“No, I guess you wouldn’t have,” he wheezed, his mouth an orange cavern of cheese. “You didn’t even know Reggie was a girl.” Terry batted his arm lightly, like brushing away a moth. “The puppies were just born, for God’s sake,” she said. “Let him enjoy them.” “Yeah, enjoy it when they’re young,” he said. “It’s a mess later.” His black pupils darted to the left towards Claudia. Though the sun had dipped down an hour ago, she tilted back on her elbows, sunning like a gecko on the vast expanse of black driveway. Occasionally, her phone vibrated in her hand, and she’d join the world again. When I heard faint cooing from the garage, I peeked around the corner to check on the puppies. Through the spokes of the bicycle, I could just make out Reginald’s flat black nose, his face drooped to one side. He’d been shuffling around for weeks with a whole litter kicking around in his belly. Correction: her belly. My lack of awareness amazed me. I stared at my hands to make sure they were my own. “I’ll be home,” I heard Claudia yell to her parents. Blue Bonnet trotted after her, and Claudia soon plucked the dog up off the grass. “I guess we should be going, too. You’ve had quite a day, Charley.” Terry brushed off her long gray sundress as she stood up. “I’ll leave these for you,” she added, patting the stack of dog books. Rubin stayed seated on the bottom step. “I may stay a while. Maybe we’ll have a beer.” I didn’t have any beer. Terry shrugged and waved us goodbye, and we carried the empty pitcher and remaining cheese back inside. “Think they’ll be okay in there tonight?” I asked, glancing over to the garage. “Sure, they’ll be fine,” he said.
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