That puppy, he was all I had. That puppy with his big brown eyes that looked up at me and his wet, red tongue that
licked my hand and his soft tan fur that I stroked and stroked all de time, he was all that was mine. But my brudder, he
used to say to me, “Don’ you get attach to that damn puppy. He don’ be real.” I didn’ know then what he meant by that.
I just thought he was afraid I’d start to think de puppy was more important to me than he was. It was a long time ’til I
found out what he really meant.
I don’ know where my brudder got de puppy—probably somewhere in de Factory Zone ’cause there’s always dogs
running wild around there. Wherever he came from, de little sucker, he sure was cute. He was just a tiny thing when I
got him, and he fit in my hands. When he gave me de puppy, my brudder, he told me, “Keep him safe, Squeaky. We
gonna need him.” So I took him from my brudder’s big, strong hands, and I could feel de little guy’s heart just a
thumping and a thumping away. He was afraid, like I get sometimes when de Alphas come around here. He was so
little, and my brudder, he’s so big—’course de little guy was scared. Probably missed his mama, too. I don’ know
what happened to her though.
He was shivering there in my hands, so I cooed a little song to him, one like I remembered my mama used to sing to
me before she died.
“Hush li’l puppy, don’ you cry,
Squeaky’s gonna sing you a lully bye.
Hush li’l puppy don’ you stray,
Squeaky’s gonna keep you here to stay.”
Then my brudder, he slapped de back a my head and told me to shut up. But de little puppy, he’d already let out a sigh
that was bigger than he was. He settled down in my hands, and he went to sleep. My brudder, he smiled then, and
that’s when he told me to take care a de puppy. I smiled back at my brudder, but he frowned and said, “Don’ you get
attach to that damn puppy!” I stopped smiling on de outside, and he nodded and said, “That’s good.” But I kept on
smiling on de inside.
#
Tonight my brudder, he says it’s time for de puppy to pay off. I don’ like de sound a that, but when I ask my brudder
what he means, he don’ answer me. I guess he’s not paying much attention to me right now, on account a he’s got
business on his mind. He tells me to grab de puppy and follow him down to de dungeon, de basement a de Castle.
De puppy, he’s getting almost too big for me to carry, but I scoop up de squirming little guy under one arm, and I race
after my brudder. I almost trip over my own feet, I’m so excited. I’ve never been allowed down in de dungeon before,
so I figure maybe my brudder, he thinks I’m grown up now.
#
My brudder, he’s been around a long time—a lot longer than me—and he knows things I don’. He was just a kid when
de 2020 Riot War broke out, but he remembers it. ’Course, that was before I was born, but he told me about it, about
all de killing and all de mess after it was over. He told me everything used to be one big country, de Knighted States,
but after de war, it all crumbled. That’s when de gangs, they grabbed whatever they could; that’s when de Alphas, they
took over here.
So now those bastards, de Alphas, they strut around here in their copper-colored body armor, and they treat us like
slaves, work us like dogs in de factories they built. Once they owned us, de Alphas, they tried to move all us into de
Ruins. At first we wouldn’ go, so they killed a bunch a us to teach us a lesson, to make us go. They killed my mama
then, too. My brudder, he remembers our mama, but he doesn’ talk about her. Me, I just remember her voice and her
songs.
Anyway, when we got to de Ruins there weren’ enough rooms for all us, so everyone was fighting for space like a pack
a wild dogs attacking a rotten piece a meat. Man, it was ugly. When my brudder and me, we tried to stake out our
room, these three guys, they knocked me down and almost killed me, but my brudder, he cut one a them real bad with
his Vi-blade, so de other two, they got de message. They ran like hell. That’s how we got our room in de Castle.
De Castle, it used to be one a de tallest buildings around until de Alphas blew up de top half a it when they were
fighting to take over de city. It ain’t really a castle, though. I call it de Castle, on account a my brudder, he told me it
used to be de building where de Emperor lived, where he ruled all de Empire’s states from. And he told me there’s a
dragon locked up in de dungeon a de Castle, but one time my brudder’s friend, Red, he said to me, “Squeaky, don’ be
a fool. Don’ you listen to Slash; he don’ know nothin’. Shit, man! Ain’t no dragons down there, just a few crocodiles.
Tha’s all they is.” Then he slapped me on de back and laughed, sorta like he was laughing at me, so I wasn’ sure
which a them to believe. I always wanted to go down to de dungeon to find out for myself, but my brudder, he never let
me go down there—said little kids like me can’ go down there—so I never saw no dragons. No crocks, neither.
I didn’ wanna take no chances though, so I kept de puppy close to me all de time to make sure no dragons or crocks
or anything could get him. Now, maybe there weren’ no dragons—or crocks even—but de way I figured it, maybe there
were. There’d been other puppies that belonged to kids in de Castle, and sometimes, all a sudden, they’d be gone.
Red’s little sister, Piggy, she had this cute black-and-white puppy Red gave her. One day I found her crying, and she
said she’d lost her puppy, that a crock must a got him.
Man, I didn’ want no crock eating my puppy, so I kept him with me all de time. At nights I kept him with me on my
mattress, and at first he slept in my shirt, right next to my bare chest. I put him there, his silky fur against my skin, and I
buttoned up my shirt to keep him from wandering away. Pretty soon I didn’ need to button him in anymore, on account
a he got used to me, always slept snug up against me.
Some nights my brudder, he’d look over at me from his mattress, and he’d laugh and say, “Hey, look a that! Squeaky’s
got someone in bed with him.” And Flitter, one a my brudder’s girls, she’d giggle. So I’d pull de puppy close to me,
and I’d tell her to shut up, that he’s just a puppy.
On night Flitter, she was teasing de puppy, and he nipped at her, so de stupid bitch, she screamed like a crock bit her
on de ass or something. My brudder, he got mad at that, and he kicked de puppy, sent him skidding across de floor,
smack into de wall, and I yelled at him, which I almost never do. I called him a dumb shit, then I grabbed de
whimpering little guy to make sure he wasn’ hurt bad, and I curled up in bed with him, my back to my brudder. I
pretended not to hear him when he said, “Damn it, Squeak. Didn’ I tell you? Don’ you get attach to that puppy. You
hear me?” No, I didn’ answer him.
Pretty soon Flitter, she was gone, and Rio took her place. But de puppy, he always stayed there with me.
#
My brudder, he walks down de stairs so fast now I can barely keep up with him. “Special night, tonight,” he tells me as
we come to de door to de basement stairs. He digs a key outa his pocket, unlocks de door, and steps into de dark. I
stop there for a heartbeat, trying to see down into de stairwell. Then I hurry blindly after my brudder and whisper, “What
if we come across a crock?” He just laughs and keeps going, so I stumble after him, clutching de puppy and shushing
him when he whines. My brudder, he’s big and strong, and I bet he can kill any crocks that’re down here, but we don’
see none. What we do see isn’ much better though.
#
One night I woke up, and de puppy, he was whining and shivering and licking my face. I thought, “What de hell’s de
matter with this damn puppy? What’s he waking me up in de middle a de night for?” Then I saw de lights. They were
all bright, flashing down from de sky. It was one a de Alpha ships on patrol, looking for something, or someone.
De Alpha ships, they spook me, on account a they’re so quiet. They don’ make no noise, like a hawk circling in de sky
looking for a pigeon or a rat to kill. They’re quiet, but they sure have bright lights. Sometimes they come looking for
people, people they thought did something to them or stole something from them. It don’ matter if you did it or not, long
as they think you did. They can shoot you from those ships easy as you can pick lice off your head, and then you’ll be
just a dirty little smudge on de street. That’s all that’ll be left a you.
So when I saw de lights from de Alpha ship, I got nervous and looked over at my brudder, but he was dead asleep.
One a de lights, it streaked in through de window, and it hit my brudder’s naked back. In that flash a light, my brudder’s
back, it glistened like it was polished brass, like some a de machines in de factory used to be, ’cause it was all slick
with sweat. His big old arm was laying on top a Rio’s belly, his hand resting on one a her floppy tits, and I could see
her chocolate-colored nipple poking out between his fingers. Her mouth was open a little, and she was snoring loud
as a factory whistle. I thought, “How de hell can he sleep with that honking in his ear?”
Then de light, it slipped back outa de window, and I decided I better not wake him up to ask him what he thought de
Alphas wanted here in de Ruins in de middle a de night. He’d say, “How de hell should I know?” Or maybe he’d just
swat me and tell me to go back to sleep.
De next night Red, he came down de hall to our room while I was heating up some soup for dinner. Red, he’s tall and
thin, with skin as pale as a maggot and hair that looks like fire. He’s always hungry, so he likes to show up at dinner
time. But he’s an okay guy, even though my brudder, he thinks Red does dumb things sometimes. My brudder, he
says that Red’s so dumb ’cause he’s from outer space, and he’s still got vacuum between his ears. De first time he
told me that, I was just a stupid, little kid and didn’ know any better, so I asked my brudder what planet Red came from.
My brudder, he laughed. He said that Red came from a planet where everyone thinks they know everything but they
don’ know shit. My brudder, he talks like that about Red, but they’re best friends, so he doesn’ let anyone else talk
about him that way.
That night, Red and my brudder, they started talking about some guy from de Easy Side who came over to de Ruins de
day before. Red, he told my brudder how this guy had sold out to de Alphas, how he was de Alphas’ man now, and he’
d been making trouble for all a us here, so Red and some a de other guys from de Castle, they messed him up.
My brudder, he called Red a dumb shit, but Red, he said there wasn’ no problem, that they got de guy stashed some
place safe. And my brudder, he said that it better be safe, that they better be more careful who they mess with. He said
de Alphas, they have their ways a finding things. Red, he just grinned. He said they didn’ find this guy, and my
brudder, he said they better not. I wanted to hear where Red put de guy, what they planned to do with him, but just then
de soup, it boiled over on de hot plate. It was time to eat, and my brudder and Red, they don’ talk when they eat.
After dinner my brudder, he told me to clean up, ’cause him and Red, they were going down to Red’s room to talk
some more. Seemed like they always left whenever de talk got interesting. Once I asked my brudder why they did that,
why couldn’ I do things with him and Red and his other friends? My brudder, he told me I was just a boy, but when I got
bigger I could do things with him and de other guys. I said I was big enough already, but he just laughed and rubbed
de top a my head with his knuckles. So I got stuck cleaning up while they went off to make their plans, and they never
did tell me what they planned to do with de Alphas’ man that Red got.
#
licked my hand and his soft tan fur that I stroked and stroked all de time, he was all that was mine. But my brudder, he
used to say to me, “Don’ you get attach to that damn puppy. He don’ be real.” I didn’ know then what he meant by that.
I just thought he was afraid I’d start to think de puppy was more important to me than he was. It was a long time ’til I
found out what he really meant.
I don’ know where my brudder got de puppy—probably somewhere in de Factory Zone ’cause there’s always dogs
running wild around there. Wherever he came from, de little sucker, he sure was cute. He was just a tiny thing when I
got him, and he fit in my hands. When he gave me de puppy, my brudder, he told me, “Keep him safe, Squeaky. We
gonna need him.” So I took him from my brudder’s big, strong hands, and I could feel de little guy’s heart just a
thumping and a thumping away. He was afraid, like I get sometimes when de Alphas come around here. He was so
little, and my brudder, he’s so big—’course de little guy was scared. Probably missed his mama, too. I don’ know
what happened to her though.
He was shivering there in my hands, so I cooed a little song to him, one like I remembered my mama used to sing to
me before she died.
“Hush li’l puppy, don’ you cry,
Squeaky’s gonna sing you a lully bye.
Hush li’l puppy don’ you stray,
Squeaky’s gonna keep you here to stay.”
Then my brudder, he slapped de back a my head and told me to shut up. But de little puppy, he’d already let out a sigh
that was bigger than he was. He settled down in my hands, and he went to sleep. My brudder, he smiled then, and
that’s when he told me to take care a de puppy. I smiled back at my brudder, but he frowned and said, “Don’ you get
attach to that damn puppy!” I stopped smiling on de outside, and he nodded and said, “That’s good.” But I kept on
smiling on de inside.
#
Tonight my brudder, he says it’s time for de puppy to pay off. I don’ like de sound a that, but when I ask my brudder
what he means, he don’ answer me. I guess he’s not paying much attention to me right now, on account a he’s got
business on his mind. He tells me to grab de puppy and follow him down to de dungeon, de basement a de Castle.
De puppy, he’s getting almost too big for me to carry, but I scoop up de squirming little guy under one arm, and I race
after my brudder. I almost trip over my own feet, I’m so excited. I’ve never been allowed down in de dungeon before,
so I figure maybe my brudder, he thinks I’m grown up now.
#
My brudder, he’s been around a long time—a lot longer than me—and he knows things I don’. He was just a kid when
de 2020 Riot War broke out, but he remembers it. ’Course, that was before I was born, but he told me about it, about
all de killing and all de mess after it was over. He told me everything used to be one big country, de Knighted States,
but after de war, it all crumbled. That’s when de gangs, they grabbed whatever they could; that’s when de Alphas, they
took over here.
So now those bastards, de Alphas, they strut around here in their copper-colored body armor, and they treat us like
slaves, work us like dogs in de factories they built. Once they owned us, de Alphas, they tried to move all us into de
Ruins. At first we wouldn’ go, so they killed a bunch a us to teach us a lesson, to make us go. They killed my mama
then, too. My brudder, he remembers our mama, but he doesn’ talk about her. Me, I just remember her voice and her
songs.
Anyway, when we got to de Ruins there weren’ enough rooms for all us, so everyone was fighting for space like a pack
a wild dogs attacking a rotten piece a meat. Man, it was ugly. When my brudder and me, we tried to stake out our
room, these three guys, they knocked me down and almost killed me, but my brudder, he cut one a them real bad with
his Vi-blade, so de other two, they got de message. They ran like hell. That’s how we got our room in de Castle.
De Castle, it used to be one a de tallest buildings around until de Alphas blew up de top half a it when they were
fighting to take over de city. It ain’t really a castle, though. I call it de Castle, on account a my brudder, he told me it
used to be de building where de Emperor lived, where he ruled all de Empire’s states from. And he told me there’s a
dragon locked up in de dungeon a de Castle, but one time my brudder’s friend, Red, he said to me, “Squeaky, don’ be
a fool. Don’ you listen to Slash; he don’ know nothin’. Shit, man! Ain’t no dragons down there, just a few crocodiles.
Tha’s all they is.” Then he slapped me on de back and laughed, sorta like he was laughing at me, so I wasn’ sure
which a them to believe. I always wanted to go down to de dungeon to find out for myself, but my brudder, he never let
me go down there—said little kids like me can’ go down there—so I never saw no dragons. No crocks, neither.
I didn’ wanna take no chances though, so I kept de puppy close to me all de time to make sure no dragons or crocks
or anything could get him. Now, maybe there weren’ no dragons—or crocks even—but de way I figured it, maybe there
were. There’d been other puppies that belonged to kids in de Castle, and sometimes, all a sudden, they’d be gone.
Red’s little sister, Piggy, she had this cute black-and-white puppy Red gave her. One day I found her crying, and she
said she’d lost her puppy, that a crock must a got him.
Man, I didn’ want no crock eating my puppy, so I kept him with me all de time. At nights I kept him with me on my
mattress, and at first he slept in my shirt, right next to my bare chest. I put him there, his silky fur against my skin, and I
buttoned up my shirt to keep him from wandering away. Pretty soon I didn’ need to button him in anymore, on account
a he got used to me, always slept snug up against me.
Some nights my brudder, he’d look over at me from his mattress, and he’d laugh and say, “Hey, look a that! Squeaky’s
got someone in bed with him.” And Flitter, one a my brudder’s girls, she’d giggle. So I’d pull de puppy close to me,
and I’d tell her to shut up, that he’s just a puppy.
On night Flitter, she was teasing de puppy, and he nipped at her, so de stupid bitch, she screamed like a crock bit her
on de ass or something. My brudder, he got mad at that, and he kicked de puppy, sent him skidding across de floor,
smack into de wall, and I yelled at him, which I almost never do. I called him a dumb shit, then I grabbed de
whimpering little guy to make sure he wasn’ hurt bad, and I curled up in bed with him, my back to my brudder. I
pretended not to hear him when he said, “Damn it, Squeak. Didn’ I tell you? Don’ you get attach to that puppy. You
hear me?” No, I didn’ answer him.
Pretty soon Flitter, she was gone, and Rio took her place. But de puppy, he always stayed there with me.
#
My brudder, he walks down de stairs so fast now I can barely keep up with him. “Special night, tonight,” he tells me as
we come to de door to de basement stairs. He digs a key outa his pocket, unlocks de door, and steps into de dark. I
stop there for a heartbeat, trying to see down into de stairwell. Then I hurry blindly after my brudder and whisper, “What
if we come across a crock?” He just laughs and keeps going, so I stumble after him, clutching de puppy and shushing
him when he whines. My brudder, he’s big and strong, and I bet he can kill any crocks that’re down here, but we don’
see none. What we do see isn’ much better though.
#
One night I woke up, and de puppy, he was whining and shivering and licking my face. I thought, “What de hell’s de
matter with this damn puppy? What’s he waking me up in de middle a de night for?” Then I saw de lights. They were
all bright, flashing down from de sky. It was one a de Alpha ships on patrol, looking for something, or someone.
De Alpha ships, they spook me, on account a they’re so quiet. They don’ make no noise, like a hawk circling in de sky
looking for a pigeon or a rat to kill. They’re quiet, but they sure have bright lights. Sometimes they come looking for
people, people they thought did something to them or stole something from them. It don’ matter if you did it or not, long
as they think you did. They can shoot you from those ships easy as you can pick lice off your head, and then you’ll be
just a dirty little smudge on de street. That’s all that’ll be left a you.
So when I saw de lights from de Alpha ship, I got nervous and looked over at my brudder, but he was dead asleep.
One a de lights, it streaked in through de window, and it hit my brudder’s naked back. In that flash a light, my brudder’s
back, it glistened like it was polished brass, like some a de machines in de factory used to be, ’cause it was all slick
with sweat. His big old arm was laying on top a Rio’s belly, his hand resting on one a her floppy tits, and I could see
her chocolate-colored nipple poking out between his fingers. Her mouth was open a little, and she was snoring loud
as a factory whistle. I thought, “How de hell can he sleep with that honking in his ear?”
Then de light, it slipped back outa de window, and I decided I better not wake him up to ask him what he thought de
Alphas wanted here in de Ruins in de middle a de night. He’d say, “How de hell should I know?” Or maybe he’d just
swat me and tell me to go back to sleep.
De next night Red, he came down de hall to our room while I was heating up some soup for dinner. Red, he’s tall and
thin, with skin as pale as a maggot and hair that looks like fire. He’s always hungry, so he likes to show up at dinner
time. But he’s an okay guy, even though my brudder, he thinks Red does dumb things sometimes. My brudder, he
says that Red’s so dumb ’cause he’s from outer space, and he’s still got vacuum between his ears. De first time he
told me that, I was just a stupid, little kid and didn’ know any better, so I asked my brudder what planet Red came from.
My brudder, he laughed. He said that Red came from a planet where everyone thinks they know everything but they
don’ know shit. My brudder, he talks like that about Red, but they’re best friends, so he doesn’ let anyone else talk
about him that way.
That night, Red and my brudder, they started talking about some guy from de Easy Side who came over to de Ruins de
day before. Red, he told my brudder how this guy had sold out to de Alphas, how he was de Alphas’ man now, and he’
d been making trouble for all a us here, so Red and some a de other guys from de Castle, they messed him up.
My brudder, he called Red a dumb shit, but Red, he said there wasn’ no problem, that they got de guy stashed some
place safe. And my brudder, he said that it better be safe, that they better be more careful who they mess with. He said
de Alphas, they have their ways a finding things. Red, he just grinned. He said they didn’ find this guy, and my
brudder, he said they better not. I wanted to hear where Red put de guy, what they planned to do with him, but just then
de soup, it boiled over on de hot plate. It was time to eat, and my brudder and Red, they don’ talk when they eat.
After dinner my brudder, he told me to clean up, ’cause him and Red, they were going down to Red’s room to talk
some more. Seemed like they always left whenever de talk got interesting. Once I asked my brudder why they did that,
why couldn’ I do things with him and Red and his other friends? My brudder, he told me I was just a boy, but when I got
bigger I could do things with him and de other guys. I said I was big enough already, but he just laughed and rubbed
de top a my head with his knuckles. So I got stuck cleaning up while they went off to make their plans, and they never
did tell me what they planned to do with de Alphas’ man that Red got.
#
| Continued on the Next page |
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