I pull my hand back and stand up. “Just saying hi to this little dog.” She’s really tall and the dog is really big. I don’t know which to be more worried about.

The woman pushes past me and kneels down. “Hey, Baby,” she says in a sweet kind of voice I’d never in a million years ever expect to come out of her mouth. “I brought you some food.” She reaches into her coat and pulls out a plastic bag. The little dog whimpers and wags his tail so hard it’s just a blur.

The woman folds the plastic back in such a way that it makes a bowl. She places the food on top of the duffel bag. I’ve never seen a dog eat so fast.

She hands me an empty yogurt container and nods toward the bathroom. “Go fill this up with water for him.” Before I can point out that it’s a boys’ bathroom, she’s turned back to the dog.

I rinse out the yogurt cup. The toilet flushes. Dylan skips out. I’d forgotten all about Dylan being in here.

“You can’t be in here,” he says like he’s the king of the world. “This is a boys’ bathroom.”

“I know that,” I say. “I’m getting water for that little dog out there.”

“The dog!” he squeals with excitement. I grab the back of his shirt before he can bolt out the door. “Hey!” he yelps.

“Listen, Dylan, there’s a woman out there with her dog and they’re both a little, well, scary.”

His eyes widen. “Really?”

“Really,” I say, “so I don’t want you coming out until I come get you, okay?”

He frowns and sticks out his bottom lip.

I start back out the door, then stop. “I mean it, Dylan.”

For once, he listens to me.

I set the cup of water down. The dog laps it up with his pink little tongue. The woman stands off to the side, smoking a cigarette. Her dog lies beside the duffel bag watching Baby drink.

“A dog can go a lot longer without food than water,” the woman says through a cloud of smoke.

I don’t know what to say to that, so instead I ask, “Where’s the old lady he’s always with?”

The woman tosses her cigarette to the ground and stubs it out with the toe of her boot. “Got really sick the other night. Burning up with fever. I called an ambulance and they took her to the hospital.”

I remember the last time I saw her. I remember the man who turned her away saying, “Jewel, you don’t sound too good.”

“Jewel?” I say.

The woman nods. She points to the dog. “And that’s Baby.” The dog wags his tail at the sound of his name.

I don’t know why I do it but I say, “I’m Piper.”