"Back again, Mari?" the officer said, less than surprised. When the call had come in of a possible assault at one of the sketchier bars on the outskirts of town, they already knew who was probably behind it.
Mariona Coyotawne often frequented those dive bars. She actually loved the atmosphere, and had a love of hard liquor to match. If that wasn't bad enough, all that alcohol just added more fuel to her already fiery attitude.

The night had started off just like that, Mariona pulling up to her favorite little bar as the sun was setting, ready to drink away the stresses of her mundane day job as a cashier at the old gas station down the road. Not that "stress" was necessarily the right word, perhaps "boredom" was more fitting. She didn't really mind the job since she could do it while still hung over and the boss never really seemed to notice if the occasional pack of beef jerky or cigarettes went missing. Still, it wasn't exactly an exciting job.

About three or four shots of tequila in, while watching but not quite paying attention to the news playing on the TV above the bar, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Damn, girl..." a drunken voice slurred. She turned her head to see one of the usual drunks, one of the numerous nondescript wolf guys that hung out in places like this, had taken an interest in her. Not at all unusual for her, and it often meant free drinks and, if the guy was cute enough, maybe a fun one-night stand after last call. But usually they knew better than to touch her...

His hand went a bit lower, and she felt him grabbing her ass. With lightning-fast reflexes and liquid courage fueling her already hot temper, she spun around and slugged him square in the nose, knocking him to the floor. Everyone in the room turned to see her now standing over him, and the bartender quietly picked up the phone, knowing things might get out of hand very quickly. While Mariona was a loyal customer, he knew her temper all too well and knew what might happen if things were allowed to escalate much further.

She reached over to the bar, grabbing a glass of whiskey someone had left unattended, and gulped it down before smashing the glass on the floor.
"Did I say you could touch me?" she shouted at the guy, who was still laying on the floor but now holding his nose, trying to keep the bleeding down.
She pulled something from her pocket. "Maybe you need a lesson in personal space!"
She revealed the object to be a butterfly knife, which she flicked open with expert precision.
"Whoa, whoa, hey! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" the guy shouted, holding his hands up.
"Oh, you're going to be!" she shouted in response, crouching down over her now would-be victim. It was at that point she saw the blue and red flashes from outside. Knowing what would happen next, she quickly folded the knife back up and slid it across the floor, where it wound up under the jukebox in the corner.
"Tonight's your lucky night, boy..." she growled as the officers came through the door.

The next events played out as they did almost every time. The cops lifted her up and put her against the wall. They patted her down, trying to find any other weapons she might be hiding. Sometimes she didn't mind this part too much, especially since one of the cops was kinda cute... Finally, satisfied she had no weapons or other contraband on her, they cuffed her hands and led her out. "Put it on my tab" she shouted to the bartender on her way out. "And give my cousin a call, I might need bail money."

As the police car pulled away, one of the other patrons quietly retrieved her knife from beneath the jukebox and handed it to the bartender. He put it under the bar next to Mari's favorite tequila. He knew she'd be back for it, like she always was. And he wasn't about to wind up like that other guy when he didn't have the knife-or the tequila she liked.

---

2017 art, featuring Mariona. The short story was something I whipped up in response to a comment back when I originally posted this on DA, figured I should include it here because my usual descriptions tend to be a bit lacking...