When Dogs Cry by Markus Zusak Read Free Book Online Page A

that I liked her. I felt sorry for her, and for what Rube was doing to her. Her eyes smiled at me, for just a moment. One of those hurt smiles a person gives you, to let you know they’re okay, even though they’re far from it.
    After that, she left.
    When she was just past the gate, I asked, ‘Octavia?’
    She turned around.
    â€˜Y’ gonna come back?’
    â€˜Maybe,’ she smiled. ‘One day.’
    She walked along our street and it really did look like she was walking through a soul, and she was tough andlovely and okay. For a few seconds, I hated my brother Rube for what he was doing to her.
    Also, watching her walk slowly up our street, I remembered what Rube had said about her and him following me one day when I walked over to Glebe and stood outside Stephanie’s house. I could clearly see the image of Octavia and Rube looking at me. Looking at me looking. She must have thought I was pathetic. A bit of a lonely bastard, as Rube put it. Maybe now, as she walked up the street, she knew how I felt.
    Somehow though, I understood that it was thoughts of Rube that filled her. Not thoughts of me. Maybe she was thinking of his hands on her, touching her, taking her. Having her. Maybe it was laughter she remembered, or the words of a conversation. I would never know.
    He came in late for dinner and the old man gave him a good serve for it, as well as for leaving Octavia out to dry. I made sure to keep out of it. All I did was walk out the door once Rube was finished eating, to get Miffy.
    It was cold outside and I wasn’t in the mood.
    Not after that.
    The air was cold enough for us to wear our hoods indefinitely, and to watch the smoke pour from our mouths when we breathed.
    Smoke came from Miffy’s mouth too, especially when he had a bit of a coughing fit. That was when we quickened the pace for home.
    Later, we watched TV.
    I looked over at my brother. He could sense it.
    â€˜What?’ he said.
    I was on the couch and Rube was in the worn-through chair.
    â€˜Is Octavia gone?’
    He looked.
    First away. Then back at me.
    Yes.
    That was the answer and Rube knew he didn’t have to say it. I knew he didn’t have to say it.
    â€˜There a new one?’
    Again, he didn’t have to answer.
    â€˜What’s her name?’
    He waited a while, then said it. ‘Julia . . . But relax, Cam—I haven’t done anything yet.’
    I nodded.
    I nodded and swallowed and I wished hard that it didn’t have to be this way, for Octavia. I couldn’t have cared less about Rube at this point. I thought only of the poor girl, and I thought of a time a few years ago when Sarah got dumped by this one particular guy. I remembered how shattered she was, especially when she found out that there was another girl.
    Rube and I hated the guy who did that.
    We wanted to kill him.
    Rube especially.
    Now that guy was Rube.
    For a moment, I nearly mentioned it, but all I did was sit there stupidly and look at Rube’s face, side-on. There was no remorse in him. Almost no trace of thought about what he was doing.
    Julia.
    I could only wonder what she’d be like.
    The only problem for Rube was that Octavia wanted to find out for sure, so she came over again during the week.
    They went out to the yard, and after a few minutes, she came back through the house on her own. When she saw me, she said, ‘I’ll see you Cameron,’ and again, she gave me that courageous smile—the one I saw the other night. Only this time, her green eyes were soaked more definitely, the water rising higher, only just managing not to fall out. She gathered herself and we stood in the hall and she said one last time, ‘I’ll see you round.’
    â€˜No you won’t,’ and I smiled back at her. We both knew that people didn’t see Cameron Wolfe—at least not unless they walked through the streets of the city a lot.
    This time, when she left, she told me not to