"Oh," I said. I thought I wouldn't wear one if I could get away with it but I didn't say anything. I thought it would be better to meet the rest of the family with as innocent a look as possible.
As we went back to the kitchen so she could start dinner, the door burst open with Marshall and Billy pushing and wrestling in their race to be first in the door. They both stopped in their tracks as they caught sight of me. I just smiled.
"Hi," Marshall said.
"Boys, this is Sue. She's going to be staying with us for a little while," Molly said.
"Oh, okay," Billy said with only a second's hesitation. Kids always accept strangers fast. "So hi! Where are you from?"
"New York," I said. "But I like it here a lot better."
"Yeah, us too," Marshall said with a grin. "Where's Einstein?"
"Oh, shoot," Molly said. "I never did find him. Boys. I found the door open when I came home from shopping. Why don't you take a look around the neighborhood and see if you can find him?"
"Yeah, sure," they said in unison and turned back to the door, pushing their way out again, leaving their school books behind them on the kitchen floor.
"Hey, Minni," Billy said outside the door a moment before she came demurely into the kitchen. She didn't notice me immediately and kissed her mom on the cheek before catching sight of me and doing a double-take.
"Minni, this is Sue. She's going to be staying with us for a little while."
"Hi, I'm Minni," she said, holding out her hand to shake.
"Hi," I answered with a big smile.
"Let me put my books away. I'll be right back," she said. She went through the house calling for the dog. I felt sorry they wouldn't find Einstein and would never know what happened to him unless, at some time in the future, I told them about myself. They would already be skeptical enough of me for a while without my adding that to the mix. But some time, I'd tell them in my own way.
When she returned from her room, she asked Mommy about the dog just as the boys had with the same answer and request.
"You guys want to take a look around the neighborhood for him?" she asked. Minni shrugged her shoulders.
"Sure, I guess," Minni said. "You want to go along?" I nodded and got up from the chair I'd been watching from.
"Is that all right, ma'am?" I asked politely.
"Of course, honey," she said. "You guys get acquainted. I'm just fixing dinner and that's boring for young ladies."
Minni led me out the door and down the driveway before saying anything. I was being careful not to step on a rock in my bare feet. Unlike most animals, I'd found before that human feet are poorly protected naturally though they can be toughened with days of walking. I didn't really think it was going to be necessary this time however and mine had no protection built up at all now.
We walked around several blocks along the tree lined streets, Minni occasionally saying hello to someone as we passed. I knew all the people from taking walks with her before. Actually, I knew a great deal more about some of them than Minni did. Many things no one outside their homes knew about them. A dog sees a lot that people don't.
We talked about the neighborhood and she filled me in on what she knew about the people as we walked. I told her about living in New York City and how scary it was. That was straight from my heart with a little bit gained from the things I'd seen rather than really lived. But by the time we returned home, we both knew we were going to be fast friends.
When we got back in the house, I listened to Minni's report and then to her discussion of the day's activities with her mom. Molly continued making dinner as they talked. I added something when I could and generally participated in the talk. We were all getting along well when the front door opened.
"Hello! I'm home," Phil said from the door.
"We're in here, daddy," Minni said as she bounded to greet her dad half way. They came back into the room arm in arm and he nodded to me before leaning to his wife and kissing her on the cheek as she stirred something.
"Phil, I want you to meet Sue. She's going to be staying with us for a little while until we can make some other arrangements."
"Oh, exchange student?" he asked me.
"No. She just helped me with the groceries. We'll have to talk in a minute." She closed the discussion for a time. "Why don't you guys go in the other room and watch TV, okay?" Seeing that they needed to talk in private, Minni and I moved to the other room.
I knew the substance of the conversation because, as a man, I would put up the same argument. You can't take in stray kids like you can take in stray dogs. What says that this kid is what she says she is? She could be a thief, a killer. Who knows? I knew that, at least for tonight, and with no other evidence than my own being, Molly would win. Being female was a distinct advantage. If I'd been male tonight, I would be out to seek a place to sleep. As a female, I would not. All I could do was wait for the inevitable decision. I would have tomorrow to strengthen my position and tonight was almost a foregone conclusion.
My confidence was buoyed a lot because I knew Phil and that he wouldn't really fight all that hard.
The boys came bounding back in the door then demanding dinner and telling their parents that they couldn't find the dog. I was sure they'd gotten sidetracked by other interests but, of course, it didn't matter a great deal since I knew where the dog was – in the family room watching television.
The boys came into the room then and parked in front of the television, soon taking it over. But something was still wrong and I could see it. They both missed the dog and were worried about him. I asked them what they were bothered by and they told me what I knew.
"So what do you miss about the dog?" I asked.
"He always met us at the door and was ready to play."
"Yeah, I know how it is I guess. It must be nice to have a friend like he must have been."
"Yeah." They were both thoughtful.
"Can I be your friend?" I asked.
"Sure. But it's not the same thing. He used to be funny and run with us. And a lot of the time, he'd wrestle with us on the family room floor."
"Yeah?" I said. "I can wrestle."
"Naw," Billy said. "You're a girl."
"Yeah," I said. "But I can still wrestle. And I'll bet I could beat you."
"You're kidding," Marshall said with a deprecating grin.
"No. I'm pretty good. I've wrestled with tougher guys than you."
"You couldn't even beat me," Marshall said with a grin, knowing it was a challenge.
"I'll bet I can and if I win I'll hold you down and kiss you all over your face."
"No way!" he giggled.
"So how do we start? Standing up or on all fours like the college wrestlers?" I asked standing up and getting in a wrestling pose.
"All fours. And I get top to start."
"Okay." I got on all fours and waited for him to put his arm around my side. He was still quite a bit smaller than me and carefully reached around below my breasts. It gave me a real advantage since his arm should have been across my chest. I didn't waste the advantage but turned out from under his arm and put mine around his chest in a single movement. I held on tight as he squirmed and finally fell onto his side.
Squirming to get away from my hold, that I easily held tightly around him as he turned to face me from flat on his back, I held him solidly as he tried to free himself. Minni and Billy laughed and yelled for him to get up but he couldn't. Then I got up to sit on his stomach, holding his wrists down on the carpet. While he squirmed to get loose and turned his head wildly from side to side, I kissed him all over his face just as I said I would.
He almost broke my nose in his attempts to get free. That was to the negative. His body also squirmed between my spread legs, rubbing against me roughly. That was to the positive. I loved kissing his face as he laughed and tried to get free. It was so like when he and I had wrestled when I was a dog, racing around him and licking him whenever he was at a disadvantage.