I want to tell Ivan and Ruby. But Ivan is still being poked at by the rhymes-with-pet-threat.

Although, come to think of it, she doesn’t seem like much of a threat. In a movie, she’d be one of the good guys.

To my annoyance, Sara picks me up. I hate being picked up. Unless it’s my idea. Then it’s totally cool.

“Maya,” she says, “you let me know, first sign of George and Julia, okay?”

“Promise,” says Maya, and she places her hand on Sara’s shoulder.

Humans, always with the touching. Although I kind of get it, under the circumstances.

“You can’t take Bob to the school shelter. They’re not allowing any more pets,” Maya points out. “And the animal shelter is flooding, it sounds like. Why don’t you leave him here? I’ll put him my office. He’ll be safe.”

No way is that on my agenda.

Sara nods. “Good idea.”

She starts to hand me over but hesitates when she realizes Maya still has a meerkat wrapped around her neck.

It’s just a split second, but a split second is all it takes to escape when you’re Bob, untamed and undaunted.

on my way

“Bob!” Sara cries.

“Grab that dog!” Maya yells.

I spent a good part of my life running from a certain guy named Mack, and I still have my moves. I twist and spin and dip, and before you can say Yes sirree Bob, they’ve given up.

I backtrack, slip under a bench, and make my way to Ruby. “Ruby,” I whisper, “I gotta go. Something important’s come up. You and Ivan see if you can find George and Julia.”

“I want to come!” Ruby says, stomping her right front foot in a huge puddle.

“You need to keep an eye on Ivan,” I say. “Make sure Kinyani doesn’t drive him loco with her sobbing. I’ll be back before you know it.”

I don’t wait for an answer.

I’m off into the wild, into the world filled with wind and rain, with wolves and alligators, with a voice that could rip my heart in two.

Three

looking

Ivan used to ask me what I did when I wasn’t hanging out at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade.

I wasn’t like the rest of the animals. Caged, trapped.

I told him I was scrounging for food. And he never questioned it.

When you think about it, though, where’s a better place to find food than the floor of a mall at the end of the day?

Yeah. I wasn’t looking for food.

I was looking for her.

For Boss.

what if

At first, I didn’t admit it to myself.

You know how it is when you wish for something so bad you’re afraid to say it out loud, ’cause what if it never happens?

It was like that.