a Coyote's in the House (2004) Read Online Free PDF Page B

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    I know they never bark, the dad said. Have you heard Timmy bark? I haven't.
    Buddy, lying in the grass with Antwan, said, They're talking about you. You hear them say 'Timmy,' cock your pointy ears and look up.
    Cody said, I think he's a junkyard dog.
    Whatever he is, the mom said, what do we do with him?
    Courtney said, I don't care what he is, and came over and got down next to Antwan and put her arms around his neck, tight, like she would never let go.
    Antwan squirmed and Buddy said to him, Easy, boy. What's she doing?
    Letting the mom and dad know she loves you, Buddy said. Telling them if you don't get to stay here it will break her heart. She'll cry and carry on, won't eat, won't do what she's told, until the mom and dad say to her, 'All right, but he's your dog, you'll have to take care of him.'
    Antwan said, Her hugging me says all that?
    It means you have a home, Buddy said. He paused now to look at the family on the patio having their breakfast and then at Antwan again.
    Something on his mind. Antwan could tell.
    What's wrong?
    Buddy said, You know what it means they say a dog is housebroken?
    Antwan said, No, what?
    Buddy said, Uh-oh.

    Chapter Five.
    All day long Buddy kept asking Antwan if he had to pee, and Antwan would say, No quit bothering me.
    When you do, be sure you go in the backyard.
    But that's your ground out there, you marked it.
    You can mark over my mark, it's okay. Just don't go in the house.
    Why would I? I don't go in my den.
    After that Buddy quit asking him.
    Antwan complained about the dry dog food. There's no taste to it.
    It's good for you, Miss Betty said, like that would make it taste better.
    Why don't they let us eat the garbage, Antwan said. Then the maid won't have to take it outside.
    Miss Betty said, Yuck, making a face, like eating garbage was the worst thing she ever heard of.
    Antwan said, Don't knock it if you haven't tried it. You too used to food comes out of a bag. That's what I'd call being housebroken, not the other thing, peeing on the carpet. You been in the house so long you've lost your taste for regular food.
    What Antwan had the most trouble with was knocking over things. Bump a table and the vase sitting there would fall on the floor and break. Hear a sudden noise, a radio turned on, his tail shot out, hit a bowl of flowers and got water all over the carpet. Anything he did like that, Buddy would give him a lecture on being careful.
    It didn't make sense to Antwan. What you had to be careful of were live things, not vases and bowls. See you don't step on snakes or get skunks looking ugly at you.
    He had trouble catching on to human speech, what the words meant when he was told not to do something. It would surprise him that they'd act mad and he'd think, What what'd I do? You keep hearing them talk, Miss Betty said, you'll start to pick it up. Listen to the tone of voice and how they move their bodies. But don't let on you know everything they're saying.
    Just obey the easy commands, Buddy said, and that'll make them happy.
    I haven't been told yet to roll over, Antwan said and looked at Miss Betty. I'll roll over for you if you'll check me for fleas.
    Trying to be funny but dogs didn't always understand coyote humor.
    Miss Betty said, I have a lady who grooms me, still snooty but starting to come around, interested in helping him become a dog.
    I get good at obeying, Antwan said, I'll enter the dog show with you, the beauty contest.
    Miss Betty stuck her black nose in the air saying, You have to be purebred.
    I'm pure lean and mean coyote, Antwan said. When you're ready for a run in the woods, lemme know.
    She never said she would, but Antwan was pretty sure now she was thinking about it.
    The kids played with him the first few days. Courtney would hug him and the next thing they'd be wrestling in the grass, the child not realizing Antwan could clamp his jaws around her throat and drag her into the shrubs. Antwan had to keep telling himself to act like her