“Brought you a dog,” he said. “Made him alive and put all his legs back on for you, too.”

The woman swatted at his head and whacked him pretty hard, to no discernible effect.

“Actually, you can’t have Popcorn,” she said. “He’s ours, no matter how many times Cam tries to give him away.”

I just stared at her.

“We get that a lot,” she said, nodding. “It’s a really normal reaction. Nora.” She reached out her hand and I shook it wearily.

“You looking for a dog?” Kenny said. “Take Scruggsy here. He’ll make good eatin’.”

The dogs had assembled in the living room, drawn by the smell of the cooking meat. They were lined up, one, two, three, like animated chipmunks on a windowsill. Kiki scratched furiously at her collar, at a dead tick, maybe, buried in her neck.

“Cameron’s been having problems with his medication,” Nora said. “There’s no way he can keep going in to work like this. We’ve lost, like, five regulars this week. Not lost lost. Just, you know, people who are never coming back. Which is fair. I mean, I wouldn’t.”

Kenny handed me a beer and I took a pull from it as I contemplated this. Cameron’s gaze was concentrated on the pan in front of him. He mushed the meat flat until it smoked.

“Trust her, man,” Cameron mumbled. “It’ll be better if you trust her.”

“Trust me!” Nora said. “Trust me, trust me!”

I didn’t trust them, though Cameron now seemed barely conscious enough to qualify as a person, let alone an antagonist. My helpless sympathy extended itself to him, to all of us.

“That burger looks just about done, Cam,” Kenny said. It was quite badly charred. “I’ve got a few I cooked earlier keeping warm in the oven,” he stage-whispered to me.

I helped carry the food outside to a battered picnic table, feeling dazed by my empty-stomach beer and the lowering twilight and the company I was keeping. We chewed burgers and watched the dogs chase each other in circles. I drank another beer.

“I think, probably, I need a new task,” Cameron said suddenly. “Something to concentrate my energy on so that I can bring positivity into the world instead of all this nightmare stuff.”

“Here’s one,” Kenny said. “Finish your drink.”

“You shouldn’t be drinking,” Nora said quietly, and dumped Cameron’s glass of whiskey onto the lawn. “I’m an influence,” she said to the table.