"Tabby," I said, the words exiting my mouth tasting dry and electric.
The blue T-shirt nodded, not thinking twice, pulling a cute little walkie talkie in the shape of a milk bone off her belt. Instead of asking my name she just looked at me suspiciously, and whispered into it (which I could hear perfectly due to the acoustics of the place), "Tabby, there's some dude here wants to see you. Got long hair and I don't think he's got a dog with us."
She replaced the milk bone, and continued to stare at me as though this might have some kind of positive effect on both our lives. And I guess it did, sort of, because Tabby appeared out of a back office and skipped over. She looked different. Her hair was short and curly and black. Her face had a clean healthy glow to it, like she'd just taken a shower and used Ivory soap. She'd put on a lot of weight, and it made her look more like a woman, more comfortable. The frustrated pout I'd remembered and more recently fantasized about, had become an exuberant, glittering smile.
She wielded that smile like a sword, and I realized she didn't recognize me. There were people in her life she had to deal with, who she did not like, and she must have thought I was one of them. "Hey, it's a little late," she said, smile still blazing away. "Unless you're picking up for someone."
She turned to the Blue T-shirt t-shirt. "Donna, did you see if he was picking up for someone?"
Donna became reproachful. "I just got the feeling he wasn't."
Tabby's smile hardened. "Donna, finish up what you gotta do, I got this."
She turned back to me. She recognized me. Her expression went back to what she'd been giving me that night I left, and Tabby said, "Oh. I get it. Someone's acting mysterious and important."
Not that she wasn't right.
YOU ARE READING
THE DOG HUNTERS (completed)
BeletrieA suicidal homeless weirdo has adventures. He runs into a duo of dog lovers, who spend their days traveling around the city observing and honoring dogs. Wisdom cannot be run away from. He escapes paradise and falls in love with a strange lady who m...