Raven and Alan spend the rest of the afternoon at the gun range. She allows him to use her rifle and the rounds she bought. She was impressed by his accuracy as she bought more targets to shoot at.
Near the end of the afternoon, Alan helps Raven pack up everything.
“Are you hungry?” Alan looks at Raven when he asks that question.
“I could go for a burger or pizza.” Raven was feeling a little hungry.
A smirk appears on Alan’s face at the response.
“Good, because I know a place nearby that has the best burgers and pizzas around. Plus, the owner is friendly towards the biker crowd.” Alan knew Mario had the best food around near the firing range.
“Lead the way.” Raven picks up her gun cases and targets and carries them out to her motorcycle.
Alan follows behind Raven, admiring her cute ass. He helps her secure everything on her motorcycle.
“Just follow me.”
“Okay.” Raven mounts her motorcycle and puts on her helmet. She watches as Alan walks over to his modern Chevy pickup truck.
Alan gets into his truck and starts the engine. He backs out of the parking space he had been parked in and heads towards Mario’s restaurant. He looks in his rearview mirror and spots Raven following him on her motorcycle.
He wonders why Raven's motorcycle blackens out. He had observed from their friendly shooting competition that Raven avoided some of his questions. He also observed that sometimes, she reacted when other shooters started shooting their guns. He has seen reactions like that in other vets who have witnessed or been part of something so traumatic.
He saw the scars on her hands and a nasty one going up her right arm. He wonders which unit she was part of. He saw the white playing card with the number six and the Grim Reaper's head. He also noticed the bulldog and the Marine tattoo on her left arm.
After ten minutes of driving, Raven and Alan arrive at an outdoor shopping mall. But instead of heading towards the strip mall, Alan leads Raven to a building that looks like it started life as an Olive Garden. It was now an Italian restaurant called Little Italy.
Raven saw the building and wondered if they really served hamburgers. The name itself gave away that it specialized in Italian food. She parks her motorcycle in the parking spot next to Alan’s truck and shuts it down. She takes her helmet off and secures it.
As Raven dismounts, she looks over towards Alan as he exits his truck and walks around the front of it. “I thought you said this was a burger joint.”
“It is, it also serves ribs, steaks, and other homestyle meals, including Italian food. Trust me, you’ll like this place.” A friendly smile appears on Alan’s face.
“I’ll trust you.” Raven follows Alan into the restaurant. He holds the door open for Raven, like a proper gentleman.
“Thank you.” Raven walks by Alan as he holds the door open for her.
“You’re welcome.” Alan watches as Raven walks by him.
They enter the restaurant together and are immediately welcomed by a middle-aged woman with a heavy Italian accent. She was wearing nice clothes and looked very professional.
“Welcome to Little Italy. How many in your party?” Erika looks at the couple standing before her.
“Just us two,” Alan answered for them.
“If you’ll follow me, please.” Erika leads Alan and Raven over to a nice corner table.
Raven and Alan follow Erika and sit down at the corner table. They watch as the hostess leaves two menus with them. Alan and Raven look through the menus as they wait for their waitress.
Raven notices that Alan was telling the truth by what they served here. She spotted several specialty burgers that no one else would have. She also noticed they had American ribs and barbecue.
A young woman in her twenties approaches the table. A smile appears on her face, “Are you ready to order?”
“I am, how about you, Alan?” Raven looks towards Alan when she asks.
“I’m ready.” Alan closes his menu and looks towards the young woman.
Alan orders first, getting the lasagna, small salad, and sweetened iced tea. He looks towards Raven, “Let me guess, you’re getting the personal supreme pizza, salad, and sweetened Iced tea.”
A surprised look appears on Raven’s face. She looks towards the young woman as she hands her the menu, “What the gentleman just said, please.”
Once the waitress writes everything down, she walks away. Raven looks towards Alan, “So, tell me a little about yourself, Alan.”
“Well, I served in the Army and attained the rank of Sergeant. Before I got out, I trained recruits, served three tours in Afghanistan, and was there on the final days as we withdrew from the country. I feel we should have stayed and backed the democratic government we helped put in power, but we didn’t.”
“I know what you mean. I feel we abandoned the people there and should have done more.” Raven felt like they should have done more by eliminating the Islamic insurgents.
“Speaking of being there, what unit were you in?” Alan has been puzzled by the tattoo on the inside of Raven’s left forearm.
Raven looks into Alan’s eyes, “I can’t tell you. That’s how classified my unit was.”
“But you have a tattoo of your unit on your forearm.” Alan looks at Raven with a serious look on his face.
“True, I do. However, my unit is no longer alive. I’m the last remaining member.” Raven puts her fork down on her plate.
She closes her eyes and tries to keep the memory of what happened that day from surfacing. Raven takes several short breaths and manages to get her emotions under control. She slowly opens them and looks towards Alan.
Alan noticed how Raven reacted to his question and now knew why she had reacted. He reaches across the table and grips her hand. “It’s alright, Raven. You’re safe.”
A cold shiver travels throughout Raven’s body as she squeezes Alan’s hand. She concentrates on him and his voice. After a few minutes of doing everything she can, she manages to get her emotions under control.
“I’m sorry I brought it up.” Alan knew people with PTSD, and figured Raven was still fighting hers.
“It’s alright, my doctor said it was going to take time to recover. At least I haven’t lost the fight to the bottle yet.” Raven knew she could drown
herself in booze and feel nothing. However, she wasn’t going down that path. Her father always told her the bottle never helped anyone.
They spend the next few hours talking and eating. By the time they left, Raven and Alan exchanged numbers and made a date to meet at the gun range next weekend.