Chapter 4 - Alex Barkin's Search

PARTIV:
Alex Barkin’s search
CHARACTERSAlex Barkin
Loni Barkin
Charlie Barkin
Kim Dachshund
Itchy Dachshund
Gail La Fleur
Terri La Fleur
Sasha La Fleur
Flo Collieon
Anne Marie Hew
David Clark
Vanessa Shepherd

CHAPTER I
Welcome to the third part of our story. In this part of our little story, Alex Barkin begins a search for his brother. We’ll start off just after school. Alex is escorting his girlfriend, Vanessa, home. “Would yo-, would you like to come to my house today?” Alex nervously asks Vanessa, for this is the first time he’s asked her for a while. They’re housedogs, you see. And, naturally, they are very clean and polite. They like to stick to the good old ways. They generally do not ask other housedogs over unless they have known each other for a year. Alex and Vanessa have only known each other for about 6 months now. This is why he is nervous; he also simply loves her. They arrive home. “Mother, I am home!” Alex calls to his mother. “Hello, Alex. Who might this be? Is it the wonderful Vanessa I have been hearing about?” She asks Alex, glancing at Vanessa. “Why, yes, she is, Mother.” Alex says to his mother, while Alex and Vanessa continue to look upon each other as if Alex’s mother were not there. As you should know, she is not happy about this, yet she is happy that her son is so happy. She allows them upstairs until Vanessa’s sister and Mother come to pick her up. Vanessa and her sister embrace each other and soon walk off with their mother, laughing for no apparent reason.
“Mother, why do I not have a brother?” Alex asks his mother after Vanessa had left. “Why, you have one, Alex.” “WHAT? Where is he? What’s his name? What’s his name? Why didn’t you tell me? Oh, I gotta know!” Alex said, suddenly exploding with energy. His mother, appalled by this sudden explosion, just stared at her son with horror. “Excuse me!” she said. Alex, knowing he was not going to get any answers this way, said, “Please, mother, I must know.” “That’s much better. His name is Charlie.” She said showing Alex a picture of a German Shepherd mix puppy. “Is he really that young?” Alex said, now very confused. “No, he would be around 20 by now, if he is alive. He ran away when he around 2 months old. He never did fit in, not in this neighborhood, anyway.” She said sadly. Alex looked at her for a moment before saying, “You must miss him.” “Yes, very much.” She said, her eyes filling with tears. This was obviously hard for her to talk about.
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, Charlie looks up at sky, watching as the stars twinkle peacefully in the night sky. “Hey, why are you up here?” Sasha asks as she walks towards Charlie. “ Don’t know.” Charlie says, not stopping his star gazing to look at Sasha. She looks at him for a second, and they both lay down, holding each other’s paws. “You were thinking weren’t you?” Sasha says, breaking the long, peaceful silence that had lasted quite a while. “I guess.” Charlie mutters, never stopping to look anywhere but the stars. “What were you thinking about?” Sasha asks. Knowing Charlie, he is not the one to keep stuff secret or be shy at all. “Stuff.” Charlie says. “What kinda stuff?” asks a now giggling Sasha. “Stuff.” Charlie says again. Sasha now realizes that she isn’t going to get anything more out of him and the two stand together in the moonlight.
Back in New Orleans, Alex is now even more determined to find out everything he can about his brother and, hopefully, find him. “So, do you any clues whatsoever on where he might be?” Alex anxiously asked his mother. “Just these letters.” Loni says, holding a stack of papers at least an inch thick. “Which is the most recent one?” Alex asks thinking it would take forever to read every letter in the stack. Loni stares at him for a second before throwing papers everywhere as she tears through the stack. A while later, she holds a paper in front of Alex. “Gimme, gimme!” Alex says as his mother wildly waves the paper out of his grasp. “Say please!” she yells while Alex is franticly grabbing for the paper. “Please.” Alex says calmly. The paper is now in front of him within his reach. “Now give me that.” Alex says as he snatches the paper away from his mother. He begins to read the letter. Loni is looking over his shoulder, also reading the letter. This is what it said:
Mrs. Barkin-
If you wanted to find Charlie, this is what the house looks like: its brownish, has few
boarded windows and looks something like one of those flat roofed houses made of sand and
mud.
Or something like that… Don’t tell Charlie I told you this.
~Itchy
PS. We live in San Francisco.




“So, we go to San Francisco.” Alex says as he finishes reading. Loni is still reading. When she finishes, she pauses for a moment before answering Alex’s question. “It would appear so. However, San Francisco is quite a ways from here and he could be anywhere in the big city.” Loni says. “Yeah, that’s true.” Alex mutters under his breath, now discouraged. There was a long pause. Suddenly, inspiration strikes. “Would Itchy’s parent’s know?” Alex asks his mother who looks rather discouraged. She stares at him for a moment, then holds her paw in the air as if it held a sword. “To Itchy’s!” She exclaims before running in the direction of Itchy’s childhood home with Alex tagging along not far behind.
After a long run, they finally arrived at Itchy’s childhood home. Why they ran, that reason is unknown. They slowed down as they got closer to the house, mainly because they were nervous about barging into a house in which someone whom they had never spoken to lived. They slowly walked up the path, not saying a word to each other as they approached the door. They ran the bell and after a little while, they saw the door open and looked down. There they saw a little dachshund. Them being German Shepherds and her being the dachshund that she is, this made conversation a bit uncomfortable. After a while, the dachshund was the first one to gather enough courage to speak. Why it took courage to speak, no one knows. “Charlie, Sasha, is that you?” she said, by the way, her sight is not the best it could be. Loni and Alex looked at each other for a moment, then back at her. They were clearly surprised by this remark. “No, we are Charlie’s family.” Loni said in the calmest voice she could manage. Kim, the dachshund, gave them a mad look before saying, “Then go away!” She then slammed the door.
Loni had never experienced such rudeness, except from Charlie. She thought for a second, then tried again. Once again she rang the bell. “Fine, I’m here. Now, what do you want?” Kim said to them, still with a cross face. “Well, we were hoping you could help us with something.” Loni told her. Any confidence from before had long vanished. “Well, what do you want?” Kim asked again. More silence. “I’m here. Now what do you want?” she asked again. She was beginning to sound more and more annoyed, as if she were about to explode. “Well, could you, could you help us?” Loni said. She was clearly about to also explode. “I know that part already! Now tell me what you want!” Loni was clearly ready to turn and run. She wanted to, too. “We’re trying to find my brother, Charlie. We have been getting letters from your son, Itchy. We were hoping you might give us a clue on where to find Charlie or Itchy.” Alex said. He had finally gotten up enough confidence to actually speak. His eyes had been darting franticly between his mother and Kim.
“Oh. I just don’t see why you didn’t search for him sooner.” Kim said as Loni and Alex followed her into the house. “They live two blocks from “The Flea Bite Club”. It shouldn’t be hard to miss.” She said as she fiddled with random things she found around the house. “How do you know Charlie? And where he lives?” Loni asked Kim, curious about this dachshund, which she had never met, seemed to know more about her son than she did. Kim stopped fiddling and replied. “I visit Itchy quite often, so I know where he lives. Charlie and Itchy live together, so of coarse I know.” This was all she said before she began fiddling with things again. “You’d think a mother would know these thing already. Tsk, tsk.” Kim said, breaking a silence that had existed for what seemed like forever. “Well, how am I supposed to know these things? Charlie never contacts me. I almost forgot about him until Alex here brought him up a short 3 hours ago.” Loni said, annoyed by Kim’s remark. She was also getting frustrated. It shouldn’t take this long to find her own son, right? Luckily, Alex stepped in before things got worse.
“Mrs. Itchy, you’ve been a big help, and we’re very grateful, however, we must be going. Have a wonderful day!” he said as he pushed his mother out the door. “Wait,” Loni said, stopping so suddenly that Alex bumped into her. ”How are we even going to even to get to San Francisco? Walk?” Kim grinned. ”Catch a bus, of coarse.” She said just as Alex gave Loni a final push out the door. “Bye!” Loni said cheerfully. Alex, however, would have said good bye, but, one, he was pushing his mother down a garden pathway, and two, he had already said good bye.
“How are we even going to catch a bus?” Loni and Alex both said at the same time as they headed towards the bus stop. As they neared the bus stop, after a long silence, “Do we jump?” Alex asked his mother, hoping she had had some type of experience with busses. “I guess, but I think we should wait until it stops before jumping on.” Loni said just as they arrived at the bus stop. “Duh.” Alex muttered, sure that his mother couldn’t hear him.
“Alexander Joseph Barkin! How dare you speak to your mother like that! In all my life I have never heard you be disrespectful to anyone! You’re beginning to sound like your brother! This is so embarrassing!” Loni said as she began to have a nervous brake down. “There’s no one here but us.” Alex said as his darted from here to there and there to here. “What if they’re hiding?” Loni said, she was beginning to sound desperate. Her nervous break down had started. ”You’re only embarrassing yourself by doing that.” Alex had been looking at her, as if she were and insane. And, at the moment, who could blame him? Loni was now down on her knees. And Alex decided to help her up before someone either saw her or she hurt herself. “I’m fine. I am fine and calm.” Loni said, breathing deeply. ”Sure.” Alex said, not sure of his mother’s sanity at the moment. “Okay. I am okay. I’ll stop now.” Loni said as she began to recover from the nervous breakdown of the bus stop.
As the duo finally began to settle in at the bus stop, they heard the bus approaching the bus stop. “Here it comes. It doesn’t look like it’s going to stop, though.” Loni said as she peeked out from the bus station as the bus quickly approached them. “I guess we jump.” She said as the bus came closer. Alex would have loved to have pointed out that they had already decided that they would jump, but for one thing, there wasn’t enough time to say it, or they would miss the bus and two, he didn’t want to risk another break down. “On the count of three.” Loni said, obviously nervous. “One, one and a half, one and three quarters…””Three!” Alex said as he jumped onto the back of the bus. Loni realized this and quickly followed. “That was scary.” Loni said. Her face was mortified and her body, petrified. “You lived. See, you’re okay.” Alex said while gently patting his mother on the back.
For the next few hours, Alex asked questions about his brother and Loni answered everything she could. They then made up stories about what Charlie might have been doing in the past 20 years that he had been away. Some were bizarre, obviously only for entertainment. Others were silly, and some could have happened. After a while, they realized that it was late and they slept.
In the morning when they woke up, they were in the country. As they passed farms and such, they stared blankly at the peaceful scenes that whizzed by. Never before had they seen a farm or anything but the city. Neither talked until they came to a small town. “Wow. This is...” Loni said, pausing while she admired the small town. “…different.” There were no big shops, only small, little shops, probably no bigger than the average bedroom. “Wow.” Alex said quietly. Kids were playing with their pets in the dirt road, throwing balls around and playing an endless game of tag. Alex and Loni felt as if they were intruding, for there were no cars passing through the town. The bus seemed like the only motorized or electronic thing in the town.
After about ten minutes or so, the bus emerged from the town and they turned onto the highway. It was very noisy compared to the peace they had just been exposed to. They returned to their conversations from the night before, new stories and editing some from the night before. After a while, they became bored and didn’t talk for a while. They daydreamed, and soon started talking about any random thing they could think of. They decided to take a nap, seeing that they had nothing to talk about anymore, and they still had quite a ways to go. When they awoke, it was dusk and there was also a sunset. They could also see the skyline of San Francisco. “It looks so pretty from this angle.” Loni said as she stared at she stared at the sunset. She had never seen a sunset from the outside of the city before.
As they crossed the bridge, they looked down at the beach and saw two dogs sitting together. Loni seemed entranced by the sight, as if she wanted to be one of the dogs that were sitting down on the beach, watching the sunset. She wondered if they were married, just together, close friends, just met friends, best friends, or dating? Alex clapped his paws in front of her face. “Mother, snap out of it!” Alex laughed. “Hey, you can’t blame me!” Loni said, on the verge of laughing herself. Neither knew why they were laughing, they just were.
After they recovered from their laughing fit, they moved onto the question they were both wondering, “How are we going to find Charlie?” they said in unison. “What if he doesn’t recognize me? What if he hates me? What if he thinks I hate him?” A dozen negative questions began pouring from Loni’s mouth. Alex reply was a parade of questions that were positive, such as “What if he does?” Loni’s reply was an ambush of questions countering each of Alex’s questions. Alex countered her questions. And Loni his. This went on for an hour or so.
The bus came to a sudden stop, which caught Alex off guard and he went flying and landed next the sidewalk.
A beautiful Irish setter came over and half said, half giggled “Charlie, did you get hit again?” This was followed by another giggle. Alex regained his strength and sat up, holding his paw to his head and said, “Do I know you?” The Irish setter took one good look at him and said “Oh, never mind.” She then walked away after. “Who was that?” Loni said after Alex returned to her. “I’m not sure. She thought I was Charlie.” “Oh, well, she was very pretty.” Loni said then began walking the opposite way that the Setter had gone only to stop short and freeze.
“Wait! That means she knows him!” Loni said rather loudly. “WAIT!” Alex yelled, realizing that the Irish Setter must know something about his long-lost brother. “Sorry, but I’ve already got a boyfriend.” The setter said smiling, then turned around and continued on her way. “Let me handle this.” Loni said, then ran after the setter. “Excuse me, but do you know a Charlie Barkin?” Loni asked her. “Yeah, why?” the setter asked. “I’m his mother and I’d like to find him.” This seemed to surprise the setter and delight her at the same time. “Really? My name’s Sasha. I’m kinda his girlfriend.” Sasha said now smiling even more than before. Loni was now also smiling. “Really? That’s so cool!” They were suddenly best friends.
Alex was still back at the sewer hole, rolling his eyes. Sasha was about Charlie’s age and very thin. “So, who’s the guy, Charlie’s dad? Wait, he’s too young for that…” Sasha said, gaining momentum as she spoke. Alex, seeing that the girl talk was over, decided to join the cheerful duo. “That’s Charlie’s brother, Alex.” “Interesting.” They began talking fast again and Alex lost himself. He regretted leaving his spot next to the sewer hole. “Hi, I’m Sasha.” Sasha said, now facing Alex, who was still somewhat dazed from all the fast-talking. He had never known his mother possessed such a power. “Oh, h-hi.” Alex said as he began to recover. “She’s Charlie’s girlfriend.” Loni said while nodding. “Kinda.” Sasha said, also nodding. “No, you can’t be kinda. Either you are or your not.” ”Nuh-uh.” “Uh-huh.” “Nuh-uh.” “Uh-huh.” This went on for a while and the nuh-uhs and uh-huhs were getting faster, again. Alex knew he had to do something or he would either faint or die. “Help.” He said quietly. Neither Sasha nor Loni heard him as their endless brigade of uhs continued on.
Though they never made a decision, they did stop bickering after a while. “So, so do you wanna see Charlie or not?” Sasha said to Loni and Alex. “Of coarse.” Loni said. “Then come on! Follow me!” Sasha said as she began to run again. Alex just rolled his eyes. Despite Sasha’s good looks and his mother’s usual competence, his mother and this Sasha seemed to be getting stupider by the minute. He followed at his mother’s pace, which was walking. “So, are you jealous or nervous?” Loni said when he had caught up with him. “Both.” Was all Alex said. “Well, are you coming or not?” Sasha yelled. She was now at least ten feet ahead of them. Alex and Loni continued to walk at the same pace, ignoring Sasha’s question completely. Sasha waited. After quite a while, they caught up to Sasha, who began running again. After another ten feet, she yelled, “Come on, slow pokes!” She was getting irritated and wondered if they’d speed up anytime soon. At this rate it’d take a week to just get to the café, and from there they’d still have to walk two blocks. Alex and Loni caught up and this time Sasha walked with them.
After a ways, Alex was behind and the girls were up front. “What worries me is that you are so thin. Is Charlie that thin? He was always a chubby little thing. But that could’ve changed by now.” She rambled on, gaining more and more speed as she talked. Alex could hear them a little bit and he was getting annoyed. Thankfully, Sasha stopped Loni before Alex exploded. “It’s fine. Don’t worry.”
They had been gaining speed since they had first started walking and were now in front of an old, beat up, run down house. It was tan and had three windows, two of which were boarded up. The door had long disappeared. “Darn, he’s not home.” Sasha said, seeing that no lights were on and Charlie and Itchy were never asleep this early. “Wanna hang at my place until he gets back?” Sasha asked Loni, who was staring at the old building in disgust. “Charlie actually lives in that pile of junk?” Loni asked, her face still showed a hint of disbelief. “Hey, they’re pretty lucky to live there.” Sasha irritably said. “I’m just used to better.” Loni said. “Look, I don’t know what planet you’re from, but no dog I’ve ever known has ever lived in a good, clean, new home.” Sasha said to Loni, who just stared at her. “You’re sick.” Loni said, popped her chin up and walked on like the queen of England. Alex, who had stopped to look at Charlie’s house, heard the commotion and decided to catch up in case another fight broke out. He was relived to find that it had pretty much died out.
They soon arrived at Sasha’s. Her house was nicer than Charlie’s, but still no where near as nice as Loni and Alex’s home. They went in and found it to be a very humble, homey place. Sasha plopped down on a couch that looked like it had been picked off of the curb. “Have a seat.” Sasha said. “N-no thanks.” Loni said, looking at the torn furniture in disgust. “So, you wanna go to the café?” Sasha asked Loni, who was still glancing around. “Huh? Oh, um, wouldn’t it be closed by now?” “No, it’s sort of a night club. But it has more of that café feel. You know what I mean?” Sasha said to Loni, then looked at Alex. “What about you, little guy?” Sasha asked. Alex had been sitting in the corner, looking rather nervous. “Uh…sure, sounds like fun.” “Then come on!” Sasha said before heading out the door. After a few blocks, the formation was quite a bit different from their last walk. Loni was ahead, with Sasha and Alex following. “So, little guy, you got a girl friend?” Sasha asked Alex as they continued on their way. “My name is Alex. And yes, I’ve a girlfriend.” Alex said, trying not to show that he was not annoyed. “What’s she like, Alex?” Sasha asked. “Well, she’s beautiful, kind, and sweet.” Alex said. He had a softness in his voice that Sasha had not yet heard from him. “Sounds nice.” Sasha said, sounding a little jealous. “Well, we’d better hurry if I’m going to make my time.” “Time?” ”I sing at the café. It’s what I do.” Sasha said, quickly catching up to Loni, who was about to take a wrong turn. Charlie is so lucky. Alex thought as they turned into the café.
When they arrived, Sasha saw Itchy at the bar and went to talk to him. Loni followed not so Alex. He decided to wander the café, seeing what he could find. “Itchy, where’s Charlie?” Sasha asked Itchy when they had made it to the bar. “He had to meet with Annabelle.” He said to Sasha, completely oblivious to Loni’s presence. “Who’s Annabelle?” Loni asked. No one noticed. “Oh. So, when do think he’ll be back?” “Who knows.” “Okay, well, any updates on Belladonna?” “Nope.” “Well this isn’t good.” “Do we at least know where she is?” “Yep. She’s still on Alcatraz.” “Hasn’t moved yet?” “Nope.” “Wow.” “Have any idea on what she’s doing?” “Nope.” “Oh.” “Who’s the dog?” “Which one?” Sasha had completely forgotten that Loni was there. “Who’s Annabelle?” Loni asked again. “She’s the head angel.” Itchy said. “And Belladonna?” “Head devil.” “How do you and Charlie and Sasha know them?” “Say, are you sure you’re Charlie’s mother?” “Tell me.” “You look nothing alike.” “Now.” Loni said sternly. She had to know how her son had stumbled across angels and devils. “Are you absolutely sure that you’re his mother?” “You will talk!” Loni yelled as she picked up Itchy by the collar of his shirt. “Okay, okay, I’ll talk!” Itchy said, covering his face with his paws, sounding frightened, and you can’t really blame him. Loni had a crazed look in her eyes and had a fist out, pointed towards him. Her tone didn’t help either.
“Then talk.” Loni said as she dropped Itchy. Itchy paused to recover from the fall for a moment, then began to say, “Basically, Charlie was murdered by Carface and returned to earth, then died again. I died then Carface. We returned to Earth to stop Carface from destroying Heaven and here we stayed.” Loni and Sasha were both speechless. Loni then turned to Sasha. “Why were you so interested?” “I’ve never heard the full story.” “Oh.” Sasha had to leave for her song, so she said goodbye and left Itchy and Loni to talk amongst themselves.
“Now where did Alex head off to?” Loni said as she scanned the café. “Who’s he?” “Charlie’s brother.” “Oh, that guy went off to the poodles.” Loni looked to where Itchy was pointing and sure enough, across the alley, there was Alex surrounded by two poodles. They were all over him. She stomped over to the trio, madly. “Hello, gorgeous.” One said, pulling Alex toward her. “He’s mine!” The other said as she pulled Alex toward her. “Hi.” Loni said when she came to the spot where the trio sat. “Who’s she?” “Yeah!” “Where leaving!” “Yeah! Humph!” The poodles flicked their ears and with their chins high, they walked off.
“Mother!” “What?” “You chased them off!” “It is most certainly not my fault!” Suddenly, a saxophone began playing on the stage and they saw Sasha singing. “Wow. She’s good.” Alex said as he and Loni watched Sasha’s performance. A German Shepherd mix walked in, he looked exactly like Alex except for his muzzle, which was brown instead of tan. No one noticed. He went to the bar and began talking to Itchy in a low tone. Itchy kept nodding and soon the two ran out of the café.
Sasha finished her song and there was a big applause. She glanced at the bar, then headed towards Loni and Alex. “Where’s Itchy?” she asked. “He ran off with some mutt.” Loni said. “What? What did he say?” “I don’t know. They were whispering.” You know, that mutt looked a lot like Charlie.” “It probably was. Well, there’s not much we can do about it now. They could be anywhere.” Sasha said. She looked worried. “Well then, where should we stay?” Loni asked Sasha. When she still stared at the door, Loni said “Sasha? Are you okay?” “Huh? Oh, I’ll be fine.” She still had those worried eyes. “Why do you look so worried?” “I’m thinking about why they ran out. It probably has something to do with Belladonna.”
“Oh. Well, I guess we should head back to your place then? I’m beat.” Loni said, still concerned about Sasha, who was concerned about Charlie. “Yeah, you can. I’m gonna see what this is about.” “Okay, um, have fun?” Loni said as Sasha headed out. Alex, who hadn’t said a word, said “What?” “I’m not sure. Come on. Let’s head to Sasha’s.” Loni said. Alex was now concerned about why Sasha was so concerned about Charlie.
Sasha soon caught up with Charlie and Itchy after a long search. “Hey…wait…up.” She said between breaths. “Sasha?” Charlie said when he turned and saw Sasha right behind him. “Yeah, it’s…me. I…wanted to know…if I could…help.” She was still out of breath from her long run. “Whoa. Slow down. Breathe.” Charlie said as he walked over to Sasha. “Sasha, shouldn’t you be with Loni?” Itchy asked, wondering what would become of Charlie’s mother without proper guidance. “Well…I let her head back to my place.” Sasha said, smirking briefly. She was nervous about how Charlie would react once he found out that his mother was in town. “Whoa, who’s Loni?” Charlie asked. He had completely forgotten his mother. “She’s well…um, how should we put this…” Sasha paused as she stopped to think if there was a way to tell Charlie this and keep him as calm as possible. “Your mother’s in town.” Itchy blurted out.
“Itchy!” “What?” “UH! I cannot work with this!” As Sasha and Itchy entered squabble land, Charlie was more concerned with the fact that his mother and him were on the same planet, let alone the same city. “What? Itch, you knew about this?” “Not until about an hour ago.” “Sasha?” “Nuh-uh.” “The who told her?” Charlie was beginning to sound really irritated, and as Itchy can recall, the last time this happened, let’s just say it didn’t exactly turn out the way they’d hoped.
“Well…I may have been writing letters to her telling her about you, but I didn’t think she’d actually come. My mother could’ve told her something, too. Don’t hurt me!” “Itch, I’m not gonna hurt ya. I’m just not in the best of moods because SOMEONE told her where I am. I’m trying to get away from her! I thought I had succeeded. Nuh-uh.” Charlie said, he seemed to be speaking to himself. “So, this was another one of your schemes?” Sasha asked. They all knew Charlie was constantly coming up with schemes for almost everything. “Not really. It didn’t start out that way, but the way I just said it does make it sound kinda schemeish…hmmm…” Charlie began thinking and Sasha and Itchy knew it was another one of Charlie’s plots and that somehow, they would be involved, like always.
“Wait. What did Annabelle want you for?” Sasha asked, remembering why she had come here in the first place. “She just said that Belladonna’s movin’ offa Alcatraz to an unknown location.” “Oh, well, that’s…nice.” Sasha said, a little disappointed that it wasn’t something more exciting. “Well, should we head back to my place?” Charlie asked as they all headed toward Charlie and Itchy’s.
Meanwhile, Loni and Alex are trying to get into Sasha’s. “Where in the world could she have left a key? Hmm…If I were a key, where would I hide?” As Loni searched for a key, Alex tried a more direct attempt, turning the doorknob. “Hey, mother, it’s open.” Alex said as the door opened. “Why didn’t I think of that?” Loni said as she and her son entered the den and soon fell asleep on the makeshift furniture. At around 1 AM, Sasha entered the den and accidentally woke Loni up. “Who’s there?” Loni asked in a sleepy voice. “Go back to sleep.” Sasha said, brushing her bushy tail across Loni’s face as she walked by.
Loni recognized Sasha’s voice and jumped off the couch. “Where have you been?” Loni asked, kind of loud for the time. Alex woke up, but acted like he was asleep. He wanted to find out where Sasha had been. “Well?” Loni asked. “First, I’m not your daughter. Second, I don’t have to tell you everything. It’s my life, not yours.” Sasha said to Loni. Loni recognized Sasha’s tone and realized her motherly instincts had shown up. “Sorry. I was just curious.” Loni said. “It’s okay. If you want the truth, I was at Charlie and Itchy’s.” “What? How?” “I found them, Charlie and Itchy, and went over to their place.” “Oh, so does he know I’m here?” “Yeah.” “How did he take it?” “Not too well. He seemed to forget about it after awhile, though.” “That’s a relief, I think.” Loni said. Sasha laughed, then said, “Come on, let’s get some sleep in before the night’s over.” Alex was content with the conversation and also went to sleep.
In the morning, Sasha made breakfast for Loni, Alex and herself. Alex was curious about what Charlie, Sasha and Itchy had done the night before, but didn’t want to let anyone know he had been eavesdropping. He was now listening to Sasha and Loni go over the plans for the day. “So, we’ll sit back and relax until lunch. Then we leave for the café. Charlie and Itchy should be there, so while I’m on stage, you could talk to him, then if he takes that okay, he could meet Alex. You know, he might not take it so well that he has a brother now.” “Could we do it the other way around? As long as Alex doesn’t let on that he’s Charlie’s brother, maybe they can get some bonding time in before we tell him.” “Yeah, that could work. I’ll go tell Itchy.”
When Sasha arrived at the café, sure enough, Charlie and Itchy were there. “Hey, Itchy, can I talk to you, in private?” Sasha asked as she approached them. “Sure.” Itchy followed Sasha out of the café, and as soon as Sasha was sure Charlie couldn’t hear them she told Itchy her and Loni’s plans for the day. “So, you got all that?” “Yeah, but what if Alex doesn’t remember the plan and accidentally tells Charlie too soon?” “Tell me what?” Charlie asked as he emerged from the café. “Oh, Charlie, we were just talking about stuff.” “What stuff?” Sasha and Itchy’s defense was weak, but they didn’t know what to say.
“Charlie, you owe me. This is payback.” Sasha said to Charlie. “Huh?” “Remember that night on the cliff? You didn’t tell me, I won’t tell you. Don’t think about telling me now.” Charlie was confused, and Itchy was even more confused. “Well, okay, but Itch doesn’t.” Itchy knew he’d give in to Charlie’s pressure, as he always did. He found Charlie very convincing. Charlie could always find a way to get Itchy to give in, and right now was one of those moments.
“Well, Itch?” Thankfully, before this moment entered disaster, Sasha came to the rescue. She scooped up Itchy and said, “Well, Charlie we’d love to stay and chat, but I’m using Itchy in my act. He’ll be the piano player. Don’t get too anxious about seeing me.” Sasha couldn’t resist teasing Charlie; even it was only a little bit. “Sasha!” Charlie began to chase after her, and Sasha began to run towards her place. Charlie stopped chasing, and decided to try a different approach. They were hiding something from him.
At Sasha’s den, Loni and Alex had made themselves right at home. When Sasha walked in, they were surprised to see Sasha scared half to death, with Itchy on her back, laughing uncontrollably. “What happened?” Loni asked them, on the verge of laughing herself. Alex was way ahead of her. “You ran…right away…like a…scared…chicken.” Itchy said between laughs. “Where is he? Is he still coming?” “Sasha…he…was never…chasing…us. He…stopped…right…after…you turned…the corner.” By now, Loni was also laughing. “What…happened?” Loni asked, also between breaths.

CHAPTER II
Itchy was finally beginning to calm down. “Sasha took me out of they café to tell me today’s plans. Charlie heard the last few words. So he wanted to know what was going on. Sasha got out of telling him. Charlie came after me, and Sasha teased Charlie a little bit. He faked that he was following us. I was on Sasha’s back, facing backwards, and I saw Charlie turn back into the café just as we turned the corner.” “WHAT? HE WAS NEVER FOLLOWING US?” Sasha yelled. “Yep!” Now everyone except Sasha was laughing so hard, they were on the floor and silent, except for an occasional gasp for air. “I RAN ALL THE WAY HERE FOR NOTHING?” No one was able to answer.
After about an hour or so, everyone had calmed down and was in pain. Sasha had prepared lunch for the trio and herself. They ate and reviewed the day’s plans. They made it very clear to Alex that he was not to tell Charlie anything about himself, except for his name. “Okay, Alex?” “Yeah, yeah. I know, I can only tell Charlie my name, nothing else. But what will we have to talk about then?” “Believe me, you’ll find something.” Sasha and Itchy said, not able to remember a time when they were bored with Charlie. They were always mad, sad, happy, laughing, always something, never nothing. They were also always on the move. They could never recall a time when they were able to sit and relax when Charlie was around.
As they headed toward the café, Itchy was, of coarse in back with, of coarse, Alex. Sasha and Loni were in front. “So, how about you?” Itchy asked Alex. They’d been talking about their own lives. Itchy had just finished telling his life story to Alex, now it was Alex’s turn. “Well, my life’s no where near as interesting as yours. I was born. I went to elementary, middle, and started high school. I met Vanessa, my girlfriend, and found out I had a brother. Now I’m here.” “Seems like your life’s been pretty normal. Other than the last part.” “Yeah, it’s pretty boring.” “There’s gotta be at least one thing interesting that happened to you.” “Nope. Coming here was the most interesting thing that’s ever happened to me.” “Well, you’re bound to find something this afternoon. Believe me.” Sasha and Loni had been listening to Alex and Itchy’s conversation and had fired up one of their own.
“So, he’s never been out of New Orleans before?” Sasha was shocked. “Yeah, pretty much, but it’s not like you’ve been out of San Francisco before.” “Wrong. I was born in a small French village and moved to New York when I was old enough. I soon made way for here after a while.” “Oh.” ‘’Yeah. Well, here we are. Alex, don’t blow your cover.” “What cover?” You know what I mean! Now, go.” Alex walked over to Charlie and said hi. Charlie said hey and didn’t say anything more. Alex gave up quickly and headed back to the eager trio. “Well, why are you back so soon?” “He’s not much of a socialist, is he?” “He doesn’t know you. Now get over there and make sure he does. Alex opened his mouth, but had nothing to argue with, so he headed back over to where Charlie sat.
“Um, hi.” “Yeah? Whaddya want?” Charlie asked, curious about this stranger. “Um, well, I’m kinda new in town and was wondering if we could, you know, be friends.” Alex knew that sounded weird, but had no idea what to say. “Well, okay.” Charlie said. Alex was surprised at this. He had expected Charlie to be mean to him for some reason. “So, whaddya wanna to do? I don’t like just sittin around. It’s way too boring.” Alex had never heard so much non-formal language used in 3 sentences. He and his mother, at home, used nothing but formal language, and had just begun to talk like regular dogs to fit in more, but now regular language sounded formal. “Well, I don’t know. I’m new, and I have no idea what to do.” “For starters, let’s go ta my place for a while.” Alex half admired, and was half irritated by Charlie’s careless way of speaking.
When they arrived at Charlie’s, Alex thought the smell of the slowly decaying building stunk more than a skunk, but Charlie seemed used to it. Inside was not much nicer than the outside. Junk such as old newspapers cluttered the floor. “Sorry, ya caught us on a bad day. We haven’t had much time to clean lately, so it’s not in the best shape.” “That’s okay, I think.” Alex said, wrinkling his nose, trying to block the smell. But, being a dog, it didn’t work. Charlie had plopped down on the floor. Alex did the same, but didn’t slump, as Charlie was doing.
“You look so tense and refined. It just doesn’t seem right.” Charlie said as he stared up at Alex. “Sorry, I’m not used to the street dog life. I’m usually a house dog.” Alex said. Charlie was now belly up on the floor, stretching. “So, what are you? Your breed, I mean.” Charlie asked as he stretched. “I’m a German Shepherd. And you are?” Alex asked. “German Shepherd, Great Dane, Collie mix.” Charlie said, straining to remember. “Oh, how’d you know that?” Alex asked, curious how a street dog knew all the breeds he was mixed with. Alex thought he was purebred, but that couldn’t be true, if his brother was not, he didn’t think so, anyway. “David got worried about me, thought I was sick or somethin. He took me to the vet and the vet discovered my whole breed thing n all that.” “Who’s David?” “A human I met.” “How does a street dog meet a human?” “Simple. The human runs away, a dog finds him and takes care of him. Another dog meets that dog, and so a triangle is born.” “Triangle?” “You know, maybe it was more of a square in my case, but that’s not the point.” “Okay…” Alex said, still confused. He could tell that understanding his brother completely like he had planned was going to be impossible. “So ya wanna meet em?” Charlie asked Alex, pulling him out of his thoughts. “Sure.” Alex said, wanting to know if Charlie really knew a human or not.
As they approached David’s home, Alex got nervous. “Why are you nervous?” “Well, um, wait a second, what’s your name?” Alex asked, remembering the lectures from that morning. “Charlie, yours?” “I’m Alex.” “Interesting. Anyway, don’t worry, it’ll be fine.” Charlie said as he called out “David!” Alex was sure that the family had only heard a bark, but soon a boy came out, around 16, and hugged Charlie. “Charlie! What are you doing here?” “Well, this guy over here wanted to meet you.” Alex was really confused now. “He can understand you?” Alex asked. David only heard a bark, so Charlie was stuck as translator. “Of coarse he can.” “How?” “Well, um, I’m not sure?” Charlie said. He didn’t sound sure himself, and Alex wasn’t satisfied with this answer but didn’t say anything more. “Anne Marie! Come here!” “Wait, is she who I think she is?” Charlie asked as a girl, also 16 emerged from the house and yelled “Charlie?” And when he said “Yeah.” Anne Marie ran to Charlie and hugged him. “I can’t believe this! I thought you were in New Orleans with that wallet family.” “First Charlie, their names are Harold and Kate. Second, we moved and third, thanks for not breaking your promise.” “Huh? What promise?” “Remember? The promise to find me a family, and also that I’d see you again.” “Oh, yeah, those.” Charlie had completely forgotten that he had made those promises to her. “Who’s this?” Anne Marie and David asked, looking at Alex. “Alex. I’m still not sure about where he came from.” Charlie said. Anne Marie turned to Alex and said “Hello.” “Hi.” Alex said, even though he was sure that he could’ve said nothing. Surprisingly, Anne Marie did understand him. “Well, he’s seems pretty shy. Where’d you meet him, Charlie?” “Down at the café, just now.” “The one where you and Sasha met? How’s she doing, anyway?” David asked. He hadn’t seen Sasha for a while and wondered if she was okay. “Who’s Sasha?” Anne Marie asked. “Charlie’s girlfriend.” David said. “Charlie, I thought Flo was your girlfriend.” Anne Marie said to Charlie, remembering the puppy orphanage Charlie had taken her to when she was around 4. “Huh?” Charlie asked, he forgot about Flo. “Don’t play dumb, Charlie. I saw you two flirting over in the corner while the puppies were eating.” “Oh, well, I uh, figured she forgot about me.” “Uh-uh.” Anne Marie shook her head. “She still loves you, and the puppies are gone. They grew up. She’s really lonely without you.” Neither David nor Alex knew what Charlie and Anne Marie were talking about and had begun asking each other “Who’s Flo?” even though neither could understand each other. “In fact, Charlie, that looks a lot like her coming right now.“ Anne Marie pointed to a collie running towards them.
“Um, we should be going. It was nice talking to ya and I’m sorry I can’t stay but I really need to go and don’t tell Flo where I am or what I’m doing! Bye!” Charlie dragged Alex along as he ran as fast as he could away from Flo and didn’t stop until they were at the Flea Bite. When they arrived, they were breathing hard and Alex saw Loni, Sasha and Itchy over on the circle of couches. Itchy saw them panting and decided to find out what the commotion was about, as did Sasha and Loni. “What happened?” Itchy asked when he got to the two panting dogs.
“Well, we went over to David’s and Anne Marie was there. We talked a while and somehow Flo ended up here.” “Wow. That’s a lot to happen in 30 minutes.” Itchy said. Sasha was not as impressed. “Who’s Flo?” “Ex…girlfriend.” Charlie said, hesitating. “Well, we never broke up, but we never talked to each other since I left for San Francisco.” “Oh. Why didn’t you tell me?” “Well, I didn’t want you ta take it the wrong way.” “Well, at least you weren’t doin double time, thank goodness.” They kissed each other quickly and turned to Loni, who ran to Charlie, hugged him and said “Charlie, you’ve grown up quite lovely.” “Who’s she?” Charlie asked as Loni continued to hug him. “Charlie, don’t you recognize me?” “No. Whaddya think?” Loni realized that Charlie had no idea who she was and felt he wasn’t ready to know who she was just yet. Maybe, just maybe, she could get some bonding time in before telling him.
“So, who are you?” Charlie asked again. “My name’s Loni.” She said and hugged him again. “Will you stop hugging me? I barely know you!” Charlie said, trying to stay calm. He was also wondering why Sasha seemed okay with this. Just then, a Collie walked in the café and walked towards them. She began to create movement that was supposed to impress Charlie. She was flipping her long ears as she walked towards them. It was all for nothing, though, as she slipped on a banana peel and fell to the ground. The group giggled a bit and Flo walked towards them again.
“Hello, Charlie.” Flo said when she finally had made it to the group of five. She had recognized Charlie and Itchy and the whole reason she came to San Francisco was to get rid of Sasha and get back together with Charlie. Sasha watched as Flo tried many attempts to kiss Charlie and with each attempt, got closer and closer. Thankfully, Charlie kept backing up and dodging each kiss. This still made her uncomfortable. “What are you doing and who are you and where’d you come from?” Sasha asked the Collie, who was shocked at the question. “I’m Flo Collieon. I come from New Orleans.” Flo said friendly, stopping just long enough for Charlie to get away. Suddenly her expression changed to a frown. “You must be Sasha. I’ve been wanting to meet you.” Flo said, stepping towards her with that evil looking frown. This made Charlie uncomfortable and he said hi to Flo, who completely forgot about Sasha, as soon as he did.
“Well, Charlie, why did you leave me with those 12 puppies?” Sasha misinterpreted this and thought otherwise. “You two were married?” She blurted out. “No, no. She owned an orphanage.” Charlie told her in the calmest tone he could possibly muster. “Oh.” Sasha said, now sorry that she had asked that question. Now Flo spoke up. “Well, Charlie I’ll see you later and when I do, I want her gone and me in.” She left with her chin high and eyes closed and with a “Humph!” she was gone. Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, I’m glad that’s over.” Alex, Loni and Itchy were all confused about what had just happened. “What just happened?” Loni asked Charlie and Sasha. Their answer was clear and in unison, they said, “I have no idea.” “Oh, that is so cute!” she exclaimed and hugged Charlie and Sasha. “What?” They said at the same time. “How you almost always seem to know what each other are thinking!” Loni said and hugged them again. “Mother, I think that’s enough.” Alex said and put his paw on top of hers to restrain her from another hug.
“Loni, you’re his mother?” “Yes. Of coarse I am! Can’t you see the resemblance?” She put her head next to Alex’s and began rotating herself and Alex. “Okay…” Sasha, Itchy and Charlie said, not able to see any resemblance between the pink Collie and the German Shepherd. “You can stop now.” Charlie said. “Loni? You can stop.” Charlie said again when she didn’t stop turning. “Loni?” Charlie wasn’t sure what she was doing anymore. Sasha, Charlie and Itchy decided to leave the turning duo to their rotating and went off to the couches to sit and talk.
“Who’s she?” Charlie asked when they arrived at the couches. This seemed to make Sasha remember something very important to her. “I just remembered, my family’s coming to town.” Loni, who had been eavesdropping behind the couch, popped out from her hiding place and said, “We could do a meet the family thing!” “GAH! WHERE’D YOU COME FROM?” Charlie yelled, startled by Loni. “I thought you were still spinning.” Sasha said. “Well, I was, but Alex got bored and headed toward the poodles again. Wretched beasts!” Loni said, sounding depressed that she couldn’t spin more. “Can’t a guy talk to girls without interference from his mom? Tsk, tsk.” “Well, usually, I’d agree with that, Charlie, but he’s already got a girlfriend. He probably figured that she wouldn’t know.” “She’ll find out somehow.” Sasha said, glancing at Charlie. Loni was already headed toward Alex and the two poodles. “You again?” “Yeah! What do you want?” The two poodles walked away, again. “Mother! Why did you do that?” “You have a girlfriend.” “Oh, mother! She’ll never find out!” “Well, somehow Flo found out. Do you want to end up how Charlie’s love life is turning out?” “You worry too much.”
Sasha, hearing the conversation, went over to see if she could stop the day from more disaster than it was already in for. “Hello, forget me?” Sasha said when she got to the not-so-cheerful duo. “No.” Alex and Loni had their backs to each other, but they were obviously trying to keep straight faces. Suddenly they burst into laughter. Sasha didn’t understand why. Charlie and Itchy came over. “What’s goin on here?” “I’m not sure.” Sasha said. Alex and Loni were still engaging in their laughing fit. While Charlie tried to stop them, a paw pulled Itchy aside. “Hi.” It was Bess. “Hi.” “So, what’s going on? Who are those two?” “We’re not sure what’s going on, but the collie’s Charlie’s mother, Loni and the shepherd’s Charlie’s brother, Alex.” “Oh. So come on! It’s time for a date in the park!” Bess said before heading off. Itchy followed.
A black Irish Setter with curly fur and another one that had a smooth, tan coat entered the café. Sasha saw them and became nervous. Charlie stopped wrestling the two when he noticed Sasha’s expression. “What?” Charlie asked. “That’s my mother and sister over there, I think.” “Oh. What is this? Some kinda reunion?” “I know so many visitors, it’s weird.” Sasha said. The black Setter saw the two nuzzling and went over to them.
“Sasha, dear! How have you been?” she said to Sasha. The tan one hugged Sasha saw Charlie and asked in a snotty tone “Who’s the mutt?” Loni heard this comment and went over to them. “Excuse me?” she said to the tan Setter. “What?” “Did you not just call Charlie a mutt?” Loni yelled at the Setter. Charlie, trying to stop the commotion, said to Loni, “Why don’t you go over to Alex and spin some more?” He winked at Alex, who understood what it meant. He and Loni began rotating again.
“So, who is he? Putting his arms on my daughter?” the black Setter asked. Sasha answered as calm as she could. “He’s my boyfriend.” “WHAT?” the Setter exploded with anger. The tan one congratulated Sasha. Charlie decided to leave them alone. He left to help Alex and Loni’s turning crisis. “Who’s the other girl and boy over there? I’ll bet the collie’s another girlfriend of his. Just you wait.” The Setter scolded Sasha. “Mother! That is Charlie’s mother and brother!” the Setter looked embarrassed. Then Flo returned. She was relieved to see Charlie away from Sasha, then he saw him with Loni. “OOOOOOO!” she yelled when she saw him. She went over to them and began frantically trying to kiss Charlie.
“See! I told you!” Gail, Sasha’s mother, said. “Mother! I already saw this happen and he’s not happy about her trying to kiss him!” Sasha said, outraged. Sasha’s sister, Terri, said, “Well, he is good looking. Tell me if he’s ever available.” “Terri, you drive me nuts.” “Thank you.” Sasha went over to Flo and Charlie and pulled Flo aside. “Flo! Um, would you like to stay at my house?” she said as nice as possible. “Of coarse, Sasha.” Flo said, also trying to be nice.
“So, Sasha, where do you live?” Terri asked. “Not with the mutt. You’d better not live with him.” Gail said irritably. “No. I don’t live far though.” “Well, it’s a start.” Gail muttered. “So, take us home! We’d like to settle in!” “In one second.” Sasha walked over to Charlie. “Charlie, could Loni and Alex stay with you and Itchy? My house is going to be full with Flo, Terri, and mother along with me.” “Sure.” Charlie said. “Thanks.” Sasha said before kissing him and leaving with her three guests.
Charlie decided to head home, so he told Loni and Alex and they followed him. “So, mother, when are you going to tell him?” Alex whispered to Loni. “Probably tonight.” Loni whispered back. They arrived at the run down house. Loni wrinkled her nose and when she went in, she gasped. “Charlie! This place is a mess! It’s filthy! When was then last time you even considered cleaning?” Loni scolded. “Ya sound like my mother. Anyway, I haven’t had anytime to clean. So this is how it looks. And Itchy and I don’t mind.” Charlie said. Charlie then left. Loni decided to clean. Alex asked her what in the world she was doing and she said “Cleaning! You can’t expect me to live in this filth do you?” Loni asked shocked. Alex laughed a little, then helped. They found all sorts of interesting stuff. They found old pictures and stuff like that.
When Charlie came back, it was late. “Were have you been young man?” Loni asked, outraged. “Out. Will ya stop sounding like my mother?” “Why?” “Because you’re not!” “Actually, I am.” Loni said. Charlie was shocked, then shook his head. “You found me again?” “Yes. Now you will listen to me!” Alex was confused. “Wait, so you saw him before?” “Yes. When he was around 18 or so. Very shortly, I saw him, and he left.” “Yeah. Who told you about that anyway?” “Falia called. She was worried about you Charlie! Don’t be mad! Oh, have you stopped all of that gambling junk?” “Yeah. How’s Falia, anyway?” “She and Eric are doing wonderful! I’m a going to be a grandparent!” “What?” Charlie asked. “They’re going to have 3 puppies! They’ll be just adorable!” “Oh. Well, I’m glad she’s…happy.” Alex was now lost. He didn’t understand a word he just heard.
“Doesn’t that make Alex an uncle?” Alex was now even more lost than before. “What are you two talking about?” Alex asked. “Whaddya mean?” Charlie asked. “I heard something about a Falia, an Eric, puppies, gambling, and me being an uncle! Am I supposed to follow this?” Charlie and Loni looked at each other then said “No.” Just then Charlie noticed that they had cleaned. “What did you do?” he asked. “We cleaned. You didn’t expect us to actually live in that mess, did you?” Charlie rolled his eyes, then left. “He doesn’t stay at home very often, does he?” “No. No one does around here it seems.” Alex said.
Just then, Itchy came in the room. “What are you doing here?” “Sasha’s was full, so we’re staying here.” Alex replied. “Oh.” Itchy said, then put the groceries away in the fridge and left again. “It would be nice if someone was home. Now I feel weird.” Loni said after Itchy had left.
Meanwhile, at Sasha’s, things weren’t going much better. “Mother!” “What?” “Will you stop all that meaningless criticism towards Charlie?” “It’s not meaningless, dear! You should fall in love with a purebred Irish Setter such as yourself or not fall in love at all preferably!” “But mother! I’m already in love! I can’t just leave my true love and find a spoiled jerk to replace him!” Sasha and Gail continued to argue and Terri and Flo watched. “So cheerful.” Said Terri. “Um-hmm.” Flo said. “So, why were you trying to kiss Sasha’s guy?” “He’s my boyfriend! We never technically broke up, so that makes him mine too!” “Yes, but he’s moved on now, so you should forget him.” “Maybe so, but I still want him to like me.” “Flo, I’m going to go to bed.” Terri said before leaving for her room. “Excellent idea Terri!” Gail said before also going to her room. “Flo, I just want to know, why are you trying to get Charlie back?” “I’m sorry, Sasha. When I’m around him, I can’t help it. I love him and I know he’s happy with you, but I still want him.” “I can understand that. Good night Flo.” “Good night Sasha.” They both went to their rooms and slept.
At Charlie and Itchy’s, things had also calmed down for the night. Loni and Alex were asleep on one sofa and Charlie on the other sofa. Itchy was in the chair. When Charlie woke up, it was around 4 AM. Lately, he had found it hard to sleep in the night and easy to sleep in the day. He would try to fall back asleep, but couldn’t. He went outside and saw a black rock with gold writing on it. He sniffed it and it smelled weird. He left it alone and continued his walk. He got back around 6. Itchy, Loni and Alex were all awake now. “Where have you been?” Loni scolded. “I went for a walk. Calm down.” Charlie said calmly. Itchy had been cooking breakfast, and now served it. Loni complemented Itchy, as did Alex. Itchy just said thanks, then returned to eating. After breakfast, Charlie and Itchy left. Loni said to Alex “Why do they even have a home?” “I’m not sure. They only use it for breakfast and sleeping.” Loni nodded, then followed.
“Hey Charlie.” Sasha said, then kissed him. Charlie kissed her back and Gail groaned. Terri smiled and Flo just stared. “Charlie, can you come here for a second?” Flo asked. Charlie looked at Sasha for her approval and she nodded. They had agreed last night that Flo could talk to Charlie alone for a bit, as long as she didn’t try anything. “Charlie, I just want to say I’m sorry for yesterday. When I’m with you, I can’t help myself.” Flo said softly. “It’s okay.” Charlie said before hugging her. Flo liked it. She liked it a lot. Gail peeked around the corner and yelled “Ah HAH! See, Sasha! I told you!” Sasha looked and also got irritated. “Flo!” Charlie saw Sasha and said “Sasha, I did it. I’m sorry.” Sasha knew he must’ve meant it because he had never lied to her before. Charlie hugged Sasha and Gail didn’t like this either. “You low lived mutt! You will stay away from my Sasha!” Loni heard the commotion and rushed over to the alley that the entire ruckus was coming from.
“What do you mean ‘low lived mutt’?” Alex could see that this was a mother’s duel and he saw that Charlie, Sasha, Flo and Terri knew it too. They left the alley, leaving Loni and Gail to argue. “What happened?” Alex asked. “Well, I took Charlie into that alley to apologize, and Gail saw us hugging. So did Sasha. Charlie explained and Sasha understood. Gail started scolding Charlie and then you two came along.” Flo explained. “Oh.” Alex said. “We’d better get away from here!” Flo said. The five ran and came to the beach.
Flo, Alex and Terri went swimming while Charlie and Sasha stayed on the beach. They nuzzled for a bit then joined everyone in the water. After they emerged from the water, Loni and Gail came. “Sasha! You’re soaked and smell like seawater! Go home and take a bath this instant!” Sasha refused, causing Gail to explode. Meanwhile, Loni was thinking about jumping in the water herself, but Alex stopped her. Flo, Charlie and Terri had headed over to a dueling Sasha and Gail to break it up. Alex brought Loni over and joined the break up.
Bess and Itchy came, took one look at everyone and was confused. They saw that everyone except Gail and Loni was wet, and tow were arguing and the rest had formed a line between them and Gail and Loni were poking their heads out from either side of the line, trying to continue. Finally, Sasha stepped out and so did Charlie, causing the rest of them to fall over. Bess and Itchy laughed at the domino affect. Charlie and Alex took Loni aside to scold her while Sasha and Terri went to do the same to Gail.
Bess and Itchy sat down with Flo and Bess leaned over to Flo and whispered “What is going on?” Flo leaned towards Bess and whispered “Charlie and Sasha’s mothers don’t exactly like each other and fights keep breaking out between them.” Bess nodded “Ah.” She said, then explained to Itchy, who also nodded and said “Ah.” Well, by now, Charlie and Alex had Loni calmed down, but Sasha and Terri had not yet succeeded.
As you can probably tell, Loni was much easier to calm down than Gail was. Gail was still fuming and everyone except Loni would’ve helped, but they were half the reason she was mad, so the seemingly impossible task was left to Sasha and Terri, who weren’t have as much luck as they needed to succeed.
“Mom, calm…down.” Sasha said, trying to stay calm herself. “Yes, mom, listen to Sasha.” “I refuse to allow her to date, talk, or even look at that mutt or anyone aquatinted with him!” Gail protested angrily. Loni was about to get up and fight, but she was stopped by Charlie and Alex, who didn’t even look at her. By now, Sasha was to the point of frustration that she couldn’t hold it anymore.
“MOTHER! STOP IT!” Terri just nodded at Gail. Gail didn’t care anything about how Sasha felt about anyone. “Sasha! I’m your mother and what I say goes! You will marry a purebred IRISH SETTER and that’s final!” “No! NOT FINAL! I refuse to marry anyone but Charlie!” Sasha protested. “Do you dare go against your mother’s wishes?” Gail asked irritably. “If that means staying with Charlie and being happy, then yes.” Sasha said, turning away from Gail. “UH! UH! UH, UH, UH!” Gail yelled angrily before storming off. Terri was frozen and Charlie ran to comfort Sasha.
“You okay?” He asked. Sasha nuzzled him as she said “I’m not sure anymore.” Flo wasn’t happy, but restrained herself. Gail spied from her hiding place from behind a sand dune. Her only company was a crab claw, which she talked to. “So, Mr. Crab, what do you suggest?” Gail picked up the claw and made a high pitched voice. “I say that we break them up!” “I KNOW that. But how?” “Get Loni to take Charlie AWAY!” Gail thought about “his” suggestion. “Yes, you were a big help Mr. Crab. Thank you. What am I doing? I’m talking and imitating a crab claw, that’s what! But why?” Gail shrugged and began her grand plan.
Gail pulled Loni aside the next day at the café. “Charlie doesn’t belong in San Francisco. He belongs in…wherever you come from.” She told Loni. “I don’t agree. He’s happier here and in New Orleans he was, well…uncivilized” Loni told Gail, who was determined to succeed. “Now look, he has a girlfriend there and his family’s there. He could live just outside the city if you’re worried about civilization.” Gail persuaded. Loni thought, then agreed.
And so began another persuasion of the messed up. However, Itchy had the unfortunate incident of hearing the things he shouldn’t, as always. He became worried for his friend. He didn’t really like Charlie that much when he was…engaging in his old ways. He didn’t realize how mistreated he was back then, but now he knew better. He was determined not to let this now perfect friendship be messed up once again.
Well, he did what he did last time. Of course, last time there was a door and las ttime it was much more important. LAST time it was involving murder. Charlie’s murder. And as far as Itchy was concerned, loosing his best friend for good was much worse than loosing him and having him alive. Anyway, long story short, Itchy didn’t want to be bossed around by Charlie.
So, Itchy did the only thing he could do at the moment. “CHARLIE! CHARLIE! CHARLIE THEY’RE GONNA RID OF YOU!” Charlie of course, didn’t hear this. He was off waltzing on the beach with Sasha. Itchy found Bess, who had been waiting for their day at the beach, and told her, who suggested they tell Charlie and why Itchy was so worried. “It’s not like they CAN persuade him to go anywhere. Don’t worry, he won’t loose Sasha.” Bess said.
They never told Charlie Loni and Gail’s plans, however, the enemy did find the time to do their part. “Charlie, come here.” Gail said. She persuaded Charlie a bit differantly than expected. “Go back to New Orleans and leave my Sasha alone! Do think she wants you at all? Her so refined and you so uncivilized. Don’t you miss your old ahbits and ways of doing things?” Gail continued this when she was finished, and CHarlie left very confused and was soon reeled in by Loni, who also did her part. Of course how all of this worked out, you will know in time

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