Page 56 of Hound Dog
“I’ll try that!” her oldest son said.
The mom held up two fingers. “Make that two Completos.” Then, she dropped her palm on top of her youngest son’s head. “What about you, Marcus?”
His face twisted. “In school, we learned that hotdogs have all the gross parts no one wants to eat.”
His mother sighed, clearly having heard this before. “But Marcus, youlikehotdogs. You’ve always liked them.”
I stepped out from behind the hotdog stand and crouched in front of Marcus. “You know, I was just like you,” I said to him. “I used to love hotdogs until I saw how the sausage was made… literally. So, I switched to veggie dogs. They’re almost as good. And I don’t feel guilty eating them.”
The boy’s eyes grew wide. “Mom, canIhave a veggie dog?”
The mom looked concerned. “Oh, sweetie, I don’t know that he sells them here…”
“I do, actually. What kind of business would I be if I didn’t serve my favorite hotdog? So, what do you say, Marcus? Want to try a vegetarian Completo dog?”
He nodded, his eyes growing wide, and as I stood, his mom mouthedthank youto me.
I glanced quickly over at Simon who was reading a book and I grimaced. As soon as I finished this order, I was going to have to instruct him to put the book away. Not many people will interrupt someone who’s reading to pet their dog. It was just one of those weird things.
Not to be trifled with, Haylee was ready with two sample cups of guacamole and chips for them to try each.
“Next big question,” she said. “Finn and I are having a friendly little competition. So, if you could taste each of these samples and tell us which guacamole you want on your dogs, we would appreciate it!”
The mom smiled and handed each of her boys a couple chips. “Fun! Go for it, boys.”
The boys chose Haylee’s, but the mom chose mine… which brought us to an exact tie so far for the day.
Haylee smiled smugly and crossed her arms. “Two out of the three chose my guacamole.”
“Yeah,” I countered, “But those two also ate boogers for breakfast, so I’m not sure how much I’d brag about that if I were you.”
She laughed and shoved my shoulder. “You’re a sore loser.”
“Loser? The day’s not over yet. And last I checked, we were tied.”
“Not forlong.”
I glanced back at Simon and sighed. I’d really hoped he would put the book away on his own. “Hold on,” I said to Haylee. “I’ve got to check in with Simon.”
“No problem.” She scooped a few more guacamole samples and topped each cup with a couple of chips. “I’m going to garner up some more customers.”
Damn. With Haylee as a business partner, not only was Hound Dog making money… but so was the hotdog cart. Something told me she could be successful at just about anything with that competitive nature of hers.
I unmuted my microphone. “Simon,” I said. “You’ve got to put the book away, dude. I can’t quite explain why, but a book tends to make just about everyone super unapproachable.”
“Seriously?” he said. “What am I supposed to do? Sit here and do nothing?”
“I know, I know. It feels really weird. Do you have your laptop? You could be on that. It’s still not ideal, but people interrupt others on laptops all the time.”
“That doesn’t even make sense. Why would they interrupt one and not the other?”
“I can’t explain it dude. But it’s just how it is. How many girls have come up to you since you started reading?”
He paused, then sighed. “Not a single one.”
“And how many came over to pet Rosie before you opened your book?”
“Three,” he answered automatically. “But I only got the one girl’s number… and only because you told me to. I wouldn’t have asked for it otherwise.”
