Free a Coyote's in the House (2004) by Elmore Leonard Page A

said: LIFE IMITATES ART. And below that: Star of the Buddy Series Saves Champion Show Cat from Pack of Coyotes.
    The dad read the entire story aloud, saying now and again, Listen to this, fella. Buddy listened and walked away with his head hanging. The dad said, What's the matter with our boy?
    Antwan wondered the same thing. He said to Buddy, What's wrong with you, homes? Man, you're famous all over again. Have your picture in the paper Yeah, Buddy said, for something I didn't do.
    The German dog was as glum as Miss Betty when she first looked at herself in the mirror. Antwan shook his head, trying to understand these dogs becoming depressed. They had everything handed to them. They didn't have a worry in the world. What was the problem?
    Maybe, Antwan thought, they tried too hard to act like humans. Another way to look at it: their heads were so turned around they had trouble seeing they were dogs. he day after the picture was in the paper, Buddy's agent stopped by with his shiny brown dachshund, here to take a meeting with the mom and dad. The maid brought refreshments to them on the patio.
    Antwan had never seen a Hollywood agent before, so he walked past to have a look at this short dude in the suit of clothes. The dude was busy talking, but stopped as he saw Antwan. The dad said, That's our new dog, Timmy. The dude said, Timmy? He looks a lot like a coyote. Has he ever been in pictures?
    Antwan caught the Timmy part but didn't understand any of the rest of it. He saw Miss Betty watching from her window. Today she seemed to be doing better, less glum, but said she had no reason to come down. Antwan took that to mean she was still self-conscious about her new hairdo.
    Now he strolled across the yard to join Buddy and the agent's shiny brown lowrider dachshund named Swifty. As Antwan came up to them Swifty said, You don't look like a Timmy to me. Bro, you look like some kind of wild thang.
    And you look like about twenty pounds of baloney, Antwan said. How you doing?
    Buddy said, That's enough. Let's go inside and have a treat. They passed through the dog door and now they were standing around in the kitchen, Swifty's long skinny nose raised, sniffing.
    He said, I'll have a peanut butter cookie instead of the treat. I smell 'em close by.
    Antwan said, But out of your reach, Shorty. Cookies aren't good for you, they give you the gas.
    Swifty turned to Buddy. Where'd you get this mutt, off the street?
    Be careful what you say to Timmy, Buddy said. You don't want to upset him.
    I don't even know him, Swifty said. We came here to talk about you.
    What's the deal?
    A Harry Zimm picture.
    Bringing back the Buddy series?
    The hope in Buddy's eyes died as Swifty said, Bro, that was ages ago. This one is based on a science fiction book. Harry hasn't read it yet, but there's a dog in it and he thought of you right away.
    Antwan said, When he saw Buddy's picture in the paper. You're not in this, Swifty said, this is between Buddy and I, and turned to him again. The only thing Harry's worried about is if you've put on weight.
    I'm the same as I was on the Buddy pictures. What's this one about, a maniac with a chain saw or a mutation, a giant cockroach or something?
    What difference does it make? Swifty said. There's a part in it for you.
    How much?
    Scale. Only what he has to pay.
    Get another dog, Buddy said.
    Come on, you know Harry Zimm, he's a tightwad, he's still got his bar mitzvah money.
    I want what I got for the last Buddy picture.
    You won't get it.
    Wait a minute, Antwan said to Buddy. This guy is your agent?
    Well, my agent's dog, but he acts like an agent, he tells me what's going on.
    Antwan said, He works for you, homes. You don't work for him.
    Buddy said, I know that.
    The way it should be, Antwan said, he gets you what you want or you get another agent.
    Swifty, trying to stand up to Antwan looking down at him, said, It doesn't work that way, especially not for dog parts. What you want to do, bro, is stay out of