Page 16 of Puppy Love

I get an hour lunch break every day. And every day, I spend it walking Reese to Al’s Taco Truck a couple blocks down. I order my lunch, then sit on a nearby bench and feed him the scraps of chicken that inevitably fall onto my lap. Reese trots seamlessly next to me, each step matching perfectly with mine. My phone rings in my pocket, and it’s no surprise to me when I read the name dancing across the screen. I click the “answer” button, then lift the phone to my ear.

“You fucked one of your employees?!”

Typical Ruthie. No “hi,” no “how are you?” I blow an elongated sigh through my pursed lips.

“Well hello to you too,” I say sarcastically, but I could never be mad at Ruthie. Like Reese, she’s pretty much my child too. Or was. She’s all grown up now.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” she says. I can practically hear her waving her hands in the air dismissively. “Details. Now.”

“It...” I pause, trying to choose which details I want to include and which would be better left out. “It was a misunderstanding.”

Ruthie waits a beat before answering. “So, she wasn’t your employee?”

“No, she was. I just—”

“Well, you’re being confusing, Vi! Just get to it!”

I don’t know how exactly Ruthie grew up to be so bossy because it sure as hell didn’t come from me.

“Will you stop that?” I shoot back. “It isn’t funny! I could get into serious trouble if Angela finds out.”

I hear a quiet babble in the background, which is probably my niece Willow. Next, a loud, “Don’t touch it Willow, you’re ruining it!” which would be my older niece, Tyler. Ruthie says something inaudible to her, then comes back to the phone.

“Sorry. Willow is trying to draw on top of Tyler’s cat drawing. Oh-dog. Sorry. Does she know that?”

I furrow my brows. “What?”

“This Cam girl. Does she know about the giant stick up your boss’s asshole?”

I can’t stop myself from letting out a hearty laugh, then clasping a hand over my mouth, ashamed for it. Angela might be a really strict boss, but it was still mean. Mean and funny.

“I-I don’t know actually.”

“Well, you better figure it out. Next thing you know she’s bragging about shacking up with her manager, and you’re both sleeping in my backyard. I’m out of space, Vi. No vacancy.”

I sigh, shaking my head. “Maybe you should kick them out then,” I say. “But I don’t think she’s going to be bragging about us anytime soon.”

Ruthie ignores my comment about our parents taking up residence in her home. “That bad huh?”

“Well…” I think about what to say. It wasn’t bad. Not at all. It was amazing, actually. Up until it was suddenly not happening anymore. “It was good while it lasted.”

Ruthie chuckles, clicking her tongue.

“Well, that’s probably normal for someone who just went through a divorce. Don’t take it too hard.”

“Shut the fuck up,” I say.

Then, we say our goodbyes and hang up. Ruthie never says hello, but she always says goodbye.

When we arrive at the taco truck, Al already has one chicken taco and one tostada ready to go when I approach the window.

“Whatchu smiling at?” Al asks, his thick mustache like a small nest over his upper lip.

“What, I can’t smile?”

I take the food from the man’s outreached hands and replace it with four wrinkled dollar bills and three quarters.

“I just haven’t seen it in a while.” He shrugs and tosses a piece of chicken to Reese, who snaps his jowls closed around it mid-air.

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