Boy Underground: A Novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Author:Catherine Ryan Hyde [Hyde, Catherine Ryan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2021-12-06T16:00:00+00:00

We sat side by side in the dirt, our feet over the edge of an irrigation ditch. We had gone just far enough from the house that we could talk without waking anyone.

He’d set the little dog down between us. She had come to my side, strangely aware that it was time to make her peace with me. She sat placidly, close to my hip, and I stroked her back. Her small, dark eyes half closed, as if hypnotized by my hand on her.

“I would if it was just me,” I said. “I would in a minute. But I really don’t think my parents would let me keep her.”

“I thought of that,” Suki said. “But it’s time for some pretty desperate measures. My father was going to take her to the vet in Fresno today and have her put to sleep. Not in a mean way. He adores her. He was crying the whole time we talked about it. The whole family has just been sitting around her, crying, almost the whole day today. He doesn’t want her life to end on suffering. We can’t just turn her loose. She’s had people to take care of her always, her whole life. She’s old. She needs shelter. She might not need it for much longer. I mean, she’s healthy enough. She’s not hanging by a thread or anything. She’ll still play with you. She’ll fetch a ball and do tricks. She can still take walks with you. She has some life left, but I’m not quite sure how to fix things so she can have it. I knew your parents might say no. But then I thought . . . I remembered that time you said you could hide me. I didn’t ask you to, of course, but then I thought, if you could hide me, maybe you could hide a little dog. She’s quiet. She doesn’t eat much. She can just have a little bit of whatever you’re having. She can’t be all alone in a hiding place all the time, though. I’m not sure that would be much better than what my dad had in mind. But if there was already somebody hiding in the hiding place, well . . . maybe they’d keep each other company.”

My hand stopped on the little dog’s back. I could feel the heat rise in my face, and I figured that meant it was reddening.

“But even if there was a person,” I said, “there might not be a person there for all that much longer.”

“Sure. Right. Well, here’s what I think about that. If you could keep her happy for a little while, and then you couldn’t anymore, and she had to take that last trip to the vet, at least she would’ve gotten a little more life out of it. I figure it’s still better than if she had to go today. But, look, I get it. It’s a big thing to ask a guy to do. It’s hard. But I was out of ideas.

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