Spot and Smudge - Book One

by Robert Udulutch

  Aila heard Kelcy laughing from her room. Spot had the run of the house after that, but he wasn’t allowed outside except on a leash. They still had to make sure to clean up and spray his poo. He slept in Ben’s room most nights, even if Ben wasn’t home. When Kelcy or one of the parents came to check on him they would end up curling up with him on the bed until the next morning.

  Other than the frequent short trips home, Ben was at Mimi’s either holding Smudge or camped out on a blanket next to the little puppy. Kelcy and the rest of the family filled in and took turns, but often with Ben looking over their shoulder.

  Ben had slowly taken over Smudge’s care and recovery. Mimi kept a careful eye on him, but Ben had assumed more and more of the nursing as he become proficient, including updating the log they kept.

  Aila and Mimi discussed Ben’s late hours and single mindedness with a mixture of pride and worry. They had talked about forcing him to take a few days off but he was sticking to Mimi’s strict rules of eating well and resting when Smudge slept. Aila was pushing but Dan said they had promised not to step in if he kept up his end of the bargain. It could only last a few more weeks either way, Dan pointed out somberly, and Ben was handling the whole situation well so far. They all agreed that the tragedy was bringing out the best in the boy, and decided to give it a while longer.

  The last three days had been the toughest, and then things got worse. Shortly after Mimi had left for the store Smudge had lost all of the fluids they had put into her that morning. She started to whine like she never had before. Over the course of the next few hours Smudge slowly became unresponsive. Her heart rate was elevated and she was panting and drooling constantly.

  In the past Ben could get a wag out of her even at her worst, but now she only opened her eyes to look at him for a moment before laying her head back down on top of her chicken. She stayed that way for another hour, and then she started to shake. It was just a little tremor at first but then she began to quiver steadily, and a few times shook violently. They moved her to the kitchen table under the warming light and pulled back the small soft towel she was swaddled in. Mimi took her temperature again, and shook her head.

  Ben stared at the little black shivering puppy for a long while and then said, “It’s time, Mimi. Get the needle.”

  Kelcy started to cry and Mimi retrieved the medical tray Ronnie had given her. She set it on the table and measured out a small amount of blue liquid from a vial with bright red warning labels.

  She put the syringe down.

  They all looked at it.

  “I have to do it,” Ben said.

  Despite making a promise to her daughter about this very thing, Mimi didn’t fight him.

  Ben picked up the syringe as he leaned over Smudge. He held her face with his other hand as he whispered, “I know you’re in a lot of pain little girl,” he said, “And I know you’re doing the best you can. Your brother and I are so very proud of you, and your mom would be too. I’ll keep fighting for you if you want me to, but you gotta tell me now.” He stared down at her and waited.

  Smudge convulsed one great shudder and opened her eyes. She looked at Mimi, and then turned her head to Ben. Another round of shakes moved up her spine but she fought through them and rolled onto her belly. She reached her paw out to him and Ben held it between his fingers. The little dog’s eyes brightened for a moment and she shook her head slowly. It was a deliberate, unquestionable side to side shake.

  Mimi brought her hand to her mouth and with tears streaming down her face she said, “Well I’ll be buggered.”

  “No freaking way,” Kelcy said.

  “Okay, little girl,” Ben said, putting down the needle and tucking Smudge back under her small blanket. He looked at Mimi and said, “She’s still fighting and wants us to give her a little longer.”

  Mimi and Kelcy looked at each other and laughed as they wiped their cheeks.

  “Aye,” Mimi said, “I guess we, um, we bloody wait a wee bit, eh Kels?”

  “Oh yeah, Meem, we definitely wait,” Kelcy said.

  Chapter 39

  Another week passed and late May became the first week of June. As Memorial Day weekend hit, summer officially started on the South Shore of Massachusetts. This meant snarls of Cape Cod traffic, and it also meant heading to the beach on a hot day.

  A string of beaches dot Cape Cod Bay from Boston all the way out to the tip of Provincetown. The beaches on the cape are world famous, and are packed on any given weekend. North of the cape, between Plymouth and South Boston, each town manages their own local beaches. They’re smaller and rockier than the cape beaches but still draw crowds on hot days, and the locals have their own warmly debated favorites. The bigger towns of Plymouth, Marshfield, and Scituate have the more popular ones, and nestled between them the smaller towns like Pembury have a few hidden gems of their own.

  The Hogan’s frequented these beaches in the summer during their stays at Mimi’s farm, but Ben and Kelcy’s favorite beach wasn’t managed by the town and could barely be called a beach by New England standards. It wasn’t named on any map, and couldn’t be reached by car. It was a small, one hundred foot stretch of sand peppered with some large boulders and bordered by tangles of trees and driftwood. The fire road that serviced The Bogs and the protected parts of the conservation land ended a mile back in the woods. Their beach could only be accessed by winding trails and so was only visited by the neighborhood locals, mostly teens. Ben and Kelcy knew these trails well and had been exploring these woods since they were little, having camped, biked, and hiked them with their parents, and Mimi and Papa.

  The woods and the beach seemed huge when they were little kids, and were terrifying at night when they would camp out. Now they easily navigated the trails but the woods could still be plenty creepy at night. The trees and underbrush grew thick in the unmanaged woods and in the height of summer the narrow trails were like tunnels.

  On the beach there was evidence of a few past fires, some empty Chinese takeout containers and other telltale signs of teenaged boys and girls getting together, but otherwise they had the beach to themselves. The noon sun warmed the sand and Ben and Kelcy were stretched out on a big towel with music playing on Kelcy’s phone.

  Mimi had forced them out of the house, insisting they go play for a few hours. Smudge had slowly improved after what Mimi called her days of rubbin’ elbows with the almighty. She was putting on weight and showing clear signs of recovery. Spot was still asymptomatic and growing like a weed. If everything continued to go well they’d be out of quarantine in a few weeks.

  Ben propped himself up on one elbow and took another chip from the Cape Cod Sea Salt and Vinegar chip bag between them. He took a slug from his bottle of Gatorade and tipped a thanks to Kelcy for smuggling both of the contraband items past their mom.

  “I wish Spot could have come,” Ben said as he turned over on his stomach and folded his hands under his chin, “I know he’s under house arrest but he’d love it down here.”

  Ben’s brow bunched and it looked like he was going to say something else but he just turned his head away.

  Kelcy took a chip, yawned, stretched her legs and dug her toes into the coarse sand. She had thought for a second Ben was going to bring up Papa. He had loved this beach and it seemed just yesterday the three of them had splashed in the waves together, but that had been last summer.

  Ben had been quiet on their bike ride, and sat silently staring at the water for almost an hour when they first arrived. He hadn’t said anything and she didn’t want to bring it up unless he did. The puppies seemed to be consuming him lately, and he hadn’t mentioned Papa since the day of the fight at school. Kelcy knew it was always hard to tell what Ben was thinking. He was mostly a quiet kid anyway and behind his often serious face that little mind ran a hundred miles an hour, especially lately. She could tell he had a lot of Papa in him. He wasn’t like the rest of their family who could be counted on to wear their emotions on their sleeves.

  Kelc
y’s phone chirped and she uncharacteristically ignored a text. She had some loose summer friends in the area but hadn’t called them yet to hang out. She was focused on the puppies too, but truthfully was just enjoying being away from school and the pressures of peers and boys, and the bullies. It was nice to toss on her whatevers, ponytail her hair, forgo makeup for a day, and hang with her brother and Mimi. Ben had even stopped being a pain in the ass little brother and turned into a cool kid, seemingly overnight. She also thought it was pretty awesome how he had gone all in for these puppies.

  As the first few weeks of summer rolled along her phone had quieted down. What had been a steady, around the clock barrage of drama and gossip became checking in with her Boston buds a few times a day, if that. They still posted funny stuff for each other and they called to bitch and chat about the summer, but it wasn’t the hyper-connected life she had during the school year. A month ago she would have been shocked at the suggestion of checking her phone only a few times a day. During a bully-correction incident a few months ago she had broken her phone and had considered suicide while waiting overnight to get a new one, but now she was content to disconnect.

  The teen wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted her summer to be yet. For now, she was enjoying her brother for the first time in a long while, and loving spending time with her pups and her Mimi.

  Still, she thought, I had better get a tan just in case. Kelcy slipped off her shorts and top and adjusted her bikini. She walked down to the water and dipped in a toe. “Brrrrr,” she said over her shoulder, “Nowhere near ready for a swim yet.”

  “Wuss,” Ben said as he shot past her and delivered a crisp shot to her rump. He charged headlong into the chilly water. “Yowsers!” he yelled when he broke the surface.

  “Chilly?” Kelcy asked.

  “N-n-n-o,” he chattered, “It’s loverly.”

  They puttered in the water for a while until Kelcy’s feet got numb and she returned to the towel. She dried off a bit and sat down, resting back on her elbows to let the sun warm her. Ben came up a few minutes later, shaking his head and spraying her with droplets. She smacked him on the leg and noticed the shadow from the tall trees surrounding the clearing had just started to touch the edge of their towel.

  “I’m gonna head back, you comin’?” she asked.

  “Nah,” Ben replied, his head tipped to the side as he tried to get the water out of his ears. “I’m gonna dry off some more and then head through the Bogs,” he said, “Tell Meem I’ll be back in time to get Smudge her suppy.”

  Their parents had let Ben ride alone on the trails for the first time late last summer. Kelcy had made a stink as she wasn’t allowed to be out here alone until she was thirteen. Her father had explained, unsuccessfully in Kelcy’s opinion, that Ben was more attentive at eleven then she was at his age. She was pretty sure it was a gender bias thing but she couldn’t argue that Ben was focused. Her brother was focused to the point of being creepy sometimes, even before they adopted his pair of furry little black obsessions.

  Kelcy pulled on her shorts and t-shirt, jammed her phone in her front pocket, punched Ben in the arm and hoped on her bike.

  “Later, sponge head,” she said.

  She was off balance as she started peddling up the steep hill that led away from the beach. The soil was sandy and her tires dug deep ruts as she wobbled and crashed through the beach brush.

  “Smooth,” Ben called out after her as she regained control and came back out onto the trail. “For a cheerleader you have crap balance,” he said.

  She shot him the finger but didn’t chance a look over her shoulder. Ben dropped back onto the towel and a few minutes later heard branches snapping and brush scraping again on the bike path.

  He yelled over his shoulder, “Forget your brain?”

  It wasn’t Kelcy who had come crashing down to the edge of the beach. It was Arty and Allen Cooper.

  “No, did you forget your dick?” Arty said.

  “Yeah,” Allen said, “did you forget your penis too?” He stuttered on the word penis. The kid always stuttered on dirty words. Ben thought Allen should just try to avoid foul language but the kid seemed to thrive on it.

  Arty and Allen Cooper were twelve and thirteen years old. They had recently moved into the biggest mini-mansion in the new development just south of Mimi’s place and most people thought they were twins. Most people also thought they were challenged.

  Ben had bumped into them a few times when they rode past his new house, and was immediately unimpressed. He could smell idiot on a kid like it was body odor, and the Cooper brothers had reeked.

  “I thought you were my sister,” Ben said, and instantly regretted it. His radar and avoidance skills must have softened here on the safe South Shore.

  “So you think I’m a fucking big-titted girl?” Arty said.

  Ben had been in this situation before, many times. He was bully target practice and he could tell Arty was an amateur junior high school bully looking to up his game and go pro in high school. He had all the building blocks. He was a big, fat, dim kid. He had a role model older brother who was a hall of fame level asshole and an ex-jock dad who valued a good locker room butt cheek taping together session.

  Ben internally tipped his hat to Arty, Good one adding the tit insult in there, but he didn’t nibble at that bait. Even though he was a little rusty he was a professional at not getting beat up. Sometimes even professionals have an off day, however, and silence in the face an insult was no guarantee of escaping a nipple twist or a head slap.

  “Nah, she was just here is all,” Ben said, and turned to fish through the chip bag like he was having trouble grabbing one. He waited for more grief, but the Cooper brothers just dropped their backpacks and pulled out enough food to feed a sixth grade class.

  Ben brushed the chip crumbs from his hands and started packing up his Gatorade when Allen came over and stood on the edge of his towel. Allen was as equally rotund as his brother, and just as dumb.

  “How’s your f-f-fuck-k-king dead granpappy?” Allen asked.

  The kid was shoveling left over Chinese food into his mouth with his fingers from a large takeout box. He sucked on his fingers and added, “I run over his bald a-a-ass with the mower every chance I get.” Then he laughed while a large snot came out of his nose, and then went back in, and then finally came out all the way. He didn’t seem to notice.

  Ben stood up and stretched, pretending to ignore his towel that was trapped under a fat foot. He also ignored Arty who had come over to stand next to his brother on the towel. He thought the Papa comment was pretty bad, even for these dim wits. It stung, but Ben said, “Okay, geez look at the time. Well, gotta be going.”

  As he reached for the chip bag Arty stood on it with a crunch.

  “Fucking oops,” Arty said, looming over Ben, “And my dad says your grandpa was a dumb ass Mike for selling all that land. And he says that dick partner of his builds shit houses.”

  Ben let that one go too, and figured he could live without the towel and the now crushed bag of chips. He turned to leave the beach.

  Allen smacked Ben on the back of the head and said, “Go cry to your grandma, she’s a c-c-cun… ”

  Allen didn’t get to finish the c-word. Ben spun and clocked him with a balled up fist hard enough to spray his entire mouthful of Chinese food and a fair amount of snot all over his brother.

  “First of all,” Ben said as he planted his back foot and shoved Arty hard enough to move his bulk off the towel, “The insulting racial slur you were looking for was Mick, which they are not, they are Scottish, so you should have stayed within your own area of expertise and called them Snots.”

  Arty just stared at Ben while he wiped at the noodles and boogers on his shirt.

  “And secondly,” Ben started to say, but unfortunately he didn’t get to tell Allen that Mimi was indeed cun-n-n-ning.

  Allen had recovered from the punch and closed the gap quickly for a chunky kid.

  While h
e was taking his beating Ben noticed a few things. He was not even the least bit close to tears. In the past he would start to well up as the insults flew, typically long before the shoving and hitting started. He had not cried during or after that last fight at school, and he wasn’t close to crying now. He was surprised by that, even with Kelcy not here he wasn’t crying. He also noticed that he wasn’t really afraid of the Cooper brothers. He feared getting beat up, but it was more the fear of the pain to come, and his folks disappointed looks. There was none of the overwhelming sense of dread and helplessness that he had felt in the past. These boys were just bigger than him by a lot so he didn’t have much of a chance. He noticed with some satisfaction that Arty had a very bloody nose.

  He also noticed that the tips of both the boys’ fingers were black. As they pounded away on him he thought that was really strange. He thought, Who has black fingers?

  Chapter 40

  Doug had the truck’s air conditioning cranked all the way and was still sweating buckets. He was fighting another summer cold and the prescription grade Tylenol was clashing with his Guinness and Adderall. Convinced his sick wife was infecting the house he headed out for a drive and a few miles north of home he signaled a left turn when he came to the Morgan Road intersection. He paused as a beat up sedan with a Chinese restaurant delivery sign on the roof blew the stop sign and speed past him in the opposite direction.

  Doug thought, Fuck they’re delivering this far out now? Crazy shit.

  He pulled his truck into a driveway, stopped to unlock the chain link gate and drove all the way to the back of the parking lot of the old factory building. From the top of the parking lot he could see across the road to the vet clinic, and that old fucker’s farm.

  The small two-story brick factory had been abandoned for a few months when Doug bought it. The old bastard had owned some sort of printing business that operated here for a few decades. He had sold off the business and the equipment but had held on to the real estate. The land covered fifteen wooded acres that bordered the cemetery and conservation land. Only about an acre was cleared. Inside the fence was a parking lot big enough for a dozen cars and the building itself, which was about the size of a small library.