Read Online Just a Dog by Gerard Michael Bauer - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Gerard Michael Bauer
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at him. Then he sort of went back to his normal self and just started wagging his tail at Dad and licking Mumâs hand. Nobody was saying anything. Then I heard Grace crying upstairsin her cot. Dad heard her too. He looked up at Graceâs room and then at Mum and he said, âMaybe youâd all be better off if he really was the father.â Mum opened her mouth but no words came out. It looked like someone had punched her really hard in the stomach and she couldnât breathe.
Dad got into the car and left then. You could tell he was still mad because he put big skid marks on the grass when he backed out. When Dad was gone, Mum started looking around everywhere like she didnât know where she was. Then she saw the sheet with Uncle Gavinâs blood all over it and she started ripping it down from the clothes line. She didnât even take the pegs off first. She just pulled at it until they popped off. Then she sat down on the grass with the sheet all wrapped around her and started crying and rocking and hugging it like it was a baby or something.
Iâd never seen Mum cry so hard before. It made me feel sick. I went over and stood beside her. I didnât know what to do. But Mister Mosely did. He pushed in next to Mum and licked her face. Her nose was dripping and she wiped it right on the sheets. Then she grabbed Mister Mosely andshe grabbed me and she pulled us in tight and hugged us both. I hugged her back. Moe couldnât hug anyone so he just licked our faces some more and thumped us both with his big tail.
Mum kept telling me how she was sorry I had to âsee all thatâ and that it was just a âbig misunderstandingâ and Dad and her were âunder a lot of stressâ. She told me not to worry about it, and that sometimes mums and dads fight and say things they shouldnât but everything was going to be fine and nothing was going to change.
But that wasnât really true. Some things did change. Like how Uncle Gavin stopped coming to our house and we stopped going to his place and how Dad stopped making those jokes about his âlittle brotherâ. And even Mum and Dad changed. They went sort of quiet. I know that sounds better than yelling. But sometimes itâs not.
One thing that didnât change was Mister Mosely. Even after he did that scary Transformer thing, he was still exactly the same old Moe.
22 Mister Mosely and Dad
Mum always said Mister Mosely was a âgood listenerâ. He was. Amelia used to talk to him nonstop when she was dressing him up. I talked to him too. All the time. I still do. But I never thought Dad talked to Moe that much. I was wrong.
I found that out one night when I was bringing Dadâs dinner down to him. It was after Dad quit his job at the dam and got another one working for the council making roads. Heâs still got that job. Now he comes home every night instead of just the weekends but heâs always tired and dirty and covered in black road gunk. He gets home late too. Thatâs because he does heaps of overtime on account of Grace being âan extra mouthto feedâ. I guess thatâs why he started eating his tea downstairs in the workshop all by himself.
What happens most times is Mum wraps Dadâs dinner in foil and leaves it on the stove while we eat ours. Then she takes it down later when Dadâs had a chance to âunwind a bitâ. Mostly Mum takes Dadâs dinner down to him, especially when Dad has overtime. But sometimes if it isnât too late, Mum asks me to do it.
Thatâs how I found out about Dad talking to Mister Mosely. One night I was going down the back steps with his dinner and I heard him. I thought he was on his mobile phone, but when I looked in through the lattice, he was just sitting at our old kitchen table, the one we used to have upstairs before we got the new one. I watched him open another bottle of beer and fill up his glass. Then he started
Dad got into the car and left then. You could tell he was still mad because he put big skid marks on the grass when he backed out. When Dad was gone, Mum started looking around everywhere like she didnât know where she was. Then she saw the sheet with Uncle Gavinâs blood all over it and she started ripping it down from the clothes line. She didnât even take the pegs off first. She just pulled at it until they popped off. Then she sat down on the grass with the sheet all wrapped around her and started crying and rocking and hugging it like it was a baby or something.
Iâd never seen Mum cry so hard before. It made me feel sick. I went over and stood beside her. I didnât know what to do. But Mister Mosely did. He pushed in next to Mum and licked her face. Her nose was dripping and she wiped it right on the sheets. Then she grabbed Mister Mosely andshe grabbed me and she pulled us in tight and hugged us both. I hugged her back. Moe couldnât hug anyone so he just licked our faces some more and thumped us both with his big tail.
Mum kept telling me how she was sorry I had to âsee all thatâ and that it was just a âbig misunderstandingâ and Dad and her were âunder a lot of stressâ. She told me not to worry about it, and that sometimes mums and dads fight and say things they shouldnât but everything was going to be fine and nothing was going to change.
But that wasnât really true. Some things did change. Like how Uncle Gavin stopped coming to our house and we stopped going to his place and how Dad stopped making those jokes about his âlittle brotherâ. And even Mum and Dad changed. They went sort of quiet. I know that sounds better than yelling. But sometimes itâs not.
One thing that didnât change was Mister Mosely. Even after he did that scary Transformer thing, he was still exactly the same old Moe.
22 Mister Mosely and Dad
Mum always said Mister Mosely was a âgood listenerâ. He was. Amelia used to talk to him nonstop when she was dressing him up. I talked to him too. All the time. I still do. But I never thought Dad talked to Moe that much. I was wrong.
I found that out one night when I was bringing Dadâs dinner down to him. It was after Dad quit his job at the dam and got another one working for the council making roads. Heâs still got that job. Now he comes home every night instead of just the weekends but heâs always tired and dirty and covered in black road gunk. He gets home late too. Thatâs because he does heaps of overtime on account of Grace being âan extra mouthto feedâ. I guess thatâs why he started eating his tea downstairs in the workshop all by himself.
What happens most times is Mum wraps Dadâs dinner in foil and leaves it on the stove while we eat ours. Then she takes it down later when Dadâs had a chance to âunwind a bitâ. Mostly Mum takes Dadâs dinner down to him, especially when Dad has overtime. But sometimes if it isnât too late, Mum asks me to do it.
Thatâs how I found out about Dad talking to Mister Mosely. One night I was going down the back steps with his dinner and I heard him. I thought he was on his mobile phone, but when I looked in through the lattice, he was just sitting at our old kitchen table, the one we used to have upstairs before we got the new one. I watched him open another bottle of beer and fill up his glass. Then he started
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