Chapter 45

It was about 8:30 when Jill left. Maybe 45 minutes to get home by bike. Another 45 to cool down. That would put it at 10:00. I decided to give her till noon to call back. And at least ask what was going on. Although an apology would be better.

Noon came and went with no phone call. I made some soup for lunch and called both girls out to eat. Mary came right out, no hesitation, no crap. Just like the good old days.

We had tomato soup, right out of the red can. I used milk instead of water. Saltine crackers to finish it off. I cooked four cans plus milk and we almost finished the whole thing.

"Jack, I feel terrible about Jill. You know I was just teasing, don't you?"

"Yeah, Sara. That's why I went to bed in pain last night."

"What do you mean, in pain?"

"He's talking about blue balls, Sara."

"Oh, God. Did I do that to you, Jack?"

"No, but you probably would have if I'd stayed in there any longer."

"Anyway, I'm sorry about Jill."

"Hey, she should have had enough faith in me to find out what was really happening."

"Maybe. But I can understand how she could get the wrong idea. After all, what would you think if you went over to her house to pick her up and she called some guy into her room to help her get dressed?"

"I might be pissed, but I don't believe Jill would be unfaithful to me. I'd at least have the courtesy to ask her what was going on."

"Well, not everyone is as trusting as you are. We both knew Jill isn't that day she walked to school with us and scared me off. I guess she hasn't called yet, has she?"

"No. I was going to give her till noon. Then call her. I'll call her after lunch."

"OK. Let me know if I can help."

"I will. You know, Mary, this is one hell of a dog. He just sits there while we eat. Even Sparky used to beg at the table."

"Yeah, he knows he'll get fed."

"Oh, my God."

"What is it, Sara?"

"I totally forgot about my dog and the puppies. I haven't fed them since yesterday. I don't think anyone else will. Can we go over and get them? Do you think your mother would mind?"

Mary looked at me. "I think it would be OK for a while. How many puppies are left?"

"Just two. And the mother."

"As long as they're outside I don't think she'll complain. You're going to have to take care of their food and water and cleaning up after them."

"I had to do the same stuff at my house. It won't be any different. Except I won't get yelled at every time I go out to them."

"OK. We'll go over after we finish cleaning up after lunch. I've got a wagon in the garage I used to deliver papers in. We can carry the puppies in that. I assume the mother can walk on her own."

"Oh, yeah. She'll be thrilled to be able to get some exercise without her babies hanging all over her."

"OK. Mary? Are you going to give Dino people food?"

"I've thought about it. Why?"

"There's about a half inch of soup on the bottom of the pan. He'd probably like it. And it's probably cool enough for him."

"Thanks."

She got up and went over to the stove. Dino followed her over. She stuck a finger in the soup, then squatted down and held her finger out to Dino. He sniffed, then started licking. He practically wrapped his tongue around her finger trying to get every drop.

"He seems to like it."

"If he liked it any more he'd swallow your finger."

Mary touched the sides of the pot, then lifted it off the stove and checked the bottom. Satisfied she wasn't going to burn her baby's tongue, she went over to the kitchen door. We had a cloth mat just on the inside of the door and she put the soup down.

Dino dove into the soup. He was licking like crazy and looked like he was ready to climb inside a couple of times. He was just big enough to reach the bottom of the pot while standing outside. Mary grabbed his paw when he lifted it over the edge and was all set to stand in the pot. She tilted it towards him so the soup would flow down. He licked the pooled soup for a bit, then started cleaning other areas of the bottom he could reach.

There are some dogs that will get the easy stuff but won't do any real work when you give them people food. Then there are the ones that will keep licking as long as there is a molecule of food left. They keep going until the bowl or pot is so clean you won't be able to see the difference between it and one that just came out of the dishwasher. It was pretty obvious which type Dino was. He was really going to town. I'd hate to see him lick his tongue raw on that metal pot.

Mary finally had enough of squatting down, holding the pot at an angle he could work with. She picked it up.

"OK, Dino. You've had enough. There isn't any more left."

He sat down and continued to lick all around the outside of his mouth. She took it to the sink and started to rinse it out.

"Eww. It's all slimy."

"Welcome to the wonderful world of dog saliva, Dear."

"God. Do you think the dishwasher will get this stuff off?"

"It should. Make sure the water is going to spray directly on it when you put it in."

"OK. Hey, you two go over to Sara's and get the dogs. I'll clean up in here."

"OK. You can let him lick the bowls if you want."

"I think he's had enough for now."

Sara and I walked towards her house. Well, her parents' house.

"I'd like to see Mary give him a spoonful of peanut butter;"

"Oh, that's cruel."

"What? Dogs love peanut butter."

"Yeah, but they have to keep licking to get it off the roof of their mouths."

"I know, but they seem to like it. I've never seen a dog look pissed off when he's licking peanut butter like that."

"I guess..."

We got to her house and she headed for the front door, ringing the doorbell.

Her mother opened the door and got a scowl on her face.

"Where's your key?"

"Oh, you reminded me."

She reached into her pocket and removed a key from a chain, giving it to her mother.

"I won't need this any more."

"What do you mean. You can't just leave."

"I won't come back except to get my things. If I have to go down the Child Services and get in their system, I will. Anything is better than having to come back to the two of you."

The last few words had been said with such vehemence I could feel it ten feet behind her. Her mother actually took a step back.

"I came to get my dog and her puppies."

Her mother just nodded her head and closed the front door.

Sara looked at me.

"Well, that went well."

"Are you OK?"

"Believe it or not, I'm relieved."

She attempted to smile but she couldn't do it. Her lips curled up, almost into a snarl, then she totally lost control. Her face scrunched up, as best it could with a bandage over half of it, the tears started flowing and the sobbing began. Sobbing is too mild a word. Wailing, howling; emotion that had been buried for years, rushing to the surface, bursting out.

I saw all this for less than a second before she grabbed onto me as if she was afraid of getting sucked away and I was the only solid thing to hold on to. I got a picture of one of those movies about space where the ship gets a hole in it and everyone is getting sucked out. Her grip on me was that desperate. I wondered how her damaged ribs were going to take the violent shaking of her body as she sobbed.