"Don't touch my mom," I yell in her face. Then I add an extrathwapto the top of her head. She deserves it. Grabbing my mom's hand, I tell her, "Keep your head down."
We duck low, sliding parallel to the bar. The fight has moved away from the stools, out into the center of the room. Two men wearing tight Security T-shirts and built like brick walls rush in from the arena behind the building. The fight is as good as over, but the second we're back at our table, I tell Rainbow and Grandma it's time to leave. Kerrigan shows up, too, eyes bright.
"I kicked someone," Kerrigan says breathlessly. "Right in the babymaker. It was easy to hit the target because his jeans were so damn tight. Can't miss what's on display."
We grab our purses and march out the door. We're only a few feet from the entrance when it opens and two women walk out. One is older, and holds tight to the upper arm of a girl who cannot be more than eighteen years old.
The woman looks ready to fly off the handle. She passes a few feet away from us, and I catch her mid-sentence "...showing a fake ID in this town? I'm not sure you can be more of an idiot. Everybody knows who you are, Peyton."
"Aunt Jessie, please don't tell my dad."
"I'll tell your dad what I damn well please."
And then they're gone, swallowed up by the night. A minute later I hear the roar of a truck engine, and the rig passes under a parking lot lamp, a decal on the driver's door that says HCC.
"The hotel van is on its way to pick us up," Grandma says. "I called them the second I watched Cecily jump into the fight."
Kerrigan smacks my arm. "You jumped into the fight?"
My adrenaline still flows at top speed, blood pounding in my ears. "Didn't you? You said you kicked somebody."
"Yeah, that stupid cowboy who wouldn't stop grabbing my ass."
"She saved me," my mom says, leaning back against the front wall of the bar. Her hands are on her knees as she catches her breath. "I thought for sure I was going to end up in a heap on the sticky floor."
"There's no way I would ever let that happen, Mom."
Mom pushes off the wall, steps in front of me, and wraps me in a hug. At first I'm too stunned to move, but then I thaw. I let her hold me in a way she hasn't in years.
"Thank you," she whispers against my head.
"You're welcome," I whisper back.
Headlights swing into the parking lot. It's the van, come to return us to the hotel.
It's a loud ride, everyone telling their version of what they saw.
"Cecily went in there like a bowling ball," Grandma says.
"Your aura was red," Rainbow adds.
"I didn't see any of the good stuff," Kerrigan whines. "I was too busy fending off the cowboy with arms like an octopus."
"Does this mean you're officially over your fixation with cowboys?"
"Don't be silly," Kerrigan responds tartly. "I refuse to let one bad apple ruin the whole bunch."
When we arrive at the hotel, we find my dad, Duke, and Dom in the bar. Three longneck beers sweat on coasters, a basket of chips with a salsa trio on the bar top.
Dad and Duke are seated, but Dom stands, a forearm on the bar. He sees us first, and a smile lights up his face.
I float into his side, tucking myself there. It's like there's a blank space my exact shape and size waiting to be filled against him.
Mom, with unfettered pride, announces, "Cecily punched someone for me."
Dom jerks in surprise, leaning back so he can look down at me. "Closed fist, follow through?"
"Obviously," I say with a smile, accepting a glass of water from the bartender. My mom and Kerrigan order margaritas.
