Free Jake by Audrey Couloumbis

wrong to make him follow Mom’s rules. Not just wrong—rude. I felt like I ought to stick my head out there and tell him, never mind, Mom would never know if he did it this once. Only I couldn’t. It seemed more important to follow Mom’s rules than ever.
    The dog had finished the spaghetti. He kept licking the plate so it went sliding around on the floor near the window. Mom never let our cat eat out of our dishes, so this was probably a broken rule too.
    I didn’t know what Mom would have done if she was here, if she would have let Granddad smoke in the kitchen. I didn’t know why he couldn’t have thought of it while we were downstairs with the dog. Outside I could have liked that smoke smell for as long as it lasted.
    The whole thing sort of irritated me.
    Besides, how soon would the dog figure out there wasn’t any more flavor on that plate? What if he turned into nightmare dog? I went to bed before Granddad came inside. I figured if he wasn’t missing his poker game before, he was missing it now.
    When he passed my doorway, he stopped and said, “Anything you want to talk about, Jake?”
    I shook my head. I noticed the dog sat down behind him, sort of waiting for him.
    “Your mom’s going to get over this. You know that, don’t you?”
    “I know. It’s weird she isn’t here.”
    “It won’t be long,” Granddad said. “A few days.”
    I could see how hard he wanted to say the right thing. He
had
said the right thing, even if it didn’t make me feel better. All of a sudden, I knew the right thing to say too. “I’m glad you’re here.”
    He sort of crinkled up around the eyes when he smiled. He didn’t look like somebody who ever sounded gruff. I guess Mrs. Buttermark had him figured out faster than I did.
    Granddad got into bed after brushing his teeth, because I heard the bedsprings. I heard the dog jump up on the bed. Granddad told him “Shhh,” even though he hadn’t made a sound other than the jump up.
    I wondered if Granddad thought it was against the rules to have his dog sleep next to him. I didn’t think it was. Our cat slept in our beds. I got allergic to cat hair after a while.
    Granddad fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. At least that’s when the snoring began. I sat up.
    Mom has a whole ritual that goes with falling asleep. She brushes her teeth, she makes tea, she puts on bed socks. She collects stuff she wants to read but doesn’t have to translate no matter what language it’s in. She gets into bed and maybe an hour later, or two, her light goes out.
    Or not. Sometimes I get up in the middle of the night and turn it out.
    So. It was really possible for people to fall asleep the minute their head hit the pillow. Mom wasn’t one of those people, and neither was I. The snoring got louder, like Granddad was falling even deeper into sleep.
    He hadn’t turned out the light. I tiptoed to the end of the hall and peeked in. The dog was curled up next to Granddad. He knew I was coming because his head was already lifted off his paws. As soon as he saw me, he showed his teeth.
    I ducked away from the door. I went to my room and wrote Granddad a note. I left it on my bed where he’d be sure to see it.
    I knocked on Mrs. Buttermark’s door. She openedit right away, dressed regular. I didn’t have to feel bad about waking her up, because I hadn’t.
    “I’m sleeping over here tonight,” I said, and she opened the door wider.
    When we were sitting at her little round table having apple pie and hot chocolate, I said, “I can’t sleep if I’m going to have to worry about getting up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night and being attacked because I forgot for a minute that dog was there.”
    “You wouldn’t forget,” Mrs. Buttermark said.
    “True.” I looked at her. “I wouldn’t get to the bathroom alive either.”
    “You’re sure your granddad will see the note?”
    “Absolutely.”
    “I’m glad to have your company, Jake. I’m a little unraveled