by Seven Steps
Janice’s tutu.
I held out my hand and he placed it within my palm.
“She’s been by here,” Mya said.
“That means we’re on the right track,” Josh said.
My throat felt tight. Was Janice hurt? Afraid? Looking for a way to get home?
I didn’t really get along with the dog, but I didn’t want her to be hurt either.
God, please let her be okay.
I closed my fingers over the material and bit my trembling lower lip. Mya put her arm around my shoulder and I was grateful for it.
“We’ll find her, Pop. Don’t worry.”
“I just want her to be okay,” I whispered.
“She will be okay. We just have to be hopeful.”
I nodded, and stuffed the piece of tulle in my pocket.
We’d been out here for nearly two hours. It’d be dark soon.
I was afraid of Central Park in the daytime but at night I was certain to be absolutely terrified.
4
I kept my eyes open, searching for any signs of white through the trees.
Where could Janice have gone?
We’d been hunting and calling for her for another hour. We’d missed lunch and it would be dinner time soon. What if my parents called to check on me? What if the police had already picked up the dog?
I'd watched Lady and the Tramp back in elementary school. What if Janice had gotten bagged by a dog catcher? Did they still have dog catchers in New York?
The endless possibilities made my head spin and I tried to keep myself calm even though I was sweaty, my heart was racing, and the humidity had gone through the roof. I ran a hand through my hair. It had already started to frizz.
Drat!
“You should have brought doggy treats,” Mya said. “She’s probably hungry by now.”
“Unless she’s decided that we’ll never find her and she’s resigned herself to a life of homelessness.” My voice filled with panic with each word I spoke. “She’s probably rummaging through trash at this very moment, eating discarded pretzels and drinking from juice boxes.”
Caleb frowned. “How would a dog drink from a juice box?”
“It was a hyperbole, just go with it.”
Caleb laughed out loud, making me feel a little bit better.
“We'd better find her soon,” he said. He looked up at the sky. “The weatherman said it might rain later.”
Me, Mya and Josh followed Caleb’s gaze. Sure enough, dark clouds appeared on the horizon, staining the crystal blue coloring.
I picked up my pace.
“I can hear my mom now,” I said. I raised my voice and put on my mom’s southern accent. “Poppy Pritchett, how could you lose Janice? You broke our trust. You can be so irresponsible.”
I heard Josh suck in a breath, but I didn’t look at him. I was too worried about my mother’s ranting and raving if we didn’t find her dog. When all of her fury was directed at me, it felt like I was standing in the path of a category five hurricane.
Mya took my hand, comforting me.
Josh looked at me for a long time, then looked up ahead, searching the path before us.
“My dad used to say stuff like that to me too.” His eyes had taken on a hard, angry look. A look that sent my curiosity into overdrive. I'd never met Josh’s father. I'd seen him once, though. He’d come for a parent-teacher conference freshman year in a three-piece suit. There were rumors that he was some sort of politician or rich businessman but nothing was ever confirmed.
“He called you irresponsible?” Mya asked. Her blonde hair remained perfect, even in the rising humidity.
“Irresponsible. A brat. Spoiled. Selfish. He called me a lot of things, right before he threw me out.”
“What?” I stepped in front of Josh, indignation powering my movements. We’d stopped walking then. “He threw you out?”
Who would throw out Josh? He was sweet, kind, and a great listener. What more could Mr. Summers ask for? And who throws out a child? That’s something that happened on after-school specials and Dad's cop shows, not in real life.
Josh nodded, his expression guarded.
“Where did you go?” I asked. I kept my voice low, my words carefully chosen so as not to offend or embarrass him.
“Wherever I could find,” he replied.
My heart ached for him, and I rubbed at my chest.
“So that’s why you stopped coming to school,” Caleb said. “You didn’t have any place to live.”
“Yeah.”
Josh looked around the woods as if he was sorry that he’d shared something so personal.
I took in a breath, and closed the gap between us, taking his hand in mine and holding it tightly. He had been so kind to me earlier. I wanted to return the favor.
His smile was forced, a fake wall to hide the pain behind. I boldly ran my thumb across his knuckles and hoped that he didn’t notice how my hands shook.
“What happened?” I asked.
Josh shrugged. “It’s not important. What is important is that I proved him wrong. I finished high school, and I started helping others as best as I could. I don’t have a lot but I appreciate what I do have.”
“That’s why you wear the nurse’s scrubs,” Caleb said. “You’re a nurse?”
“Training to be one, yes,” he said. “Once I got my GED, I enrolled in a nursing program. I hope to work in a veteran’s hospital someday.”
“Why a nurse?” Caleb asked.
“And why a veteran’s hospital?” Mya added.
He shrugged, “Just my thing, I guess.”
And then he stepped around me and kept walking.
Somehow, I knew there was more to that story. I wanted to press him with more questions, but the moment had passed. Sighing, I walked on, my curious mind wondering exactly what made Joshua Summers tick. What were his secrets, his dreams, his ambitions, his aspirations? What things made him stand up and take notice?
Could I be one of those things? Could he stand and take notice of me?
We kept walking, finding little tuffs of white dog fur here, and little pieces of tutus there.
We were definitely on the right track, but Janice still had yet to appear.
We walked through winding paths, searching and calling for Janice for what felt like forever. The sky grew darker above us and, with it, the light in the park deepened.
I bit my inner cheek to keep myself from screaming and running back home.
This was it. The thing I feared. Being in Central Park at night. Every TV show I’ve ever watched started off this way. Some woman or some teens in the park at night, and then the criminals came out and, bam, dead bodies everywhere.
I wish I had mace or something. At least that would make me feel better.
“You okay?” Josh asked.
“I shook my head.”
I’m not the biggest fan of parks,” I said. “Especially not at night.”
He grunted. “Yeah. Scary trees, creepy wind, possible murderers. I get it.”
My eyes shot to him. “You do?”
“I like cop shows just like everyone else, I guess.”
I let out a breath. He understood. Some of the tension left my shoulders.
“But the good thing is that you’re here.”
“But I’m afraid.”
“Yes, but your you’re still here. You faced your fear all to find a dog. That’s saying something.” He stopped walking and turned to look at me, a small smile on his face. “I find your bravery highly respectable.”
“You think I’m brave?”
“Yes. You’ve left your comfort zone to help someone, even if that someone is a dog. That’s brave, Poppy.”
I bit the soft flesh of my inner cheek as Josh’s eyes bored into mine.
“I think you’re brave too,” I said. “You didn’t give up when your dad kicked you out. That’s highly respectable.”
I expected him to accept my compliment. Maybe even reward me with a smile.
He looked away instead.
“I’m not brave,” he said. “I deserved to be thrown out.”
I stepped closer, squeezing his hand.
“Why happened, Josh?” I asked. “You can tell me.”
Josh peeked at Mya an Caleb, still far enough ahead so as not to hear our conversation. Then he looked back at me.
“My mom died when I was seven. Dad was running for senator at the time,” he said. “He dropped out, then last year decided to run again. He wasn’t home much. So I did what every other fifteen year old kid does when they’re rich and left unsupervised. I fell in with the wrong crowd and started partying and drinking.” He shrugged as if trying to shake the bad memory off of him. “One night, my friends went to this party, and by the time I got there they were already drunk, so I started drinking too. By the time we left, I was the only one who could remember where the car was parked.”
He looked down at his sneakers for a while, shaking his head back and forth as if he disbelieved his own story.
“I got behind the wheel and I drove my buddies home. I dropped Todd off okay. Then Charles. I got to Dawson’s house and I dropped him home, but when I went to pull out, I stepped on the gas too hard and the car flew across the street and hit another car.”
Josh’s voice choked, and he cleared it a few times. When he spoke again his voice was thick, the veins in his neck bulging.
“I thought the car was empty but it wasn’t,” he finally said. “There was a man in there. A war vet, just coming home. I hurt him pretty bad and we both ended up in the hospital. When my dad got there, he was furious. He said that he would get me out of this mess, but that it would be the last time. He said that I had ruined his chances of being elected and that I was a disgrace the family.”
His eyes took on a faraway look as if seeing it all again.
I felt a lump rise in my throat.
“The vet was banged up pretty bad, and dad just dumped him in a crap hospital and gave him a bunch of money for him to shut up about it. The guy ended up okay, but it took way longer then he should have. The second I was discharged, dad changed the locks and moved into a place across town.”
How heartless. How cruel. My parents were no saints, but I was certain they’d never leave me out in the cold like Josh’s father had done. My heart squeezed painfully when I thought about what Josh had been through. Even more painfully when I thought about that poor vet who was just trying to get home.
“That’s awful. How did you survive?” Mya asked.
“I couch surfed for a while. Then one of my friends gave me some cash, got me some services. Eventually, I got a job and my own place. I started school, and now I’m here.”
“So that’s why you left school?” I asked.
Josh nodded. “I had to. I needed to get my life together.”
“So this is your life then?” I asked. “Selling fake purses and going to nursing school?"
Josh shook his head. “No. My buddy, Dawson, one of the guys from the party, had to leave early. His wife was going into labor with my god-nephew. I was just watching the table for him. I was about to pack up though. It was too hot and I had to get to school so...” Josh looked so sad, so forlorn, that I stepped closer, hoping to comfort him with my presence. “I see the vet sometimes. Down at the VA Hospital. I volunteer there a coupe of times a week. His name is Bernie, and I bring him snicker bars because they’re his favorite. I’ve asked him over and over to forgive me for what I did to him. But, no matter how much he says he has, I can’t believe it.”
He sniffled, and wiped his nose with the back of his hand.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to tell such a boring story. Especially since we were having such a great time.”
I shook my head. “No Josh. Thank you for sharing that with me. And, for what its worth, I don’t think you should be so hard on yourself. That guy, Bernie, he’s forgiven you. Maybe it’s time you forgave yourself.”
“How can I do that when I’ve done such a bad thing? Even my dad didn’t want me.”
“You were a mixed up kid who made some bad mistakes. But that doesn’t make you a bad person. And your dad, he’ll come around. And even if he doesn’t, you have proven to him that you’ve changed. You’re in school, you’re achieving your goals, and helping your friends when they need you. You’re brave, Josh. To carry on is an act of bravery.”
He smiled. “I thought you were the brave one.”
I smiled back. “Maybe we can be brave together.”
Josh gently pulled my hand, making me step into the circle of his arms. I wanted to stay like this forever. To never let him go. He felt so right in my arms. So perfect, like he belonged there. Like we were meant to be together.
Imagine, years of dreaming of Josh Summers and here I was, hugging him after he’d poured his heart out to me. I felt as if life had turned upside down. As if nothing would ever be the same again.
“Thank you, Poppy Pritchett.”
“Your welcome.” I hugged him tighter, squeezing myself into his hard chest, feeling at ease and soothed here. Not even the darkness that had started to descend on Central Park could change that.
Amazing that I was so afraid to come into Central Park, and now here I was, standing in the heart of it while holding the boy I’d dreamed about.
Maybe this place wasn’t so bad after all.
In the distance, the thunder rolled.
“Ok, break it up,” Mya said. She’d come back to stand next to us, a huge grin on her face.
“We better find that dog before the floodgates open up.”
The thunder rolled again. Black clouds dueled with the sun and, for a few moments, the sun won. Its intense warm rays rained down on me. It was as if God were telling me that I was alive and that I would be all right. With my friends around me, I believed it.
Suddenly, Caleb stopped walking.
“Do you hear that?” He asked.
“Hear what?” Mya asked.
“That!”
And then he was gone, racing down the path and out of sight.
What the heck had just happened?
5
Caleb, like Janice, had vanished.
This left me, Joshua, and Mya to wander through the trees and bushes, calling for Caleb and Janice as if the two were an old forgetful, married couple who’d run off into the woods.
Meanwhile, above, the last of the sun’s golden rays were finally snuffed out as it lost its battle with the blackness. The clouds bellowed their victory with thunder that shook the earth below.
I crossed my arms in front of me and picked up my pace. I hated thunderstorms. Especially when I was outside when they happened.
Where was Caleb?
I imagined the world of trouble that I’d be in when I returned to our apartment building.
I’d missed my parent’s lunch phone call by now. Maybe even dinner. Mom would’ve called no less than one hundred times. After the hundredth voicemail and text, she’d call Caleb’s mom, Maria. When Maria couldn’t find her son, she’d call Mya’s mom Carrie. When all three moms had worked themselves into a frenzied panic, they’d get the fathers involved. Then the police. Then the mayor of New York, and, finally, the president himself.
I tried to estimate how long until helicopters started circling overhead.
Not long now.
Thunder shook the sky again, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.
“Are you okay?” Josh asked, stepped closer to me.
I nodded. “I just hate thunderstorms.”
The wind picked up, blowing hair around my face. I brushed it back behind my ear with one finger, remembering how Josh had done the same earlier.
“I do too,” Josh said, looking up into the sky.
“You don’t show it.”
He shrugged. “I’m a guy. I’m not supposed to show that I’m afraid.”
A fat raindrop fell onto my nose, pulling me from Josh’s gorgeous blue eyes. I looked up
at the sky. It was nearly all black now. As if the planet had just decided to turn out the lights.
“Guys!” Mya shouted. “I hear it now. Listen. I hear the dogs.”
She grinned, then ran off like Caleb had earlier.
“Is this some sort of game?” Josh asked.
“No, I think she found something,” I said. “Let's go before we lose her.”
Josh grabbed my hand, and we ran. I didn’t know if my heart was beating so fast from the thunder, the run, or from his touch.
In any event, I liked it.
Mya’s boots disappeared through a thick grove of trees.
We followed, the leaves and branches scratching at my face. Finally, we burst through the trees and into a clearing. A clearing filled with dogs.
The rain came harder as I took in the sight.
A sign that read, Central Park Dog Fair was being taken down from between two poles. Colorfully tents were being disassembled. Large trucks had parked close by, giving the vendors a dry place to put their equipment. And, in the middle of it all, dozens of dogs ran, jumped, frolicked, and played in the clearing, not minding the fat raindrops that wet their coats. And there, in the middle of those dogs, was Janice.
I groaned in relief.
Her pink tutu was in tatters and her matching pink leash was mysteriously missing but she was alive and well.
I was so happy to see the dog that I let go of Joshua’s hand, ignored the rain and thunder, and ran to Janice, scooping the pup into my arms and hugging her tight.
“Janice we’ve looked everywhere!” I cried. I took in a deep breath of the dog's wet fur and grimaced.
Somebody will need a bath when we get home.
But that didn’t matter. What mattered was that Janice was safe and sound. My life could finally get back on track. I hugged the dog even tighter.
A big husky circled my feet, waiting for me to release its friend.
Janice, ever the diva, allowed only a few more seconds of hugs before she began to wriggle, anxious to get back to the husky.
I conceded, and let the dog down, watching with delight as the dogs ran and played in the rain. There was a freedom in their movements. A joy that I couldn’t describe. The relief that flooded me at Janice’s safe return made tears well up in my eyes. I vowed then and there that me and Janice would be more like friends instead of feuding sisters.