The Feast of Love - Charles Baxter [23]
“Well, not really. Not anymore. He’s bonded with us.”
“Bonded with you? Wait wait wait wait wait,” I said. “We had a deal, Agatha. We agreed. The deal was, you were going to board Bradley for a month or two, you know, enjoy his company, like you would a foreign exchange student, and I would pay you for expenses if need be, and then you were going to give him back.”
“I know, but that was then. This must sound like a surprise,” Agatha said. “But, as I say, we’re not going to return him. We’re not going to because we can’t. I’m really sorry, Bradley, but we’re in love with him. The love is total and goes both ways. The foreign exchange student stays.”
“Agatha, don’t talk to me about love. Kathryn has left me, I’m alone here, I’m very upset, what with my marriage suddenly over, and I need a dog. That dog, that specific dog, and no other. Bradley.”
“Oh, sweetie, believe me, I understand. My heart goes out to you,” she said. “You know that. I think what Kathryn did to you was just unforgivable. And cruel. She was selfish. She was always selfish. Forgive me, but she was a real bitch, that woman, leaving you without so much as an apology. I’ll never speak to her again. But Harold and I have talked about this, and we think that you should go back to the Humane Society and get another dog. I mean, something truly extraordinary has happened here with us and Bradley. I can’t describe it. Besides, you can fall —”
“ — Don’t say that. Don’t say I can fall in love with another dog.”
“I wasn’t going to say that at all,” she said, although, of course, she was. “I was going to say . . .” But my sister is not all that quick-witted and couldn’t think of a substitute for what she had planned to announce to me.
“Agatha, you gave me your word.”
“Well, I’m taking it back. It’s null and void.”
“You can’t take your word back after giving it,” I said. “That’s dishonorable.”
“No? Well, unless I miss my guess, I just did. And honor: well, that’s such a guy thing.”
“Agatha, I want that dog. For God’s sake. This is not a joke. I’m talking about my stability here.” There was a long pause. Then I said, “Now that I think about it, I could never count on you.”
“Bradley, really, I’m sorry, but as their mother, I have to think of the kids. They just love Bradley. He’s a great kid dog. They can pummel him and he doesn’t mind at all. He’s what they call a nanny dog. This dog contributes to family values.”
“Oh no. Jeez, this is like always. Damn it, you always took things and never gave them back. You took my toys and wrecked them. You wrecked the wind-up parking garage and then later you took my car, I mean my real car, the green Pontiac, when I was in college, and you dented it and you never told me until I saw the dent. I should’ve remembered how you do that. But I thought: this time I can trust Agatha.”
“Let’s not go over that dent business again. I am so tired of hearing about that famous dent. And about trusting me? I guess you were wrong. The dog is bigger than that.”
“Agatha, is Harold there?”
“Nope, he’s down at the barbershop. It’s Saturday morning. Busy time for haircutting.”
I heard Bradley barking. I sensed that he knew I was on the line, that I wanted him back. “I’m going to call Harold.”
So I hung up on her and called Harold’s barbershop.
“Harold,” I said, “I want that dog back.”
“Hey, bro,” he said in his friendly way. “Whassup? I’m kinda busy right now.”
“It’s about my dog,” I said. “I just talked to Agatha. She’s being stubborn. She won’t give me Bradley back, she says.”
“Oh, that. Well, I know, but, understand, she’s real insistent and everything, and she does have a point. She’s pretty hard to fight with when she has a point.”
“She gave me her word.”
“Yeah, well. Your sister does that,” he said with a sigh.
“Harold, I’ve got to have that dog. Kathryn left me and I’m a wreck.”
“You sound like a wreck, I agree with you about that. But listen, Bradley, the kids have gone all crazy about that animal, and I don’t think I can return him to you. It’s not all that easy, taking a pet away from children.