Read Online Johnny Be Good by Paige Toon - Free Book Online

UK, Johnny comes into the office.
    ‘Did you get my bike back?’ he asks me.
    ‘Yes! Samuel went to pick it up. I hope that’s okay…’
    ‘Yeah, yeah, cool, man.’
    ‘Johnny,’ Serengeti interrupts, ‘can we get something to eat? I’m famished.’
    ‘Sure. Did Rosa leave anything?’ Johnny turns to me.
    ‘Yes, she’s left some chilli, I think. Do you want me to heat it up? It can be ready in ten.’
    ‘Fine.’
    Forty minutes later I’m still alone in the kitchen. I’ve had to turn the heat on the stove right down, and have been unhappily surveying the contents of the pan, convinced it’s going to spoil.
    ‘Going to have to put a hold on the chilli, I’m afraid,’ Johnny says, emerging at last. ‘Serengeti wants to eat out instead.’
    ‘At Asia de Cuba,’ she says, coming into the kitchen behind him.
    ‘Okay.’ I keep my voice upbeat.
    ‘Inside,’ Serengeti adds, plonking Footsie down at my feet. ‘By the window.’
    ‘Oh.’ I get it. ‘Do you want me to book it for you?’ I ask.
    ‘Er, yeah …’ she replies, stressing the ‘yeah’ in a way that implies she thinks I’m really quite dim.
    ‘Sure thing. I’ll do that right away.’ I switch the stove off and go to leave the room.
    ‘Don’t you want to sit outside on the terrace?’ Johnny asks Serengeti. ‘It’s much nicer out there.’
    I pause by the door.
    ‘No, JJ, you know I get too cold.’
    ‘Don’t call me JJ,’ Johnny grumbles.
    ‘But it’s so cute!’ Serengeti cries, putting her hands on his waist.
    ‘So’s Cathy, but do I call you that?’
    She detaches herself from him, sulkily. I’m guessing Cathy is her real name.
    ‘Inside is fine, Meg.’ He walks out of the kitchen. Serengeti–aka Cathy–totters after him, closely followed by Footsie.
    I manage to make a last-minute reservation thanks only to my diners’ star status, and line Davey up. Serengeti leaves me Footsie for company. Company for Footsie, not me, you understand, and after three hours of walkies, din-dins and cleaning up yet more yellow puddles, I finally call it a night and hit the sack. Footsie sits outside my door and howls for a while, but eventually shuts up. An hour later I’m woken by a different kind of howling.
    ‘Poor, poor baby!’ It sounds like Serengeti is actually inside my bedroom. ‘How could she leave Footsie outside again?’
    ‘Okay, okay, come on, let’s go to bed.’
    I hear Serengeti’s voice get quieter as she follows Johnny back down the landing. ‘I can’t believe she did that again’.
    I roll over, groan and struggle to fall asleep again.

Chapter 5
     
     
    Serengeti Knight. Serengeti Nightmare, more like. It’s Sunday morning and I’m outside in the pool doing my laps. Theoretically I don’t have to work today, although I’m always on call, and anyway, I don’t have any other plans.
    It’s another hot, sunny day, and I pause for a minute by the side of the pool. I hear the glass door slide open behind me and turn around just in time to see Serengeti plonk Footsie down on the terrace and slide the door shut behind her. She doesn’t say anything to me, but I’d bet my passport that there’s a doggy surprise waiting for me somewhere inside.
    I get out of the pool and dry myself off, then tie my sarong around my waist and slip on my flip-flops. Footsie runs over to me and gives me five short, sharp barks.
    ‘Come on, then,’ I say. ‘Let’s take you for a wander around the garden.’
    He follows me quite happily, piddling here, piddling there, as we make our way around to the other side of the house. The large wooden gates start to open.
    I watch, confused for a moment, as an old green Chevvy truck pulls into the driveway. A young, Latino-looking guy is behind the wheel. He raises his hand at me and smiles, and then it clicks. The gardener, the pool-boy. Santiago, that’s right, that’s his name. I remember reading about him in Paola’s manual.
    ‘Hi.’ I smile warmly as he gets out of the