Petting Them: An Anthology of Claw-ver Tails

by Tate James

  But none of them spoke of what had happened in the alley, and I knew better than to ask. Sometimes, when you have a secret, the safest thing for everyone is just to keep it to yourself.

  6

  Lunch was strained and silent until the food arrived. There’s something about warm, freshly baked bread and whipped butter that softens just about any mood. The pressure on my mind lessened as I shoved more food at the guys and happily sprinkled extra salt on my own bread.

  The basket was empty in minutes, and when the perky little waitress sashayed by, I ordered more before anyone else could say no. I ate like I hadn’t seen food in days, famished from the effort of keeping my premonitions at bay.

  Only Amy suspected the truth about me, she believed I was called to a higher purpose, blessed by my ancestors the way her grandmother had been. She watched me until I shot her a dirty look.

  “You’re extra hungry today, Frankie.”

  “Shut it, Amy. I don’t get here much, I’m simply taking advantage.”

  She grinned at me and I casually flipped her the bird as I swiped the last piece of thick cut peasant bread from the basket.

  “The funeral been harder on you than you thought, huh?” It was the first Cash had spoken. I’d watched him slowly relax as nothing but middle aged and older women entered and exited the restaurant and bakery.

  “Yeah. Or maybe just coming home, I don’t know. I sort of avoided coming back for a bit. God. When I left, deputy racism wasn’t sheriff yet. I could’ve skipped learning that.”

  Adam cracked his knuckles, nostrils flaring at the mention of Sheriff Dolan. “He’s a piece of work, that’s for sure. It’s amazing the kinds of men who suddenly have complaints against them dropped, or not enough evidence to convict,” he said.

  “Like who?” Kate was a corporate lawyer, but she perked up immediately.

  “Usually the ones with deep pockets who write campaign checks,” Cash offered. We all nodded sagely, like we knew just the type. Of course, I probably worked for the deep-pocketed kind, ruthless and almost savage in our determination to dominate our market. It made me feel even more like a pretender, sitting with the kind of men who’d look at my thoughtless, selfish boss and sneer in disgust. I wanted them to see me the way I knew they saw my father. Fair, generous, and courageous enough to stand for what I thought was right.

  And just like that, my carefully crafted mental shielding fell and I saw a gun, and a blur of dark, curly hair. “Goddamn it,” I hissed, spilling water in my lap. I blinked fast to clear my blurry vision and mopped at my lap with my napkin. “Sorry guys, I don’t feel so well. I need to head home.” I took a few bills out of my wallet and tossed them on the table.

  Devon stood as I did, reaching a hand out to me with a worried look, but I shied away from him. The last thing I needed was more visions, even if his big brown eyes melted my heart a little and his concern took a little edge off the sudden pain.

  My stomach full of bread now felt uneasy in the aftermath of the violent image that had blasted me. I wasn’t certain if by not seeing it all I’d saved myself more horror or simply given my imagination just enough ammunition to skew things out of proportion.

  I waved off Kate and Amy, but they followed my lead and put in money for the bill. “We’ll see her home, sorry to cut this short.” Kate shrugged her shoulders and put her arm around me. “You okay honey? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she whispered in my ear as we walked out of the restaurant into the blinding bright sunlight.

  “I guess I did make a pig of myself. My stomach is cramping something awful.”

  They led me straight upstairs to my room and I curled up on the bed, too cold to even move under the covers. I didn’t want to see more, but I knew I had to let the premonition come, if only to make sure the hair that had filled my vision wasn’t Adam’s, and the gun that flashed wasn’t aimed at anyone I loved or knew. But I never saw the future for strangers.

  “You’ve got to stop playing with your gift like there’s no responsibility to it,” Amy chided me as she handed me a cup of tea. “It’s my grandmothers’ recipe. Your mom didn’t even blink when I asked if she had it.”

  “My mom thinks it’s a simple headache remedy.”

  “Do you have a headache? I thought it was your stomach.”

  “Both. I’ve managed to bury my premonitions for a long time. When I do that, the price of the one I can’t stop is usually pretty steep.”

  “You say that like you got off easy.”

  I shrugged and sipped the tea. It did make me feel better. At least it settled my stomach a little and stopped the spots that were dancing in front of my eyes. “You’re never going to let me live this down, are you?”

  “Not likely. I knew when you started predicting the weddings that it was more than luck.”

  I set my empty tea cup on the side table and crossed my heart with a finger. “But I wasn’t lying. I really didn’t do it on purpose. It just…leaks sometimes, even when I don’t want it to. I mean, come on. Who would believe me anyway?”

  “I did.”

  I patted the bed next to me and laid my head on her shoulder. “You really did, didn’t you? Thanks, Ames.”

  “Go to sleep. I added Valeria root to the tea to knock you out for a bit. Your bed creaks, so I know you haven’t been sleeping, even from next door.”

  I did as I was told and laid down, pulling the coverlet over my legs. Cobwebs were already beginning to spin across my brain, trapping my thoughts before I could piece them together. If I had been able to think clearly, I would’ve noticed how light the constant weight of foretelling had become. All those sleepless nights cured with my grandmother’s tea. For fucks’ sake.

  7

  Inevitably, the tea wore off, and I found myself staring at the ceiling as I listened to my parents and friends talking below me. My legs itched and jumped, refusing to stay still, until I got up. I brushed my hair and started down the stairs, but instead of turning into the den, where my family was waiting for me, I slipped on my shoes and out the door without a word.

  My feet led the way, my brain still a little foggy, enough so that I didn’t question where I was going, but clear enough that I knew I should be concerned. Dark had fallen while I slept, and I wished for a flashlight, or my cell phone, to avoid the deeper spots in the marshy ground I found myself walking on.

  Toes wet, heart picking up speed, I almost screamed when I suddenly found myself face to face with Cash in the trees.

  “What the hell you doing here, Cher?” he gasped, his hand over his own heart. “And how the hell did y’all sneak up on me?”

  “I don’t know… on both counts, actually. I was sleeping, then I had to walk, and then I found myself here…with you.”

  “You ain’t with me, Sugar. You need to get yuh-self home straightway. This is no place for a little thing like you.” His accent grew thicker the more agitated he got, just like mine did, the careful Northeastern college façade giving way for the sexy southern drawl I hadn’t realized I’d been missing until then.

  “I didn’t mean that. You know what I… You know what? Never mind.” I huffed and tried to get my bearings. “Not that I owe you an explanation, but I didn’t plan to come here, and I’m not sure where I am in the dark. I just know I had to be here.”

  “You just had to be here. But you didn’t learn about where here was when you were eavesdropping on us earlier today?”

  “Actually… I wasn’t listening on purpose, so no. I did not hear how to walk from my house to some spot in the swamp today and decide to come here.”

  He scoffed and raised his hand like a stop sign. “And that little act of yours, eating like a horse, then suddenly getting faint and dizzy? You don’t fool anyone, and I don’t have time for women who play games cos they think they’re cute.”

  “Fuck you, Cash LeBlanc. I thought maybe my first impression about you was off, but I was dead fucking on. You’re an asshole. How nice guys like Adam and Devon are mixed up w
ith trash like you I don’t know if I’ll ever figure out. God knows I’m not sticking around this town any longer than necessary, just to see.”

  I turned to go and a flash of white smile in a dark face made me jump and smack Adam in the arm, even as I grinned back at him. “Hey, pretty lady. Did you come out here to find me?”

  “Don’t tell me you’re really like he is. I need something nice to take away from this visit.”

  “I’m not!” I heard Devon chirp from behind Cash. It almost made me smile. Almost.

  Adam just shook his head. “Nah, we’re not much alike. But he is a good guy, better than the version he seems intent on showing you.”

  I sighed and patted him on the chest, noticing the pleasant bump in my pulse at the warmth of his skin, his smooth, hard pecs taut under my hand. Then lightning flashed and he spun around quickly, and my vision came crashing back into my mind as for a split second, his hair was in my face.

  “Shit, get down, there’s a gun,” I gasped, turning him away from where the flash had come from in my premonition.

  Just as he turned, another bolt of lightning zipped over the trees and I saw the silhouette of a man, then the flash of a muzzle. But the bullet ripped past us and into the trees as even Cash dropped onto the squishy ground.

  “Oh, my God. Oh, my GOD,” I repeated, scrambling to the trees and bracing my back against one, sitting among the bare roots that unraveled over the earth. I hugged my knees to my chest and tried to stifle my sobs. Never had a premonition been so…so close to my person. “No more,” I whimpered into the lightning that finally boomed across the sky. “I don’t want to see anymore, don’t you understand?”

  “You don’t want to see what, Miss Frankie?” Adam was shaking me; Cash and Devon had disappeared. I didn’t blame them. “What exactly did you see?”

  “At lunch, I saw curly hair, and a gun, and a muzzle flash, and blood.” I whispered. Not that saying it quietly made it sound any saner. “I try so hard not to see anymore, but sometimes I can’t stop it.”

  “They’re downwind. If you hadn’t seen it, there’d be a lot of blood right about now.”

  Cash appeared at his shoulder. “You want to explain what the hell just happened here?” I flinched away from him and Devon shoved him back.

  “Let her be, man. She’s had enough of a shock already.”

  Cash scoffed and paced behind him, glaring at me so hard I could feel the evil in his stare even in the shadows of the sycamores. “To be shocked, she would’ve had to not know that asshole was there, right, Cher?”

  The mocking in his tone snapped me out of my shivers and forced my spine straight. I stood and pushed past both men protecting me, so Cash and I were toe to toe and my shaking made me bump into him.

  “I know why I was here now. To save Adam. Apparently, even my premonitions don’t give a shit about you.”

  I about-faced and took three angry steps before I paused and asked if they knew the gunman was gone.

  “Yeah, Cher. He’s gone. But where are you going?”

  “Home.” I pulled my damp shirt away from my skin. “I’m cold, and damp, and I assume muddy, and the trouble has passed. The premonition is finally gone, and I’m going to try to get some real sleep.”

  Adam tucked me into his side and wrapped his arms around me in a hug, rubbing my arms to help me warm up. “I think you’d better come with us, at least until we’re sure you weren’t the target, yeah?”

  “You guys go ahead and take her home, I’m going to, uh, sniff around and see if I can turn up a clue to who that was.” I didn’t want Devon going out into that darkness, but it was just me, not the sight, that made me worry. I knew there would be no more violence that night.

  But I hated the thought of spending another humiliating moment under Cash’s scrutiny. My own mother hadn’t believed me. Why would these near-strangers, one of whom already thought I was a coquette?

  8

  The little café on the edge of the swamp was quiet, not meant for tourists, especially not so late in the evening and so removed from the clubs and other restaurants in the center of town. I warmed my hands on the cup of coffee Adam had pressed into them and Cash sat across from me, thankfully spending more time watching out the window than looking at me.

  I was watching the window too, hoping that Devon would show up safe and sound, so the tightness in my chest could release.

  “Tell me again about your visions,” Adam urged, and I stared into the oily black coffee to avoid the pair of judgmental eyes across from me.

  ‘It’s dumb. My grandmother believed I had the sight. My mother told me to never tell anyone what I saw and forget about it, because it was impossible.”

  “Do you think it’s impossible?” Cash’s voice was softer than in the woods. I dared a glance at him, and instead of judgment, I found something I couldn’t read, but seemed more related to honest surprise than anything else.

  “I know I get debilitating migraines if I manage to not…see,” I confessed. “I know that I was enjoying pigging out and feeling pretty good about myself, and the next thing I know, my vision is full of blood and the sense of death, and hours later I still can’t bring myself to swallow coffee.”

  Adam chuckled softly, shaking his head. “A witch, Cash. An honest-to-God seer.”

  “Do I look like a fucking witch to you?” I scoffed.

  Cash cleared his throat and flashed me a quick grin as I glowered at him. “You said it, Cher.”

  “I’m not your cher, Babe,” I muttered. “I’m not saying I have any special powers, okay? I just saw something, and then happened to be in a place where something similar happened.”

  Cash cleared his throat again. “Somewhere you didn’t recognize, because your feet just carried you there. Sounds like a seer to me.”

  “You think I’m a fraud, remember? Don’t help the other side.”

  The table shook as I felt Adam’s leg kick out beside me. Cash cursed under his breath. He sighed and leaned across, cupping his big hands around mine. “I don’t think you’re a fraud. I thought you were a ninny, maybe a busybody. But I saw you today. I saw you tonight. Your fear was real, and you moved supernaturally fast to save Adam. No matter what else, that’s my takeaway.”

  Adam bumped me with his hip. “At least now that the adrenaline has gone down and he’s not looking for a head to tear off.” I giggled at him, but Cash tightened his hold on my hands.

  “Oh, I’m looking for a head to tear off, all right. But it won’t be yours, Cher. We’ll keep you safe.”

  The butterflies in my stomach burst their cocoons and fluttered madly, driving heat up my chest and into my face. “Uh, thank you. But I didn’t get the chance to tell anyone where I was going. I need to get home.”

  “You can’t walk in looking like that, girl. Your momma will kill us.”

  Cash nodded sagely in agreement with his friend. “Trust him, Sweetheart. Adam has a knack for making himself look good after getting in trouble.”

  “I thought you were the one keeping people out of trouble.”

  “Naw. That’s Cash, here. He reminds me what side of the law I’m supposed to be on, when I get frustrated with the system and want to take short cuts.”

  Cash puffed up a little and leaned back, winking at me. Instantly, I missed the presence of his hands on mine. “I’ve seen men get released from jail and go right back to beating on their girlfriends. But Adam here, he knows who, and where, and before they can do real damage, he’s dragging their asses back to county, crying like babies to the cops to protect them.”

  He looked like a kid brother, looking up to his hero, and I told him so.

  “Well, he is my kid brother, kind of,” Adam replied. “We’ve lived together since you were what, fourteen?”

  “About that.”

  “Wait, what happened?” They shared a look, and I regretted asking at all.

  Cash finally shrugged and looked down at his hands while he answered. “There was a fire. Nobody eve
r figured out how it started. My dad got me out, then went back for my mom. That was the last I saw of him.”

  “Holy Christ, I’m sorry. It was stupid to ask.”

  “No, it isn’t. How could you know?” he argued. “Anyway, the Cormiers took me in, held onto my dad’s business until I could take over, and protected my land from the vultures who swooped in to take it. Like Adam said, we might as well be brothers.”

  The post-premonition fatigue I always felt started to set in, exacerbated by a drop in my adrenaline. I glanced around, but aside from the occasional looks we got for being covered in swamp muck, it seemed the danger was gone. I was left with the reality that I’d told my deepest, darkest secret to the two men who seemed to be pulling my libido in opposite directions. Not the sexiest secret ever, either.

  “I should go. I feel really weird about baring my soul to you when I won’t even talk about it with my friends…even though Amy seems to just…know.”

  “She suspects and you lie to her?”

  “God no. She flat out knows, and I refuse to talk about it. I’d never lie to my friends. I fucking hate liars.” The words were out of my mouth before I considered them, and the venom with which I spat them across the table made Cash’s eyebrows lift into his hairline.

  “Good to remember,” Adam said drily, and Cash coughed.

  “Let’s get you home. You need rest…and a shower. You stink like swamp muck.”

  I glanced down at my ruined sweater. “Gee, I wonder why?”

  Grateful, I think, to see us go, the waitress had our check to us before we could ask for it, and I was nestled between them in Adam’s truck on the way home. I closed my eyes and Cash slid his arm around me so my head rested high on his chest. The men were as different in temperament as day and night. But with my head on Cash and Adam’s hand gently rubbing my knee as he drove, I’d never felt safer, even from what was in my own head.