Lety Out Loud

by Angela Cervantes

  Hunter nodded. “Yes, sir.” Then he glanced at Lety. “I was off the mark. I’m sorry.”

  Lety felt like her heart would explode with joy. Hunter Farmer had just apologized to her without an adult telling him to do it. Dr. V. caught her shy smile and smiled back. He rubbed his chin.

  “You actually remind me of Gaby,” he said to her. “She was a superb writer and she connected with the animals. She also stood up for herself. I bet you just wanted a chance to prove you could do it, didn’t you?”

  The knot that was crammed in her throat loosened. Tears formed in her eyes. It felt good that someone understood, especially because it was Dr. Villalobos who believed in her. She let out a few sniffles and Spike jumped onto her lap. He licked her chin a few times and then settled himself on her lap as if he was saying that he was on Team Lety.

  “Wow,” Dr. Villalobos said. “Spike doesn’t want you to be sad. I don’t either. I think I understand everything now.”

  Lety wiped a tear streaming down her cheek and gave Spike a kiss on one of his ears. Dr. Villalobos gazed down at the floor for a long time. Lety watched him, wondering if he was trying to decide their punishment.

  “Please, don’t kick us out like you did with Gaby,” Lety blurted. “I really love writing for the animals.”

  “I don’t want to be kicked out either. My grandma paid a lot for this camp,” Hunter said.

  “Wait? What? Who told you that?” Dr. V. asked.

  “One of the other campers,” Hunter explained. Dr. Villalobos shook his head slowly, but Hunter continued. “That’s why she’s not volunteering this summer.”

  “I wouldn’t kick anyone out unless they were maliciously hurting our animals,” Dr. Villalobos said. “Gaby loved the animals. She was deeply connected to all of them. They weren’t a game or a contest to her.”

  Lety felt a pang of guilt. She wanted the chance to tell Dr. V. that Spike was not a game or contest for her.

  “Gaby made a wrong decision. It was a misunderstanding. She thought she was saving a cat’s life. She’s not here this summer because she went to visit her mom. I would never kick her out and I’m not going to kick you guys out either.”

  Hunter exhaled hard, as if he’d been holding his breath the entire time. Lety felt relieved as the lump in her throat disappeared.

  “I have to know you can work together and that you are here to help the animals. Our animals are not a contest. They need real families and homes.”

  “I’m sorry, Dr. Villalobos,” Lety said. “I want to help the animals find homes. I really do.” Telling the truth was like a cool breeze on her warm face. She hoped Dr. Villalobos believed her. Spike gazed up at her with his brown eyes and barked as if saying he believed her with his whole heart.

  Dr. Villalobos chuckled.

  “Spike and I believe you,” Dr. Villalobos said. “But to ensure that you both have learned a lesson, you two will help out in the pantry. Mario and Kennedy will join you after I’ve had a chance to talk to them later today.”

  “But it was just me,” Hunter rushed to say. “It really was me. No one else.”

  “I know they were just as much part of the contest as you two. They’ll join you. We have the Wags and Whiskers Community Fest coming up and we’re giving away five hundred bags of pet food. For the rest of your time here, you can help with that. AND I still need more profiles. Please get started on profiles for Riley and Ailis. Deal?”

  Lety and Hunter nodded.

  “Drop the fancy words. Focus on writing wonderful profiles. Our furry friends deserve that. You guys can go straight to the food pantry for now. They’re expecting you.”

  Lety grabbed Spike into her arms and kissed him one more time. She placed him down on the ground. She turned to leave with Hunter, relieved that they weren’t being kicked out.

  “Lety,” Dr. Villalobos called out to her. “Your profile for Lorca is your best yet.”

  “Thank you,” she said, glancing down at Spike. She hoped Dr. Villalobos saw that regardless of the contest, she was definitely fit to be Spike’s forever family.

  “You found a way to use ‘supersonic’?” Hunter asked as they walked out of the clinic.

  Lety nodded.

  “I was wrong about you,” he said, and shook his head. “Really wrong.” Lety didn’t know how to respond, so she remained quiet as they walked side by side to the pet food pantry.

  While all of the other kids watched a demonstration about K-9 dogs outside, Lety and Hunter stood over a large barrel full of dry dog food. They wore aprons and oversized yellow rubber gloves. Lety and Hunter went to work fast, barely saying anything to each other. Soon, the only sound in the pantry was Lety and Hunter’s constant scooping and filling of plastic bags.

  Lety wasn’t sure where things stood with Hunter anymore. She still couldn’t believe he’d apologized to her, but now he didn’t even look at her. She wondered if he felt guilty for — as he said — being off the mark about her. She wanted to break the silence between them but wasn’t sure how. The last time he’d spoken more than ten words to her was when he was talking about his dog, Gunner. Yet she knew Gunner, for some reason, was a sad subject for him. She wasn’t sure she should bring it back up. She thought back to the day that she saw him outside waiting for his ride from the shelter.

  “You live with your grandma?” Lety asked.

  “I do now,” Hunter said.

  “You didn’t before?”

  Hunter shrugged and was silent for a few seconds.

  “It’s because my parents got divorced,” Hunter said. “My mom, me, and my little brothers moved in with my grandma because my dad refused to leave our house.”

  Lety’s mouth gaped open. “Sorry, that sounds bad,” she said.

  “It is bad and it keeps getting worse,” Hunter said with a scowl.

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s my dad doing what he always does,” Hunter said with another shrug. “He kept my Gunner because he was mad at my mom. Then a couple of weeks ago, he gave Gunner to my uncle Steve in Wichita. He didn’t tell me or anything. He said he was tired of my mom getting after him about returning the dog to us. He said it would be easier for everyone if he just gave the dog away to someone else because we didn’t have any money, but he’s the stupid reason we don’t have money anymore. And I didn’t …” Hunter’s voice trailed off and another familiar shrug followed.

  Lety dipped her scoop hard into the dry dog food.

  “Didn’t what?”

  “I didn’t even get to give her a kiss good-bye.”

  “That’s awful. Can you get her back?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What? She’s your dog. You have to get her back.”

  “I know, but what happened was that my grandma called my uncle and asked him to return Gunner to us. He said he took the dog to a shelter. He said Gunner was tearing things up in his house.” Hunter shook his head, like he was shaking off the memory of that conversation. “The thing is, Gunner never tore things up at our house. She’s a good dog. I think it’s because she didn’t want to be with him. She wanted to be with us.”

  “She missed you,” Lety added. “That’s why she acted up.”

  Hunter nodded in agreement. “I think that’s what it was. Anyway, my uncle says he doesn’t remember the name of the shelter so my grandma is calling as many shelters as she can during her breaks at work. My mom is calling, too, but there are a lot of shelters in Wichita.”

  Lety searched for the right words to say to Hunter. His story made her stomach twist. It was the worst story she’d ever heard. It felt almost as bad as the man yelling at them at the store.

  “That is why you were staring at Sawyer. You miss your dog.”

  “Every morning …” Hunter said, his face turning crimson. “I think of her every morning and night because she used to sleep in my bed with me. Before I went to bed, I’d read a story to her and my little brothers. We would tell her, ‘Choose a book, Gunner.’ And s
he’d take a book from the shelf with her mouth and bring it to us. Drove my mom nuts, but she was super smart.”

  Lety wondered if that’s why Hunter was such a good writer and reader. He was reading books every night to his dog and baby brothers.

  “When I wake up and think of her, I wonder if she wakes up thinking of me. Do you think dogs do that? Wake up and think of us?”

  “Yes, I do,” Lety answered as tears started rimming her eyes just thinking of Gunner far away — maybe in a cage at some shelter in Wichita — wondering when Hunter was going to show up and take her home. “I bet Gunner thinks about you and smiles in her own doggy way. You know how dogs stretch their mouths back and kind of pant like they’re laughing?”

  “Oh yeah, she would do that all the time,” Hunter said.

  “I bet that is what she is doing right now at that shelter. She knows you’re looking for her and smiles.”

  Hunter was silent.

  “I hope so,” he said finally. “Anyway, that’s why I’m here. My grandma enrolled me to get my mind off of my dad and Gunner. And I know this will sound bad, but the contest with you sort of helped.”

  Lety nodded. “I understand.”

  “I knew it was wrong. I really did. My mom and grandma say I’ve been a pint-sized jerk lately.”

  Lety let out a laugh, surprised that Hunter would admit being called a jerk.

  “And I was thinking …” Hunter continued. “You should write all of the profiles from now on. Yours are way better than mine.”

  Lety’s mouth dropped open in shock. Hunter chuckled.

  “I mean it,” he said.

  “I’ve been thinking yours are better. I almost quit after reading your profile on Kenzie.”

  “No way.” Hunter shook his head. “That Chicharito profile was really good. Especially the way you tied it in with soccer. Mario liked it, too. He just won’t tell you.”

  “Thanks,” Lety said, wishing so much that Kennedy and Brisa were there to hear everything. “I liked your profile about Kenzie and Brooks. Those are two of my favorites.”

  “So what should we do, then?”

  “Can’t we just keep sharing them? I’ll take Ailis, the poodle, and you can take Riley.”

  “Works for me. I can’t wait to see what you come up with next.”

  “I see barrels and barrels of pet food. That’s what is coming up next.”

  Hunter laughed.

  “I do have an idea for another project here at the shelter. Do you want to hear it?”

  “For sure,” Hunter said. Lety dug deep into the bucket of dog food. She’d never imagined that a bucket full of beef-flavored dog food would bring Hunter Farmer and her together on the same side. She spent the rest of the morning telling him what happened to her and Brisa at the store, and her idea to get Brisa back to the shelter and help all the furry friends find their forever homes. By the time she was done explaining, Hunter said he’d help. That is, if she wanted his help.

  She did.

  The next day, Hunter and Lety faced another full barrel of dog food when Kennedy and Mario trudged into the pantry wearing aprons and oversized yellow rubber gloves.

  “My hair is going to smell!” Kennedy whined. “This is gross.”

  “You can wear this shower cap,” Hunter said, pulling a transparent hair cap out from his apron pocket. Lety giggled, knowing that Kennedy would be annoyed at his silly offer.

  “Yeah, right,” Kennedy growled, pulling her long, wavy hair back into a ponytail. After a few seconds of watching Lety show them how to scoop pet food into bags and then tie the bags, Kennedy went at it like there was gold at the bottom of the barrel.

  “This ain’t a contest, Kennedy,” Hunter said.

  “What?” she asked. “Speaking of contest … Mario and I talked with Dr. Villalobos, and we decided that you deserved an apology, Lety.”

  Lety glanced over at Kennedy and Mario, confused.

  “For what?” She filled a bag with pet food and tied it.

  “I was all crazed poodle about this contest because I was still mad at Mario. I shouldn’t have encouraged it. You know how I am. I just wanted Mario and Hunter to shut up already.”

  “Nice language,” Mario quipped.

  Lety smiled at her best friend. “It’s okay. I know how you are.”

  “Kennedy is holding a grudge. She’s still mad about the soccer game last year when she touched the ball with her hand to get a goal and I called her on it.”

  “Whatever, Mario,” Kennedy said. “We still beat your team two to one.”

  “Should have been one to one. Anyway, the contest was my idea. So I want to say I’m sorry, too. I just wanted to help out my boy Hunter because he wanted to be shelter scribe and he didn’t want your help. Sorry, Lety. I deserve a yellow card.”

  “More like a red card,” Kennedy added.

  Lety stared down at the pet food. She wasn’t sure what to make of all these apologies. In English, there were so many ways to apologize. If Lety needed to get through a crowd in the school hallway, she’d say, “Excuse me.” If Lety couldn’t understand someone and needed them to speak slower, Lety used “Pardon me?” and if, by chance, she hurt someone’s feelings, she’d say, “Sorry.” The best part of saying sorry was it was almost always followed by another word she liked: forgive. And forgiveness meant moving on with her friends Kennedy, Mario, and Hunter. She only wished that Brisa were with her to see and hear all of it.

  “I forgive you,” she said.

  “But that’s not everything,” Hunter added.

  “You’re going to tell them?” Mario said. He shook his head. “This is going to get ugly.” He moved away from Kennedy and closer to Hunter.

  “What?” Lety asked. “What else?”

  “We were at Mario’s house playing video games and we came up with all these stupid words for you. Even though it wasn’t part of the deal we made. We changed the —”

  “I knew it!” Kennedy said, holding her metal scoop up in a threatening way. “You guys changed the rules!”

  “Guilty as charged,” Mario admitted. “That’s a penalty for sure.”

  “Augh!” Kennedy shook her head and angrily dipped her scooper into the barrel.

  “I knew you changed the rules,” Lety said. “I went along with it because I wanted to win fair and square. No extra help.”

  “I’m sorry,” Hunter said. “I got caught up in the contest. My mom says if I don’t sweeten up, Gunner won’t want to come home to me —” Hunter’s voice broke, stopping Kennedy and Mario mid-scoop.

  “Dude, you all right?” Mario asked.

  Hunter shrugged.

  Lety thought back to every rude comment Hunter had made to her, and in her head she made a list. One by one she deleted each insult and replaced it with each new kind gestured he’d made: the smile he gave her after the Rescue Team presentation, his apology in front of Dr. Villalobos, standing up for her with Mario about the contest, and now helping her with her new idea.

  “I forgive you, Hunter,” she said finally. “Again.”

  A smiled crossed Hunter’s face. “I’m going to help get Brisa back to the shelter. If I don’t want people to be a jerk to you and Brisa, I should start with myself.”

  “Whoa, Hunter,” Kennedy said. “That’s, like … mature.”

  “You said your dog was taken to a shelter in Wichita, right?” Lety asked. Hunter nodded. “Have you thought about asking Dr. Villalobos for help? I bet he knows the other animal shelters there. Maybe he can make a call and help bring Gunner home?”

  Hunter’s brown eyes shined.

  “Why didn’t I think of that?” he asked. “I’d give you a hug, Lety, but I smell like lamb chunks.”

  “Who cares, dude!” Mario laughed. “She smells like lamb chunks, too.”

  “We all do now,” Kennedy added.

  Hunter slipped off his yellow rubber gloves and leaned in for a hug, extending his arms wide open around Lety. Mario and Kennedy joined them and made
it a sloppy group hug. Lety couldn’t remember ever being so happy that she’d given someone a second chance.

  After an hour of shoveling dry dog food into bags, Lety and Hunter went to see Dr. Villalobos. They found him in the clinic. At his feet, Spike chewed on a squeaky toy.

  “Spike!” Lety squealed. Spike padded over to Lety and Hunter. Lety bent down to give him a good pet and a couple of kisses on his muzzle. “My favorite dog!” She dug into her pocket and pulled out a doggy treat. “Is it okay?” she asked Dr. Villalobos. He nodded.

  “Is Spike ready to be adopted yet?” Hunter asked, passing a sly glance over to Lety.

  “Almost,” Dr. Villalobos answered.

  Lety smiled, thinking of her own family and wondering if Dr. Villalobos had forgiven her enough to let her adopt Spike.

  “So what can I do for you guys? Everything good in the pantry?”

  “Hunter and I finished another fifty bags this morning,” Lety said. “Kennedy and Mario are still scooping away. We wanted to talk to you about a couple of things.”

  “What’s up?”

  Hunter cleared his throat and told his story about Gunner. He even pulled out his phone and showed Dr. Villalobos a couple of photos. By time he was done, Dr. Villalobos was on the phone with Daisy, asking her to call the Humane Society. Hunter emailed a photo of Gunner to Daisy.

  “We’ll do our best to find Gunner,” Dr. Villalobos said. “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

  “Thank you,” Hunter said. “Now it’s Lety’s turn. She has a really good idea.”

  “Talk to me, Lety.”

  “Do you remember my friend Brisa? She doesn’t come anymore to the shelter?”

  “Yeah, I heard it was something to do with her mom being pregnant. Is that right?”

  “No, it wasn’t that at all,” Lety continued. “Well, her mom is pregnant, but the truth is Brisa, me, her mom, and my baby brother went to the store last week and something bad happened. Brisa was translating for her mom at the pharmacy. The pharmacist was speaking Spanish, too, and this man in line behind them became upset. He started yelling at them that this was America and to speak English.”