Free Bitter Waters by Wen Spencer

stalling as he coaxed it into the Giant Eagle’s small, crowded parking lot designed by Escher. The only true near accident was with a white Taurus following him down Murray, apparently startled by his turn into the supermarket. Luckily he found an end parking space since the slots were all slightly too narrow for the extra-wide car.
    Max had desensitized Ukiah to the Giant Eagle’s confusion years ago, when they first became partners. It was all new to Kittanning, who went wide-eyed and silent at the sudden bombardment of stimuli. Ukiah locked Kittanning’s carseat into the basket of a shopping cart and started into the produce section.
    Mom Lara had given him a detailed list with brand names, sizes, and little notes to check for dings in cans, broken seals on jars, and expiration dates on everything. It was Max’s list, handed to him so casually, which was going to be a challenge: a ripe cantaloupe, a wedge of good Brie cheese, crackers, steak, potatoes, and “salad makings.”
    After picking his way through a myriad of possible lettuce, tomatoes, and potato choices, using his perfect memory to pick up what Max usually bought, Ukiah found himself in front of the cantaloupes. He eyed the unrevealing green webbed rind. How did you tell if a cantaloupe was ripe? He picked one up and turned it in his hand. Did one assume that all of the cantaloupes were ripe? What exactly was a cantaloupe, anyhow? He knew it was a melon, but were melons fruits or vegetables? Ukiah could recall seeing people shaking and sniffing them. He shook the melon, squeezed it experimentally, and then sniffed at it.
    The woman on the other side of the pile saw his confusion and said, “There’s two ends to a cantaloupe. One where the stem was, one where the blossom was.” She showed him the difference. “To tell if a cantaloupe is ripe, versus not yet ripe, the spot where the stem was should be slightly squishy but still firm. The blossom side should smell of cantaloupe.” She demonstrated a sniff. “To tell if a cantaloupe is overripe, shake it: if it rattles it’s overripe.”
    She suddenly gasped, looking beyond him.
    Ukiah turned, registered only that a tall man was lifting Kittanning out of his car seat, and snarled, about to fling the cantaloupe in hand as his opening attack. Recognition clicked in, and Ukiah checked his throw.
    â€œEasy, Cub.” Rennie Shaw finished the motion of laying Kittanning on his shoulder. It was easy to know why the woman shopper had reacted with alarm; from shaggy gristle hair down to steel-shod biker boots, the tall, muscular leader of the Dog Warriors radiated menace. “It’s only me.”
    â€œRennie.” Ukiah could not stop growling, nonetheless. Apparently no amount of Magic Boy could erase the Wolf Boyinstincts. Shrugging aside the confusion of the crowded supermarket, he could now sense other Pack members scattered around him. They prickled against his awareness like high-voltage electricity. “What are you doing here?”
    â€œI’m just holding my grandson,” Rennie said lightly. “No need to stir up the other customers.”
    Ukiah realized that the cantaloupe lady had frozen in place like a deer in headlights. “It’s okay,” he told her. “He’s family. I just didn’t expect to see him here.”
    She thawed out of her shock. “Oh, I see, yes, there is a family resemblance. It’s just that for a minute there—” She gave a shaky laugh. “All the kidnappings have made me skittish; you can’t turn on the television without hearing someone talk about the children being snatched right out from under their guardians’ noses. Good luck with the cantaloupe!”
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” Ukiah demanded to know, telepathically.
    â€œNothing is wrong, Cub.”
    â€œYou’re here just to see Kittanning?” Ukiah asked, feeling like he was missing