a Coyote's in the House (2004) (5 page)

The kids played with him the first few days. Courtney would hug him and the next thing they'd be wrestling in the grass, the child not realizing Antwan could clamp his jaws around her throat and drag her into the shrubs. Antwan had to keep telling himself to act like her little doggy.

Buddy said, They'll get tired of you and start playing tricks, and told Antwan what to look out for.

So one time when he was in the kitchen with Courtney and she said, Stay, and walked away, Antwan did too as soon as she was gone. He watched out for her then, made sure he knew where she was. He went outside twice that morning to leave his mark. And when he saw her heading for the kitchen, Antwan got there first and put himself in his Stay position. Courtney came in and yelled to her mom, Mom, Timmy never goes to the bathroom!

Outside with Cody this happened a couple of times Cody throws the ball in the pool and says, Fetch.

Antwan doesn't move. He says, I got your 'fetch.' You want the ball, kid, go get it yourself.

And Cody yells to his mom, Mom, Timmy's growling at me!

The mom said, Growl back at him.

One time Cody pushed him in the swimming pool while he was getting a drink of water, Buddy sitting there watching. He said to Antwan later, You don't drink out of the pool, it's full of chemicals.

It's easier than lifting the lid on that bowl, Antwan said, and then raising the seat with the big hole in it.

You dummy, Buddy said, that's where humans go to the bathroom. You don't drink out of that, either. He showed Antwan a dish in the kitchen the maid always kept full of water, and said, That's your water.

Buddy was helpful, but less friendly and patient as the days went by, starting to call Antwan a dummy and a numbskull when he was slow catching on to a dog's way of living most of the things not making sense to him. Antwan was getting all the attention now from the kids, from Miss Betty, even the maid and he wondered if maybe Buddy was jealous. The former movie star was spending more time by himself, lying on the floor in the family room watching Buddy to the Rescue and the other ones over and over.

Antwan liked the maid. She spoke a different way than the family, using words he and the Howling Diablos would sometimes hear when they went down to the streets at night and checked out the trash behind grocery stores and restaurants. Antwan would see the maid wrapping table scraps to take out. He'd lick his lips and give her that soft look he'd learned if you wanted to be petted or get a treat, and she'd put the scraps in his dish that had Timmy on it. She looked at him and said things like she knew it wasn't his name. Antwan offered his table scraps to Buddy one time and Buddy said, I don't eat garbage.

Then you'll never make it as a coyote, Antwan said. We love garbage, movie stars' the best.

He told Miss Betty about the change in Buddy, how he was keeping to himself and watching his old movies. Miss Betty said, I know, and Antwan could tell she felt sorry for the old German dog. As they say in showbiz, he's over the hill, Miss Betty said. His name doesn't sell tickets anymore.

Like coyotes that get too old to hunt, Antwan said, and just lie around.

If he could act in movies again, Miss Betty said, he'd be a happy dog. You know, he only wants to be a coyote because he's bored. And he's bored because he's not acting.

Wait now that didn't make sense to Antwan.

You think pretending to be somebody else is better than being who you are?

What you do becomes your life, Miss Betty said, and that's who you are. He caught a glimpse of her snooty look again, like she knew everything, the showgirl saying now, That's what you're doing, isn't it?

Only to help Buddy get out of the house, Antwan said. There's no way I want to become a dog, live trapped like this? I'd bite off a paw to get out.

You could've fooled me, Miss Betty said.

The day the groomer arrived in her Pooch Caboose and parked in the driveway, there was even more of a change in Betty.

Buddy went in first. He came out in thirty minutes looking the same. Betty went in. She came out in an hour looking pretty much the same, but smelling like the mom when the mom got dressed up to go out. It hid her real smell.

Ready? Buddy said to Antwan. It's your turn.

No, he wasn't ready. He'd never had a bath in his life, or even knew what a bath was. He went in the Pooch Caboose a coyote and came out forty minutes later feeling like, not quite a bitch, but a girlish dog.

It's amazing, Betty said, with a look on her face Antwan had never seen before. You look different, not quite, you know, so wild. Mmmmm and you smell she began to grin good enough to eat.

It got Antwan thinking that the Pooch Caboose wasn't a bad deal. He thought the groomer in there was going to drown him, but her hands felt good rubbing him, and he got used to the scissors sniffing at him from nose to tail.

He said, You don't think I look funny?

Check it out, Miss Betty said, now and then sounding like him.

They went inside the house to a full-length mirror and Antwan looked at himself, Miss Betty watching. He saw a coyote in the mirror that looked close enough to be taken for any coyote he'd ever seen.

He said to her, What looks different about me?

She said, You were shampooed, combed out, trimmed, scented, your Timmy collar shined It didn't turn me into a dog.

I said you don't look as wild, that's all.

But what's different?

I just told you.

I can see I'm still a coyote. How have I changed? Maybe it's just something I feel, Miss Betty said, that we've become more alike.

Uh-unh, Antwan said, we can't be more different.

Girl, you're tame and I'm wild, I run in the woods. She said, Have you ever thought of eating me? He said, No. Well, maybe for one second.

You said you wanted to.

I know, but I was just being friendly. I'd never been close to a showgirl before.

Let me tell you something, Miss Betty said. Before any of us were showgirls as you call us, thinking you're cool and you look back at our ancestry I bet way back.

What I'm trying to say is, my breed started out born retrievers. It's in our blood.

Dressed like that, with the pom-poms?

He couldn't get her to smile.

She said, I'm doing something else now, shows, and it's an honor to be chosen.

It's your life, Antwan said, so it's who you are. You told me that yourself.

She said, All right, you want to run in the woods? Let's go run in the woods.

You mean it?

Yes, let's go.

You'll feel your heart beating, Antwan said.

Chapter
Six.

From a spot low on the hill Ramona could look down a ravine and see the house and most of the backyard. She had come here every day to watch for Antwan, hoping to see him jump the fence and run up the hill toward her. She was beginning to worry he was never coming home.

Yesterday Cicero Crow had stopped by to ask about Antwan. Ramona told him her brother was still in the house. Don't they know he's a coyote?

It's weird, Ramona said. I see him playing with the dogs, with the kids. One of 'em even pushed him in the swimming pool.

What'd he do to the kid?

Nothing. That's what's so weird.

So you haven't mentioned the cat to him, Cicero said, Lola, the one they let out in the backyard alone. She's Persian I'm pretty sure. She might even be a show cat, 'cause whatever Lola wants, Lola gets.

What color is she?

What difference does it make? They all taste the same. Antwan likes black cats the best.

'Cause he's reckless, likes to push his luck, Cicero said. This one's pure white with a little pink nose and those tiny ears they have. Walks around the yard looking like cotton candy with legs. I'll see you, little mama, Cicero said and flew off.

Ramona stretched out again in the brush, holding her long-range coyote gaze on the house. She was learning to be patient and not move, let the rabbit or mouse nibble its way closer and then pounce before it caught your scent and freaked.

She watched the mom and dad come out of the house with the kids and go to the garage. Ramona sat up. She watched the family drive off in their car. Just the family. The maid had left before. That meant Antwan was alone in the house with the big German dog and the stuck-up poodle. Ramona couldn't stand to watch her walk: like she was saying, Hey, everybody, look at me.

Ramona was thinking now, What if they gang up on him? And no Diablos around when he needed them. She knew what she'd do if she was a Howling Diablo, she'd howl and get down there quick to help Antwan fight off the homeys.

She was so sure her brother was in danger, Ramona howled and raced down the ravine, reached the alley and went over the fence, streaked for the house and then stopped in the yard as she saw the dog door swing open.

First Antwan appeared.

Now the show poodle came, doing her strut.

Ramona, Antwan said, being cool, this is Miss Betty. Miss Betty, this is my little sister, Ramona. We were just going for a run in the woods. You like to come? hat was what they did, the three of them, ran across the side of the hill through the trees and brush sniffing, Antwan showing Miss Betty good places to sniff. Ramona wondering what was going on here. Miss Betty got to chase a rabbit, ran a long way after it zigging and zagging and came back empty, her tongue hanging out. Ramona heard her say to Antwan, You're right, you feel your heart beating.

It told Ramona the two had spent time together talking about serious things.

They came to Cicero Crow sitting on the low branch of a tree. Antwan saw him first. He told them to wait here while he talked to to the crow.

Ramona said to Miss Betty, both of them watching Antwan, The crow's telling him about this beautiful cat they let loose in the yard by herself, a white Persian with a pink nose, trying to get by on her looks. You ever hear of such a thing?

She waited for this Miss Betty to say something, Ramona still not looking at her. When she didn't answer, Ramona said, Antwan will snatch that cat before she can meow and have her for supper. Then gave Miss Betty a sly look. You like cats?

I can't say I've ever had any as close friends, Miss Betty said.

I mean to eat, Ramona said, but now didn't get an answer. Cicero was flying off, Antwan watching the direction he took before coming over to them.

He says there's a cat I ought to see. Goes by the name of Lola and lives over that way.

Miss Betty said, We have to be home before the family gets back.

Ramona didn't like the way she said it, like it was Antwan's home, too. Antwan said, I'd just like to have a look at this cat Cicero's so proud of finding.

Miss Betty surprised Ramona then, the showy poodle saying, What if you took the cat, but not to eat it?

It s e e m e d M i s s B e t t y had an idea, but wouldn't tell what it was until she thought about it some more. They came to the house where the cat lived and looked down at it from the side of the hill. It was in a canyon, a huge house that seemed part of the land, kind of a pinkish color, with different levels and wings and terraces sticking out, a sand castle that looked like it had grown there.

Uh-oh, Ramona said, looking at the fence that enclosed the backyard: a chain-link fence at least ten feet high, topped with a coil of razor wire.

Lola, her fluffy coat silvery in the sunlight, was lying in the grass, playing with it looked like a rubber mouse, a red one.

Ramona said, That cat has to be worth a lot.

Miss Betty said, I was hoping the same thing. Antwan said, I like black ones, but she'll do.

Miss Betty frowned. Would you really eat her? Whatever he leaves, Ramona said, I'll finish. Antwan turned to Miss Betty. What do you have in mind?

It doesn't matter, she said, looking at the fence around the yard. Lola's safe, since you can't get to her.

You want to bet? Antwan said.

Miss Betty was looking at him again in a way that bothered Ramona, this showy poodle acting like she knew everything, saying now, You think you could grab Lola without anyone seeing you?

I do it all the time, Antwan said.

And promise you won't eat her?

Was she out of her mind? Ramona wondered if carrying all that fancy hair made it hard for Miss Poodle to think. She heard her brother ask, Why would I promise you that? Being nice. Instead of telling her to get lost.

Bring the cat here, Miss Betty said sounding to Ramona like a smarty, so sure of herself and if you don't agree with what I have in mind for Lola, I'll even help you eat her.

Some deal. But Antwan seemed to like it. He said, Be right back.

They watched him take off through the trees and didn't see him again until he was down by the fence looking at Lola. Now they watched the cat with nothing to worry about walk over to Antwan and begin talking to him.

She's telling him to forget it, Ramona said. Saying to Antwan, 'You ain't getting over this fence, so don't even think about it.' Am I right?