Nobody's Dog by Ria Voros Page A

huskies?”
    â€œNo,” I say, stepping back. “He just ran over.”
    I can feel Libby’s eyes on me, but I can’t look at her. I’m glued to Chilko. He’s acting like all his favourite people are here. I’ve never seen him so happy. At night he acts more quiet and aloof.
    â€œWe better get going, buddy,” George says. “You guys want to come?”
    â€œWell,” Libby begins.
    â€œWe can’t,” I finish for her. “We have to get home.”
    â€œSure. Nice to meet you, Jake,” George says.
    â€œIt’s J,” I say.
    â€œRight, J. See you around.” He leads Chilko out of the yard and up the alley.
    â€œBye, Chilko,” Libby says quietly beside me.
    As we walk across the next street, I try to find the right words. I know she’s suspicious. She hasn’t said anything, and that’s unusual.
    â€œI guess I’m a dog whisperer or something,” I mumble. Right after, I wish I hadn’t listened to J on that one. I want to tell her the truth or ask her if she knows, but even I know that’s the stupidest thing I could do.
    We walk into the next alley, past a fence with a yapping dachshund that waddles along beside us, protecting his yard.
    â€œThere was a story in all that, wasn’t there?” Libby says.
    â€œWhat are you talking about?” I ask too quickly.
    She stares ahead, as if trying to see something far away. “The way he greeted you. His wagging tail. It was pure happiness. I’d love to draw that.”
    Getting home is a blur because of all the new complications floating around in my head. Aunt Laura actually keeps her promise and takes Libby and me to the beach, but I can’t do anything but lie in the sand and think. It doesn’t even feel like thinking — it’s bouncing from one problem, one lie, to another. I can’t count how many I’ve told so far. It’s a pretty big number.
    My mom always knew when I was lying. It was some kind of superpower, like she could see inside me and find the lie circling around in my bloodstream. When I was five I lied about taking cookies from the package we were saving for a party. She stared me down until I started blubbing and confessed, in tears. From that day on, I couldn’t lie to her. Her power was too strong. But now that she’s not here, I can lie any time I want and get away with it. Part of me feels free when I lie, but another part gets a little more trapped.
    Libby wades in the water with a bucket, looking for crabs. Seagulls fly above her. Aunt Laura leans against a log and reads a magazine about the broken marriages of movie stars. It could be a scene from a perfect afternoon. Any stranger seeing us would think so. Only I know the truth.
    I must have dozed off because next thing I know, Libby’s shaking my foot.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œTime to turn over,” she says. Her head blocks the sun and for a second it’s like she’s surrounded by a halo.
    I must be losing it. “What?” I ask again.
    â€œYou’re burning. Time to do the other side.” She points at my legs, which are getting pretty lobsterish below my shorts. Aunt Laura offered me sunscreen but I was too lazy to put it on.
    â€œOr you could come help me with the crabs,” Libby says.
    â€œWhat?” I glance over at Aunt Laura but she’s asleep under the tent of her magazine.
    â€œYou say ‘what’ a lot.”
    â€œWell, you’re kind of random.”
    She kneels beside me, holding out a crab in her palm.
    I sit up, worried she’ll drop it down my shirt or something, but that would be what Grant would do.
    â€œI caught a bunch in a bucket and now I’m going to —”
    â€œLet me guess. You’re going to draw them.”
    She rolls her eyes. “No. I was going to make a race track for them. Didn’t you ever have crab races when you were a kid?”
    So we end up