Juliette shook her head to tell him no. Which was also silly, because dogs didn’t shake their heads that way. It didn’t mean no for a dog. She almost started to laugh again.
No. No more laughing. She took a breath, telling herself to pull it together. This was a peculiar situation, definitely, but it wasn’t really right to laugh about it. This was a poor, confused old man sitting next to her. His mind wasn’t all there, and that was a sad thing. It wasn’t his fault that his brain was telling him she was his old golden retriever.
“Don’t tell me Betty has put you in this silly halloween costume again,” the man muttered, his fingers plucking at the strap of her tank top. “I know how you hate it. Is that what’s bothering you?”
No, she wanted to tell him. What’s bothering me is that I’m not really a dog!
“Let’s get these things off you,” the man said.
She froze.
What did he just say?
Did he mean…?
His hands already reached for the bottom of her tank top, and if she retained any doubt that he truly perceived her as a dog, that doubt was erased when she witnessed how quickly and methodically he stripped her of her top. He pulled her tank top and bra off her without any hesitation, clearly not expecting any resistance from her. Because to his perception, she was a dog, and it was her natural state to have no clothes on. It was the way she was most comfortable.
And she was his dog, so he could take the clothes off her if he wanted to. He didn’t need to ask anyone, and he certainly didn’t need to ask her. Juliette found herself suddenly topless before she even realized what was happening. She stared in shock at the man, watching him as he tried to untangle her bra strap from the leash.
I have to say something! she thought frantically. I have to stop this! But what could she say? What would happen if the man came out of his delusion now? Would he stare at her in horror, understanding slowly dawning on his face, the realization that in a bout of senility he had attached a leash to an unfamiliar girl and had stripped her half naked on a public bus?
She needed time to think about the best way to end this. The cleanest, the gentlest way to bring the old man back to reality. Unfortunately, the man wasn’t giving her any time. He gripped her shoulders and pulled her over his lap, laying her face down over his bony legs. He was strong for his age, stronger than he appeared. His hands caught the waistline of her shorts, gripping both the shorts and the top of her panties, and he pushed them both off her hips and down her legs. He set her back in her seat.
Juliette was shocked to feel her bare bottom press against the bus seat. The man was still trying to get her shorts and panties over her shoes, and he ended up taking her shoes off completely. He set her clothes in a loose pile on the floor of the bus, just under his seat.
“There you go,” He smiled at her. “That’s better, isn’t it, girl? You’re more comfortable now, aren’t ya?”
Juliette was so stunned to find herself suddenly sitting naked in the middle of the bus that for a moment she really did wish she was this old man’s dog. If she was his dog, then this would all be okay. Her nudity, the leash around her neck, this would all be perfectly normal if she was a dog.
But she wasn’t a dog!
None of the passengers in the front of the bus had noticed that she was now naked, although some of them were sitting in the sideways seats, and she thought it was only a matter of time before one of them looked back at her. Other passengers sat in the seats behind her, and she felt certain they must already be watching her. They couldn’t miss her; she was sitting right in front of them with her bare shoulders visible above the top of her seat, the dog collar a dark line around her neck. She imagined she could feel the pressure of their gazes between her shoulder blades.
“Don’t say anything!” she prayed silently, repeating the thought over and over in her mind, trying to beam it to the people behind her. “I know I’m naked and I shouldn’t be but please, oh please, no one say anything!” The worst thing she could imagine would be for the old man to come back to his senses right then. Instead of his beloved dog by his side, he would find a crazy woman who had played along with his delusion to the point where she was sitting naked next to him attached to his leash. It would be so humiliating!
The man put another pretzel in front of her mouth, and she took it from his fingers automatically, chewing it slowly. He brought out another pretzel, but as he raised it to her mouth, it slipped out of his fingers. “Oh, dear,” he said as it bounced on the floor. “There it is, Juliette. There’s your treat.” He pointed at the pretzel where it sat in the middle of the aisle.
Juliette bent sideways, reaching for the stray pretzel, but before she could get her fingers around it, the thought suddenly occurred to her that she might give herself away if she picked it up with her hand. Dogs didn’t pick things up with their hands. Juliette glanced quickly at the old man and saw that he was regarding her thoughtfully, his brow furrowed, as if he was trying to remember something. Like a sleepwalker on the verge of waking up.
“No! No! No!” she thought. “Don’t wake up! I’m your dog… I’m your Juliette… see?” Instead of grabbing the pretzel with her hand, she leaned forward and pressed both hands on the floor to either side of the pretzel. She slid off the seat, onto her hands and knees, and lowered herself until she could pick up the pretzel with her mouth. The leash was taut for a moment as she reached the limit of its length, but the man moved his hand and gave her some slack. Juliette scrambled back into her seat.
“Good girl,” he said approvingly, scratching behind her ear. “Ah, here’s the park now.”
Already? Juliette looked out the window at the green fields and trees of a mid-size park. The bus was slowing, approaching the bus stop at the corner of the park.
Time to end this! Juliette thought. Time to get my clothes back on and stop this craziness! It’s already gone way too far!
The bus stopped. “Here we go,” the old man said. “Come on, Juliette. This is our stop.” He stood up, clutching the seat in front of him with one hand while he held the leash in the other.
Somehow, Juliette found herself standing as well, stepping timidly into the aisle. The old man stepped in front of her, and as he walked down the aisle towards the front of the bus, pulling on the leash, she could think of no other alternative than to follow him. She glanced desperately at the pile of her clothes, still sitting under his seat, apparently forgotten. She wanted to bring the clothes to his attention, to remind him to take them along, but she couldn’t think of a way to do it. Reluctantly, she left them behind, hoping that Stan the bus driver would find them and collect them for her, along with her text books, which she also had to leave behind.
Don’t say anything! she tried to beam the message to all of the other passengers, who stared at her as she walked by. Maybe they read it in her expression, because even though they looked at her as if she was crazy, no one said a word.
Stan glanced up at them as they passed, smiling at the old man, probably on the verge of delivering his “have a nice day” line. But then Stan looked back to see what the old man had on the end of his leash. Juliette squirmed in embarrassment as the bus driver stared at her, standing naked in the aisle. She could see the shock on his face.
Before he could speak, she held her finger in front of her lips, urging him to silence. Stan stared at her, astonished and confused. But thankfully, he complied with her request and remained silent.
The old man smiled. “Don’t worry. She’s obedient,” he told Stan. “She’s a good dog.”
Stan made a strange noise, as if he was choking on his words. He glanced at Juliette again, his eyes begging to ask questions. She held her finger to her mouth again, her eyes pleading. Shhh!!
“Come on, girl.” The old man tugged on the leash as he stepped out the door of the bus.
Juliette leaned towards Stan and managed to whisper, “Can you hold onto my stuff for me?” She thought she saw him nod, but couldn’t be s
ure.
Then she was stepping out into the open air, the street on one side, the park on the other. Out under the blue sky, and there she was, completely naked. The sidewalk felt rough against her bare feet. The crisp morning air was starting to give way to mid-day heat, and she could feel the warmth of the sun on her bare skin.
Her mind struggled to comprehend how she had come to be in this situation. When had she missed the opportunity to free herself from pretending to be this man’s dog? How could she have let this get so out of control? Now she didn’t even have her clothes with her.
“This is my last chance!” she thought, looking back at the bus. Stan still hadn’t closed the door. “Pull the leash out of his hand, sprint back to the bus. Find my clothes, get dressed, get this stupid leash off. I’m not a dog. I’m a woman, a grad student, and I have a class in less than half an hour.”
“Come on, Juliette,” the old man urged. “Let’s walk through the park like we used to. Remember how we used to? I know it’s your favorite thing. Isn’t it, girl?”
Juliette gazed helplessly at the bus. Then she turned away. She followed the man to the edge of the park, the line where the sidewalk ended and a green meadow began.
The old man frowned. “Come on, girl! Down! You’re gonna tire yourself out if you keep walking like that.”
She stood, trembling, looking down at the field of grass. In the distance, she could see an elderly lady, walking a great Dane that was bigger than she was.
“Down, girl!” the old man ordered.
Juliette slowly dropped onto the grass.
Down onto her hands and knees.
Like a dog.
The old man started to walk, and Juliette crawled after him, obeying the tug of his leash as he led her naked into the park.
PART 3: ANTHONY
As Anthony rinsed out his coffee mug in the kitchen sink, he glanced at the time displayed on the microwave clock. He frowned, calculating how long Pop had been on his errand. Almost an hour and a half. It seemed longer than the errand should have taken.
But then again, that’s what he always found himself thinking right before Pop came home. He would decide that Pop must have gotten lost or fallen and broken his hip, and inevitably right at that moment Pop would walk through the front door, perfectly fine.
Anthony went to the front room and pulled open the curtains. Across the street, he could see the green expanse of Anders Park. With its wide green fields and low hills, it always looked like a golf course to him. He could see people in the distance, strolling leisurely along the pathways that circled the pond in the middle of the park. But he didn’t see Pop.
It was still too soon to worry. He would give Pop another hour.
Or maybe half an hour.
He sat down in front of the TV and picked up the remote. The Yankees were playing on one of the sports channels, and Anthony tried to lose himself in the baseball game. He told himself to sit back and relax, yet he found himself checking the time every five minutes.
Just as the half hour was almost up, he heard the door open. “That you, Pop?” he called.
“It’s me,” Pop called from the front hall. “I got a surprise for you.”
“What is it?”
“You have to come and see!”
Anthony pushed himself out of his chair, wondering what Pop had found on his store run. Maybe a new flavor of Oreos, or socks selling three pair for five bucks. “Coming,” he called and strolled towards the front hallway.
He walked through the doorway and there he saw Pop’s surprise. “Jesus,” he whispered, as his stomach felt like it went into free-fall. “Jesus, Pop… what the hell did you do?”
A naked woman stood in the open door, wearing nothing but a black collar around her neck. A leash led from the collar to Pop’s hand. The woman had green stains on her knees and leaves tangled in her long brown hair. She looked mortified to be standing there, but didn’t say anything.
Pop grinned widely. “I found Juliette!” he proclaimed happily. “I found her when I went to the store. We haven’t seen her in a while, eh?”
“Juliette?” Anthony repeated. It took him a second to connect the name to the leash. “You mean… Juliette, our dog?”
“Yeah! I found her on the bus! I just took her for a good long walk in the park. Remember how she likes walking in that park?”
Anthony stared at the woman. She met his gaze and lifted her shoulders in a helpless shrug. “So you found her on the bus…,” Anthony said. “Juliette, I mean…and you took off all her clothes… and you put a leash on her?”
“I had to,” Pop said. “A dog’s gotta wear a leash. It’s the law.”
This couldn’t be happening. Anthony took an uncertain step towards the woman. “I’m so sorry,” he said to her. “Are you okay?”
The woman nodded quickly, then glanced meaningfully at Pop. Confused, Anthony also looked at Pop, but couldn’t see what the woman was trying to show him. Pop was beaming, looking happier than he had since… well… since Juliette died.
Anthony stepped towards the woman. “I’m taking the leash off, okay, Pop? She doesn’t need it on inside.” He met the woman’s eyes. “Are you okay with me taking it off?” he asked her softly. She nodded quickly, still choosing to be silent.
“Yeah, that’s fine,” Pop said. “Maybe I should get her a bowl of water.”
“It’s okay,” Anthony said, as he undid the clasp of the collar. “I’ll get her the water. Why don’t you take a load off on the couch? The Yankees are playing.”
“Oh, they are?” Pop perked up. “Yeah, I could use a couple minutes sitting. Be right back.“ He followed the sound of the television into the den.
As soon as he was out of sight, the woman started to speak. “Oh my god,” she said. “This is so embarrassing. I’m so sorry.”
Anthony undid the collar and pulled it from her neck. Suddenly, with Pop out of the room, he felt very aware that he stood in close proximity to a naked woman. Her breasts jutted towards him, close enough to touch. “No, no, no,” he said. “Don’t be sorry. I’m the one who should be saying sorry. Jesus, did my dad really think you were his dog?”
She winced. “Yeah. We were on the bus, and I told him my name is Juliette…”
“Oh! Same as…”
“Yeah. Suddenly, he was telling me ‘good girl’ and patting my head. I could tell that he was confused… but he was so sad about his dog… and then he seemed so happy when he thought I was the dog…” The woman rocked back and forth, clearly embarrassed by her actions. “I kind of went along with it. And then it just kept going further and further… and I kept going along with it… and the more I was going along with it, the harder it was to stop it.”
“He put the leash on you?”
“Yeah.”
“And he took your clothes off?”
“Yeah. He thought they were bothering me.”
“And he took you for a walk through the park?”
“Oh my god.” Now she was really squirming. “Yeah. We walked all around the park.”
“I’m really sorry. Did anyone see you?”
“I was kinda hard to miss.”
“Right.” Anthony exhaled. “My dad had a stroke last year. Right after it happened, he had some trouble keeping his head straight. He’d get really disoriented. But he’s been recovering. He hasn’t had any problems the last few months.” Anthony paused, then admitted, “It’s only lately… after his dog passed away… he’s slipped back a little. He’s had some confused moments, small things. Like one time he put his shoes in the refrigerator. I never thought he’d do something like this!”
“I know I should have stopped it,” Juliette said. “I know I let it get out of hand.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through all that. I hope you know, he would never have made you do that, if he was thinking clearly.”
“I know.”
“He sure looked happy to have Juliette back, though.” Anthony started to smile. But then he
remembered this was a serious situation and his smile disappeared. “Geez, what am I doing? Let me get you something to cover yourself with. I didn’t mean to leave you standing there like that.”
He hurried to the linen closet and pulled out a white quilt. He brought it to Juliette, and she gratefully wrapped herself in it.
“I’ll find you some real clothes to wear,” Anthony said. “I’m sure I can find something that will fit you in the upstairs closet. If you want, you can wait at the kitchen table while I go look. Do you want something to drink? Coffee?”
“Um… do you have any tea?” Juliette asked.
“I have some excellent tea,” Anthony said. “Follow me.”
Without really thinking about it, Anthony took the shortest route to the kitchen, which led through the den. Pop looked up at them as they walked in. “Oh, hello!” he said, noticing Juliette. “Who’s this?”
“This?” Anthony looked back at Juliette. “This is… um…”
“Mimi,” Juliette said.
“Hi, Mimi,” Pop said. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, too.”
“Come on, Mimi,” Anthony said. “I’ll get you that tea.”
As they stepped into the kitchen, Juliette remarked, “I guess I’m not a dog anymore.”
“Looks that way.” Anthony opened a cabinet and pulled out a cup. “That’s the way it seems to go with him. His mind resets and everything’s fine again.” After a moment’s consideration, Anthony pulled out a second cup.
Juliette sat at the kitchen table and watched Anthony as he filled a teakettle with water and put it on the stove. She had the quilt held loosely shut with one hand, but it yawned open around her legs, exposing her left leg up to the thigh. Anthony tried not to let it distract him.
They chatted as he waited for the kettle to boil. Anthony told her how he had owned a successful business in the bay area, but had sold it after his father’s stroke. “Early retirement,” he said.
“You look young to be retired,” Juliette said.
No One Is Awake To See and Other Revealing Tales Page 14