The Rightful Heir (32 page)

B
ENJAMIN
MET HIS MOM
in the hallway. “I'm gonna go ride my bike for a while, okay?” He remembered the collar around his wrist and threw his arm behind his back.

“Alright, but be home for dinner.” As he hurried down the stairs she added, “I'm thinking about roasting your pig!” Benjamin was glad Clementine wasn't there to hear.

He found an empty cardboard fruit box in the storage room. Running his hand along the inside, he envisioned Jonah and Mac sitting in it. “This should be big enough for them.” He walked his bike to the end of the driveway. The two pugs sat on the other side of the small hill beside the pond. Mac appeared happy. Jonah didn't. They stared at the box in the boy's hand and looked unsure. “Alright, guys. This may seem a little scary, but I'm gonna put both of you in this and hold you while I drive.”

“What?!” Jonah asked, horrified.

“Oh, don't be such a baby!” Mac said. “Of course, you are my
baby
brother, so-”

Jonah quickly jumped in the box in retaliation. Mac followed. It was a tight fit but both were able to stick out their heads. When Benjamin lifted the box, it was heavier than he had imagined. “Whoa! You guys are pretty heavy! Now hold on while I get up on my bike.” Their ears folded back in fear as the box tilted up and down while Benjamin mounted. He rested the box on his lap, holding it with one hand and his handlebar with the other. “There! How's that?”

“Fine,
except we're facing you,” Jonah said, unimpressed.

Benjamin started pedaling and the box shifted back and forth with each push of his legs. “Oh boy, I think I'm gonna be sick!” Mac's mouth started twitching and Jonah moved his body up against the side. When Benjamin gained full momentum the box moved back and forth quickly.

“Keep your puke on
your
side!” When Jonah shifted again, Benjamin lost control and the box upended. Out tumbled the pugs. Benjamin tried to slam on the brakes but he was also trying to catch the pugs with his knees.
Yelp! Yelp!
Jonah hit the gravelly road first, then Mac fell on top of him. Benjamin drove past them but finally stopped. He scrambled off his bike and went over to help. “I'm so sorry! Are you guys alright?!” He knelt and put his hands on both of them.

“No, I'm not alright. I've got an
idiot
for a brother!” Mac yelled in Jonah's face.

“Speak for yourself. I'm not the one who was about to throw up on everybody.”

Mac started heaving as the blood rushed to his head. He raced to the ditch and, with his back toward the other two, threw up whatever was upsetting his stomach.

“Just let it out, Mac. It'll make you feel better.” Benjamin picked up the box and looked at the sky. The sun was over halfway across and had started to descend. “We'd better get there quickly. Pickrell Corner is a couple miles from Mac's house.”

“I'll be there in just a second.” Mac finished and took a deep breath before he jumped back in the box. Jonah looked irritated but hopped inside. Benjamin put them back up on his lap and continued pedaling on the gravelly road.

“I need you guys to stay still.” He picked up the pace and quickly his bike was racing along. Soon they approached Jessica's house. “Mac, if you don't want to get caught, then you need to
crouch down while I drive by your house. You too, Jonah.” They both stayed low and Benjamin rode past her front yard. Her dad was standing in the window and saw a boy ride by with a big box resting on his legs.

“Hmmmm. That's odd.” He shrugged.

“We're almost past your house, Mac…WHOA!” Benjamin was so busy looking back at Jessica's house that he never noticed his bike headed right for an oncoming car.
Honk! Honk!
Benjamin gasped! “Get down!” The car tires made a crunching sound on the gravel and Mrs. Howell stopped right next to Benjamin.

“You should watch where you're going! I could've killed you!”

“Oh, I'm really sorry, I was—”

“How are you able to ride with that box on your legs?” She leaned to look inside.

Mac's claws were digging into Jonah's belly.
“Yelp!”
Benjamin started coughing to cover the sound.

“What do you have in there??”

“Honey? Everything alright?” Mr. Howell shouted from the driveway.

That was Benjamin's chance to get away. He stopped coughing and pedaled hard. “I, uh, gotta get to the tire shop! See ya!”

Mrs. Howell shook her head. “What a strange kid.”

At the next road Benjamin turned left and headed west. The pugs stayed still until they arrived at several old buildings near a community of houses intersecting a two-lane highway. Across the highway from Bonnie's Bait Shop was a dirty old white-brick building with “Lee's Tire Shop” written in large, faded-red letters on the side. Two trucks were parked out front on the dusty-white gravelly drive.

“Okay, I'm gonna let you guys out. Hold tight. I'll go in and act like I'm looking at tires.”

He lay the box down and the pugs were quick to get out.
Benjamin walked his bike up next to the building, where tall weeds had overgrown the edge. The large front window hadn't been cleaned in years. The door was propped open by a big rock and Benjamin took one last backward look at the pugs before he walked in.

“Afternoon, young feller.” An old man wearing oil-stained blue overalls leaned behind the counter next to a dusty cash register with business cards taped all over it. He held a greasy cheeseburger that kept losing fixings onto the floor with every bite he took.

“Hello. I'm just here to…um, look at your tires.” Benjamin didn't know what to say or how. Two customers around the same age as Lee stood in front of the counter with their hands in their overalls pockets. One was wearing sunglasses and chewing on a toothpick and staring right at Benjamin, which made him feel out of place.

“Well, Earl, let's go and take a look at that truck.” Lee walked around to the front of the counter and the other two
gentlemen
exited through the door behind him. “You just holler if you need something.” Lee nodded his tanned bald head at Benjamin.

“Oh, yes, sir! I'm just checking to see what you got.”
That sounded stupid!
Benjamin stared at a wall-mounted rack of new tires covered in dust.

“Sounds good, partner.” Lee walked out the door. “Now how much did you say you want for this piece of junk?”

Benjamin kept a free eye on the old men as they walked around Earl's rusty white pick-up truck. He then walked to the door and peeked out. The pugs weren't there. “Psst! Hey guys! Are you there?” Two little black faces peeked around the corner of the building. Benjamin waved them in. “C'mon! Quickly!” They raced inside. He knelt and spoke quietly to them. “Your mom might be in the back. I don't know. I didn't go back there yet.”

“Hey,
I remember this place!” Mac had a look of wonder as he stared at the painted blue brick walls with old posters of Model-Ts and other cars and trucks.

Jonah smelled the air. “Still smells like mildew in here.”

“Probably like your old home,” Mac added. Jonah returned an insolent look and started to walk behind the counter. Mac followed. Benjamin stayed in the front lobby and continued to
look
at tires.

Jonah entered the shop. A garage door with large, dirt-smudged glass panes took up an entire wall. In front of it was an old wood paneled, metallic pea station wagon with four flat tires and missing hubcaps. Old tires were stacked up behind a large tool bin. The pugs heard a loud snore. Right next to an old pop machine and a half-eaten hot dog was a fat old tan pug sleeping on the dirty concrete floor. Her body almost covered a faded oil stain never fully cleaned off the floor. Their eyes grew wide and they slowly approached.

“M-Mom?”
Mac said. The fat pug snorted and opened an eye. She saw two pugs staring at her. Then she noticed their paws. Each had one black foot.

“Boys! Is it you?
Snort!
Give your momma a little help here, will ya?” Mac went around to her fatty backside and nudged her with his snout. She grunted and sat up. “Ohhhh, let me get a good look at you two!” They walked in front of her. Mac smiled but Jonah remained stoic. “Ah, you're as handsome as I remember! So…what're your names now?”

“I'm Mac, Mom.”

“Ahhh, Mac.” Her fat smashed-in face made a funny smile.

“And this is—”

Jonah interrupted. “I think I can say my own name.”

“Well then say it,
Jonah!”
Mac smiled and Jonah snorted angrily.

“Jonah! That's a cute name!” His mom coughed and walked over to the hot dog. She devoured it in one gulp as her fat belly rubbed against the floor. She burped. “It's so good to see my babies again.”

“It's nice to see you, too, Mom.” Mac scratched the back of his ear. “But we also have something we wanna ask you.”

“Sure, sugar. What is it?”

Benjamin
quietly walked into the shop. He figured if Lee caught him he'd say he was admiring the old station wagon. The fat pug looked up at the boy but Benjamin acted like he wasn't paying any attention to them.

Mac continued. “We were wondering who was born first?” Jonah leaned in.

“Well, lemme see.… You know who your daddy was, right?”

“Yes, his name was Pugsly. I remember him visiting us a couple times.”

“Oh yes, and you two certainly look like him.” She lay back on the floor, belly protruding. “Pugsly, Pugsly, Pugsly…mmm, mm, mmmm.” Benjamin couldn't help it and burst out laughing. The old dog leaned up to see the boy's delight but continued. “Well, you know there were three brothers and a sister.”

“Yeah, I kinda remember having a sister,” Jonah noted.

“Mmm. She was the first to go.” The two pugs gave her their full attention. “Now that brother of yours was actually the first born.”

“And where is he?” Mac asked quickly.

“Well…he died in the middle of the night when you all were just a few weeks old. You were asleep when it happened.” The fat pug was silent a moment as her eyes welled up. They didn't know what to say. Benjamin continued looking at the old car.

Jonah broke the silence. “So then who…”

She looked at Jonah's black right back paw and Mac's left back paw. “Next was Mac, and right after him was your sister, and Jonah was last.”

“Oh!” Mac said with delight. “Oh, Mom, that's wonderful!” He licked her on the nose. “I love you, Mom!”

“Ahhh, I love you, too, Mac.”

Benjamin noticed the look of defeat on Jonah's face as he stared straight ahead, ignoring the bonding before him. The boy
left the shop and went back into the lobby. He felt pity. He could tell Jonah was hurting.

“I gotta go, Mom.” Jonah turned and walked away.

“Oh, baby, it was so good to see you!”

“Yeah…uh, you too, Mom.”

“I hope you can come back again. There's some good eatin' here. I'll fix you some supper!”

“Sounds great,” Jonah replied with no emotion.

Mac looked at his mom with joy. “I'll come back and see you, Mom. I'm so happy we got to talk again!”

“Bye, sweetie. You take care now.”

Mac turned to give his mom one last look before he left. She was already snoring.

The two pugs walked up to Benjamin. One was giddy and the other depressed. “Well…that's it, I guess.” Benjamin didn't know what else to say. They walked out as Lee and Earl were coming back in. Lee never even noticed the two pugs by Benjamin's feet. “G'bye. I decided those tires are too big for my bike.” Lee gave him a courteous smile and Benjamin walked out the door.

Benjamin looked at the setting sun. “We better hurry, guys. It'll be dark soon.” The pugs hopped in the box and Benjamin crossed the highway, taking the dirt road east. It seemed like a long ride home for Jonah. But his older brother, the king, was courteous enough not to say a word. He didn't have to, though. Jonah had heard it straight from the fat pug's mouth.