Cal pulled out of his sister and began flicking his back paw wildly at the latch on the collar. It wouldn’t move. As the pads on his feet scrathced at the buckle, he could feel a small padlock hanging from the latch.
He looked up at Katy with fully human dread in his eyes.
“I put that on while you were fucking me. I guess you lost yourself in sex a little too much, bro,” Katy said, smiling. “Now your going to start listening to your big sister for a change, you little stud you.”
She snapped a leash on to his collar and lead him upstairs. Where were Peter and Mark, he wondered.
He soon got his answer. Katy lead him in to her room and locked the door. He heard her go outside, then the sound of a car starting. He looked out the window to see Katy pull Mark’s car up to the back door. She came inside, then emerged again, dragging a heavy plastic trash bag behind her. She struggled as she pushed it into Mark’s trunk. The shape of what was inside was unmistakable. He just couldn’t tell whether it was Peter or Mark's lifeless body in the bag. She went back in and repeated her efforts with a second bag. She then got in the car and drove it away.
Cal spent the next three hours searching for a way out of Katy’s room, but the door and windows were locked, and in his canine form he was unable to open them. Then he heard—or perhaps smelled—Katy approaching. He looked out the window and saw her coming back to the house, on foot.
She came up and unlocked the door. “Hi Cal! Have you been a good doggie?” She saw the scratch marks near the doorknob and window latch. “Oh, oh, bad boy!” she said mockingly. “Did doggie try to get away? I guess I won’t give you the treat I brought.” She held out a large rawhide chew. Somehow it made Cal begin to salivate, and he was disappointed when she put it back in her bag.
At that moment, he heard the front door open and his mom’s voice called up the stairs, “Anybody home?”
“Just me,” Katy called out as Cal raced down the stairs, hoping his mom could somehow help him.
“Oh my!” she yelled as he approached her. She was clearly scared. He sat and wagged his tail, looking her in the eye. He stared at her hoping she would see his humanity, recognize her son in his animal eyes.
Katy was coming down the stairs now. “Hi mom. Oh, don’t worry, that’s my new dog. Someone was giving him away, and I figured it’d be cool to have a pet up at college." She stroked his fur lovingly.
“Well make sure you get him neutered, if he isn’t already,” her mom intoned. “Your father insists on letting Buster run around without being neutered, and he’s nothing but trouble.”
“I don’t know mom, we’ll see,” Katy said. Cal looked up at her nervously, and she petted him reassuringly.
“Well, I just picked up dinner tonight so I wouldn’t have to cook,” Katy’s mom said. Where’s your brother?”
“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” Katy said excitedly. “Peter and Mark were over here, and they all decided they were going to spend the summer out on the road, driving around America. Some kind of Kerouac thing. I think they even said they might go down to Mexico.”
“That is just like your brother,” Katy’s mom said. “I wish he would have waited until we got home so we could have talked him out of it, or at least said goodbye.”
“I think that was the idea,” Katy said.
“Well, I’m sure he’ll be calling for money in a few days anyway.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Katy chimed back. “They were talking all about being their own men, answering to no one, charting their own destiny. I guess they want to wash dishes or whatever when they run out of money. He said the next time he’d talk to me would be in September.”
“Well, time will tell,” said Katy’s mom.
“Yes, time will tell,” said Katy, and scratched Cal behind his ears. “You know, I have a great idea! I’ll call my dog Cal, that way it’ll be like having him around all summer, and I’ll miss him less when I go back to school.”
“Oh, that’s not funny.”
“I’m serious,” Katy said, and picked up the dog’s leash.
Katy's mom looked at the dog. "Well, I must admit something about him does remind me of your brother. As long as Cal doesn't mind."
“I think he'll be fine with it, mom. You know he needs a walk, mom. They promised me he was totally housebroken. C’mon, Cal, c’mon boy,” she said to the dog as she led him out the door.