1: Weekend Warriors

Hyenahurst

1: Weekend Warriors

“Mom, I’m a teenager now, you can’t force me to be a little version of you,” I huffed, grabbing my backpack, my constant companion, and
heading to the door. We had always lived on Olive Street, in Hyenahurst, in a nicer three-bedroom sandstone. My room was on the second floor, but I was more interested in being outside than sitting in my room on the computer. I had plans. Just when I thought I was off the hook, mom bellowed from inside the kitchen, stopping me in my tracks.

“Lyta! I’m serious. Some of the mammals in this neighborhood are fine. Some. Your friends are trouble. After you skipped school last
week I—I was beside myself! Do you think your father works hard to put grass on the table so you can skip out of school and disappoint
us like that?”

Mom came marching out as she gave me the business; I hope my hips aren’t as broad as hers when I’m her age. She was wearing her floral
print dress with an apron over it, I guess she must have been doing the dishes from breakfast; we had roast cactus with some fruit
compote.

I stopped in front of the tall mirror in the entryway so I could see my horns. As an addax, I’ve always been pretty proud of them. The
way they curl up and around—way cooler than straight horns like you see on a oryx. That morning I had tied ribbons up their lengths,
pink and blue, and they looked adorable. It was something mom used to do for me when I was a calf, and I’ve never grown out of liking
it. I pulled at my low rider jeans and pushed my glasses up my snout, trying to put on the coolest exterior I could. Not that being
cool would help me with mom.

“I won’t do it again. But it’s Saturday, and I always go out with my friends on Saturday. So let me go, okay? I promise I’ll make you
proud some other time!”

Mom put her hooves on my shoulders. I was skinny for an addax, and she made me look downright small. Dad did, too, but that was a whole
‘nother issue. Still, I probably had more growing to do. I was only sixteen.

“Just be back in this house before dinner! We’re having flower stew.”

“Honey? Have you seen my red tie?” Dad’s voice was the last thing I heard from the house as I slipped out the door and closed it behind
me.

As soon as I reached the bottom step in front of my house, I was smiling as broad as could be.

It was mall day.

I only had to trot a few blocks before I reached my friends’ house. The Sahara heat sweltered in the best possible way; dry and
comfortable. It wasn’t summer yet. My white fur reflected plenty of that sunlight, and I had on this light blue sheer top that kept air
close to my body. It wasn’t often I stopped to think about how much harder it was for mammals with longer fur, or darker fur, even. The
hyenas on the block were always joking that I had ‘white privilege.’ What they seemed to forget was that my coat got a little darker in
winter to help me stay warm. Thinking about it, that might have been what they were jealous of.

“Ahlan Lyta!” Kabirah strutted down the sandstone steps of her home. The house was a little run down, the walls painted with a faded
camel hump design reminiscent of the last owners. As always, Jaide followed after, his comparatively small frame dwarfed by that of his
sister, who was on the high school wrestling team. They were both spotted hyenas, light tan fur with dark manes and golden eyes, but
their body types couldn’t be any more different.

Kabirah was big – most female hyenas were. She always wore ripped jeans and tank tops, and I was never sure if she bought them ripped
or if she couldn’t afford new ones. Her mane had a way of falling down one side of her neck, and she never took the trouble to comb it.
An old team jersey with the midsection ripped off hung on her shoulders, showing her brawny stomach. There were dark, wet patches under
the arms of the jersey, and it wasn’t even that hot yet.

“Ahlan, haha, you’re sweating! Were you working out?” I asked as Kabirah looked at me and flexed. I always added a laugh here and there
to fit in. It was forced, but the hyenas didn't seem to notice the insincerity.

“I was spotting her!” Jaide added triumphantly, putting his arm around my waist. I looked both ways, then leaned down to kiss him on
the cheek.

Jaide was Kabirah’s brother. He was a bit of a runt even for a male hyena, and had a tendency to wear blouses meant for girls of other
species that were close to his size. He had an excellent sense of humor, and was practically always smiling – a necessary survival
skill with a sister like Kabirah. His claws were painted blue, and his jeans a little tighter than necessary. Luckily, he was cute, and
he and I had been dating in secret for a few months. Nothing serious, I swear. Just hugging and kissing, that kind of stuff. Everyone
knew but our parents.

“Yeah,” Kabirah began, rolling her shoulders and grinning with her teeth. “so I can piledrive you after you break my brother’s ha-
heart.” She glared up at me like I had kicked her in the tail. I was roughly the same height as her, but that didn’t feel like it would
do me much good. Like I said, I was skinny for an addax. We both knew who would win in a fight.

“I want to get an earring to show that I’m taken, but mom will kill me if she finds out I’m dating. She’ll dig a hole and ground me in
it,” Jaide lamented. I took his paw in my hoof and waited for Kabirah to lead us off. I knew better than to take point when a female
hyena was around.

Sure enough, Kabirah led the way to the bus stop. The passing cars made me wish I had my own, but it would be another year before even
the oldest of us, Kabirah, could get her license.

“Hang on, do we even have any money?” I asked, concealing my own luck.

Kabirah snorted, “This is Hyenahurst, Lyta, we’re not exactly rich. Did you get any?”

Jaide ducked down, parting with my hoof. “Hey, a quarter!”

“Well, we’re up a quarter.”

“I got some.” I grinned. I didn’t feel like smiling, but I knew I should with hyenas for friends. After I dropped my backpack on the
ground and crouched over it, I reached in and pulled out a zipper top wallet with a floral design. “Allowance. I’ve been saving it.
There’s like, twenty bucks in here.”

“Ha-great! That’s lunch!” Kabirah snort-laughed and grabbed the wallet out of my hoof. She poked her nose inside. “Hey, you keep your
makeup right next to your cash? What if it leaks? Hoof polish is killer. Can’t believe you use that stuff. You’re just like Jaide and
his claw polish.”

I frowned, but didn’t make a move. “Hey! That’s my wallet Kabirah! Paws off!”

Kabirah just laughed and threw her arm around Jaide’s shoulders. “Come on Lyta, I thought you were cool? You wanna be Leaf-Licker Lyta
forever? You know how much harder it is for us hyenas. Consider this some charity.” Jaide, reflexively, began to laugh too. Hyenas always followed the social lead of the biggest female around. Unfortunately for me, that female had to be a hyena, too.

What was I supposed to do; break up one of my few friendships over twenty bucks, or treat my friends to lunch? I was at a loss for
words for a moment, fuming. Kabirah always did stuff like this. The only thing I knew to do was break the tension with a giggle. So I
did. I could see the two hyenas’ hackles go from full to half-mast, and I knew I had learned at least a few things about the hierarchy
in my time in this part of town. Whew.

“You know I don’t really lick leaves. That’s really not even a good insult,” I said with a forced smile.

“Yeah? And I don’t make butter, but mammals still think I do.” Kabirah mumbled, fishing the cash out of my wallet.

My eyes widened. “You don’t? I thought...”

Kabirah shot me a glare that was so serious it cowed Jaide collaterally.

I covered my mouth and laughed. “I’m just kidding! Gosh, Kabirah, I’ve been living here my whole life, I’m not stupid.”

“Coulda fooled me, leafer.” Kabirah spat, and handed my wallet back to me.

Jaide cut in, “Can we not fight? We have enough trouble with the Brunsons. We’re friends, right? Really good friends.”

“Hnf.” Kabirah scoffed. “Strandee and Strandumb are too busy sucking dick to step to me. ‘Sides, I could take ‘em both. At once.” She
flexed her biceps confidently and turned to continue toward the bus stop.

As usual, it was surrounded by stray trash and overstuffed with gazelle, hippo, rhino and a few ratels. I was pretty tall, roughly five
feet not counting my horns, but I was nothing next to these guys. I wished they would build size-separate bus stops around here, but
those were only in rich neighborhoods like Acorn Heights or pretty much anything close to the Palm. It was a pain when every seat was
taken up—even worse when a rhino had three seats to herself.

“Ugh. I hate this neighborhood.” Jaide was a complainer.  "If I have to stand on the bus again I’m going to be so mad. You guys got your IDs?”

I reached into my bag without taking it off, knowing just what pocket I had put it in. My school ID, the one where I had braces—
freshman year, the worst—and the school design emblazoned over my head. Hurst High, next to a silhouette of a desert wildflower.

“Got it.” I announced, showing it but hiding the picture.

“Great. Got ours, right Jaide?” Kabirah put her paws in Jaide’s pockets until she found them, slightly bent. Two laminated ID cards.
Dabaehar, Kabirah, and Jaide. Jaide was used to Kabirah being handsy. Hell, I was dating him and I wasn’t that handsy.

“Hey, here comes the bus! We almost missed it.” I pointed, stamping a hoof down. If we hadn’t been arguing over my allowance…

“Lyta, you go first. Screw these rhinos, I want a front seat. Push, I’m right behind you. Come on Jaide.”

I nervously swiveled my ears, a habit. “Huh?” Before I knew it, Kabirah was shoving me forward toward the bus just as it parked and
hissed a loud hydraulic burst. The door slid open and I struggled to climb the steps fast enough. Behind me, the larger mammals were
already plodding forward, and there was liable to be gridlock if I wasn’t quick enough. Gridlock that could crush the wind out of me.
Kabirah pulled Jaide around her and shoved him forward until he was shoulder to shoulder with me. The bus driver, a lioness, didn’t
even look as we waved our school IDs for the free ride.

The three of us slipped into the first open seat, right behind the driver. These were big seats, and comfortable too, but they didn’t
have belts like a car. There were spots for smaller mammals here and there, but the really small ones had their own bus lines. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be a mouse in this city. I’m five feet tall and even I feel like I’m going to get crushed half the time. You
have to constantly be on the lookout. Worse yet, smaller mammals can be complete idiots on the sidewalks.

“Hey, Lyta.” Kabirah is staring at me from Jaide’s other side. She holds her paw out. “Gimme your cellphone?”

My cellphone was a Meowtorola, a really cool one where the keyboard slid out and you could text with it. Kabirah and Jaide didn’t have
their own, citing the fact that their parents were getting government checks and used food stamps. Even though Kabirah could be a pushy
bitch, I felt bad. The three of us more or less shared the phone. I pulled it out of the side pocket on my backpack, which I had set on
my lap, and handed it to Kabirah. The back panel was covered in stickers for Jennifer Lapine and Gazelle.

Kabirah flipped it open while Jaide stared at it. “You gonna play Bedazzled? That’s so…” He cut himself off and snickered.

“What?” Kabirah snapped, pushing her nose forward into his. “Nothin’ wrong with Bedazzled. And no, I’m gonna text Simone and ask if
she’s on her way. Bitch is late to everything. She’ll be late to her own funeral—hahaha!” Kabirah slapped her knee and got to texting,
pricking at the large buttons with her claws. I had to get the hoof model; my fingers weren’t as delicate as a predator’s, but Kabirah
didn’t seem to mind.

As we sat there, I leaned against the window. I could see the tan buildings pass by, and the way we were going, I got a great view of
the skyscrapers of downtown Savanna Central. Hyenahurst was just a few miles away from them. Soon they slipped away from view as the
bus lurched and turned toward Slot Street. I kinda wished we were going to S.C., but the best malls were near the Oasis. They were
pricey, but you couldn’t beat the atmosphere. On Saturdays, we always got together to chill out next to one of the fountains or in a
quiet spot where we could shoot the breeze and unwind after a long week of high school.

Being a junior was weird. Kabirah was a senior, so she had tests, she got to look at possible jobs, colleges. Meanwhile, her brother
and I were stuck in limbo, going to classes but not having much direction. Jaide always said he wanted to get a job, maybe at one of
the boutiques in the mall, but it was hard to balance that with school. I just tried to keep my grades above a C.

“Kabirah?” Jaide asked, fingers in his product-packed mane. He smelled like eucalyptus.

“Yeah?” Kabirah was jamming her fingers on the phone and didn’t look up.

“What are the SATs like?”

Kabirah stopped, turned to stare at me with a ‘can you believe this guy’ expression, and then turned back to Jaide. “You kiddin’ me?
They’re garbage. Too hard, don’t do any good, they’re for smart prey who have the world ahead of them. ‘Sides, I got too much going on
to study. Only way I’m gonna get out of flippin’ Bug Burgas is if I can get that wrestlin’ scholarship. Maybe I’ll go pro. MMA n’
shit.”

“MMA? You only know how to wrestle, those girls kick,” I said.

Kabirah closed my slide phone and handed it back to me. “Yeah, well, I can learn to kick later. Shut up, hoofer.”

I pulled the phone back open and took a look at the message history.

xxHORNGIRLxx: hey its Kabirah you gonna be there?

astrocanis: Yes. I’ll be there shortly. I’ve no intention of being late.

xxHORNGIRLxx: lol

xxHORNGIRLxx: ill believ it when I see it

xxHORNGIRLxx: hows ur friend

astrocanis: He’s coming home in a few days. I’m going to go visit him when he does.

xxHORNGIRLxx: cool tell him I said hey

xxHORNGIRLxx: ok see u in a bit

astrocanis: Likewise.

“Haha, she’s never going to be there on time. She’s probably ears deep in a book about uhh… you know. Whatever.” I knew what Simone
liked: astronomy. But, I always played it a bit stupid around most of my friends. Overachieving prey are sort of a bad cliché around
here.

“Hey, shut up, radio’s playing Stefawni.” Kabirah demanded. Sure enough, ‘It’s My Life’ was playing. It was a pretty good song, sure.

The bus was going to take about a half hour to get us to Agave street, our stop. By the time we were nearby, it had already begun to
stink like sweat. Buses. You put a few dozen species together with all the scent and musk and expect them to just get along. It was
possible, yeah, but it was hell on a girl’s nose. I had popped open the window, sliding it down the inch or two that it allowed, but
that did little to mitigate the aroma of predator and prey mammals seated nearby.

The bus chimed and a feminine voice said ‘Agave Street’ with all the warmth of a computer screen. Jaide hopped into the aisle almost
before the bus stopped moving, and the rhino in the seat on the other side knocked him over when he stood.

“Hey! Fucker!” Kabirah was standing on her seat to get closer to the rhino’s eye level. He was a big dude in a t-shirt and shorts, with
sunglasses. His size didn’t stop Kabirah; she was trying to get in his face. “Watch where the fuck you’re going! Say you’re sorry to my
bro or I’ll snap your horn off!”

The mammals behind the rhino were groaning in annoyance. As Jaide got to his feet, the lioness driver stood up, the lanyard around her
neck jingling with all the keys on it. Everyone felt the bus’ engine turn off.

“Hey, I didn’t see him! You guys are too short, maybe you should get some stilts, huh?” The rhino laughed, waving his hand at Kabirah
as if to shoo her away.

“Listen you two clods. I’ll put your pictures on my dashboard and hit the gas every time I see you at a stop if you don’t get off.
Now.” The lioness was snarling, showing her teeth. She couldn’t help it. That kind of thing always made prey a little antsy, though. Some prey.

I watched Kabirah snort in her direction before pushing past her with Jaide in her arm. I hopped out of the seat and did my best to
gallop out before the rhino moved forward and blocked me.

Kabirah was a few feet away on the sidewalk, cozied up to the outside of a building and checking her brother for bruises.

“He didn’t hit me that hard Kabirah, come on,” Jaide assured her. He looked okay. I turned my head and saw the rhino flip us off as he
walked past. Ugh, what an asshole.

“Motherfucker. I’d knock him on his ass. Jaide, you don’t let prey push you around like that.”

“We’re not in Hyenahurst.” Jaide admitted, kicking the ground. “Lot more prey around the Palm.”

“Hey Lyta, you like being around your kind more?” Kabirah was pissed off or she wouldn’t be asking such a nasty question.

“You know I’m not like that. I love Hyenahurst. Er, parts of it.” I did love it. I grew up there. I was as much a native as Kabirah
was. She had no right to call me out like that. “Come over here Jaide, you okay?”

Jade walked over and nodded. He slicked back his tousled mane. “Yeah. Thanks to Kabirah.”

“Hahaha, sure; your sister’s going to get all our butts kicked if she doesn’t learn how to let things go.” I was whispering and making
sure Kabirah was looking off in the direction of the mall. She looked like she was ready to leave, and I didn’t want to piss her off
anymore. “Hey, we going?” I asked her from behind. Her tail flit this way and that and she was quiet for a moment before she answered.

“Yeah. Yeah, let’s go.”

The difference between Hyenahurst and the area around the Oasis was glaring. Hyenahurst was nestled in a shady valley, close enough to
Savannah Central for mammals to commute, but hardly a rich area. My parents worked at the Palm, so they did okay. Agave was by no means
the Sahara Strip, but the buildings and shops still had all kinds of luxury apartments and designer goods stores. Once, on my
fourteenth birthday, mom took me to Juicy Jaguar Couture and told me she’d buy me one thing. On sale, of course. I still hadn’t even
worn the dress because I was worried someone would rip it or steal it or something.

We were all used to it now. Hell, Agave was more our stomping ground than the tourists’, but the natives looked down their snouts at us
because we obviously weren’t going to be spending a lot of money.

The Agave Town Mall was open air. Huge, sprawling, and carved out of a canyon. It had a lot of shaded seating areas. There were your
typical clothing shops; Hoof Locker, Tommy Swillfigure, and then luxury shops like Molex and Preyda. The food court was the typical
stuff you’d see at any mall, and that’s where we were headed.

The foodcourt had one of the best fountains around, and the three of us liked to hang out there whenever we came. We dipped our tails
in the water and occasionally our feet, too. Lots of mammals did that. As we headed toward it, I couldn’t help but stare at the pricey
shops to our sides. Jaide did the same; he always went all starry eyed at the idea of working in a designer clothing store. It was nice
seeing him like that, but it didn’t seem like something to aspire to. I doubt a Preyda salesmammal would be any happier than someone
selling stuff at a Mousey’s.

“Look at all this crap.” Kabirah laughed, pointing at the flouncy dresses in the windows. “Mammals actually wear this stuff?”

“Well, yeah. Just not you because you’re a hyena,” I said plainly.

Kabirah nodded. “Show me a girl hyena in a dress like that and I’ll show you a species traitor actin’ like our customs and culture are
too good for her. Nowadays we got plenty of ‘em though, probably tryin’ to impress their prey boyfriends.”

Kabirah had a real stick up her ass about gender roles. Probably because she and Jaide conformed to them so well. I thought it was
pretty stereotypical of them, but the truth was, it was plain uncommon to see ‘girly girl’ female hyenas and ‘butch’ males. There were
a few things like that with Addax. For example, the oldest female tended to be the boss. In our family, my great aunt organized all the
family gatherings and gave everyone their tasks around holidays.

“Hey,” I said to Jaide, causing him to whip his head around at me and smile.

“Yeah?”

“Pretty sure we’re far enough away from home to kiss again.”

We stopped right there as Kabirah walked on. Even though we were probably safe, both of us looked around and made sure we weren’t about
to get trampled by an elephant before we pressed lips. We didn’t slobber on each other or anything, but I could see Jaide’s tail
wagging when we continued walking.

Kabirah didn’t even notice that we had stopped, and by the time we were closer to her again, she was pointing at the fountain in the
center of the food court. It was wide, and had benches all around it. Carvings of fish surrounded it, as if there were any fish in the
desert.

“Holy shit, she’s actually on time.”

I followed her finger to who she was pointing at.

It was Simone, holy shit.

Like Kabirah had said, Simone was late to everything. But there she was, in a short skirt and a thin purple sweater-top that showed her
bare shoulders and the straps of her black undershirt. The arms were a bit too long, and hid half her paws. With half her chest
showing, you could see how her russet orange fur was broken by cream down her front, and by strips of orange fur around her neckline
that looked like she was wearing a fluffy necklace. She was just sitting there, headphones in her ears and, of course, a book in her
paw.

“Hey! Simone!” Kabirah yelled, waving her arms.

Simone’s large, triangular ears popped up and she slowly reached to remove her headphones. Her dark-tipped paintbrush of a tail
wagged a little when she saw the three of us. She placed her book down in her lap, making sure to keep her page.

“Oh, hello everyone.” Simone smiled. “How are things?”

“Surprisingly early, haha!” Kabirah laughed as she sat next to Simone and showed her the twenty she had stolen from me. “Check it out.
We’re getting lunch today, on Lyta.”

“Lunch? You know I prefer to eat alone. I suppose it’s okay this time.”

Jaide tittered nervously, as if he thought Simone was offended. “Sorry, I guess we were too excited about hanging out. I forgot you—“

Kabirah cut him off, “You’re weird. Like, who has friends and then goes off at lunch to eat by herself? We have a perfect spot behind
the library and you’re always nowhere to be found.”

“I eat in my science class. The teacher and I talk sometimes.”

I sat down next to Kabirah and Jaide and laughed too. “You hang? With a teacher? You’re such a nerd.” I felt dumb saying that. I had
gotten two As, three Bs, and a C last year. Sure, it seemed good, but mom and dad still yelled at me for the C. As far as I knew,
Simone had straight As and was taking AP classes.

“If you insist. Say, I was just reading some Carl Sagaur. Did you know that black holes are not radioactive? The material in their
accretion disk is—“

“Oh my god, no, it’s Saturday, no. You want to talk about that, talk to your science teacher. Right Lyta?” Kabirah turned to me.

I stuttered for a second before blurting out. “Yeah, totally don’t want to hear about that.” It was a little interesting, I thought.

“Anyway, I’m starving. What do you wanna do? Bugs? Maybe splurge for some fish and chips? Oh, I forgot, Lyta doesn’t eat that stuff.
Hey Lyta, sorry, but I don’t want any grass today. Gets stuck in my teeth.” Kabirah smiled wide, showing her fangs.

Simone shrugged. “Whatever you want. I’d like some ice cream. I brought some money too.”

I exhaled a sigh of relief. I was wondering how the hell twenty bucks was going to cover lunch for four mammals.

“Jaide?” Kabirah asked, patting him on the back. “You want Bug Burga or McDonkey’s?”

“Bug Burga. Hey, Lyta, we can get you a veggie patty or something.”

“And a medium cola? Oh, and some sweet potato fries?” I loved those sweet potato fries.

“Yeah sure. Stay here.” Kabirah and Jaide trotted off, and Simone stood up a second later.

“Lyta. I’ll be back in a minute. I’m going to get something sweet.”

Sure enough, Simone headed in the direction of the Högen-Dazs on the other side of the food court. How exactly did she stay so skinny?
I’m not sure I had ever seen her eating a meal—it was always ice cream or froyo or something.

It took what felt like forever for everyone to come back, I watched the lines as they got longer and longer. Sadly, we hadn’t beat the
rush. By the time we were all together again, it was nearly two o’clock.

“Sorry Lyta, they were out of veggie burgers. But, we got you some fries.” Jaide looked truly apologetic as he passed me the small bag
of fries. Kabirah sat down next to him and pulled out a double Bug Burga with extra fly sauce. Jaide had a single. As we started
eating, Simone came back, licking two scoops of ice cream on a chocolate-dipped cone.

“That’s your lunch? Kabirah cackled, and Jaide and I followed suit. “That’s what powers all those brain cells?”

Simone smiled calmly. “Yes. It’s quite good. How are your burgers?”

“Fine.” Kabirah muttered, her mouth full.

We sat there eating and chit chatting for a while. As it got later in the afternoon, it got hotter, and we all dipped our legs into the
fountain’s cool water. Simone was telling us about some boy she might have a crush on—she wasn’t sure—and Kabirah kept telling her she
didn’t care and that she should just go for it if she liked him so much. Jaide asked all kinds of details. Apparently, the guy was a
senior, another Ethiopian wolf like Simone. He was on the track team and had ‘attractive hindquarters’ according to her.

When we had finished eating, I balled up all the wrappers and walked them over to the trash can. I stopped, looking into the window of
a bath and body store. There was another addax in there, some lady at the counter, and she looked miserable. She looked like she was
falling asleep. Was that going to be me in a few years?

No way. I’m going to college.

It felt good to say it, even in my head. It reaffirmed my goal, even if I wasn’t sure of the exact details yet. I headed back over to
the fountain only to see Kabirah standing up and barking in a pissed-off tone at two—oh hell.

The Brunsons.

Elias and Yosef were twins, at least that’s what they told everyone. Two scruffy brown hyenas that didn't look anything alike. They were a bit smaller than me and Kabirah, but they were tough. They bragged just as much, usually about being in a gang. Hyenahurst was full of them, and the cops only really got involved when turf spats spilled over into Savanna Central. I’m not sure I believed them, because I never really saw them outside of school. They had a tendency to pick fights with Kabirah, probably just because she was one of the toughest girls in school.

“So, yeah, all I’m saying is you’re screwed. What are you even doing here? Can you even afford anything? Or are you just drinking the
water, huh?” Josef snarled. His brother grinned and patted him on the back, staring expectantly at Kabirah.

Kabirah was standing up, bent forward to emphasize her height advantage. “The fuck do you know?” She asked, expression a mix of pissed
and incredulous. “Fuckin’ strands. You’re not even real hyenas. The fuck you even doin’ in Hyenahurst?”

Josef made a face; she had a point. “We got connections, what do you got? Your pussy of a brother? Your prey friends? Can’t believe you
hang with prey. Herds are for nerds, remember?”

Jaide stood up and tugged Kabirah’s tail gently. “Hey, Kabby, don’t let them get to you, this is stupid. Let’s go somewhere else,
okay?” He was giggling under his breath, looking really nervous. His ears were down and his fur was all prickled up. I hated him seeing
like that.

Meanwhile, Simone was trying not to get involved. She had stuffed her nose back into her book, and, actually, I wondered if she even
knew there was any fighting going on.

Elias spit on the ground. He scratched a footclaw near it. I really hated these two. If they were in a gang, the benefits were obvious. They were always wearing nice stuff, like Pucci shorts and polos. Sometimes they even had sandals for when the pavement got really hot.
And I mean nice ones. I, of course, didn’t give a damn about hot pavement with my hooves.

“Woah, woah.” I said, straddling up to a few feet away, between them. “Can’t you chill? We’re just trying to relax. It’s Saturday, you
guys can fight in school.”

“Go chew some cud, hoofer.” Josef barked, saliva flicking from his jaws as he bared his teeth at me.

Unbelievable.

“Hey!” Kabirah yelled.

It happened too fast to see. Fists started to fly in every direction between Kabirah and Josef, and a second later Elias was on her
too. They liked to team up to make up for their lack of height. They were roaring, barking and snapping, laying into each other like
I’ve never seen. Fur flew off. Me, Jaide, and Simone were just standing there staring at them, totally unsure of what to do. I wanted to jump in, and I was about to. I knew better than to use my horns—too dangerous—so instead I get ready to ram those two jerks with my
shoulders. Jaide couldn’t stop laughing, he was clutching his stomach he was laughing so hard. I didn’t think it was funny at all, but I start to snicker a little too.

“Hey! Hey!” A high-pitched whistle sounded. I could practically feel the ground shaking as the guy plodded up. An elephant. Mall cop.
He was in one of those black and white suits that screamed ‘not a real cop’ and he looked like he had about two seconds of patience
left. He walked right up and shoved his hand in between the three mammals, pushing them apart so roughly they fell on their asses.

“Who started this?” He bellowed. We all exchanged looks with each other except Kabirah. She dropped her head and started running for
the mall entrance, out toward Agave street.

“Book it!” She yelled over her shoulder.

Jaide followed, and I stood there stammering for a second, trying to catch my breath. My heart was beating in my ears. I could only
imagine how Kabirah and Jaide felt. I looked up at the elephant for a second as if to say ‘sorry, dude’ and took off galloping. Didn’t
even look back to see if the Brunsons ran too. I hope they didn’t. I hope they got picked up and tossed in fanghead jail.

Okay, maybe I shouldn’t be throwing around a word like fanghead when most of my friends are preds.

I could see Jaide’s ass when I came running out of the mall. There was yelping and shouting. Kabirah must have been pushing past
mammals ahead. Sure enough, I saw a tiger and a few gazelles looking down the sidewalk and glowering. I heard a ‘Hell’s wrong with
her?’ or two as I jogged by, trying to keep out of the way.

Kabirah was up ahead at the bus stop, hiding on the opposite side from the direction of the mall. Jaide was there next to her, fitfully
checking out her wounds. She looked bad, like she had actually been hit and scratched a few times. I didn’t remember the last time I
had seen her like that.

“Hey, Kabirah… You… You gonna be okay?”

Kabirah grunted. She was still panting, her chest heaving up and down. She rubbed her neck with an outstretched paw. “Double teamin’
fucks. I’m gonna kill ‘em next time I see ‘em.”

“Calm down Kabirah, they were just being rude, you don’t need to talk about killing or anything.” Jaide was doing his best to talk her down. It was really sweet of him, because it was obvious she was hurting. Still, judging by the scowl on her muzzle I couldn’t tell whether it was her body or her pride that took the harder hits.

Shit. Simone.

I yanked my phone out of my bag and slid it open.

xxHORNGIRLxx: hey! Simone did u run?

astrocanis: No. I was not involved.

xxHORNGIRLxx: So ur okay?

astrocanis: I’m fine. I’m sorry we didn’t get to talk more. Is Kabirah okay?

xxHORNGIRLxx I think so. She’s pissed but u know her. See u monday?

astrocanis: See you in Science.

Well, that’s one thing out of the way.

I stood there for a second, unsure of what to say. The familiar sound of the bus approached moments later, and Kabirah bolted in the
second the door opened. This time, she went all the way to the back and picked a seat obscured by two hippos sitting next to each other
and talking loudly.

“Hey.” I said as I sat down next to her. Jaide sat down next to me and let his head gently rest on my shoulder. “Sorry. I think I egged
‘em on, heh…”

“Psssh. They had all the eggs they could carry.” That wasn’t very funny, but Jaide snorted. I knew enough to realize he was scared as
hell, and he had been near-panicking back during the fight. Poor guy; his big sister was the world to him.

“You’re bleeding a little bit. Hey, I got some cloth in my bag.” I did. I pulled it out; a blue rag I got wet in summer and would put on my head to cool off when the sun was at its highest point. I handed Kabirah the cloth and she took it. Slowly, the view out the window got less and less affluent, and before we knew it we were back in Hyenahurst. We hopped off the bus, amidst a flood of a few other mammals who stared at us like we’re troublemakers. Guess we were.

“I’m gonna head home. Bye Leaf-licker. Oh, and thanks for lunch.” Kabirah elbowed me in the ribs and started to limp off. Jaide hugged
me and jogged after her, and when he got close he let her lean against him. I walked home alone in the other direction.

I tried to look at the bright side.

At least I would be home before dinner.