Gladys

Gladys and Spider were playing dinosaurs—meaning his T. rex was attacking her apatosaurus for the umpteenth time—when Jude finally showed up. He looked worn to a nub. Mama tried her best to get him to sit down and have something to eat, but Jude said they needed to go home ASAP.

“Give that back,” he told Spider, pointing at the T. rex.

“He can borrow it,” Mama said. “He’ll bring it back next time, won’t you, Silas?”

“No,” Spider said.

Dada wanted to drive them home, but Jude said his mother didn’t let them take rides with people she’d never met. When they finally escaped her parents’ clutches, Gladys followed them out to the sidewalk.

“So? You got her there okay?”

He ran a hand from the back of his head up over the top, and it was as if he’d undone the strings of a mask. Suddenly his face was undefended. Unfortressed. For a terrible moment, Gladys was afraid he’d cry.

“She wouldn’t stop barking so I had to put her inside the house.” He swallowed. “She’s scared. She’s freaked.”

“And you left her? How could you leave her?”

He stared, as if Gladys had morphed into somebody else.

“Don’t!” His voice was fierce as a slap. “Don’t blame me!”

“I...I didn’t mean...But what if she keeps barking? And someone hears her? What if someone—”

“What was I supposed to do?” His hands curled into fists.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” Gladys was. She truly was sorry, for him and for True Blue. What a mess. A terrible mess and it was just as much her fault as Jude’s. Maybe more. But now was not the time to panic.

“We’re going to figure this out,” she said. “We did the right thing, I’m sure of it. We’ve got her in a safe place, and she knows we care about her.”

“So what?” He socked the tree lawn tree. Ow! She felt it in her own knuckles. Wincing, he turned away from her, but not before she saw tears leap into his eyes. He was even more upset than she’d thought.

“So what?” he said again. “Like everything’s going to be okay because we care?”

He made it sound so stupid.

“Yes,” she said, trying to sound sure. “You and me together!”

He clapped his hands over Spider’s ears.

“We stole a dog,” he whispered.

“We didn’t steal her. Anyway...anyway steal has many meanings. For example, if you steal someone’s heart, it’s a good thing.”

“So what do you call it, Ms. Vocabulary?”

“Rescued.”

“Yeah right.” He snorted. “Like if that woman finds out, she’ll say, Oh, you rescued my dog from me? That’s kind of annoying, but thanks so much!”

“She won’t find out. If we’re careful, we—”

Spider pulled free of Jude and made the T. rex attack the tree lawn tree. Leaves shaped like little fans drifted down.

“We can’t hide her forever,” Jude said.

“Obviously,” she said.

“What are we supposed to do, hop a freight train and take her somewhere else?”

“Obviously not.”

“Obviously,” he mocked her. “Then? What?”

“You could try to think of something, you know,” she said. “Why is it all up to me?”

The T. rex went on a rampage, biting them with its plastic teeth. Jude swung his brother up on his shoulders and started walking.

“Like I told you, my mother’s off tomorrow so you need to go.”

“I know. I’ll be there. No worries.” She scurried beside him as he gave her the directions again. “All right. I can find it. But wait. Jude!”

He kept going.

“Jude? This is no time to run amok!”

The T. rex roared.