Lonely Monsters

twenty-two

I adjusted the earbuds and sunglasses as we walked into the small grocery store. It was a mom and pop establishment that had fresh produce from the local farms, and maybe some trade with the wolves. There were name brands of cereal and chips I had never seen. A monkey spooning large amounts of colorful bits, or the walrus that had frosted O's? Vince looked up at me expectantly. I looked at Winona who was looking at loaves of bread and peanut butter, so I nodded. Vince chose the walrus. Danny held onto the side of the car, looking around the place with a hint of nervousness in his movements.

"....There's only humans here." I said, my voice low as I propped my arms on the handhold. My hands hung, limp wristed, in the area of the child seat while I was propper up by my elbows.

Danny looked up at me. "....You're sure?"

I lifted myself up and listening and gave the air a little sniff. "None. Only smell humans. Wolves...." I paused to think of a way to describe them without being insulting. "....They have a stronger smell."

Danny closed his eyes and gave the air a tentative sniff. "That's why you were so skittish in the store. They guys work down there all the time. My house? No one's been up there aside from you... and the Alphas. And that was the first time I'd met them."

Danny opened his eyes too look at me, then into the cart. "....Are your Alpha friends nice?"

"As far as I know." I said, giving the cart a gentle push and walking down the aisle to look at what type of things they had in the direction of meat and fish. I should have noticed it before, but their wasn't a drop of temperature or the smell of blood that told if a place had frozen meat.

I spotted a freckled teenager stacking cans in the pyramid of green beans and pineapples. I waved my hand to get their attention, and a pair of green eyes lined with full copper lashes looked at me.

"You guys don't sell beef or pork?" I asked

"No ma'am," the boy adjusted the green apron he wore. "Across the road in Hanson's, he's the only butcher in town. Lots of folks bring their cattle or deer for him to chop up."

"So then they'd have ox tail and neck bones?" I took out my phone and stylus, putting down the information for myself. 'Grocer does not sell meat. Butcher across the street does.'

"I suppose they would." he said. His eyes went from me, to Danny, and Danny noticeably turned his head from the kid's gaze. "Now if you'll excuse me." He picked up a box of cans and moved to another part of the small store.

".....I don't like him." Danny whispered.

I reached out and rubbed his head. He huffed, then looked at Vince as he put a stack of boxes into the cart. "uuuhhhh What are those, champ?"

Vince looked up at me with big eyes. "....Cookies..." he said in awe.

I reached in and looked at the cookies he chose. "Little man, We are a chocolate chip family. Why are all of these oatmeal raisin?"

"I like raisins." he said, pouting.

"...Then get me one box of chocolate chip." I grinned at him and he let out the happiest little noise. Danny looked at me, frowning. "You can get some food you like too. Or juice. Next we're getting meat-- and at some point the Jeralds are dropping off some school books for you."

"School?" Danny's eyes narrowed.

"Reading, writing, some math stuff." I shrugged. "we're not gonna watch cartoon and eat cookies all the time."

"Reading? Boooooring!" Vince said, dropping a stack of boxes into the cart.

"Vince, I said like, one box." I reached in and removed two boxes of oatmeal raisin, then three boxes of chocolate chip. There was a remainder of one each and that would be enough.

Winona came back with two loaves of bread, honey, peanut butter and a jar of pickles. She sighed and put everything in the cart. I looked at her hair, noting that it was indeed thicker. With my phone still out, I put down that I would by more deep conditioner when my accounts were unfrozen.

We paid for everything and loaded up my white Sable. Still alive after all this time of me not driving it, it had a few hundred miles from some of the wolves using it to run errands. By the smell of it, some teen girls that were a bit heavy on the sugar cookies and cotton candy body mist, with an underlying tone of menthol cigarettes. I leaned back in the driver's seat a moment, taking a deep breath of the car. Even with all the things that had happened the past few days, the smell of vanilla-cotton candy and smokes brought me back home, where Monique was complaining in the backseat of Keenan's pickup about how he said he would quit smoking but never really did.

I turned the key in the ignition and drove out of the little town, taking the only road up to No Man's Land. I looked at the rear view mirror to find Danny crouched on the seat to look out the window.

"Danny. Seatbelt." I said, keeping a my eyes on the road. I heard him huff and the sound of denim rubbing against the fabric of the seat as he shifted. He mumbled in a very small voice, barely audible if you weren't listening.

"I don't like him."