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“You should go back to the restaurant,” Luke said. “Wait there for me.”
I grimaced, worried about being alone, not to mention that the restaurant might not let me back into if I brought in an animal.
When he saw I was hesitating, Luke turned to me, smiling. He held onto my cheeks and then kissed me gently on the nose. “Sang, don’t worry. I’m coming right behind you. Just let me get the basics and pay.”
That gave me a little courage. This was the Luke I was more familiar with, the one from before yesterday. He was jumping in to help, willing to risk a possible fight with those men, just to save a little animal.
He shooed me on so I walked toward the door. It was strange to have walked in without any intention, and then so suddenly be walking away with a new pet skunk.
I smiled to myself, holding him close. We just bought a pet together!
I opened the store door, and peered out to the sidewalk. I didn’t see anyone so I squeezed out of the door. The skunk in the pouch was warm against my stomach.
“I can’t believe the rate they charge to draw out money,” a male voice said. “Four dollars for every two hundred?”
I turned my head, spotting the men coming out of the bar further down the strip of mall. I panicked, concerned I should go back into the pet store. Maybe there was a back room.
“It’s shit,” the other one said. “They rip you off at every chance. Now let’s go get this skunk.”
I stiffened, but walked ahead, trying to hide the fact that I had anything other than a regular backpack, desperately hoping not to draw attention to myself. I hurried to the Chinese place, and went inside.
The woman wasn’t at the counter. I sat down quickly at one of the tables, holding onto the skunk, hoping that Luke would be back soon.
The woman came out, spotted me at the table, and then disappeared, coming back with a full brown paper bag.
I waved to her but stayed seated with my front turned toward the wall, trying to hide the face of the skunk. If she did see the harness, I hoped she’d think it was just a baby. Maybe we were babysitting. “He’ll be back in a moment,” I said quickly. “He’s still at the store.”
She nodded and left the bag on the counter, before she headed back to the kitchen.
I turned to look out the front glass of the restaurant. Would Luke try to confront the men? What would happen when they discovered someone had just bought the skunk? What if they walked by here and noticed me?
Suddenly, I heard angry shouts. I sat up straight, but touched the skunk on the head, trying to gently push him down into the pouch.
I listened carefully and watched out the window, but nothing came into view. I was tempted to get up and check it out, but didn’t want to leave with the skunk and be spotted by the men.
I touched the phone at my chest, waiting, getting more anxious by the minute.
When a figure finally came into view, at first I didn’t see the face, and my heart leapt into my throat. But it only took a moment before I saw it was Luke.
He was heading for the door, and opened it, his hands empty, but with a smile on his face. He spotted me and then came forward, showing me a thumbs up.
“I got everything,” he said, his eyes glowing. “Food, a water bowl, and I even bought a dog house, but I think it’ll have to stay in my room.”
“What happened to the men?” I asked quickly.
“Oh they were mad,” he said, and he laughed. “But I was buying what the little guy needed right in front of them, and they had no idea. They thought I was buying stuff for a dog. The lady told them someone else bought it, but they didn’t believe her. I told them I was there and saw that it was some old crazy lady.” He looked up and noticed the food on the counter. “Hey, I’m back,” he said.
The woman came back and smiled. “Thirty three, forty six.”
Luke pulled out his wallet and then started to count cash.
My heart was going a mile a minute, and I was holding a skunk in a pouch. What a strange afternoon.
As I stood there watching Luke pay, there was a sudden thunder clap that shook the building. My head turned quickly, almost cracking.
Storm clouds were rolling in, rain drops falling, darkening the pavement outside. At first it was a sprinkle, but it quickly started really coming down after a few minutes.
“Well, we didn’t beat the rain,” Luke said with a knowing smile and then looked at me as he picked up the bag of food. “Do you have him? Ready to go?”
I nodded. “How did you know it would rain?” I asked.
“Because I can predict the weather,” he said with a wink. “You might know directions, but I can smell the rain.”
I was impressed, but suddenly really overwhelmed. A lot had happened today. I was glad we had food and could go settle down.
Luke stood by the door and peered out. “It’s really coming down.”
I couldn’t believe how the weather had changed. Luke had been right; sheets and sheets of water came down, splashing into puddles. A small river was forming just next to the sidewalk, flowing downhill toward the street. “Should we eat here?” I asked. “Maybe we should wait.”
“We don’t know when this will pass. It might be here for a while.” He put the food bag under one arm and dug his keys out of his pocket. “I can drive the car up.”
“I’ll go out.” I didn’t want to be in the place alone in case the men walked by. I hoped the skunk could handle the rain. I covered him as best I could with my body. He wasn’t moving much and seemed to be sleeping.
I scooted close to Luke. The car wasn’t within view and I’d forgotten exactly where it was.
Luke held the bags close to his chest, bracing his body for the wind. “One, two, three,” he said, and hurried through the rain to the car.
I followed, holding onto the skunk.
Water splashed mostly at my feet at first as I waded against puddles.
Then droplets fell around my head.
I stopped, my heart beating crazily.
I didn’t know why at first. In all the excitement, my mind was in getting to the car, on the skunk in my arms.
Luke disappeared ahead of me. I stood there, trying to catch my breath as water splashed around me.
When more drops hit my face, I covered my head, rather than holding onto the skunk.
I fought off a wave of nausea, and sunk to the ground, crouching between two cars. I covered my head.
My eyes closed. Fear enveloped me.
What’s wrong with me? I’d forgotten my reaction to rain. Since I hadn’t been out in actual rain in a while, I’d let the memory slip away.
The splashing of water against my face somehow reminded me of a shower.
I considered going back to the restaurant, but I couldn’t move. My legs, once bent, could only hold me up, and my arms were over my head.
Just when I thought I was going to be stuck there forever, I was pulled, and then lifted, skunk and all, cradled into arms.
“I’ve got you,” Luke said. He breathed heavily, carrying me along.
I swallowed, trying to push back nausea.
I couldn’t help but look at him, embarrassed.
The look in his eyes were frightened.
The car door was already open. He put me in the passenger seat and then knelt against the door’s frame as he eased my arm from over my face.
“What happened? Did you fall?” he asked in a rush. “Sang, you okay?”
I sniffed and then forced a nod. My brain wanted to freeze up, but I fought it. Streams of water streaked down my face, and my jacket and jeans soaked through to the seat. I hoped Kota would understand. I thought to send him a text and offer to vacuum out his car, or however you get the moisture out of seats.
“I should have picked you up. Did you scratch anything when you fell?”
The thought I fell? Oh, he did ask. I’d been responding to the being okay part. This time, I shook my head.
“Do you need a bandage?” h
e asked. He reached in and rubbed at my back, keeping his other hand on my knee. “Sang, come on, don’t look like that.”
