The Taste of Home

Chapter 38

The Crimson Goat's staff sat around one of the restaurant's largest tables, which could accommodate a medium-sized pack. Despite being surrounded by his coworkers and the vegetation that decorated the dining area, Miguel felt a terrible sense of emptiness. They'd only served a dozen or so customers that night, and now the restaurant was quiet. No chopping knives, no gossiping diners. Even the ambient bass music that usually filled the dining area had been silenced.

In the weeks since word had spread about humans attacking a chupacabra right outside the restaurant, customers had become rarer than Texan snow.

Only when Alejandro's hand wrapped around Miguel's did the room feel less empty. He stroked the back of Alejandro's hand with his fingers, careful to keep his claws out of the way.

"We can't keep going on like this." Mr. Kaminski swept his gaze around the table. "Do any of you have ideas for how we could attract more customers?"

"Why can't we just hand out fliers and free samples like you did that one time?" Rosa asked.

"We'll be doing that to an extent, but even before this mess we had limited success," Mr. Kaminski explained. "With everything that's been going on, even the more welcoming packs might not want us anywhere near their territories."

"I should be able to talk with Creosote Pack. At least, I hope so." Ralph clenched and unclenched his fists, muscles twitching for a fight against something less abstract than the chupacabras' fear. "Haven't spoken with them recently, but that's nothing bacon can't fix. I swear they go apeshit for it!"

"Do you think we could have Isabella tell the other packs about us?" Alejandro asked. "She might have better luck than any of us."

"She knows a bunch of the other leaders, but I'm not sure if they'd be willing to speak with her now," Miguel said. Between being packless and living with a human, Isabella wouldn't be viewed nearly as highly as she used to be.

"If we could just get humans and chupacabras to like each other as much as they like the same sort of food, we'd be golden," Yolanda said.

Miguel's eyes widened. "Yolanda, you're a genius!"

"And the sky's blue. Any other groundbreaking revelations you'd like to tell us?"

"Humans and chupacabras may be different in a lot of ways, but we do eat a lot of the same food as long as it's prepared right," Miguel said. "So why don't we try to get humans to eat here, too?"

Silence swallowed the room as the rest of the staff took in his idea.

"That would definitely widen our customer base," Mr. Kaminski said slowly. "People tend to be squeamish about live animals and blood, but maybe we'd have some luck if we added a few more familiar meat-based dishes."

"Bet I could get the folks who run the packless shelters to come," Luis said. "They've already seen folks swarm over your food. Shouldn't be too hard to get them curious."

"And I could whip up some spicy wings," Ralph said. "We eat those at The Iron Cactus all the time, so I'm sure those would be a hit!"

"You can't go wrong with salsa either," Miguel said. "Since humans don't eat mice, we could give everyone a bowl of that instead."

"Now you're talking! I'm sick to death of those things." Yolanda shuddered. "I definitely don't need one of them escaping and running over my foot ever again."

But not everyone was on board with the idea.

"Are you sure humans and chupacabras would feel safe around each other?" Alejandro asked. His grip on Miguel's hand tightened as he pulled it into his lap. "The Crimson Goat has always been a safe haven for chupacabras. With everything that's been going on, I'm sure a lot of them don't want to be around humans right now."

José hummed in agreement, giving them all an apologetic smile. "I love you guys, but not all humans are safe to be around."

"We'll protect you," Ralph said firmly.

The other staff chorused their agreement, but that didn't stop some of them from casting nervous glances at each other. No matter what they did, there was no telling what danger they'd face going forward.

"We could split the restaurant into two sections, one for both species and one for just chupacabras," Miguel said. He fidgeted in his seat, scooting closer to Alejandro so that their legs were touching. "Besides, it might do them good to see that not all humans are such...What is it that Ralph always calls David and his friends? Bigots?"

"Among other things," Ralph muttered darkly.

"Well, all it would take is one bigot for us to be screwed." Alejandro gave Miguel's hand a gentle squeeze, running his thumb over his scales. "Things could get really ugly."

"We could have someone stand outside like a territory guard, stop anyone who tries to start trouble. And that's assuming they wouldn't be too afraid of the customers to come. Attacking a packless chupacabra is one thing, but I doubt even David would come after several packs' worth." Miguel extracted his hand from Alejandro's grip and turned to look him in the eye. "Your family is okay with me, so I'm sure plenty of other humans can behave themselves just fine."

"This isn't like that. Remember when you told me not to make a fuss about that conman at Zest Fest because he wasn't worth the trouble?" Alejandro gestured toward Miguel's leg brace. "That wasn't worth the trouble either, and neither is what happened to Isabella."

Oh, so that's what had him so worried. "We're both doing fine now," Miguel said gently.

"This time. If things had gotten any worse..." Alejandro bit his lip, his eyes shining with tears as he took a shuddering breath.

Miguel nuzzled the top of his head. "I'm okay," he said quietly. "But if we want things to be okay for other couples like us, then things need to get better, and they won't unless someone does something about it."

He'd been stared at, treated as if his relationship was a fling at best and a foolish delusion at worst, and cast out of his pack all because of who he loved. Things had gotten better for him, of course. He had a home now, and his coworkers would make sure he was well cared for. But other chupacabras like him weren't so lucky.

If there was anything he could do to stop anyone from going through the same pain he had, he'd do it. Why wouldn't Alejandro do the same?

Alejandro cupped his hands around Miguel's face. "I can lose this place," he said, "but I can't lose you."

Didn't he understand they'd both be losing so much more than their jobs? Or did that not matter to him?

Did they not matter to Alejandro as much as he'd thought?

Mr. Kaminski cleared his throat, fidgeting with his tie as he glanced from Miguel to Alejandro and back again. "None of us are going to lose anything if I can help it. I need some time to consider what you've both said, but in the meantime, I'd love to hear any other ideas you folks have."

"I need to go think things over, too," Miguel choked out as he staggered away from the table, wincing as his bad leg protested. Alejandro moved to get up too, but Miguel put up a hand to stop him. "Alone."

"I just want you to be safe," Alejandro said softly. "I love you."

"I know, Moonbeam. I love you, too." Miguel forced himself to smile despite the tears burning in his eyes. "I just need some space, okay?"

With that, Miguel walked out into the night alone.