Dog Heaven Read online

  “Was it wrong?” I asked. “I mean, to go there?”

  “No, Calvin, it wasn’t wrong. I just … well, I wanted a little more time to pass before you got … you know … more personal with … with Ledward.”

  “I like Ledward.”

  Mom smiled. “And so do I, Calvin. So. What about his pig?”

  “It rides in his jeep,” Darci said.

  “It does?”

  “In the front. With a seat belt.”

  Stella nearly choked on her food. “You have got to be kidding.”

  I had to get this conversation back on track. “No, it’s true. Ledward’s pig is just like a … uh … just like a dog I know … a small black and white one with … with wild eyes and a short attention span.”

  Mom studied me.

  Stella threw her head back and roared.

  I looked at her. What was so funny?

  Her shoulders shook as she tried to stop laughing. “You’re creative, I’ll give you that.”

  I’ll get you, I thought. You just wait.

  Since Mom couldn’t stop gawking at me, I decided to go on. “This dog—it’s a girl dog, and she lives at the Humane Society, and, well, anyway, someone took her into the mountains and dumped her. She is the fastest dog I’ve ever seen.”

  Darci looked at Mom, then at Stella, then back at Mom.

  I peeked over to see how I was doing.

  Mom gaped at me. Maybe I was really telling it well and she was spellbound.

  I felt my courage rise. “I only know two things about her, Mom. One is that she needs a home. Two is that she needs a friend … someone like … uh, someone like me.”

  Stella roared. “He did it again! I can see right through you! I can almost see your skeleton!”

  I squinted at her.

  “That’s enough, Stella,” Mom said.

  Stella raised her hands in surrender. “Fine.”

  Mom shook her head and reached over to tap my hand. “That was sweet, Calvin, it really was. You’re trying so hard. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

  Did this mean I could get Streak?

  Mom’s eyes glistened. She patted my hand again and sat back.

  Darci gave me a secret thumbs-up.

  “Oh, come on,” Stella said. “You don’t believe he just came up with that gooey stuff, do you? Somebody wrote it for him and he memorized it. Go ahead and ask him. I bet he could say it again, word for word.”

  Mom laughed, dabbing her eyes with her napkin.

  Stella frowned. “Think what you like, but he’s a fake.”

  “Stella!” Mom said, then looked at me. “He’s a sweetheart.”

  I lit up like a bug zapper. “Does that mean I can have a dog?”

  Stella fake-coughed. She fake-rubbed her eyes. “Just talking about it makes my allergies act up.”

  The phone rang.

  Darci ran to get it. She poked her head back out. “For you, Mom. It’s Ledward.”

  Mom got up and went into the kitchen.

  I shoved my string beans into a tight pile so it would look like I ate some of them. What Stella needed was a bug in her bed. Or a lizard. No, a scorpion.

  “Well,” Mom said, sitting back down at the table. “It looks like you have a friend, Cal.”

  “I do?”

  “Ledward just invited me to go somewhere with him.”

  “Where?”

  Mom put her elbow on the table and cupped her cheek with her hand. She sighed. “Does the name Streak ring a bell?”

  It was Saturday. Stella was still asleep. Mom had already gone off to work, and Darci was watching TV.

  I was just about to go down to Julio’s house when I heard the mail truck.

  Darci ran out and came back with an Eddie Bauer catalog, a wad of newspapery junk mail, two bills, and something for Stella that looked very much like it might be a birthday card.

  There was a return address with no name.

  I showed it to Darci. “Look. It’s from Texas.”

  “Is it from her mom?”

  “Got to be.”

  “Should we wake her up?”

  Stella had been waiting for this. “You do it.”

  Darci shook her head. “She might get mad.”

  We stared at the envelope.

  I put Stella’s envelope and the rest of the mail on the kitchen counter. “Better safe than sorry, huh?”

  Darci went back to cartoons. I went to Julio’s.

  Mom came home just after four. Julio and I were tossing a football back and forth on the street. Mom waved as she drove. I tossed the ball back to Julio. “I gotta go.”

  Julio held the ball under his arm. “When can we go for a ride in that jeep again?”

  “Soon, I hope.”

  I jogged home.

  Mom was getting her purse out of the car. She smiled. “What’s going on, little big man?”

  “Not much.”

  “Staying out of trouble, I hope.”

  “Yeah.”

  I followed Mom into the kitchen. She dropped her keys and purse onto the counter, frowning at the bills. She moved the junk mail aside … and froze.

  She grabbed the card under the catalog. “Look at this.”

  “It’s from Texas.”

  “Stella!” Mom called. She gave me a look I couldn’t figure out. Like she was mad at me, or something. “Stella!”

  “I’m coming, hang on.”

  Mom held the card up and gave me a stabbing look. “Did you know about this?”

  “Well … yeah.”

  “And you didn’t tell her?”

  “She was asleep.”

  Mom closed her eyes. What was she so hot about?

  Stella came into the kitchen. Her hair was wrapped in a towel.

  Mom held up the envelope. Stella snapped it out of her hand and tore it open. “Finally!”

  She pulled the card out. A twenty-dollar bill fluttered to the counter. Stella started reading, smiling like she’d just won a trip to Disneyland.

  Her smile faded.

  Mom saw it, too. “What does it say, Stella?”

  Stella handed the card to Mom and left the kitchen.

  Mom read it and looked up.

  “What?”

  Mom handed it to me.

  Dear Stella,

  Another birthday! I hope you are well and that you are minding Mrs. Coconut. I can’t believe you’re another year older. You are growing up so fast it makes me feel ancient. How can I have a fifteen-year-old daughter? Tell me. How? It’s enough to make me cry. Well, enough of my whining. Here’s some money. You can probably use it.

  Happy birthday.

  Love, Twyla

  She didn’t even know how old her own daughter was. I looked up. “Fifteen?”

  Mom shook her head.

  The twenty-dollar bill lay with the junk mail on the counter.

  The next day, Sunday, I was in the yard chasing toads out of the grass with a stick when Ledward came over. He was in a good mood.

  He bent close and whispered, even though no one else was around. “Today we pop the secret plan. You ready?”

  I flung the stick into the bushes. “What do I do?”

  “Just be yourself.”

  A half hour later Ledward, Mom, Darci, and I were on our way to the Humane Society in Ledward’s jeep. Ledward had invited Stella, too, but she said, “I don’t like cats, I don’t like dogs, I don’t like rabbits, and I don’t like seeing anything in a cage, so somebody tell me why I would want to go.”

  Man, she was snippy.

  When we got to the Humane Society, Ledward parked and turned to me. “Show your mama, boy.”

  Mom put up her hand to stop me. “Listen, we’re just looking, right? Nobody’s getting a dog.” She looked straight into my eyes. “Are we clear about this?”

  “Yeah, but—”

  Mom put her finger on my lips. “Just. Looking.”

  There were people everywhere. Almost every dog was barking. It was deafening.
I covered my ears and pushed my way through.

  “Streak! Stre—”

  I gaped at Streak’s empty kennel as my world crumbled.

  “But …”

  Ledward, Mom, and Darci crowded around me. Ledward looked in the kennels on either side. No Streak. “Maybe somebody’s got her out in the yard.”

  “No. They can’t. She’s mine!”

  Mom put her hand on my shoulder. “Calvin, if someone wants to adopt her, that’s a good thing, right? She’ll have a home. Isn’t that what you wanted for her?”

  My head felt as if it was about to explode.

  “You’re back,” someone said.

  I whipped around. It was Ben, the guy we’d talked to before. A small wiener dog was tucked under his arm. Ben held it up. “Meet Olivine. She just came in.”

  I was frantic. “Where’s Streak?”

  “Who?”

  “Streak … the dog I … the dog …”

  I choked. It was all slipping away.

  “Ohhh, you mean Ruby.”

  “That’s the one,” Ledward said.

  Ben shook his head. “A lady just adopted her.” He glanced back through the crowd. “Maybe she’s still here. I don’t know.”

  There was a big stir over by the offices. The crowd surged, people scrambling to see what was going on. Someone shouted, “Come back! Here, doggie, doggie, doggie, here, doggie!”

  “Loose dog.” Ben set Olivine the wiener dog in Streak’s vacant kennel and hurried off.

  Who cared?

  I hooked my fingers in the chain-link fence. The wiener dog looked up at me. She had long ears and a pointy nose. She was trembling.

  Ledward tapped my shoulder. “Look.”

  I shook him off.

  “Look.”

  Ledward lifted his chin toward the dog everyone was trying to catch. It was black and white, and fast.

  “Streak!”

  I promise, that crazy dog was laughing. She was having a party. Nobody could touch her.

  “Streak!” I shouted again.

  Streak heard me. She tried to stop. Her paws slid on the concrete and she barreled into a wall.

  I started running.

  In an instant she was leaping at my feet, a dog-size flea. I picked her up and hugged her. Streak licked my face.

  The crowd cheered, everyone laughing and clapping.

  Mom’s mouth hung open.

  Not one person could catch that dog and there she was licking my face.

  “Ho!” Ben said, running up. “How’d you do that?”

  A lady stumbled up behind him, gasping. “Oh, thank you, thank you!” She gulped, catching her breath. “Ruby, you naughty dog.”

  I turned so the lady couldn’t touch her. “Her name is Streak.”

  “Calvin,” Mom said, gently.

  “She’s mine, Mom.”

  The lady blinked.

  Mom moved closer. “I’m sorry. He doesn’t mean that. He was just here a couple of days ago and played with this dog, that’s all.”

  Mom pried Streak out of my arms. She stroked her once and handed her to the lady. Streak wiggled and whined. The lady struggled to hang on to her.

  “Good heavens!”

  The lady dumped Streak into Ben’s arms. “I think this one might be a little too much for me to handle.”

  My spirits soared. “Uh … there’s a nice wiener dog in that kennel over there.” I turned and pointed. “It just came in.”

  “He’s right,” Ben said. “I’ll show you.”

  The lady sighed and nodded. “Is it calmer?”

  “Oh, yes. Her name is Olivine, and she’s a sweetheart.” Ben handed Streak to me and winked.

  Streak tickled my face with her wet nose. Darci reached up and Streak licked her hand.

  Mom blinked. “I don’t believe any of this.”

  “Can I get her, Mom, can I? Look, she loves me.”

  Mom wagged her finger at Ledward. “You.” Ledward gave her his best innocent face. “Me?”

  “You knew I wouldn’t be able to resist, didn’t you?”

  Ledward opened his hands.

  Mom broke into a grin. “Oh, all right, you boys win. I guess one dog won’t hurt.” Then she wagged her finger at me. “But you keep her outside and away from Stella.”

  “Thanks, Mom! Thanks! I’ll take good care of her, I promise.”

  “I know you’ll try, honey. But really, you’re going to have to keep that dog outside. Or in your room. Away from Stella.”

  “I know, she might be allergic.”

  Mom gave Ledward a shove. “You, on the other hand, are in deep, deep trouble.”

  Ledward looked at me and flicked his eyebrows.

  At school the next day I sat at my desk thinking about Streak. The night before, I’d moved down to the lower bunk so she could sleep curled up by my feet, just like Chewy used to. I smiled. Then I frowned, remembering I’d left Streak fenced in the backyard before heading to school. I hoped she wasn’t too lonely.

  Mr. Purdy walked by and tapped my desk, which meant get to work and stop daydreaming.

  We were supposed to be wrapping up our paragraphs. Mr. Purdy was going to tape them on the wall for everyone to read.

  Someone sneezed.

  A pencil fell to the floor.

  The clock ticked.

  Mr. Purdy paced. “Two minutes. Wrap it up.”

  I glanced around the room. Rubin was writing furiously, head low to the table. Julio sat with his arms crossed, looking out the door. Maya was scowling at her paper. Willy was nodding slowly, as if he was listening to music in his head. Shayla sat with her hands clasped, smiling at me.

  I turned away.

  My paragraph was done. I guessed. Probably. I liked what I’d written. It got me a dog, right? It must be okay.

  “Time’s up!”

  Out on the playground I sat with Julio, Rubin, Maya, and Willy on top of the jungle gym. No one said much. Writing took a lot out of you. We were beat.

  Julio pointed his chin. “Check it out.”

  I turned to look.

  Frankie Diamond was heading our way. Behind him, his idiot friends Bozo and Tito jeered from the shade of a giant monkeypod tree. “Watch out, Frankie. You go by them you might get ’ukus! Bwahahahahaha!”

  Frankie kept on coming.

  Willy whispered, “What’s ’ukus?”

  “Cooties,” Maya said. “Head lice.”

  “We got head lice?” Rubin asked.

  Julio scoffed. “Not me, but maybe you.”

  “Shhh, Frankie’s coming.”

  Frankie Diamond stood at the bottom of the jungle gym. He looked up at me, his hands on his hips. “So, you got that dog, or what?”

  “Yeah! I did!”

  Frankie Diamond nodded. “Cool. It was a good one.”

  “The best ever.”

  “Maybe sometime I come your house and check it out.”

  “Uh … yeah, sure … anytime.”

  Frankie nodded, once. He watched Rubin scratch his head. “You got ’ukus, or what?”

  “No,” Rubin said.

  Frankie studied him a moment, then headed back over to the fools under the monkeypod tree.

  Julio whistled, low. “That was strange.”

  I nodded.

  “So,” Maya said. “Is your mom going to let you keep Streak?”

  I grinned. “If I don’t let her in the house.”

  But still, I was worried.

  Stella hadn’t been exactly thrilled, even when Mom promised her that Streak would never come in the house. Stella could still make a big stink and blow it all up. If she did, Streak would have to go.

  Rubin kept scratching his head. “What do you do with the dog while you’re in school?”

  “Leave her in the backyard. It’s fenced.”

  I couldn’t wait to get home. Streak and I had places to go! Me and my dog, cruising the neighborhood. Yeah!

  Rubin scratched and scratched. Did he really have ’ukus? Were t
hey like fleas? Did they jump from one head to another?

  “I got an idea!” I said to Julio, Willy, and Maya. “Let’s take Rubin over by Frankie and Tito so he can scratch his ’ukus. I bet they run away.”

  “Or kill us,” Julio said.

  “No, we just pretend to go by … close.”

  Rubin frowned … then grinned. “I got a better idea. How’s about all of us go over there scratching?”

  “Watch um run,” I said.

  We climbed down and headed over. I don’t know how we suddenly got so brave, but it was hilarious to watch Frankie, Bozo, and Tito scramble away from us. We didn’t even have to say a word.

  That night Ledward came over with a fat stinky fish head for Streak to gnaw on. Streak snapped it out of Ledward’s hand and carried it out into the yard, where she plopped down and ripped into it.

  Mom winced and headed back into the house. “That’s disgusting.”

  Ledward followed her. “Fish heads are good. They got a lot of vitamins, especially the eye.”

  “Can we change the subject?”

  I crept closer to Streak for a better look at the fish head. It was shiny silver. It had a big eye. “Watch out for bones,” I whispered. Mom always said that when we ate fish.

  Streak thumped her tail.

  Ledward stood over us. “I brought fresh ahi.”

  Ahi is tuna, and when Ledward cooks it on the hibachi with lemon and butter, there’s nothing better. Except teriyaki meat sticks. Nothing beats that.

  “Did the head come from that fish, Ledward?”

  “Yep. Go start the fire.”

  I went out on the patio and got the hibachi going. As I was poking at the coals with a stick, Streak showed up. Her breath smelled like a garbage dump.

  “Ho, man, you stink!”

  She licked her lips. I pulled her close. Streak and my dad’s dog Chewy in Las Vegas would probably go head to head over food.

  They were both professional eaters. Dinner comes. Boom! It’s gone.

  Ledward came out with a stack of ahi steaks. Streak’s ears shot forward when Ledward laid the steaks on the sizzling hibachi and painted them with melted butter.