Buster

by Caleb Huett

  Five minutes, and no sign of Mia. I shouldn’t have trusted this to a puppy, I thought.

  With a quick scribble, Tonio finished writing his Blademaster name. I tried to catch a peek again, but he pressed it to his chest and barely let go even when Skyler was reaching for it. “Whoa,” she said after looking at it.

  “Is it bad?” Tonio asked immediately. “I can change the name. I just thought that—”

  Skyler pushed the corner of her glasses to bring it back up her nose. “Your handwriting is really good,” she explained. “That’s all I meant.”

  “But is the name okay?”

  She looked again and grinned. “It’s intense.”

  “Is that bad?”

  “No, I think it’s cool.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked the time. “Is your friend here yet?”

  Tonio shook his head. “Is there any chance you could wait a few more minutes? Just to see?”

  “We have to get started. But …” Skyler consulted her clipboard. “If she was here, we’d have an uneven number of people, anyway, and someone would get a bye the first round.”

  “A bye?”

  “It means someone has to skip, ’cause there’s nobody for them to play against.” She wrote a note down on her clipboard, then chewed on the end of her pen for a second. “I’ll tell you what—I’ll sign her up, and give her the first bye. She can fill out the sheet when she gets here. That’s like thirty more minutes.”

  Tonio’s eyebrows came together in concern. “Is that okay? If it’s not fair, I don’t—”

  “It’s fine. If she wasn’t coming, everyone here would have to play, anyway.” She held her phone up for Tonio. “Do you want to call her?”

  “That’s okay, I just—” I nudged him and underspoke, Yes. He gave me a confused expression, so I did it again, with an exclamatory quirk to my tail. Yes! “Uh, actually, that would be good. But I’m not good at phones. Is there somewhere private I could make a call?”

  Skyler pointed. “Sure! Over there.”

  Moments later, Tonio and I were crammed into a tiny bathroom meant for one human. I sat on the toilet enjoying the smell, and Tonio leaned against the sink, staring pointedly away from the mirror and waiting for the phone to finish ringing. He put it on speaker so I could hear.

  “Rrrring, ring?” Mia’s dad Jeff answered.

  “Hi, Mr. Lin. It’s Tonio.”

  “Please, Mr. Lin is my husband.” He chuckled. “Jeff is fine!”

  “Uh, okay.” The silence lasted too long. “Is Mia there?”

  “Y’know, I don’t think she is.” He let out a sympathetic sigh. “Sorry about that, buddy.”

  “Is she okay?”

  “Between you and me, she’s been having kind of a hard time, and she won’t talk to us about why. I appreciate you checking on her, though.”

  Tonio glanced at me, brow knit together. Go on, I underspoke.

  He put his hand over the phone. “Do I have to?” he whispered.

  It’ll be fine!

  Tonio squeezed his eyes shut and brought the phone back up to his ear. “ActuallyMr.Lincouldyouput Mozartonthephone?”

  This silence lasted even longer. “The dog?” Jeff asked.

  “Yes, sir.” Tonio covered his squeezed-shut eyes with his free hand. I felt bad for putting him in such a stressful position, but we’d agreed this was our only chance to really find out what was going on. I fed Tonio the words to say. “My dog misses him, I think. He’s been whining ever since I took him away from the park.”

  Tonio held the phone up. I gave a little whine for emphasis.

  “That,” Jeff announced, “is the cutest darn thing I’ve ever heard in my life. You got it. Mozart! Come here, boy!” He laughed. “Phone’s for you!” There was the jingling of a collar and the ruffle of a phone being placed onto carpet.

  “Hello?” I barked, making Tonio wince and Mozart whine sarcastically on the other line.

  “C’mon, gramps. You don’t have to yell.”

  “Sorry,” I rumbled, embarrassed. Tonio stared at me, wide-eyed, like he was realizing I was smart all over again. “The tournament’s already starting! Where are you?”

  His little paws squished the carpet around the phone in a frustrated rhythm. “I’ve tried everything! I stole her left sock, I stole her right sock, I chewed on her left shoe, I chewed on her right shoe, I scratched at the door—all the normal stuff that always works! She won’t budge!”

  My ears flattened. That was the stuff that always works. “Okay, so we need a more complicated plan. Maybe we should ask Jpeg.”

  Static burst across the line for a second. Then, a new bark. “Ask me what?”

  “Jpeg! How’re you on the phone?”

  She barked a little laugh. “Is that your question? You only get one.”

  Me-from-a-few-days-ago, the me who decided I wasn’t going to meddle in people’s lives anymore, was growling all over my brain again. But, uh, what is that saying? You can’t teach an old dog to stop doing old tricks? I think that’s how it goes, and therefore the thing I did next is not my fault, and I promise I have learned my lesson, mostly, but the truth was that Mozart couldn’t talk to Mia directly. Maybe if he could, maybe if Mia knew how many friends she really did have, we wouldn’t need to use tricks. But I wasn’t ready to admit that I’d broken the law, so:

  “We need a plan to get Mia to the Beamblade tournament, and we only have thirty minutes.”

  A keyboard clicked and clacked. “What’s your budget?”

  “Zero dollars?”

  Click click click click click, like a backspace key over and over. “I see. So you want me to do this pro bone-o.” She didn’t sound pleased.

  “It’s for Mia!” I yelped. “You were just trying to help her like a week ago!”

  “A lot can change in a week.”

  “No, it can’t! You just wanted to make a pun and now you want to sound cool!”

  KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. “Is everything okay? It sounds like three dogs in there.”

  Tonio called back out, “Yeah,” finally looking confident and ready with a lie. “That’s just my stomach!”

  “Your—that’s y—” I heard whoever was behind the door take a step back. “All right, you … keep doing what you’re doing.”

  Jpeg finally spoke again. “Okay, nerds, listen up. In two seconds, you’ll hear the sound of a goat.” There was a bleat, in the distance, from the other line. “And now the humans.”

  “Oh no, how did she get out again?” And now, louder: “Mia, we need your help getting Chompy back in the barn!”

  Jpeg again. “Mozart, there’s a friendship anklet on Mia’s dresser. She and Sloan made them last summer, and she won’t want to lose it. Once she opens her door, you need to grab it and take it outside. I’ll make sure the front gate is left just a little open. I expect you can handle it from there?”

  He yipped affirmatively. “Sure thing!”

  “Great. Jpeg out.” Another burst of static, and then the sound of a door opening. Mozart was already leaving, so I motioned for Tonio to hang up the phone.

  Suddenly, silence. Tonio looked from the phone to me, and then at the mirror. “Have I been dreaming this whole time?” he mumbled.

  No, I assured him.

  “I can’t do this,” Tonio said, still staring at himself in the mirror. “This isn’t the kind of thing I do. I can’t talk to dogs and make friends and compete in tournaments. I’m not that kind of person.”

  You are, I said, and regretted how caught up in the plan I’d become again. I got so excited and forgot to be gentle with him. Too focused on myself, and my meddling. You are because you’re here. And you’re doing it.

  “FIRST-ROUND PAIRINGS!” Skyler yelled from the store.

  And it’s time to go.

  “Okay.” He reached for the door, then let go of it. “I can’t do it.”

  “I can.”

  “No, I can’t.”

  Maybe you can’t, I tried, but can
we?

  He watched my paws twist and took a slow breath. He nodded.

  “Yeah. We can.”

  “And at table five, Keygator versus … Malbrain and Combuster!”

  Devon cackled with laughter when Tonio stood up and sheepishly grabbed his cards.

  “It sounds stupid,” Tonio said.

  “No!!!” Devon disagreed. “Combuster is so good.” I liked it at least and wagged my tail to make sure everybody knew.

  “You’re just saying that.”

  “And table six: GriffinRider1 versus: Nevod, the First Techromancer.”

  “See? You believe me now? Mine’s just as silly and just as good.”

  Now it was Tonio’s turn to smile. “Yeah, I believe you.”

  Tonio’s first real opponent introduced himself as Keegan. He was one of the younger adults in the tournament, with bright blue hair, five different piercings, and an entire rock collection’s worth of crystals hanging from his neck. He was also, lucky for us, playing an earth and water deck, which was the worst possible combo against gravity.

  “Malbrain, huh? And that fuzzy guy must be Combuster.” Keegan played a Buried Manabyte and a Serverpillar. “Kinda scary. You sound like villains.”

  Tonio didn’t answer—he hadn’t even looked at Keegan yet—and silently played a Suspended Manabyte and a Sleep Pod on Keegan’s Manabyte.

  Basically, green decks are really slow—they plant seeds early in the game, hoping that they’ll bloom into winning strategies later on. Adding blue—which is all about bringing destroyed cards back from the dead—is meant to be a check to make sure that if you lose important seeds, you can plant them again. But gravity is all about taking control of the board as it is, so if Tonio played right, he could make sure the seeds would never grow without sending them to the AfterFile, where blue can get to them.

  That was, if Tonio played right. His nerves were already getting to him. He was trying to stay calm by pretending the other player wasn’t really there, but it meant he wasn’t paying close enough attention to what Keegan might be doing. Turn two the Serverpillar became ChrysalISP, so Tonio played cards to freeze it up, not thinking ahead to the fact that ChrysalISP took several turns to grow, anyway. Keegan was betting on that choice, and Tonio didn’t have cards ready when HORROR.WAV crashed onto the battlefield.

  “Nice!” Keegan cheered as he claimed the first Spirit Battery. “Got you this time, kid.”

  Tonio didn’t look bothered at all. “Good job.”

  “Don’t let me get the next one so easy, though, okay?”

  Tonio blinked and finally looked up. “Huh? Don’t you want to win?”

  “Sure I do.” Keegan shrugged. “But it’s more fun to lose a tough game than to win an easy one. Show me what you’ve got!”

  Tonio’s expression softened. “My friend says that, too.” He drew a card and considered it.

  “Your friend is right!”

  Now Tonio was watching Keegan and really analyzing the field. “I don’t get it.” He put down another Manabyte, and Checkmate, Gravity Runner. “She seems so frustrated and mad when she’s losing, but she still says I’m supposed to do my best. But I don’t care if I win, so why should I, if it makes people feel bad?”

  Keegan pushed a ring on his lip back and forth, flipping a shiny stone in and out of his mouth. “Hmmm. Let me think.” He drew a card. “Do you play video games?” And cast an update spell on HORROR.WAV.

  “Not really.” Tonio cast an Anti-Grav enchantment on the battlefield.

  “Do you run?” HORROR.WAV flooded it in response.

  “Not on purpose.” Tonio contained the water in a Folder of Holding.

  “Have you ever gone to an all-night party?” ChrysalISP burst forth into Luna Motherboard.

  “I’m eleven.” Tonio caught it in a Network. He sent Checkmate on attack.

  “So???” Keegan sent HORROR.WAV to defend.

  “We don’t have a lot of all-night parties.” Checkmate’s ability activated, and she got a bonus in the Anti-Grav.

  “What is the world coming to!” Keegan gasped. “Back when I was eleven, we—I—” He paused and looked at the battlefield. “Well, mostly I played video games, you’re right. Good play.”

  “Thank you.” Tonio collected a spirit battery.

  “So, what do you do?” Keegan asked. He sent HORROR.WAV to the AfterFile.

  Tonio considered this. “I draw.”

  “Perfect!” And didn’t play anything. Just had to pass. “Sometimes drawing isn’t fun, right? Sometimes you want to get to the end, when you’ve got something cool done, but you can’t get there until you’ve done the hard part. It’s kind of like that.”

  Another attack from Tonio. He won again and collected another spirit battery. “But at the end you don’t have a picture or anything. You just lost.”

  “That’s thinking too small! The picture isn’t just that one match. It’s all the matches.” Keegan peeked at his next card and groaned. “Useless. Bad draw.” He held his hand out, palm up, to pass the turn to Tonio.

  “I’m sorry.” Tonio looked down at the battlefield. He could win now, but he was hesitating.

  “Don’t be. I knew this deck might not have enough fighters in it. Anyway, all I’m saying is, one match is only the first line of the drawing. And even if I lose a million times, it’s just more lines. Then, when I take what I learn and put all the lines together, that’s the picture. And that feels great, even—and maybe especially—if it felt bad on the way.” Tonio pushed his fighters out onto the battlefield, and Keegan sighed—he’d lost. “Maybe that’s how your friend feels, too.”

  I’m not sure that’s exactly how Mia thinks, I thought. But Tonio just nodded. “Maybe so.” Keegan held out his hand to shake, and Tonio took it. “Thank you.”

  “I’ll get you next time. SKYLER!” he yelled across the hall. “I LOST!”

  “Got it!” Skyler called back at a much more reasonable volume, and gave a thumbs-up.

  The street outside Roll the Ice was as hot as the store was cold, and as empty as the tournament was cramped. Tonio didn’t say anything for a long time, which was fine with me. We had plenty of time before round two, and I felt certain Sergeant and Grizzle were around somewhere, trying to spot me breaking the law.

  To tell the truth, I was terrified. I’m still terrified. I’m not even three years old, and I might have to spend the rest of my life in exile already! But if you could have seen his face … I think you would have felt you were doing the right thing, too. He was staring toward the bell, drifting in and out of a big smile. He was happy. What was my fear, next to that happiness? It felt like I was getting to hold on to his anxiety for a little while, which is all I really wanted to do.

  “Thank you, Buster.” He leaned over and wrapped his arms around me in a big hug. “You’re the best.”

  If I wasn’t already sure I loved the kid, well … I was then.

  “HE​YBUS​TERH​ITON​IOCU​TEHU​GIBR​OUGH​TMIA​BUTI​DON’TTH​INKS​HE’SVE​RYHA​PPYA​BOUT​IT!!​!!”

  (To be clear, that was a dog, so to Tonio it sounded more like “HORFARFARKROARKHRKORKARKIAU!!!!”)

  We leaned forward on the bench and watched three fuzzy colors zoom by.

  “YOU GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW, MOZART!”

  (That was a human, so to Tonio, it sounded like a very angry Mia in elephant pajamas.)

  We leaned back at light speed so we wouldn’t get in her way. Tonio looked at me. I blinked.

  “?” he asked.

  “!” I suggested.

  He nodded.

  We ran.

  Tonio was not much of a runner, but he pushed extra hard to catch up to Mia, and I tugged him along by the leash.

  “Hi, Mia,” he said.

  “I’m busy,” she replied.

  “Yeah!” Pant. “I see …” Double pant. “That! Can we help?”

  She watched him from the corner of her eye. “How are you going to help?”

  Tou
gh, but fair. Tonio was already running out of steam. The steam he needed for running.

  “Bus … ter … ?” he gasped out. Mia looked down at me, running alongside them, and shrugged.

  “Sure, if you can get him to.”

  I couldn’t go until he gave me a command. He dropped the leash and pointed.

  “GET!” he rasped. That was good enough.

  I turned my attention to Mozart and pumped all four of my legs into a faster run. “Coming your way!” I barked. “Let’s make this believable!”

  “Gotcha!” Mozart yipped back. The crosswalk up ahead was Big Hand, not Human, so we couldn’t cross. “I’m turning around!” He whipped around a streetlamp and headed straight for us. “Dodging left!” he called out just before we collided. I snapped right to miss on purpose, letting him zoom past me. He gave Mia a lot of space, then dove easily between Tonio’s legs.

  “Alley!” I barked. Mozart curved hard and ran between buildings. I left the humans behind and followed him around the corner.

  “BOO!” he barked, jumping out from behind a trash can. I scrambled my legs into a sudden break—my ears flattened and I growled reflexively. Mozart yipped a little laugh. “Gotcha. Now hurry up and put me in your mouth before the humans get here.”

  I gently scooped him up with my jaws and turned to pose proudly as the kids rounded the corner.

  “Finally,” Mia grunted.

  “I’m going to die,” Tonio gasped.

  Mia collected her anklet from Mozart’s mouth and untied a leash from her waist. I dropped Mozart.

  “Don’t be so dramatic.” Mia rolled her eyes.

  “No—” Tonio croaked. “I’m serious, I—” He tried to get a whole breath but couldn’t make his lungs do it, so the air fluttered unpleasantly at his throat. He tried to fan himself with both hands, but it didn’t look very effective. He gave up and clutched at his chest, stretching the green fabric of his shirt. “I think I’m having a heart attack.”

  “You’re not having a heart attack,” Mia told him.

  “I can’t breathe!” he argued.

  “You can breathe enough to talk,” Mia pointed out.

  “That doesn’t mean anything!”