Lyn Gala

Texas Charm, chapter 20 (Patreon)

Published:

2018-06-07 04:42:19

Imported:

2026-06

Tags:

Aberrant Magic

Content

Art hated that he had snapped at Zach. The guilt was quickly overtaking his frustration about lying. Captain Williams was a good man who deserved the truth, but Art agreed with Agent Boucher that until the scope of the problem with the returning ifrit was clear, telling anyone would only fuel the anti-Talent bigotry in the country. That didn’t mean it felt good to lie to people he respected.

He was trying to decide where he could go to retreat from all human interaction when his cat appeared. “This is your fault,” Art told him.

The cat turned and gave him a dirty look. “Okay, it’s not your fault, but I want to blame someone for the pile of shit I’m wading through, and you’re the nearest target,” he said. His spirit guide twitched his tail.

“Would you rather I take my annoyance out on Zach?” Art asked. He swore his cat glared at him. “Exactly,” Art responded. He felt a little foolish talking to a spirit cat, but now that they were trying to respect each other, it seemed rude to ignore him.

Their transporter from Hope Group wasn’t due in to the office for a little over two hours—too long for Art to sit at his desk, but not long enough for him to go somewhere else. Art should go back and apologize to Zach, but he feared his own bad temper. “Sometimes I think Zach deserves better,” Art told his cat before he started toward the back lot. The mechanics worked endlessly to keep the patrol vehicles in good enough shape to handle chases, so their lot was usually a safe place to avoid human contact.

Outside the heat radiated up from the concrete, even in the shade. Two mechanics were working under a dark SUV, and the music was loud enough to provide privacy. His cat strutted into a patch of sunshine, circles and then settled on its haunches and watched the yard. Art pulled out his phone.

After three rings, his mother answered. “Hello.”

“Hey, mama.”

“Arturo? What’s wrong, hijo?”

Art leaned back against the cinderblock wall. “I’m fine, Mom.”

“Is it Zachary?” She sounded breathless now, like she was fighting off panic.

“Zach is fine. I’m just calling to talk.” Art realized he’d just made a serious tactical error but he didn’t know how to correct it. If he hung up, she would probably drive down to the precinct.

“To talk?” she didn’t try to hide her skepticism. “Hijo, what’s wrong?”

Art changed the phone from the right side to the left and sighed. “Did you ever feel like you weren’t good enough for Dad?”

“Oh, Arturo. Which of you two idiots screwed up this time?” In the background, the volume on the television dropped significantly.

Considering that Art had taken all his frustration with the situation and had told his fiancé to shut up, there really was only one answer. “This time, I’m pretty sure it was me.”

“You two.” She clucked judgmentally. “And to answer your question, I made lots of mistakes that made me feel horribly guilty. I poisoned your father by using lamp oil instead of apple juice in a cider recipe. I didn’t know he had reused the old bottle. But my guilt was less because there were times I wanted to murder your father. Dios mio. He had constipation of the mouth. He bought a house, and didn’t tell me for three days. You didn’t do anything that stupid, did you?”

“To Zach? No,” Art said as he looked at his cat. “I have recently been told that I’ve spent twenty years abusing my spirit guide, though.”

She sighed. “And that is another sin I put on your father’s plate. I hope he was honest in confession or that man will have much to atone for in the afterlife.”

Art frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You were so excited about doing that damn vision quest. I told him I didn’t want a child of mine risking his life on the desert, but the two of you….” She sighed. Art remembered. When Art had asked about a quest, he felt like he had his father’s attention for the first time in his life.

“None of it was your fault,” Art said softly.

“I should have locked you in the bathroom,” she said with disgust. “You were so broken when you came back, and your father…” After a long pause, she let loose a string of muttered Mexican profanities that Art had no idea his mother even knew.

“Mama!”

“You are not an abuser,” his mother said firmly. “You were so hurt that your father rejected your guide, and you turned around and took that out on your sisters.” Art flinched at that reminder, but his mother kept going. “But the church says guides are old, and if that’s the case, then that guide of yours will recognize bad temper due to hurt, just like I could see that most of your father’s less attractive traits came from fear.”

Art didn’t remember his father as a fearful man. He’d was so large in Art’s memory. “How did he apologize after he really screwed up?”

She sighed. “Your father never learned how to. He was lucky that I don’t believe in divorce.” The bitterness in her voice surprised Art. He’d always thought of his parents as being much more united than her words suggested. Neither talked for a time, and finally Nelba said, “Go apologize, to your amante and to your guide.”

That was good advice, although Art still wasn’t sure who to achieve either. “Te amo, mama.”

“I am not the one you need to say that to, hijo,” she said. “So stop being stupid.” With that, she hung up. Art smiled and shook his head. His mother was one of a kind. Art’s cat still sat in the sun and watched the mechanics. Art studied the big yellow tom. It would have fought for him in that interrogation room.

“I can’t say I love you, but I respect what you did for me in there,” Art said quietly. He didn’t want to get caught talking to invisible spirits. One ear flicked, and then the cat vanished. Thankfully Zach was more forgiving than a cat. Art knew it was a coward’s way out, but he pulled out his phone and texted Zach his apology.

After “Sorry,” he found he didn’t know what else to say. He stared at his phone and waited for Zach’s response.

After a few seconds, Zach texted. “You owe me Am ques.”

Art shook his head. He owed Zach a lot more than quesadillas, but if that’s the down payment he preferred, Art could do that.

Chapter 1: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-6-19034447

Chapter 2: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-2-19050307

Chapter 3: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-3-19066252

Chapter 4: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-4-19087127

Chapter 5: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-5-19132901

Chapter 6: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-six-19159661

Chapter 7: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-7-19179823

Chapter 8: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-8-19190078

Chapter 9: https://www.patreon.com/posts/texas-charm-9-19201497