After leaving the yard and the girls, the brothers walked in an uneasy silence.
Jared, horny and frustrated, was undeniably sore at his brother who had brought the fanciful frolic with the girls to such an unwanted end. He might have dwelled on it more, but their walk passed a hydrant. Without even thinking, his thoughts definitely elsewhere, Jared lifted a leg and gave the metal shell a quick spray. He lowered the leg, sniffed his handiwork, and fell back into step.
Kevin, however, had stopped in his tracks and now stared in disbelief at his brother's actions. Topping off his dismay was Jared's enthusiastic sniffing around the hydrant.
"What are you doing?" Kevin demanded unpleasantly. "Do you have to act like a dog?"
The scolding tone brought about a cringing reaction and a pleading whimper from Jared. He realized he had just done what felt natural and right, but that certainly didn't make him feel any better.
Kevin shook his head. "Dad's already upset," Kevin said with more sympathy. "If you could just not act like a dog in front of him."
Jared barked twice to show his disagreement in their pre-arranged means of communication. Why should he care about Dad? "I'm the one trapped as a dog!" Jared thought to himself.
"Are you mad at me?" Kevin asked.
Jared thought and decided to just tell the truth, giving Kevin a single bark.
"Why?" Kevin sounded offended. "What did I do?"
Jared whimpered at the memory of Rachel and her friends. He just shook his head.
"Was it those girls?"
Jared looked up in surprise. Maybe Kevin wasn't clueless.
"You shouldn't spend too much time with people," Kevin warned. "Dad would hit the roof if anyone found out about you."
Jared felt incredulous. It wasn't exactly at the top of his list to advertise he was a dog, but the girls had been such an amazing distraction. Kevin just worried too much. He barked once, mostly just hoping to get his brother off the topic.
"That's better," Kevin said, choosing to think he had gotten his stubborn brother to sign on.
But Jared was already lost in dreaming of the girls again. He passed the rest of the short stroll home remembering the incredible experience. It wasn't until Kevin was lifting the gate and tugging on the leash to get him to follow him into the yard that he paid serious attention to a pressure that had been slowly building in the background.
"Oh no!" Jared thought. He tugged on the leash, trying to get his brother to take him back to the curb.
"C'mon, boy," Kevin said, which obliged Jared to hang his head and obey. But the closing of the gate was like a trigger and he stopped, crouched, and quickly left an unplanned deposit.
"No," Kevin reacted badly. "Not in our yard. If Dad sees that he will not be happy."
Jared wasn't happy himself. The ego boost provided by the girls fawning over him was proving short-lived as the reality of his situation returned with a vengeance. It was even more humiliating as Kevin re-attached Jared's collar to the lead and scrambled for a way to clean up the mess.
Jared slumped in front of his doghouse. "This sucks," he thought glumly.