It was weird seeing Sensei Hector in a hoodie and jeans at his house during the day and not in a gi at the dojo. But I told him it was urgent, and he’d agreed to let me come over.

Sensei offered me a can of Dr. Pepper, then sat on the couch adjacent to me and cracked open his own can. “And don’t tell anyone that I drink soda. It kinda goes against what I teach the kids about health.”

I smirked. “Your secret is safe with me Sensei.”

“Okay shoot away. What’s bothering you Sean? Hit me with the truth.”

Before I even started talking Sensei cleared the air. “And Sean, I’m not stupid. I know you haven’t been completely honest with me in the past few weeks. But I also assumed that there’s things that you can’t tell me, whether for privacy, or you just don’t know how to voice them.”

If I came clean, like really clean, there was a chance that Sensei would think I was a total nut job. But no, it was Sensei I was speaking with. He’d known me and my family for years. He’d believe me. Right?

No. I didn’t need to burden anyone else with the monster stuff. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it didn’t feel right to tell Sensai, even though I suspected he would trust me.

I told him all of the sucky things that happened to me in my normal life. I left out the supernatural stuff. A gang wanting me dead was enough for Sensei to worry about.

“Yeah. So… now I don’t know what to do. I just need some advice. Like how to find a place for me and my daaa—dog to stay, because I’ve moved out of my apartment. And I also need to find a job too, or I won’t be able to live anywhere. Do you know of any good, cheap places?”

“Matter of fact, I might know a place. Let me ask Heather.”

He left me for a few minutes to go talk to his wife in the other room. I sat there, twiddling my thumbs. I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Chances were, what was cheap and affordable in his mind would not be what I could afford. The minutes dragged on and I lost hope.

I heard their muffled voices in the other room. Maybe they were doing a Google search for me.

Sensei came back into the room with a smile on his face. “Sean, you and your dog can stay with us. We have an empty studio in-law unit in the backyard.”

I was floored.

Sensei Hector and his wife were going to help me out. Doubts crept in. It was too good to be true.

“But I don’t have a job. I can’t pay rent until I find one.”

“I haven’t found a Senpai yet. Would you like to take the paid position?”

Again, I was flabbergasted. “Wait, after everything I screwed up, you’d still hire me? Doing the same thing I was doing when I volunteered?”

He nodded. “Uh huh. I’ll just take rent out of your paycheck.”

I laughed nervously, still not believing him. “What’s the pay?”

He told me.

“No. Really? That’s way more than minimum wage.”

“Sean, you have had some hard luck. I’ve watched you grow up from a little boy into a man. I know what you’ve been through. I want to see you do better. I want to help you.”

I ran my hands through my hair. I didn’t know what to say. My inner strength melted. I turned away for a second to fake a cough while I wiped some water from my eyes. Allergies must have kicked in.

“Thanks Sensei. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

“Don’t worry about it. Not forever, mind you. Just until you get back on your feet.”

We got up and Sensei Hector showed me the backyard unit. It was small, but I was used to small. It was better than I could have hoped for.

My footsteps to the front yard felt a bit lighter. And I was relieved to see Tain and not my dad sitting in the beat up Toyota Corolla that was my temporary new ride. He’d shifted several times back and forth throughout the night. He lay on the back seat then.

“He okay?” asked Sensei.

“He’s a little out of sorts.”

“Ah, poor guy.” Sensei Hector pet Tain’s head through the rolled down window.

I got in the car intending to go gather some of my stuff from my Mom’s house and find Rob. “Oh yeah, one more thing, Sensei.”

“What’s up?”

“How do you feel about cats?”