I spent almost every penny I had purchasing enough clothes to fill several drawers in our dresser. It still wasn’t enough, but it would get Ava started. I’d been right and the clothes had been expensive, but I didn’t bat an eye at the price. She needed things, I provided them for her, simple as that.
We visited several more shops to gather various essentials for Ava-Marie, things like soap, lotion, perfume, makeup, and shoes for various occasions. By the time we were done, I didn’t have a coin to my name.
But I had a new beginning for us. And that’s all we really needed.
Before we left the mall, Oberi spent half an hour looking at hats before I managed to drag him away and convince him we were here for Ava, reminding him he still had a full hat collection in the Ladies’ Court.
But all those hats look best in my unicorn form, which I can’t take anymore, Oberi grumbled. I want a fedora for my doggie form! I’d look spiffy!
“Spiff this.” I bopped him lightly on the nose, and he barked at me.
We’d purchased a lot of stuff, but overall, didn’t have many bags. It was going to take a lot of work to fill Ava’s closet.
“We should get back to the palace,” I said, already turning that way. Kallie grabbed me by my collar to hold me back.
“Hold on,” Kallie said. “I want to take you somewhere. My treat.”
“Take me?”
“Yeah, dickhead. Let’s go.”
Nobody had offered to take me anywhere in a long time, but I didn’t object. I let Kallie lead me out of the mall, and we walked a few blocks before we ducked into a restaurant, one that was loud with cheering. I heard grunts over the music and the smacking sound of gloves hitting against flesh. I smelled leather, and heard a bell ring out as men applauded loudly.
“It’s a boxing bar,” Kallie called over the noise. “You can watch live fights as you eat.”
That sounded amazing. My blood was already pumping, but I didn’t understand why Kallie had shown me this place. We got a high-top table near the back that was pretty secluded from the rest of the restaurant, away from the ring so we could hear each other talk. The waitress brought us a few waters. My fingers skimmed over the braille menu to read what was available, but I couldn’t process the words. I was still trying to figure out why we were here.
When the waitress returned, I placed an order for a burger, because it was the easiest thing to get, while Kallie insisted she was splitting her stack of nachos with me.
“Bro, eat.” She pushed a plate toward me stubbornly. “You have to try the mozzarella sticks. They’re amazing.”
I sighed, doing what she said. They really did taste good, but I felt like shit enjoying myself while Ava was busting her ass in that camp.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Kallie said. “Ava wants to be down there. This is her choice. You need to be okay with letting her make the best decisions for her, even if they’re tough to swallow.”
I tossed a fry down to Oberi, who gobbled it up immediately. “I’m trying. But it’s hard not to feel guilty that I’m relaxing, and she’s doing all this work.”
“You have to take care of yourself, so you can be ready to take care of her. And you’d better enjoy what meals you can, before the city runs out of food and the world starves due to all the famine the Warden’s causing.”
Food rationing was imminent in the city. We were going to have to start limiting the amount of food people got to make our supplies stretch within the next few weeks, but I wasn’t here to talk, or think, about that. I’d dealt with food insecurity before, and though I hated it, I was used to it. I’d do it again, as long as Casey and Ava got fed.
“This is neat. But why did you bring me here?” I asked.
“This is one of my favorite places in Ilamanthe. I come here all the time to watch sports games. Not even Marcus knows about it. I was saving it.”
“Really.” I sat back against my seat, surprised. “For who?”
“For you, dummy.” Kallie kicked at my shoe.
“For me?” I couldn’t help but gape. “Why?”
Kallie emitted a frustrated sigh. “Because… because I wanted to take you here. Just us. This isn’t really Marcus or Ava’s scene, but I knew you’d be into it. I was going to surprise you for your birthday. Before… everything happened.”
My abdomen clenched. “There was a point when we hung out like this all the time. We used to be pals.”
“Used to be. Marcus and Ava had their thing going on, but we had ours. And I miss that.”
I found my throat getting tight again. “Me, too.”
