Dog Heaven by Graham Salisbury Read Free Book Online

so excited I felt twitchy. My newidea was to try my A-plus revision out on Mom like before, only this time I would say it. I would make it sound like I was just talking.
    I practiced all afternoon.
    Mom, guess what, I saw this small black and white dog with wild eyes and a short attention span.…
    Ho, yeah! This was going to be great!
    By the time we were all sitting around the dinner table, I was as nervous as a mouse. I wished Ledward was here.
    I waited for just the right moment.
    Mom said, “Any mail today, Stella?”
    “Just some junk mail.”
    “Nothing from your mom?”
    “I think she might have lost her pen.”
    Mom reached over and covered Stella’s hand with her own. “One day you’ll get five letters all at once, just wait.”
    “I doubt that.”
    We ate in silence.

    Do it, I thought.
    I opened and closed my mouth. But all those revised words didn’t want to pour out. I tried to stop my leg from bouncing.

    Mom turned to me. “So, Calvin. How did your day go?”
    “Well … uh …”
    Stella smirked.
    Just
do
it!
    I leaned back, put my hands behind my head. Make it casual. Make it like you just thought of it.
    Actually, I thought of something else. “My day was good, Mom. And, uh, did you see I cleaned up my room?”
    “Really?”
    “Yeah, and I’m going to keep it clean, too.”
    Mom raised her eyebrows.
    I cleared my throat. “Uh, Mom? Have you ever seen Ledward’s pig?”
    Mom studied me a moment. “Have you?”
    Ooops.
    Stella spilled the beans. “Ledward took him and Darci to his house.”
    “Really.” Mom looked at Stella, waiting for more.
    Stella shrugged. “That’s all I know.”
    “Was it wrong?” I asked. “I mean, to go there?”
    “No, Calvin, it wasn’t wrong. I just … well, I wanted a little more time to pass before you got … you know … more personal with … with Ledward.”
    “I like Ledward.”
    Mom smiled. “And so do I, Calvin. So. What about his pig?”
    “It rides in his jeep,” Darci said.
    “It does?”
    “In the front. With a seat belt.”

    Stella nearly choked on her food. “You have
got
to be kidding.”
    I had to get this conversation back on track. “No, it’s true. Ledward’s pig is just like a … uh … just like a dog I know … a small black and white one with … with wild eyes and a short attention span.”
    Mom studied me.
    Stella threw her head back and roared.
    I looked at her. What was so funny?

    Her shoulders shook as she tried to stop laughing. “You’re creative, I’ll give you that.”
    I’ll get you, I thought. You just wait.
    Since Mom couldn’t stop gawking at me, I decided to go on. “This dog—it’s a girl dog, and she lives at the Humane Society, and, well, anyway, someone took her into the mountainsand dumped her. She is the fastest dog I’ve ever seen.”
    Darci looked at Mom, then at Stella, then back at Mom.
    I peeked over to see how I was doing.
    Mom gaped at me. Maybe I was really telling it well and she was spellbound.
    I felt my courage rise. “I only know two things about her, Mom. One is that she needs a home. Two is that she needs a friend … someone like … uh, someone like me.”
    Stella roared. “He did it again! I can see right through you! I can almost see your skeleton!”
    I squinted at her.
    “That’s enough, Stella,” Mom said.
    Stella raised her hands in surrender. “Fine.”
    Mom shook her head and reached over to tap my hand. “That was sweet, Calvin, it really was. You’re trying so hard. I didn’t know you had it in you.”
    Did this mean I could get Streak?
    Mom’s eyes glistened. She patted my hand again and sat back.
    Darci gave me a secret thumbs-up.
    “Oh, come on,” Stella said. “You don’t believe he just came up with that gooey stuff, do you? Somebody wrote it for him and he memorized it. Go ahead and ask him. I bet he could say it again, word for word.”
    Mom laughed, dabbing her eyes with her napkin.
    Stella frowned. “Think what you like, but he’s a