Page 47 (2/2)
“Sure”
“Cool Meet you outside”
It was early fall in Southern California, which meant hot, dry, and windy Most of the time that meant fires in the foothills and poor air quality in the city Tonight the sky was clear and electricity seemed to snap in the atmosphere
Leslie leaned against the brick building, her cell phone in hand, when Avery walked outside the studio “We can walk It’s not far”
Pug’s Pub was a dark lit bar with three men for every woman The jukebox played old rock and roll from the seventies, and the bartender appeared to have ht and out of shape, the guy blended in and wasn’t dressed to earn tips from his customers From the limited selection behind the counter, Avery assumed the man’s talents were liht up
“I wouldn’t suggest the beer on tap Safer to ask for a bottle,” Leslie suggested
“Good call”
A handful ofon beaten up barstools watched while they found a high table with a couple of empty seats
“Hey, Keith” Leslie waved to the ers up in the air
“You come here a lot?”
“After a class, soo to sleep with all that adrenaline swi inside”
Avery could attest to that
She sat at the table and winced at the pain in her side As ear as they used, there was still so the shit out of someone
Keith neck Stellas in front of them “New friend?” he asked
“Avery, this is Keith”
“Nice to meet you”
Avery smiled and put out her hand “A pleasure”
Keith sers on a towel, and reached for her palm “You class the joint up just by walkin’ in the door”
Avery grinned
“That wouldn’t take much,” Leslie teased
“Hey, watch it” He s?”
“Just us tonight” Leslie tilted her beer back
“Letelse”
“Gotcha”
Keith walked away, and Avery let the cool liquid roll down her throat Yup, this was exactly what she needed
“So what’s your story?”
“My story?” Avery asked
“Yeah Why krav? Why now? Why do you forget everything the second your back hits the mat?”
Avery took another swig of her beer “Nothing like easing into a conversation”
“Ease isn’t my style”
“Okay” She took a deep breath “A dirtbag ambushedup in the hospital Lived in the ICU for a week and got a nose job out of the whole thing Once I recovered, I decided to take up krav instead of a polite form of martial arts”
Leslie listened without e?”
“Dead”
Her eyebrows lifted
“It wasn’t a rando story So I put the alarure the next ti without a fight Fool er I felt taking krav, the less frequent htmares kept me up”
Leslie leaned in on her elbows, peered closer
“What?”
“What did your nose look like before?”
The question made her smile and helped lift the heaviness that sat in her chest anytiht about that time in her life “What about you? What’s your story?”
It was Leslie’s turn to pause and take a drink froirls I was the closest little girl he could get his hands on”
Avery sed, the levity of a one “Jesus”
“Nope, Jesus wasn’t a part of it Anyway I did the high school dropout thing, ran away Blah, blahthen Iwo Firearms Got my GED”
“How long ago was that?”
“Six years Took up krav a few years back, right as I was getting out of the Army”
“You were in the service?”
“Four years”
“Wow,” Avery said
“Wasn’t a career for me, but it was exactly what I needed at the time”
“What do you do for a living now?”
“I design video games”
Avery stared in disbelief “Get out”