Damali watched the cashier load her bottles into a bag. "My happy isn't going to sound like yours, because yours is brand spanking new. What you hear is mellow happy. Been-to-Hell-and-back-and-I'm-okay-with-the-situation happy. There's a difference, which is not to be confused with unhappy."
Inez fell silent for a moment and Damali clasped the verbal respite and hung on to it. She marched out of the store with purpose and looked down the strip of small shops. It wasn't such a bad town. Decent people all just trying to live. The reservation retail operation was sparse, but farther away toward the open tourist areas, there were a reasonable amount of things to do. She prayed the demon had visited only her.
"Y'all had a fight?"
Damali climbed into the Hummer and started the engine.
"He didn't stay last night, did he?"
Damali sighed. "No. And it wasn't a fight, just a disagreement. He hates this place; it's so different from L.A. But we all know why we have to be here, so, sometimes you just have to make the best of the hand you're dealt."
"He'll come around, girl."
"Yeah," Damali said, pulling away from the curb.
"You know, he ain't even trying to get with Juanita no more, if that's what you're worried about."
"I'm not worried about no damned Juanita."
Inez smiled and riffled through her purse for a new CD. "Cool, 'cause her and Jose got that on lock."
"Good." More information that she didn't wanna know. Damali let her breath out hard and checked the rearview mirror as she pulled out.
"You know... maybe me and Mike and you and Carlos could go hang out sometime?"
Damali kept her eyes forward on the road and her mouth shut.
"I mean, after you guys patch things up, have some alone time, maybe we could fall by, open up some wine - I'll cook, watch some movies, or go find a nightspot? You've got an extra bedroom over there, right?"
She wasn't exactly sure where the new spike of irritation was coming from, but it made her ears and face hot. "Yeah, girl," she finally muttered. "Maybe we can do that."
"You all right?" Inez asked, finally catching on to the tension in Damali's voice.
"No," Damali replied. It was time to spill the beans.
"What happened?" Inez clicked off the music. "Y'all really fell out this time, didn't you?"
"When we get back to the house, I'll fill you in. But I had a little visit from an old demon, but I smoked his ass."
Inez covered her mouth. "Gurl! No! Was Carlos there?"
"No. He was out cold over at the family house."
"Get outta here!" Inez folded her arms and shook her head. "No wonder you're salty. Chile, if I had been by myself when that mess popped outta nowhere on me, I don't know what I would have done."
"That's why, all fun nights notwithstanding," Damali said, keeping her eyes on the road, "you have to learn to protect yourself. One night, Mike might not be there - not because he's doing anything wrong, he just might not physically be there when something crazy happens." Damali let her breath out in a rush. "So, you have to know what to do and can't freak out."
Inez nodded and tossed her braids over her shoulders. "I'm just glad he was there when the mess rolled up on us in Houston. Girl, if it wasn't for him, I'd - "
Damali slammed on the brakes and pulled over to the curb. "What happened in Houston?"
"Chile, don't worry. We were out in the park, had the baby with us, and you know Mike... easygoing, but he heard something. Told me and boo to get in the car. So, we did. But I saw him tilt his head, roll his shoulders, and walk toward the trees. I was hollering for him to just get in the car, and he told me to put up the damned windows. Wasn't nothing messing with his woman and her kid while he was around."
Inez fanned her face, excitement glinting in her eyes. "He is such a gentleman, all that... something pushed him. I couldn't see it all the way. But he body-slammed whatever it was to the ground and stomped it so bad all it left was a black puddle. Then it was gone." Inez shrugged. "He told me that, in our line of work, things tend to seek us out, but it was handled. After I saw him do that... girl, once we got the baby back to Mom's, hugged everybody good-bye and kissed the baby, I had to slip out to the hotel with him. That was some heroic shit, D. I can't explain it, but it turned me on... like I've never felt. Does that make sense?"
Damali nodded, nearly hyperventilating. "Did he tell you what it looked like?"
"He didn't want to scare me... but you know me. I had to know. So I bugged him till he told me. Said it was a revenge demon. Head half blown off, chest and stomach all opened, talking shit about getting me back as it disappeared - just to mess with Mike's mind." Inez closed her eyes and hugged herself. "Girl," she whispered. "That's when he pulled me into his strong arms and told me he'd never let anything happen to me or my baby girl... or he would die trying. For the first time in my life, being there with him, I wasn't afraid. After that, forgedaboutit. We made love so hard I thought the front desk would call the police." Inez opened her eyes. "You've been there, right? I'ma marry this man, girl. He's the one."