Heroin(e)

Chapter Eleven

Scout and I stood outside the Silver Dollar Diner waiting for Bon. I shivered in my wool coat and Scout sniffed the doors of the building. I could smell the food from inside and my stomach rumbled. Dogs weren't allowed inside but maybe Joe would make an exception. He knew me and after all, who could resist Scout's adorable face?

His beautiful face that was now nose deep in his testicles...

A gust of wind seemed to bring Bon out of thin air. He smiled when he saw me and gave me a hug. He smelled like tea and firewood. "Glad you could make it, Esther," he said. He knelt down on the ground and Scout eagerly went to him for scratches and pets. "And who's this little guy?"

"His name is Scout," I said watching my two boys get to know each other. Scout started licking his face and I didn't have the heart to tell Bon what he had just been doing.

"Handsome dog," Bon said giving Scout the ultimate rub down. Scout was loving every second of it. "Ya' have him long?"

"About four years," I said. "Mom gave him to me." I fought hard against the tears, dismissing them as a reaction to this cold January air. Bon stood up and held his hand out for me. "We're not going in?"

"Nah, I've got somewhere else I wanna take ya'. An' lucky for ol' Scout here they take dogs."

I took Bon's hand and he led us down the street in a direction I'd never gone.

**********

"The park?" I asked Bon as we made our way past benches and streetlamps and children playing with the ducks.

"Ever have park food?" Bon asked. I assumed he meant hot dogs and ice cream.

"Course I have."

"Great," he smiled and we ended up at a hot dog cart. It was so cold outside you could see the steam clearly as the hot dogs cooked. We got two of them and I thought one of them was for Bon but he ended up giving it to Scout. Scout was the happiest dog on Earth. "Atta boy."

"What about you?" I asked, holding my dog with extra mustard. "You're not eating?" He shook his head.

"Already ate at my friend's," he said. "You probably heard us doin' dishes?"

"My neighbors upstairs heard you doing dishes," I said and Bon laughed. It was such a friendly laugh, I loved hearing it. Scout gobbled his meal up in just a few bites. "You know you shouldn't have human food....that was nice of you, Bon, thank you."

"Sure thing. Now uh...I'd like to hear more about this Esther," he said. "This Esther who dances an' has a pet dog an' all that." I occupied myself with my hot dog, getting mustard all over my face. "What's the story?"

"There's no story," I said with a full mouth. Bon shook his head.

"I don't believe it for a second. Here," he said gesturing to an empty bench to sit on. I held Scout's leash with one hand and my hot dog in the other. Scout could smell it and sat on the ground, begging. Bon clasped his gloved hands together. "Where are you from?"

"Well...." I guess this was a harmless question. "I'm from Queens," I said. "My Nana came over from Italy and raised her son there. And he met my mom who was also Italian American. And then they had me."

"Ya' don't say?" Bon said. He leaned over to give Scout a few scratches behind his ears. "You already know where I'm from, huh? Born in Scotland, raised in Australia?"

"Yeah, I figured that out," I said. "That's a pretty big move."

"No kiddin'. So uh...what else, hm?" he asked. "Any hobbies?"