Bob and I went for a nice long walk and we were on our way home. Two people, Mrs. Herrel and Mrs. Gudge, popped out of their houses to ask if it was true that I shot someone today. Word travels fast in the Burg and its surrounding neighborhoods. Story accuracy isn’t always a top priority.

I crossed the street and saw a car pull to the curb in front of Joe’s house half a block away. There were two women in the car. Joe’s mother and grandmother. Damn. I’d rather face Howie’s killer. I had a moment of indecision, wondering if I was spotted, if it was too late to sneak off. Joe’s mother got out of the car, our eyes caught, and my fate was sealed.

By the time Bob and I got to Joe’s house, Grandma Bella was out of the car and on the sidewalk beside Joe’s mother.

“I had a vision,” Grandma Bella said.

“I didn’t shoot anyone,” I told her.

“You were dead in my vision,” Grandma Bella said. “Cold as stone. The blood drained from your lifeless body. I saw you go into the ground.”

My jaw went slack and the world lost focus for a moment.

“Don’t pay attention to her,” Joe’s mother said. “She has these visions all the time.” Mrs. Morelli gave me a loaf of bread in its white paper bakery bag. “I came over to give Joe this bread. It’s fresh baked from Italian People’s. Joe likes it in the morning with his coffee.”

“I saw you in the box,” Grandma Bella said. “I saw them close the lid and put you in the ground.”

Bella was doing a bang-up job of creeping me out. This wasn’t a good time to tell me I was going to die. I was working hard not to get overwhelmed by the shooting, the photos, and flowers.

“Stop that,” Joe’s mother said to Bella. “You’re scaring her.”

“Mark my words,” Bella said, shaking her finger at me.

The two women got back into the car and drove off. I took Bob and the bread into the house. I gave Bob fresh water and a bowl filled with dog crunchies. I sliced the end off the bread and ate it with strawberry jam.

A tear slid out of my eye and rolled down my cheek. I didn’t want to give in to the tear, so I wiped it away and looked in at Rex. Rex was sleeping, of course. “Hey!” I said real loud into the cage. Still no movement. I dropped a chunk of the bread and jam a couple inches away from the soup can. The soup can vibrated a little and Rex backed out. He stood blinking in the light for a moment, whiskers whirring, nose twitching. He scurried over to the bread, ate all the jam, shoved the remaining bread into his cheek pouch, and scuttled back into his soup can.

I checked the phone machine. No messages. I opened my iBook, went online, and my screen filled with more of the penis enlargement, hot chicks with horses, get out of debt ads.