Lila and Hadley

by Kody Keplinger

  “Can I come visit her sometime?” My voice is barely above a whisper when I ask.

  “Sure,” Michelle says. “Once she gets settled in with me I think Lila would like that.”

  “You promise you’ll take good care of her, right? You’ll give her lots of carrots and play tug with her every day?”

  Michelle smiles at me, then looks back down at Lila. She’s still rubbing her head. “I promise.”

  It ain’t long after that that we leave the rescue. Lila whines about leaving Michelle, who gives her a big hug before Beth and I lead her away, but she only sulks for a little bit. By the time we get back to Beth’s house, she’s in a good mood again. A real good mood. She’s running up and down the hallway and trying to coax Beth and me into playing tug-of-war any time we stand still for too long. I think she knows somehow that this separation ain’t permanent. That we’ll take her back to Michelle soon enough.

  That night before bed I walk over to the desk in my room. There’s a big stack of envelopes on it. All the letters Mama’s sent since I got here. There’s been at least one a week. Beth won’t let me throw them out, but I still ain’t opened a single one. Staring at the stack, I can’t help but remember another stack of envelopes. Bills piled up on the table. Mama’s tired sigh and the way she’d run her hands through her hair when she looked at them.

  Mama’s sent so many letters and called every single day, even though I ain’t written back or talked to her on the phone. She ain’t giving up.

  Just like Michelle didn’t give up on finding Lila.

  Before I can talk myself out of it, I pick up the stack of letters and go to sit down on my bed. I call Lila to me and make her lie next to me while I do this. She rests her head in my lap, eyes staring up at me. Just a little bit of moral support.

  And, after one long, shaky breath, I open the first envelope and stare down at my mama’s familiar, big-lettered handwriting.

  Shelby comes over on Monday afternoon to help me pack up Lila’s things. She brings Pilot with her, which maybe wasn’t the best idea, since he’s real excited to be in a new house and spends most of the time just bouncing around and sniffing every nook and cranny he can find. Lila follows him, as if she’s the babysitter making sure he ain’t getting into too much trouble.

  “Is that everything?” Shelby asks as she drops Lila’s tug rope into the plastic box that sits in the middle of the living room floor.

  I nod. I ain’t said a whole lot since Saturday, when Beth and Lila and I got back from the rescue.

  “Okay.” Shelby picks up the lid and fits it onto the box. “She doesn’t have much. I guess that makes sense though, since y’all only had her here for the summer.” She walks over to the couch and plops down. “How are you feeling about her leaving?”

  I walk over and sit down next to her, wrapping my arms around myself. “I—I ain’t sure, really. I know she’s gonna be happy with Michelle. It’s real obvious they love each other, and I think Michelle will take care of her. But …”

  “But you’re gonna miss her,” Shelby says.

  “Yeah.”

  Shelby scoots closer and slings an arm around my shoulders, giving them a squeeze. “She’s gonna miss you, too,” she tells me. “And didn’t you say Michelle said y’all could come by and visit Lila sometimes?”

  “Yeah, but …”

  “But it ain’t the same.” Shelby nods. “I know.” She gives my shoulders another squeeze. “I know it don’t mean much, but if you’re ever just missing having a dog around, you’re welcome to borrow Pilot.”

  It ain’t even half a second after she says that that we hear a small crash followed by Beth hollering, “Pilot! Lila! What did y’all do?”

  Shelby grimaces at me. “He might not be the best replacement, but …”

  I can’t help but laugh. It’s the first time I’ve laughed in a couple days. “Thanks, Shelby.”

  “You’re welcome.” She pulls her arm from my shoulders and folds her hands in her lap. “I know Lila’s been your best friend since you got here pretty much. But school’s gonna start soon, and between me and the people I’ll introduce you to there, you’ll have lots of friends. We just might not be as cute and furry.”

  A second later, Beth walks into the living room with Lila and Pilot following close behind her. Might just be my imagination—since I ain’t the best at reading expressions—but both dogs look a little guilty, if you ask me.

  “Did you get all her stuff packed?” Beth asks.

  I nod and wave my hand toward the plastic tub in the middle of the room.

  “All right. Well, Michelle should be off work by now. I told her we’d be there by six and we still gotta pick up Vanessa, so we ought to get going.”

  “That’s my cue.” Shelby gets to her feet and grabs Pilot’s leash from the hook by the door. “Say goodbye to Lila, boy.”

  Pilot’s way of saying bye to Lila is, apparently, giving her butt one final sniff.

  Shelby sighs and hooks his leash on before kneeling down and giving Lila a scratch behind the ears. Lila wags her tail and licks her face. It’s a big difference from the first time she met Shelby and Pilot, when she stayed behind a bench with her back to them.

  “It was nice to meet you, Lila,” Shelby says in her cooing, talking-to-a-dog voice. “You’re a good girl. Have fun in your new home, okay?”

  Lila pants and wags her tail.

  Shelby straightens up and turns to me. “I’ll see you soon, right? We can hang out before school starts.”

  “Yeah. Of course.”

  “You know,” Beth says. “The dog rescue is always looking for volunteers. Hadley’s gonna have a little less on her plate with Lila gone. If y’all want, I can sign you up.”

  Shelby’s voice sounds like it’s raised about three octaves when she says, “Really?” with a completely unnecessary level of excitement.

  “Really. It’d give y’all a chance to hang out together if you want.”

  “We should do it, Hadley,” Shelby says. I think she’s pretty much bouncing in place now.

  “We’d mostly just be refilling water dishes and cleaning out pens,” I point out.

  “That’s fine by me,” Shelby says. “We’ll still get to play with dogs at least a little bit. Right, Beth?”

  “Most likely, yeah.”

  “Hadley, please, please, please!” Shelby begs. And now she ain’t just bouncing—she’s holding on to my arm with one hand and Pilot’s leash with the other. And giving both an overjoyed shake. “Let’s do it. It’ll be fun!”

  “I ain’t really a dog person.”

  “Nobody’ll believe that anymore,” Beth tells me.

  I sigh. But Shelby’s so excited by the prospect that I can’t say no. And once Lila’s gone, it probably would be a good idea to keep busy so I don’t miss her constantly.

  “Sure. I guess we can volunteer together.”

  “Yay!” Shelby exclaims. “Okay. Just call me whenever you find out when we can volunteer. Thank you, Beth!”

  “I ought to be thanking you,” Beth says. “The rescue is always in need of help. Can’t say I’ve ever seen someone so excited about unpaid work, though.”

  “Doggy cuddles are my payment,” Shelby assures her.

  Before she goes, Shelby gives me a hug. I’m still sitting on the couch, so she’s gotta lean down to do it. She gives good hugs. Like she really means them. It dawns on me suddenly that if it wasn’t for Lila, I wouldn’t have made this new friend.

  A lot of things would be different if it wasn’t for Lila.

  Once Shelby and Pilot are gone, Beth picks up the tub of Lila’s things and carries it out to her car. I get Lila leashed up. She licks my face once while I’m knelt down. I wonder if she knows we’re about to say goodbye.

  Beth and I don’t talk during the car ride. I sit in the back seat, and Lila’s in her crate next to me. We pick up Vanessa from the rescue, and during the rest of the ride, she talks to Beth about paperwork and other dogs that are b
eing adopted soon, and I just zone out for a bit.

  Michelle don’t live real close—it takes about an hour to get to her place. Her little house is at the end of a long gravel driveway with a wooden fence that wraps around the yard. Beth parks the car, then turns to look back at me from the front seat.

  “You ready?”

  I open my mouth to answer, but no words come out.

  Vanessa puts a hand on my sister’s shoulder. “Why don’t we give them a minute?” she suggests. “We can go let Michelle know we’re here. I still need to do the home check—make sure there are no weak spots in the fence.”

  Beth hesitates, then nods in agreement. “Yeah, all right.” She looks back at me. “Y’all take your time.”

  I don’t do anything for a minute after Beth and Vanessa get out of the car. Not until I hear Lila shift in the crate and let out a little huff of annoyance. I turn to look at her. She’s staring at me through the front slats of the crate, head tilted as she studies me.

  “Do you have any idea what’s about to happen?” I ask her.

  Lila tilts her head to the other side.

  I lean forward and open the crate. Lila wiggles her way out—it ain’t easy since we’re still in the back seat—but she manages to squeeze out of the carrier and up into my lap. She’s way too big for this, but I don’t stop her. I just wrap my arms around her thick neck.

  “A lot has changed because of you, you know,” I tell her. “I wouldn’t have started taking mobility classes and gotten my cane if not for you. I wouldn’t have met Shelby. I don’t even know if I’d have left Beth’s house if you didn’t make me. I’d still be miserable. You helped a lot, Lila.”

  Lila nuzzles her face against my cheek.

  “I’d like to think I made things better for you, too,” I say. “If it wasn’t for me, Vanessa wouldn’t have put your picture up on the website. Michelle wouldn’t have found you. You’d still be pouting at the rescue, ignoring everybody.”

  Lila begins to sniff my hair and lets out a snort.

  “We both did a lot of good for each other, I guess.”

  Her tail thumps and she wiggles slightly, trying to get more comfortable in the small space.

  I press my lips together, trying to hold back tears. “I’m glad you’re gonna be happy,” I whisper. “I-I’m gonna try to be happy, too. That’s what you’d want, right?”

  Lila gives a quiet woof that I take as an affirmative.

  “All right.” I tighten my hug again, then let my arms fall away from Lila’s neck. “Well, let’s go, then. Michelle’s waiting on you.”

  I open the car door, and Lila scrambles across me to hop out. I’ve grabbed hold of her leash so she can’t run off too quick while I climb out behind her.

  Lila and I start walking toward the gate. On the other side of the fence, I can hear voices—Michelle and Vanessa and Beth, all talking and laughing. They sound excited. And beside me, Lila’s tail starts wagging. She’s excited, too.

  I look down at her one last time, and even though I feel like I wanna cry, I give her a smile.

  Then I push open the gate and introduce Lila to her new home.

  “This one is my favorite,” Shelby says as she hugs Wilmer, the massive Saint Bernard mix. He laps at her face with a tongue that’s almost the size of her head.

  “You say that about all of them,” I tell her.

  “Well, I mean it about this one.”

  “You say that, too.”

  “I can’t help it!” Shelby releases Wilmer, who lets out a loud, excited woof ! before running off to play with some of the other dogs on the other side of the dog run. “I just really love dogs!”

  “Really? I couldn’t tell,” I tease.

  We’ve been volunteering at the dog rescue for the past week. Nearly every day for the past week. Beth says most volunteers just come in once or twice a week or on the weekends, but after our first day, Shelby has insisted we come in every morning to help. Well, help and play with dogs, of course.

  I don’t really love cleaning out the dog kennels, but doing it with Shelby makes it more interesting, at least. And it has kept me busy since Lila left. I still miss her a whole lot, but it is easier to deal with when I’ve got stuff to do and a friend to do it with.

  It’s nearly ten. Usually we don’t finish until noon, when Mrs. McGraw comes by to pick Shelby and me up to take us back to our neighborhood. But today, I’m leaving early, and Beth is the one who appears at the gate of the dog run.

  “Hadley?” she calls out. “You ready to go?”

  I nod. My stomach gets really tight all of a sudden as my nervousness creeps up on me.

  “Good,” Beth says. “Shelby, I just called your dad and reminded him he’ll need to pick you up today. He’ll be here at noon.”

  “Okay,” Shelby says. “Thank you, Beth.” She turns to me and gives me a big hug. She’s still real good at them. “Have fun today,” she says. “Tell Maya and Joey I say hi. I know they don’t know me, but they post really cute pictures. And their comments on your photos make them seem real nice.”

  “I’ll tell them,” I say.

  “Okay. See you in a couple days!”

  She lets me go. I unfold my cane and walk over to Beth, who opens the gate for me. We’re quiet as we make our way around the side of the building toward her little blue car.

  I ain’t actually told Shelby where I’m going today. Not the whole truth of it. I ain’t ready for that just yet. Seeing Joey and Maya will only be the first stop of the day. Beth and I are gonna meet them at our favorite pizza place in my old neighborhood to have a late lunch. But we’ve got somewhere else to go after.

  It’s the last Sunday before school starts on Wednesday, and Beth and I got a long trip ahead of us. We make the most of it in silence. It ain’t as tense as the first long drive we took together at the start of the summer. This time, I’m glad she’s here. I just don’t know what to say. And I’m glad that, for once, she ain’t pushing.

  Joey and Maya are waiting outside the pizza place when Beth’s car pulls up. They run to my door as soon as I open it and immediately engulf me in hugs.

  “It’s so good to see you!” Joey says.

  “We’ve missed you so much!” Maya exclaims.

  “I’ve missed y’all, too.”

  When they release me, I unfold my cane and hold it in front of me like I’m supposed to. I don’t even think about it first. It’s starting to become a habit now. So it ain’t until there’s a beat of silence that I realize it’s the first time Joey and Maya have seen it in person.

  If I’m nervous about that, though, I quickly realize I don’t gotta be.

  “Cool,” Maya says. “Do we get to see how you use it, then? I’ve been curious.”

  “Sure, I guess. Though we’re just going inside to eat so we probably won’t be walking too much.”

  “Do you ever, like, trip people with it?” Joey asks.

  “No. Not supposed to do that.” I gotta hold back a laugh when I answer him.

  “But you’ve thought about doing it, right?”

  “Oh, definitely.”

  Beth comes around from her side of the car then. “Sorry. Had to answer a text. I’m Beth, Hadley’s big sister. Y’all must be Joey and Maya.”

  “That’s us,” Maya says. “Also, wow, Hadley, you and your sister look a lot alike.”

  “You do,” Joey says, and I can tell from his tone that he’s grinning. “And that’s a compliment. If Hadley grows up to be half as pretty as you, Beth, she’ll be a lucky girl.”

  Maya and me both elbow him at the same time.

  “Stop flirting with my sister,” I say. “She’s got a girlfriend.”

  Beth just laughs. “Thank you, though. I do think Hadley and I look a lot alike. We take after our mama.”

  “Oh … that’s right,” Maya says. “You’re gonna see her today, aren’t you?”

  I nod.

  “I still can’t believe she’s in jail,” Joey says. “How’re yo
u feeling about seeing her there?”

  “I dunno.”

  “Well,” Maya says quickly, “you don’t gotta think too much about it just yet. First, you’ve got some pizza to eat.”

  “That’s right,” Beth says. “Oh man. Mr. Gino’s Pizzeria. I haven’t eaten here in so long. Is their sauce still amazing?”

  “It is,” Joey assures her.

  “Good. Let’s get some lunch, then.”

  We spend the next hour shoving our faces with pepperoni pizza and talking like it’d only been a day since we’d last seen each other. I’m surprised by how easy it is. Even though we’ve been staying in touch more lately, I was still worried. Worried that them knowing about Mama or seeing my cane would make it feel weird. But it doesn’t.

  They’re still Joey and Maya.

  And I’m still their best friend.

  Before Maya’s parents come to pick her and Joey up, we make Beth take our picture so we can post it on all our socials. It’s been a while since we’ve taken a photo together. It’s long overdue.

  We make promises to text and video chat as often as we can. Maya starts planning fall break and scheming so that I can come down and stay with her for a few days. And then lunch is over, and we gotta say goodbye.

  “Good luck,” Joey murmurs as he hugs me goodbye. “With your mama.”

  “Thanks,” I say.

  I wave as I watch them climb into Maya’s parents’ car and drive off.

  Beth puts a hand on my shoulder. “Come on, Baby Sister,” she says. “We don’t wanna be late.” She pauses. “Sorry. Hadley, I mean.”

  I shake my head. “No,” I say, finally feeling okay to acknowledge the slow thawing that’s been happening in my chest for a couple months now. “Baby Sister is all right.”

  Beth smiles. “All right, then. Let’s get going, Baby Sister.”

  And we get back into her little blue car.