"So remember, don't stare at anyone or try to make conversation. Act as casual as possible," Duke said as Leilani parked her car in the bar's small parking lot.
"Well, what about finding out where we can find Travis?" Leilani unbuckled her seat belt and adjusted her beanie in the rear view mirror.
"Other than that. I mean, don't go talkin' to every single animal you see about stuff that don't matter, unless you're tryin' to lead up to Travis. Remember sweetie, you've seen the rougher side of life."
Leilani took a deep breath. "Okay, okay. I can do this. I can do this. I can—wait!"
"What?"
"I was just thinking, since I used to know Travis and everything, what if I used that to try to find him? I could tell them the truth, that I grew up with him, then I could say I heard about his work and that I'd love for him to teach me how to get into that line of work."
"Good idea, but don't say 'line of work.' Call Travis' job a 'gig.'"
"Okay!" Leilani put her thumbs up. "Let's go!"
Leilani got out of the car as Duke followed.
"I should probably put my arm around you," Duke said as they approached the front door, "It's safer for us, mainly you, if we're close together and we look like a couple."
"Oh, uh, okay. Go ahead." Leilani stepped closer to him and allowed his arm to wrap around her shoulders. She instantly felt safer.
Duke opened the door.
Immediately, a bunch of eyes were on the two. For a moment, Leilani felt the urge to take a step back, but she urged herself to move forward.
"Hey, Lenny! Haven't seen ya in a while!" Duke clicked his tongue and winked at an elephant in a tattered blue vest.
The elephant gave Duke a nod and went back to his beer.
"So, uh, toots, you wanna sit at the stools?" Duke asked.
Leilani saw two vacant stools at the counter, their torn padding a deep maroon.
"Uh, yeah, sure." Leilani said in a flat tone.
Leilani and Duke took their seats.
The bartender, a gray fox with three silver studs in each ear, dried off a glass.
"'Scuse me, ma'am?" Duke waved at her.
The fox turned around, revealing heavy black eye makeup and a silver septum ring. "Yeah?"
"Gimme a Black Claw, Cocoa, on the rocks."
"'Kay, and your girl?" The fox put the dried glass back on the shelf.
Leilani froze. Blend in! Blend in! "Uh…Black Claw. Except, uh, you got any other flavors?"
"Yeah, sure. We got Watermelon, Lemon, Strawberry…"
Leilani's paw shot up. "Strawberry! And put whatever kind of rocks you want in it!"
Duke set his teeth nervously as a few animals snickered.
The bartender's eyes darted around. "Uh, okay? Sure."
"'On the rocks' means 'with ice.'" Duke whispered.
Leilani tightened her lips and squinted. "Dang it. Well, anyway…" Leilani spoke louder. "I can't wait to see Travis again! Haven't seen that ferret in a while!"
Duke's eyes widened as he tensed up. He quickly gave Leilani a knowing smile. "Oh, yeah! I think he's the first black-footed ferret to get that gig. Proud of him."
"Travis?" The bartender returned with their drinks. "I know him, too. Cool guy. A bit of a wimp, but I can't really blame him. It's a cruel world for smaller animals."
"Cool. You know where he works?" Leilani leaned on the bar and took a sip of her drink. "We haven't seen him in a while, and we've been planning on surprising him at work and seeing where he works, not to mention we've been tight on cash and hoping to fix that by working with him. We've been having a hard time trying to find the place. You know where it is?"
"Uh, yeah. Hang on a sec." The fox wrote on a napkin and slid it over to Leilani. "Here's the address."
Leilani showed Duke the address. She gave the gray fox a nod. "Cool. Thanks."
"No prob." The fox walked away and took out her phone.
"Is there a way to save this drink for later? I don't want to have too much of it right now since I'm driving."
Duke picked up the napkin. "I actually know where this is! This is right by the first place I used to sell my bootlegged movies before I realized the location didn't have enough customers. We could actually walk from here."
"Oh! Okay!" Leilani took a few gulps of her drink. "This is so good! Where has this been all my life! It's like I've never had a strawberry before!"
Two animals next to Leilani giggled. Duke shot them a glare, which prompted them to try not to look at him.
Duke took a big gulp of his drink. "Yeah. That's how I felt about cocoa when I first had the cocoa one.
As soon as they finished their drinks, they put their cash on the bar and walked out the door.
"So, would you say it's about a five, ten minute walk?" Leilani asked as she and Duke walked side by side on the sidewalk.
Duke shrugged. He pulled out a toothpick and chewed on it. "Eh, five at the most. It's pretty close. We should probably stick to the part of the story about wantin' to work with Travis."
"Yeah, you're right. I'll just tell Travis I heard he moved here and was working with these plants and that I was hoping to catch up with him and make some easy money."
A few minutes later, the two arrived at a run-down street full of apartment complexes and a few businesses which came together in a dead end.
Leilani looked at the napkin and looked at the different numbers on the complexes. She noticed a building made of bricks. It was named, "Savannah Lane Studio Apartments."
"That's it!" Leilani announced as she showed Duke the napkin.
"Oh wow! I had a friend here last year. He got evicted for makin' an indoor bonfire."
Leilani chuckled as she ran up the steps and entered the building. Duke soon followed.
Leilani again read the napkin. "It says 'Apt. 19.'"
They walked up three flights of stairs before they arrived at the nineteenth apartment.
Leilani's heart beat quickened. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
Leilani heard footsteps approaching, then the sound of a variety of locks being un-locked and un-latched.
The door opened.
A black-footed ferret, dressed only in pale green striped boxers opened the door. He held a box of Lucky Chomp in his paw as he chewed on the cereal. He looked down at Leilani, then glanced at Duke. He swallowed. "Hey. Can I help you?"