Notes From a Liar and Her Dog by Gennifer Choldenko Read Free Book Online

take care of the zoo animals.”
    “Like lions and bears and elephants?”
    “Like lions and bears and elephants, yes.”
    “Would I get to brush them and ride them?”
    “No. They’re wild animals. We feed them, clean the night houses and the exhibit areas, and help with enrichment.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Enrichment? It’s making their lives more fun so they’re happier in confinement. It’s different for every animal. For the tiger we spray the log in his exhibit area with musk oil. You should see him when we do. He rubs his cheeks all over the log so lovingly. It’s very sweet.”
    “So I’m supposed to help them be happy
in jail …
is that it?”
    Just Carol smiles. “Something like that. Interested?”
    I shrug. “I guess,” I say warily, trying to act as if I don’t much care either way.
    “Good,” she says, and she is smiling again. A big smile, like the sun is shining after a long rain.
    This makes me angry. I feel as if I’ve been bought off. I start to tell her that I have changed my mind and I don’t want to be some prison guard after all, but she has already floated off in a tinkle of bracelets and a sweep of her big colorful skirt. Then she is busy with the other kids and I forget about the mean things I want to tell her, because I’m wishing she would come again to talk to me.

6
Z OO T EENS
    O n Saturday, Just Carol picks me up at my house. Harrison is already in the car. I hope my mom doesn’t see this. She said it was fine for me to go to the zoo, but I didn’t exactly tell her Harrison would be there, too. I think my mom is still up in her room, so probably I’m all right. Elizabeth is outside, though. She’s waiting for my mom to come down and take her to dance class. When she sees Harrison, she turns her head away and holds her nose. “L’air du salami,” she says.
    “Shut up!” I tell her. But actually, I’m happy to see Elizabeth. I was hoping she would see me get in a teacher’s car. I have always thought teachers should drive station wagons or minivans or buses maybe. Not sports cars. But Just Carol’s shiny new two-seater is clearly making a big impression on Elizabeth and I am suddenly glad this is what Just Carol drives.
    Harrison and I sit together in the front seat with one safety belt around both of us. I’m wearing a jacket, although I’m too warm in it. I have to wear it because it’s Pistachio’s favorite jacket. The pockets are big, so they fit him better. I turn my hips towardthe door and slip the seat belt up high so it doesn’t squish him. I put some of my mom’s perfume on, just in case Pistachio is smelling too doglike today. I even tried to put some on him, behind his ears, but it only made him sneeze.
    I smile and wave at Elizabeth as if this is no big deal, we do this every Saturday. Elizabeth ignores me.
    I know I should have left Pistachio home, but I couldn’t bear to. When I picked him up at the vet’s, I got little white pills for his heart. The vet said to give him one little white pill, three times a day. Just Carol said we would be at the zoo all day, so the only way I can give him his middle-of-the-day pill is if he comes with me.
    I hate leaving him, anyway. I don’t like to be left alone when I’m sick and neither does he. Though actually, he is much better. The pills are really helping him. He’s almost his old self again. So, of course, this is when my mom remembers to check on him. “See? Didn’t I tell you to wait a few days?” she asked as she watched him trot around the backyard. “Didn’t I tell you he didn’t need to go the vet?” This made me so mad, I came very close to telling her the truth and blowing everything. That’s one problem with lying. Once in a while, it turns everything all around and the bad guys think they’re the good guys.
    “So why are you doing this, anyway?” I ask Just Carol.
    “Doing what?” she asks me.
    The inside of Just Carol’s car is leather, the color of toast, and it’s