Read Online Whom Dog Hath Joined by Neil S. Plakcy - Free Book Online Page A

spends
a lot of time taking pictures, doesn’t she?”
    I nodded. “And developing them, and then manipulating them
on the computer.”
    “So you can be on your own then. And when you want to be
together, you can be.”
    “When did you get so smart?” I asked, taking the last slice
of pizza.
    “Years of experience.” We finished eating, talking idly
about people we had gone to high school with, and then he and Rascal left, and
I cleaned up the pizza debris.
    The last person I had moved in with was Mary. When I met
her, she was sharing a one-bedroom in a brownstone on the Upper East Side with
a college friend, and my grad school roommate Tor and I were sharing a crappy
studio apartment on the Lower East Side.
    When Tor got a big raise, he was ready to move up to better
digs with his girlfriend. Mary’s roommate was getting married, and Mary
couldn’t afford the rent on her own. It seemed like time for all of us to get
started on our real lives, so when Mary asked me to move in with her I said yes
without a second thought.
    A year later, her company offered her a promotion, which
entailed a move to Silicon Valley. By then, we were both tired of city life, of
graffiti on the streets, bums on every corner, the smell of urine in the
subway. Moving to California would mean we could afford to buy a house,
especially if we married and I got a decent job out there. We’d been together
for two years by then and it seemed like the next step.
    Lili and I were too old to let real estate decisions run our
lives. If we were going to move in together, it needed to be because it was the
right thing for both of us. But was it?
    When Rochester and I got back inside from our walk, I called
Lili. “I got the sneaker pictures – thanks.” I told her what I’d found out.
    “That’s good,” she said. “I spent most of the day working on
some of the photos I took yesterday at the Harvest Festival. Hardly looked at
the clock.”
    “I know how that gets.” I paused, thinking about how to
bring up what we’d talked about that morning. Then I heard a beeping sound
coming from somewhere in her apartment.
    “Crap, that’s my timer,” she said. “I took some film
yesterday, too, and I’m developing it in the bathroom. I’ve got to go before it
gets ruined. Talk to you tomorrow.”
    “Sure,” I fumbled, and then the line was dead.
    Since I was moving closer to making a decision about Lili
moving in, it was time to broach the question to Rochester. I hooked his leash
and he dragged me out the front door. “You like Lili, don’t you, boy?” I asked,
as we stopped by the base of an oak tree.
    He was too busy sniffing the ground to answer. But I already
knew what he’d say, if he could talk. Lili smelled good, she slipped him
treats, and she gave nice scratchy belly rubs. I doubted he’d mind if she was
around more often.
    But with no input from him, I was on my own once again, and
if I made the wrong decision, I might be alone for a long time.
    8 – Always Someone Smarter
    Monday morning I took Rochester for a long walk, and we
heard the yard workers before we saw them. River Bend employs a staff of
immigrant men to trim our hedges, weed our flower beds and mow our lawns. The
community is large enough that they begin at one end and work from street to
street, and by the time they have finished they start over again.
    My dog did not like the men who carried leaf blowers over
their shoulders; he shied away from them, planting his paws on the pavement
until I dragged him forward. I figured it was the noise. He didn’t like
thunder, either, and fireworks drove him nuts.
    “Come on, dog, I’ve got stuff to do.” I had a long day ahead
– the exit interview with Santiago Santos, and then a meeting to go over paint
and carpet samples for Friar Lake.
    After returning to Bucks County I became an adjunct
instructor and then an administrator at Eastern College, my alma mater, a “very
good small college,” as the publicity had it.