In Mike We Trust by P. E. Ryan

Author:P. E. Ryan
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: HarperCollins

9

The following Saturday, he was hurriedly slapping a broom over the worn boards of the porch when his mom opened the door. Without stepping outside, she peeked cautiously into the bottom mailbox. “Thank goodness,” she said. “No bills. What’s your rush?”

“I’m running late,” he said. “I’m meeting Lisa, and she’ll flip if I keep her waiting. I’m already sort of on her bad side.”

“Well, you can always sweep the porch tomorrow. Why are you on Lisa’s bad side?”

He paused, cut her a glance, then resumed his slapdash work. “No reason. She’s just in one of her moods.”

“Happens to all of us, now and then,” she said. “Do you need any spending money, by the way? I know you’re in between pay periods, and, knowing you, you’re probably depositing your whole check into your bank account.”

“I’m fine,” he told her.

“Well, let me know if you need any. For movies or whatever.”

“Thanks.” He kept his head down, his face burning with guilt.

“Do you want anything from the grocery store?”

“I’m not picky,” he said.

“Okay. Remember that the next time I come home with generic Oreos.” She disappeared back inside, closing the door behind her.

He was pushing what little dirt he’d amassed over the sides of the porch and onto the grass when he heard a “Psst” from the front window. When he turned around and squinted through the screen, he saw Mike squatted down on the other side, peeking beneath the bottom of the half-drawn shade.

“The hawk takes flight by moonlight,” Mike said.

“Huh?”

“That’s secret agent talk. I have a question for you.”

Garth waited, still holding the broom.

“I was thinking about that shelter where you volunteer.”

“What about it?”

“Do you think they’d let you borrow a couple of dogs for a day?”

“Borrow?”

“Yeah. You know, round up a couple of them and…borrow them for a day.”

The front door opened again. Garth’s mom stood on the threshold, half in and half out of the house, her purse hanging from her shoulder and her grocery list in hand. She was staring down at Mike.

“Why do you want to ‘borrow’ dogs?” she asked him. “We have Hutch.”

“Hutch is great. But I’m a huge dog lover,” Mike said smoothly. “I’m nuts about them. I shared a Rottweiler with my ex-fiancée, and she got custody when we broke up. I really miss him. I just thought it would be fun to spend some time with some dogs one afternoon. You know, walk them around. Air them out. Take them to one of those dog parks.”

“Oh,” Garth’s mom said. “Why are you crouched down at the window?”

Mike straightened up so that only his knees were visible beneath the shade. Garth imagined him on the other side of the wall, performing some smooth, offhanded shrug. “Just trying to be funny. You making a grocery run? Need some help?”

“No, thank you,” his mom said.

“All right. But I’m chipping in a third of the bill later. No arguments.”

After she’d left, Mike emerged onto the porch and gazed up and down Floyd Avenue. “Nice day,” he said.

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