by Jenny Lee
“Dude, did your dog just answer you?” Billy stepped on the gas, and we took off again. He drove crazy fast for the next two blocks and then made a sharp right turn, which almost flung me out of the wagon. I was gripping so hard my hands hurt. Billy finally lurched to a stop behind some tall hedges.
“Okay, party’s over. Get out.”
“You think someone is following us, and you’re just going to dump us on the side of the road?”
“Yup. Plus I gotta get home. So vamoose.”
I would never understand this kid, ever. I loosened the nylon straps along my legs and stepped out of the wagon. Of course, my right leg had fallen asleep, and when I tried to stand on it, I lost my balance and fell over in the yard. Elvis picked me up pretty quickly, but there was no way Billy didn’t see it. “Well, thanks for the ride.”
“Yeah, whatever. You owe me gas money now. I’ll collect later. And I’m not lying. I don’t have your dumb lug nut thingie.”
This time I believed him. Maybe Alexander was right.
“Okay, Billy. I’m sorry I accused you. That was wrong of me. And I also want to say maybe you’re not as mean as I thought you were. Okay, you’re not that nice, but maybe it’s not your fault. I mean, it is kind of your fault, because you don’t really have to pick on kids who are weaker than you, but maybe you do it because your own life has been pretty sucky. I’m really sorry that your dad died.”
Billy laughed. Okay, again, not the response I was expecting from him. “My dad didn’t die in the accident. He still lives in Michigan. My parents got divorced last year, and my mom and I moved here to be closer to my granddad.” All of a sudden he was serious again. “But just because I told you about my dad, don’t think we’re friends. Or that you really know anything about my life. Sure I may only have one foot, but I’m still faster, stronger, and cooler than you and your two feet. The only days you should feel bad for me are when it’s really hot out, because I don’t like to wear shorts. Later.”
Billy hit the gas and took off. I heard him laughing all the way down the street. I just shook my head. I was pretty sure singing prison songs would come in handy for him one day.
As soon as he was gone, a large black SUV pulled over right in front of us. Elvis leaped into action and dragged me back five feet from the sidewalk into someone’s yard. He then stood in front of me. The tinted window rolled down. We were being followed by . . . Taisy!
“Hey, guys! I thought that was you two. Of course, it’s pretty hard to miss a giant dog riding a go-kart. It’s not really a sight you see every day. Anyway, I have Princess Daisy with me. Can she meet Elvis now? See, Daddy? Do you remember Elvis from the hospital two days ago?”
“Yes, Taisy, he is a good-looking dog,” I heard Taisy’s dad say inside the car. Elvis beamed. I’ve never met a dog who loves being fawned over more.
Taisy got out of the car, leaving the door wide open.
“So do you want to meet Princess Daisy?”
“Sure, I’d love to meet Princess Daisy. Where is she?” I asked, turning my head toward the open door.
I was expecting Princess Daisy to get out of the world’s largest SUV, but instead she popped out of Taisy’s purse just like a piece of toast. She was a tan French bulldog with a little bit of Chihuahua in there, and she was very cute. On her pink blinged-out collar there was a daisy that was almost as big as her whole head. She just sprang out of Taisy’s bag straight up into the air, and instinctively I put my hands out and caught her. I sorta wished the twins were around to see it, because whenever they throw anything at me that I’m not expecting (like all the time), I’m always surprised and drop it. I have bad hand-eye coordination, bad reflexes, bad grip, bad timing, and well, you get what I’m saying.
But I caught Princess Daisy. She licked my face, and I laughed because it tickled. This was when Taisy leaned in so close I could smell her strawberry lip gloss. She whispered, “We made it back two minutes before my dad showed up. Billy’s a really good driver. It was super fun.” She then straightened up and said in her regular voice, probably more for her dad’s benefit than my own, “She likes you, and Princess Daisy is very picky about who she likes and who she doesn’t.”
Taisy sounded happy, and I was happy that Taisy was happy, and I was really happy she and Alexander hadn’t gotten into any trouble while helping me try to get my lug nut back. I couldn’t believe that just twenty minutes ago Taisy was losing it and biting everyone’s head off, and now she was back to being super-girlie-sweet Taisy. It was like a female Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde scenario, big-time. Then I noticed Princess Daisy’s tiny little nails were painted pink. I looked at Taisy in surprise.
“What?” she said. “Just because I’m better than most boys in sports doesn’t mean I can’t be girlie too. Girls are very complicated, Benji. That’s what makes us so special.”
I shrugged. She’d get no lip from me on the subject. I had already learned from my mom how complicated women can be. All this time Taisy’s dad was checking out Elvis, and finally Elvis must have smelled Princess Daisy (she smelled like a warm peach pie, by the way), and he came over.
So my mom watches a lot of those mushy movies. She says there’s nothing better than chocolate and a movie about love. Because I’m sick and home a lot, I’ve seen a lot of them with her. I can’t say I like them as much as she does, because I’m not a girl, but I will admit that sometimes I understand why she likes them. I guess my favorite part about them is the guaranteed happy ending. I also like slow motion, and they do that a lot in those types of movies. Sometimes I feel like life just goes by too quickly, and I wish that I had a master remote control button where I could just slow things down and watch them again, kinda like that time when Elvis was flying through the morgue on that steel table.
Well, every now and again in real life, you see things in slow motion. I’m not saying it’s happened to me all that often, and maybe it only happens when it’s about true love . . . but when Elvis saw Princess Daisy, I swear I looked up to see if there were any cartoon bluebirds circling above his head. He glanced over at me, looked away, and then did a double take so fast I’m surprised he didn’t get whiplash. It’s like he looked over and saw boring old Benjamin and then he looked away, but then his brain caught up with his eyes and he was like, wait, what was that in his arms? And then he looked again.
His jaw dropped when he saw Princess Daisy. Seriously, his mouth opened, and a big old strand of drool fell right out. Probably not the best first impression, but at least it was sincere. When Elvis came bounding over to say hello, that’s when it was like slow motion. I saw every strand of hair on his long, fluffy coat, and he whipped his head around, which caused his drool to go flying out of his mouth, and suddenly everyone was ducking for cover. Taisy, because she has amazing reflexes, ducked and managed to miss the flying spit. I wasn’t so lucky, as I caught a big glob right above my left eye. Gross.
Then suddenly Elvis was face-to-face with Princess Daisy, and he sat very politely and was very still. I held out Princess Daisy so she could sniff Elvis, and it seemed she approved, because she wagged her tail in my arms.
“She likes you,” I said.
Taisy scooped Princess Daisy out of my arms and put her on the ground next to Elvis. Trust me, no two dogs could look more different. Princess Daisy was pretty much the size of one of Elvis’s paws. Taisy said she thought Princess Daisy liked Elvis. And I told Taisy I thought Elvis more than just liked Princess Daisy. Then we both got embarrassed, and luckily, we were saved by Taisy’s dad, who got out of the car and came over to say it was time for them to go.
It was hard to separate Elvis from Princess Daisy, but Taisy had a meeting with one of her private coaches. I said I had to go too, not because I had anything important to do, but because if I didn’t get home soon, my mom would probably call in the SWAT team to come find me. Everyone laughed. I almost said that I was being totally serious, but I decided to just let it go.
The last four blocks to home, Elvis w
as floating on air. If a dog could hum, Elvis would have. I was about to tease him, but then I realized I hate getting teased myself. And why should I tease him anyway? So what if he liked Taisy and Princess Daisy? I liked them too.
15
Elvis and I rounded the corner to my house, and I saw two black sedans out front, one parked in the driveway and the second one parked on the street. It looked really odd, so we stopped and stared. Elvis took one glance at the license plates and told me they were definitely Secret Service cars.
He nudged me forward, and pretty soon we were running toward the house. When I got up to the door, a man opened it before I had a chance to. I was out of breath from running, my heart pounding. My mom was serving cake and tea in our living room to three men with black suits on. Not a single one of them smiled.
“Benji, are you okay? Why are you late from school?” my mom asked.
“I’m fine, Mom. I’m late because . . . well, uh, we ran into Taisy and her dad on the street, and Taisy wanted her dog, Princess Daisy, to meet Elvis. I think Elvis is in love with Princess Daisy. I could tell, because it looked like one of those lovey-dovey mushy movies you watch on TV where people see each other and it’s love at first sight, but this time it was the doggy version.”
When I’m nervous, I talk too fast and too much, and it was worse in this case, because I was only telling a half-truth. It was true that we’d run into Taisy and her dad, but I conveniently left out the part where Elvis saved a nondrowning man, we went to Billy’s house, and oh yeah, how I almost died when I ate a walnut by accident.
“What? Who is Taisy? Who is Princess Daisy?”
“Taisy is the girl we met at the hospital, remember? And Princess Daisy is Taisy’s dog. But she’s not a real princess. It’s just a fake title.”
My mom, even though I could tell she was nervous too with all these strangers in her living room, couldn’t help but beam at me. She’s always telling me I need to make some friends. She never said anything about it directly, but I guess it made her sad that I never talked about anyone from school.
“Well, why don’t you come and have some cake and tell me all about it?” she said.
“Or . . . maybe you could tell me who all these guys wearing dark suits are?” I said, nodding at the men.
“Oh right! Benji, this is Secret Service Agent Daniels and his friends.” A short, stocky man walked up to me and held out his hand.
“Hello, Benjamin, I’m Agent Daniels. I work for the president of the United States.”
“Hello, Mr. Daniels. I’m ten years old and in the fourth grade. I’m too young to work, so I don’t work for anyone.”
Everyone laughed. Before I could say anything else, a yellow Labrador came bounding into the room from the kitchen, straight for me. I panicked and threw my arms up to protect my face. I was sure I was about to be knocked over, and hard. But at the last second Elvis intervened and knocked the other dog away.
“Whoa. Elvis. Easy there, it’s okay,” I said.
The other dog lay on the floor, eyeing Elvis suspiciously.
“Mom, what’s going on?”
“Well, Benji, it turns out you were right. There was a mix-up, and Elvis really was the president’s dog like you said. This is your normal-sized dog. His name is Ripley.”
I turned to Ripley. He was panting and happy. I walked up to him and held out my hand.
“Hi Ripley. I’m Benji.” Ripley barked happily and licked my hand. Well, one thing was for sure. Ripley didn’t talk. Well, not in a way that I understood. I petted his head, and he happily started licking my face. I noticed that Elvis looked very tense.
“So what does this mean?” I asked.
“Well, Benji, it means that we’re here to take Elvis to the White House, and Ripley is going to stay here with you,” said Agent Daniels with his mouth full of cake.
“Oh.” I wasn’t sure what to say. I didn’t know exactly how I felt. “So when is this happening?”
My mom came quickly to my side, putting her arm around me. “Benji, honey, I think it’s happening now. It’s time for you to say good-bye to Elvis.”
“Oh.” I still didn’t know what to say. I looked over at Elvis, and he looked as sad as I was.
“So that’s it? You’re just taking Elvis right now and I’m never going to see him again?”
Agent Daniels looked at his colleagues and then at my mom. Clearly, he was not a guy who was used to answering to a ten-year-old.
“Well, perhaps we could work out a visit if your family ever comes to DC. I’d say you could write emails, but he is just a dog.” Agent Daniels chuckled, but he was the only one who laughed.
“Elvis is much more than just a dog. He could write emails. If he could type.”
No one laughed. “That was a joke,” I said, and everyone chuckled awkwardly.
“Well, Mrs. Barnsworth, thank you for the amazing cake,” said Agent Daniels. “But we should really hit the road. We’ve got a long drive ahead of us.”
Suddenly it all sank in. My throat tightened and my stomach hurt.
“Wait, I, uh, can I have a little time alone with Elvis to say good-bye? In private?”
Everyone looked at one another. My mom spoke up. “Benji, why don’t you and Elvis go upstairs to your room, and you can get his stuff. I’m sure he’d like to take some of the toys we bought him.”
Agent Daniels looked at his watch and sighed.
“You can wait another five minutes, can’t you?” My mom said it like a question, but her tone said otherwise. Even Secret Service Agent Daniels didn’t want to say no to my mom.
“Sure. Of course. We’ll wait down here.”
“C’mon, Elvis, let’s go upstairs.” I walked up the stairs, and Elvis followed me. Ripley got up to follow too, but Elvis turned and barked at him. Ripley lay back down again. I had never seen Elvis so stern. It was the longest climb up the stairs of my whole life. By the time we got to my room, I was doing everything I could not to cry. When I closed the door to face Elvis, I didn’t know what to say.
“Wow. So, uh, wow.”
“Benjamin. I, uh . . .” Elvis didn’t know what to say either.
“I’m sorry I called you a liar earlier at school. I didn’t mean it. I believed you. I was just mad. And I know you were telling the truth.”
“It’s okay. I knew you were upset. I’m sorry I pushed you so hard about Alexander.”
“No, you were right. Like always. I was just stubborn. Or scared. I guess I am a coward.”
“No, you’re not. You’re the bravest kid I know. And I had a wonderful time here.”
“Yeah?”
“Absolutely.”
“I’m glad. But now you’re going to go live that extraordinary life you’ve been wanting to live. Which is cool. I mean, the White House has lots of grass.”
“Yes, it does.”
I couldn’t pretend anymore. I didn’t want him to go. The tears poured out of me, and there was nothing I could do to stop them.
“Please don’t cry, Benjamin.” Elvis walked up to me and licked them away. I threw my arms around his big furry neck and buried my face in his hair.
“I’m going to miss you so much! You will always be my first and favorite dog.”
“Well, you’ll always be my first master. It’s going to be okay.”
“Yeah. Ripley seems nice.”
“Yeah, for a Lab. I mean, yes, I’m sure he’s a great dog. And he’ll look after you. Not like I would look after you, but I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
“I’m sorry you won’t have a chance to say good-bye to Taisy and Princess Daisy and Alexander.”
“Yeah, me too. You tell them I said good-bye, okay? And be careful around that Billy kid from now on. I really don’t trust him. And make sure Ripley minds his manners.”
“Okay. I’ll tell Ripley you have dibs on Princess Daisy.”
Elvis chuckled, but I could tell he was really hurting inside too.
“So is this good-bye?”
“I think it’s good-bye for now. But not forever. Maybe you can come and visit me at the White House. And if you write letters, I’m sure someone will read them to me. I hope.”
“Okay.”
There was a light knock on my door, and then my mom came in.
“Hey, baby, you okay?” She looked at my tearstained face. I wiped my nose on my sleeve.
“Yeah, Mom. I’m just sad. I really love Elvis. I wish he didn’t have to go.”
“I know, honey. And Elvis, it was a real honor to have you with us.” She bent down and hugged Elvis too. She held up a brown paper bag. “I went to the butcher today and bought you some beef bones that I boiled up for you. Maybe you can take them on the road for a snack?”
Elvis licked her face in response.
I went over to my desk drawer and pulled out a bag of Doritos that I had stashed there. “Here, Mom, let’s put these in there for him too.” She opened the bag and I placed the Doritos inside.
“Think of us when you eat Doritos, okay? I’m sure you’ll have plenty at the White House.”
“No, after this bag I won’t eat them anymore. Doritos are our thing. We’ll eat them together the next time I see you.” Wow, who knew that Elvis was as mushy as one of those movies?
“Mom, do you think we can go to the White House and visit Elvis? Or was Agent Daniels just full of it?”
“Benjamin, that’s not nice. I’m sure he meant what he said. I’ll bring it up again. I don’t see why we can’t go and visit. Maybe in the summer.”
The summer was still a long way off. And the thought of it made me start crying again. I hated Elvis to remember me as a big crybaby, but my mom has always said that it’s okay to cry. It just means you feel something strongly, and it’s better to feel a lot than to feel nothing at all.
“So we should probably go downstairs. I think they’re waiting for us.”
“Okay. One more minute, Mom. I promise we’ll be right down.” My mom nodded and left the room.
