A Simple Case of Angels Read Online Free PDF Page B

smelled so awful to Nicola, but obviously not to June Bug.
    â€œWhat’s your dog’s name?”
    â€œJune Bug.”
    â€œHelp! Get them out of here!” a man’s voice called.
    The nurse bent down to pat June Bug. Behind her, Nicola could see an old woman hunched in a wheelchair beside the nursing station. She was wearing a bib, her head tipped forward. Somewhere nearby, commercials blared out of a TV.
    â€œSo cute,” the nurse said. “He or she?”
    â€œShe,” Nicola said.
    The man called for help again.
    â€œAnd you want to bring her to visit? I’ll have to ask Mr. Devon. He’s the manager. We’ve been under new management since the summer. There are so many different rules now.” She pursed her lips, and Nicola could tell she didn’t like these new rules.
    Meanwhile, the person calling for help was either coming closer, or yelling louder. “Help!”
    â€œI’ll tell you what, sweetheart. What’s your name?”
    â€œNicola.”
    â€œNicola, I’m Jorie. Come back tomorrow. I’ll run it by Mr. Devon this afternoon.”
    Around the corner came an old man in a stretched brown cardigan flecked with dried bits of food. He was bald except for his eyebrows — which were like insect feelers — and the tufts of white hair above and in his ears. The way he walked, stepping with his left leg and dragging the other up to meet it, his right arm dangling, reminded Nicola of a monster in a horror movie.
    June Bug rushed over with her usual greeting.
    â€œWho are you?” he boomed at Nicola.
    â€œMr. Milton,” Jorie said in a voice nearly as loud as his. She didn’t sound angry. She was trying to soothe him. “This little girl has dropped by with her dog. Maybe you’ll get to visit with them tomorrow, if Mr. Devon says it’s all right.”
    Words slurred from the stretched side of his mouth. “Are you a stranger?”
    Nicola was too frightened to answer.
    Jorie said, “She’s not a stranger. Her name is Nicola.”
    â€œDo not forget to entertain strangers!” Mr. Milton bellowed.
    Jorie patted the old man’s shoulder. “We won’t, Mr. Milton. We certainly won’t.”
    To Nicola she said, “Sweetie? Come back tomorrow.”
    Nicola turned to go, pulling June Bug, who seemed to want to stay.
    Back outside, Nicola paused on the ramp, gulping air that, though freezing, was at least fresh. Then she and June Bug retraced their steps down the snowy walk, June Bug leaping from footprint to footprint.
    They reached the sidewalk and had just turned for home when Nicola heard an ominous thunk behind her. A gray car pulling up at Shady Oaks.
    The driver got out, a man dressed in a dark overcoat, a large fur hat like a tea cozy, and tinted glasses. A cigarette dangled from his lips, his exhalations forming clouds in the cold air.
    When the man reached the place where the angel was swished out in the snow bank, he stopped, the way Nicola and June Bug had.
    What he did next made Nicola cringe.
    He stepped on the angel, sinking his boot knee-deep into the snow. He stamped and stamped.
    Then he continued up the walk to Shady Oaks Retirement Home.

8
    â€”
    Before bed that night Nicola stood in the bathroom brushing her hair. When it was loose, her hair reached her waist. But it was almost never loose because June Bug loved Nicola’s braid.
    June Bug sat at Nicola’s feet now, staring up, so the triangular flaps of her ears fell back. She looked so funny like that, her ears long and Chihuahua-pointed instead of folded like two small silky napkins, one black, one white.
    Once Nicola had finished brushing, she braided, weaving the thick sections of hair together over her shoulder.
    June Bug shifted from side to side in anticipation.
    Nicola secured the end of the braid with the hair elastic.
    June Bug bounced.
    â€œOkay, June Bug!”
    When Nicola leaned sideways,