, which had initially seemed light, hung heavily against my sweat-drenched back.

This was no mere hike. We had veered off the well-traveled paths of Sugarloaf Mountain and were now in dense vegetation. Tripping on camouflaged roots and rocks had me stumbling as I tried to keep up with Vena. She didn’t have the same issue as she bounded up the hill like a kangaroo on steroids.

The only thought that kept racing through my mind was how much tip money I’d have to earn to pay for emergency services to airlift me off this mountain.

“Almost there,” Vena said.

“You said that five times already,” I said, gasping for air as my foot slipped again. How high was this dumb mountain?

“I swear,” she said.

“I’ll be swearing soon if you’re lying to me again. I have a shift tonight, and I’m exhausted. I’ll have to crawl to the tables.”

She laughed, but I wasn’t entirely joking. If it wasn’t for our deal, I’d have turned back the moment she left the marked paths. However, I was too worried Vena wouldn’t show up Monday to fill out the paperwork if I bailed, which was the only reason I continued.

When Vena paused in a clearing, I looked down over the green landscape below us while I tried to catch my breath.

I grudgingly admitted the view from twelve hundred feet up was magnificent. A sparkling river wound along the valley floor, making me wish I was down there in the cool water.

“It’s around here somewhere,” Vena said.

“What’s around here?” I perched on a boulder to give my legs a break and searched my pack for water.

“The entrance.”

I looked up at her with growing trepidation. “What entrance?”

Her gaze scanned the glade’s sparse vegetation and rocky terrain as a sick feeling settled into my stomach.

“Vena, what entrance? This was a hike. Remember?”

“A peek, that’s all,” she said. “It’s for Miles.”

“Are you hunting? Is this a hunt? The one you and Miles just talked about? You tricked me into coming with you? I agreed to hike up this stupid mountain, not go inside of it.”

She gave me a sheepish look. “It wasn’t a trick. I knew you would worry, and I wanted to prove that hunting isn’t dangerous.”

I stood, which hurt more than anticipated, hitched my pack up, and started my retreat.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

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