Free Dog Run Moon by Callan Wink

white paint. “This is my soul, blank as a field of snow, white like a ghost wandering the world.” Perry nodded solemnly. Kat gave a snort and shook her head. “You white people are suckers for that Indian shit. Hand me that bottle.” She drank deeply and laughed like none of it was true.
    —
    He nearly forgot to call Andy, and when he remembered, it was late. Kat was slid up against him on the bed, maybe asleep, maybe just being quiet. He dialed with one hand to not disturb her.
    “Hello?” Andy’s voice was groggy with sleep.
    “Hi, it’s me. Sorry it’s late.”
    “Jesus, it’s late.”
    “I know, I just got caught up with everything here and forgot to call you yesterday and I just wanted to see how you were doing and so I’m sorry but I called you anyway.”
    “You sound kind of drunk.”
    “I am kind of drunk. End-of-reenactment party. Drinking firewater with the locals. That kind of thing.”
    “Sounds fun. I’m kind of jealous. Tonight I tried to make a tofu stir-fry. I’m not sure what happened but the tofu ended up scorched and the vegetables were still raw.”
    “Tofu can be tricky.”
    “Apparently. You know what else I did?”
    “Hm?”
    “I bought a pack of cigarettes and smoked almost half of them.”
    “Really?”
    “Yes.”
    “What kind?”
    “Don’t laugh.”
    “What kind?”
    “Virginia Slims. Long skinny girly ones.”
    “I’ve never seen you smoke before. I’m having a hard time picturing it.”
    “I’m new to it, so I’m not very good at it yet, but maybe I’ll do it for you when you get back.”
    “Wearing something sexy, holding a glass of wine?”
    “If you’d like.”
    Kat had reached one arm across Perry’s chest and pushed her face down against his neck. The raven feather in her hair brushed his cheek. Her hand found his, the one that wasn’t holding the phone.
    “Okay. I look forward to it. Have you tried blowing smoke rings yet?”
    “No.”
    “Well, practice.”
    “I will. I was going to leave it as a surprise. You know, you come home from your reenactment and all of a sudden you have a smoking wife. A wife that smokes. That is something you’d probably never expect.”
    “Well, it’s still a surprise, this way. I almost don’t believe it.”
    “Yeah, you know why I started?”
    “It is a question I had considered asking. Why?”
    “Because what’s the point of not smoking? I’ve been not smoking for thirty-three years. Look at where it has gotten me. Now I’m going to be smoking. Make sense?”
    “Perfectly.”
    “Okay, I’m going to let you go, very tired.”
    “Okay.”
    “Love.”
    “Love.”
    “Love.”
    Kat’s lips brushed his ear in her whisper. He hung up the phone. He was a scalped and bloody mess.
    —
    Before dawn Perry woke to find Kat’s side of the bed empty. He turned and saw her standing over him in the dark, fully clothed in jeans and T-shirt. She brought her fingers to his face and smoothed his mustache. When she moved her head down to him her hair folded like black wings around them.
    —
    In the morning Perry crammed the uniform, now smelly and stained, into his suitcase and gave a final look around the room to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. He put the empty bottle of J&B in the trash can. When he went out to the parking lot, he found a fluorescent orange aluminum arrow shaft protruding from the rear passenger tire of his Camry. Perry considered the arrow for a moment and then pulled it, with some difficulty, from the tire. The fletches were glued-on pieces of hot pink vinyl. The shaft had the word WHACKMASTER printed down the sides, and black squiggly lines, which, coupled with the orange, were supposed to give the appearance of tiger stripes. The edges of the broadhead were chipped and rusty. Perry got the donut tire from the trunk and switched out the flat. He put the arrow in the backseat and left the War Bonnet driving slowly on the small spare.
    The only repair shop in Crow Agency was