talien
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Thin Jack: Part 5 – Puppy Dog Tales
“Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, DADDY!” came Alex’s voice.
Everyone groggily got to their feet. Blade’s son Alex was hopping up and down amongst them, completely ignorant that he was stepping on peoples’ chests and heads.
Blade snatched one of the robes supplied by the production company to cover the blood-soaked bandages around his chest. “What are you doing here?” Then realizing the implications of his son’s presence, he asked, “Where’s your mother?”
“Daddy, daddy,” Alex practically tackled his father. “Thank you soooo much for the puppy!”
“What?” asked Blade.
“The puppy! I always said I wanted a puppy and mommy wouldn’t get me one and then when Zander showed up she said some bad words but now she said I can keep him!”
“Uh…you’re welcome?”
“I knew you wouldn’t forget my birthday this year!” shouted Alex, beaming. “Mommy said you would and that I shouldn’t expect anything to be different but I knew it’d be different this year and oh yeah I didn’t forget your birthday either.” He dug in his pockets for a box.
“So you named the dog Zander?”
“Yeah, and he’s really smart! Here’s your birthday gift!” He thrust the tattered gift-wrapped box into Blade’s hands.
Blade looked down at it. Guppy and Archive, in various states of wakefulness, looked on in amusement. Hammer and Caprice hadn’t yet returned from their reconnaissance mission.
“Are you gonna open it?”
“Oh, right.” Blade tore open the paper and opened the box. It was a belt buckle with several coyotes in an Indian-style pictogram howling at the sky. Bits of turquoise represented the stars.
Blade hefted it in one hand. “Is this…solid gold?”
“Sure is!”
“How did you afford this Alex?”
Alex grinned. “Mommy said I could save my allowance and I did and after you got me Zander I saved up all my allowances and then mommy said I could pick one thing and I did and here it is! Do you like it?”
Blade, who slept in his jeans, took off the plain belt buckle he was wearing and slipped it on. “I love it,” he said with a genuine smile.
“Okay, dad, I gotta go!” He gave Blade a hug around the neck. “Mom gets mad when I’m out of sight for too long. See you later!”
He bounded out of the trailer. It slammed shut with a bang.
“He bought that with his allowance?” asked Guppy in disbelief.
“Yeah, Christine does well for herself,” said Blade. “But that’s not what’s weird.”
“Oh?” asked Archive.
“I never bought him a puppy.”
“Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, DADDY!” came Alex’s voice.
Everyone groggily got to their feet. Blade’s son Alex was hopping up and down amongst them, completely ignorant that he was stepping on peoples’ chests and heads.
Blade snatched one of the robes supplied by the production company to cover the blood-soaked bandages around his chest. “What are you doing here?” Then realizing the implications of his son’s presence, he asked, “Where’s your mother?”
“Daddy, daddy,” Alex practically tackled his father. “Thank you soooo much for the puppy!”
“What?” asked Blade.
“The puppy! I always said I wanted a puppy and mommy wouldn’t get me one and then when Zander showed up she said some bad words but now she said I can keep him!”
“Uh…you’re welcome?”
“I knew you wouldn’t forget my birthday this year!” shouted Alex, beaming. “Mommy said you would and that I shouldn’t expect anything to be different but I knew it’d be different this year and oh yeah I didn’t forget your birthday either.” He dug in his pockets for a box.
“So you named the dog Zander?”
“Yeah, and he’s really smart! Here’s your birthday gift!” He thrust the tattered gift-wrapped box into Blade’s hands.
Blade looked down at it. Guppy and Archive, in various states of wakefulness, looked on in amusement. Hammer and Caprice hadn’t yet returned from their reconnaissance mission.
“Are you gonna open it?”
“Oh, right.” Blade tore open the paper and opened the box. It was a belt buckle with several coyotes in an Indian-style pictogram howling at the sky. Bits of turquoise represented the stars.
Blade hefted it in one hand. “Is this…solid gold?”
“Sure is!”
“How did you afford this Alex?”
Alex grinned. “Mommy said I could save my allowance and I did and after you got me Zander I saved up all my allowances and then mommy said I could pick one thing and I did and here it is! Do you like it?”
Blade, who slept in his jeans, took off the plain belt buckle he was wearing and slipped it on. “I love it,” he said with a genuine smile.
“Okay, dad, I gotta go!” He gave Blade a hug around the neck. “Mom gets mad when I’m out of sight for too long. See you later!”
He bounded out of the trailer. It slammed shut with a bang.
“He bought that with his allowance?” asked Guppy in disbelief.
“Yeah, Christine does well for herself,” said Blade. “But that’s not what’s weird.”
“Oh?” asked Archive.
“I never bought him a puppy.”