“Ben,” she says. “I didn’t mean you.” When there’s no response, Shelby says, “Are you there?”
“I’m here,” he tells her, but she can’t help but wonder for how long.
After the kids are safely home, Shelby helps Jasmine with her ecology report, grateful that she herself is taking a bioecology class this semester and therefore knows more than she ever expected to about recycling. When they’re through, Shelby is so exhausted she falls asleep on the floor and doesn’t wake until past dinnertime. She was supposed to have made meatballs with tomato sauce. That’s what’s on the schedule. Instead she goes into the kitchen to look through the restaurant section of the local paper.
“How’s House of Chen?” she asks Jasmine.
“We don’t go there,” Jasmine tells her. “It’s too expensive.”
Shelby orders pork fried rice, spare ribs, orange-flavored beef, white rice, and General Tso’s chicken. She gets an order of egg rolls for the twins.
“I’m not going to like this,” Teddy assures her after the delivery guy drops off the food. Shelby has already dumped the fortune cookies in her backpack. No reason for these kids to think the future will be handed to them on slips of paper.
“Me either,” Dorian agrees.
“Good,” Jasmine says. “More for me.”
They all eat huge plates of food. After dinner, while Shelby is rinsing the silverware, Dorian comes up to stand beside her at the sink.
“The monster didn’t bark at me today,” he says.
“He’s a Great Pyrenees. His breed of dog was used in the mountains in France to rescue people. They would go through snowdrifts and find people who were lost in avalanches, just like Saint Bernards.”
“So they’re saints, too?” Dorian asks.
“Kind of.”
“I liked the food,” Dorian says.
Shelby knows there’s no point feeling this way about someone you’re only spending a few days with.
“Thanks, Dorian,” she says.
Dorian stays in the kitchen while Shelby washes the dishes.
“So maybe I’ll rescue him,” she says casually. “What do you think?”
“Good idea,” Dorian agrees. “I was thinking the same thing.”
When the boys are in bed and Jasmine is in her pajamas, lying on the couch with Blinkie and the General, Shelby borrows one of Maravelle’s jackets and slips it on. It’s black leather and fits her perfectly. She has the wire cutters and gloves. At the last minute, she grabs the container of leftover orange-flavored beef.
“I’ll be back before you know it,” she tells Jasmine. “Don’t open the door.”
Jasmine is suddenly interested. “Where are you going? Do you need me?”
In her pajamas, without any makeup, Jasmine looks like a little girl. She has Blinkie sitting on her lap as if he were a stuffed animal.
“Thanks, but this is a one-person job.”
She runs all the way.
There is the big dog, at the end of his chain, watching the street. He sees her and stares.
“Don’t make any noise,” Shelby tells him.
She begins to cut through the fence. She’s breathing too hard because she’s nervous. Maravelle will kill her if she ever finds out Shelby left Jasmine in charge so she could commit a felony or a misdemeanor or whatever breaking and entering to steal personal property is considered.
Shelby rolls the fence back. She’s seen it done on TV. Then she climbs through. The big dog looks at her, but doesn’t lunge. Shelby waves the container of orange-flavored beef, then pours some on the ground. The dog comes to devour the Chinese food. While he does, Shelby cuts his chain from the pole. He looks up at her, drooling. He has streaks of blood on his fur along with dirt and oil and lots of drool. He makes her think of a screwed-up piece of modern art.
“Pablo Picasso,” Shelby says. She grabs the end of his chain. “Let’s go, Pablo.”
Shelby crouches back through the fence, and the dog follows behind. She can feel his weight on the other end of the chain. As soon as they’re through, Shelby sprints off and the dog runs behind her. When they get to Maravelle’s, she takes him into the yard. There she bends over, hands on her knees, and tries to catch her breath.
Jasmine has heard something; she cracks open the back door to take a peek, then rushes out, Blinkie in her arms. “Oh my God! You’re crazy!” she cries out. “You can’t bring that thing here!”
General Tso races through the open door, barking.
“Grab him,” Shelby shouts, afraid the big dog will snap up the General in one bite, but it’s too late. The General runs up to the Great Pyrenees, yapping. The big dog leans down and sniffs him. The General gives off a few more soulful barks, then sniffs back.
“My mother will kill you,” Jasmine says.
“She won’t know. And stop staring at him. He’s been abused, that’s why he looks this way.”
They go inside, all of them.
“She will seriously kill you,” Jasmine says in a hushed voice.
Shelby grabs a bowl and fills it with kibble. The Great Pyrenees eats it up in a few gulps.
“Do you think he’ll attack Blinkie?” Jasmine asks.