Page 101 of Guitars and Cages

When I was done, I returned the clipboard with the application to the lady behind the desk. She unclipped the application and slid a packet of papers onto the clipboard in its place, all held together with a staple. “You need to fill this out, too.”

“What is it?”

“A test to see what you’d be best suited for.”

“Oh. Well, I don’t want to work in an office, I’m better with my hands,” I explained.

“All of the factories we hire for rely on machines. The test is a good indication of how well you understand basic operating practices and direction. You have to complete the test in order to be considered for the job.”

“Oh,” I said, taking the papers and going to sit down.

The diagrams were simple enough, but I couldn’t make heads or tails of most of the questions. I finally conceded defeat and took it back up to the secretary.

“Done already?”

“No, ma’am,” I said. “I, uhh, don’t understand the questions, so I can’t finish it.”

“I see,” she said, taking it back and looking down at the mess I’d made trying to come up with answers. “Yes, well, I’m afraid this wouldn’t be the right type of work for you.”

“Yeah.”

I turned and left, thinking more and more about Catfish’s offer. At least he wasn’t asking me for a fuckin’ degree or to take some test that I wasn’t even sure had been written in English. And at least with Catfish I had plenty of experience, and there was always praise after a job well done. I closed my eyes, reminded of the soft brush of his hand through my hair and the way he’d told me how good I’d been. He was the only one who ever seemed to call me good anymore. I suddenly had a real strong urge to go see him.

It took me a minute to get my bearings and figure out which way it was to River’s End. It was a nice day, and there was a pretty brutal game of street hockey happening on one of the side streets I passed by. It made me think of Conner; I’d bet he would have loved to get pictures of it. I tried not to do too much thinking about Conner as I walked. He had texted me earlier, saying he was gonna be working late all week to make up for the time he’d spent away. I was glad Angus had been so nice about it when Conner had called him from Nebraska. I had texted Conner back asking if we were still on for the derby, but I hadn’t gotten a message back. He must have been pretty busy.

His enthusiasm talking about the high-energy sports he loved had made his eyes light up, and he’d been smiling that bright smile of his as he talked. I could only imagine what he would look like being so focused on something. My mind started drifting ahead to the derby and how he’d said he’d bring his camera along. If he still wanted to go, I wasn’t gonna have a long wait to see what he looked like while he was taking his pictures. I hoped I wouldn’t be too obvious when I watched him.

I took a left, my sense of direction screwed up with all the thinking and daydreaming I’d been doing. I had to stop and look around for a moment, and when I did, I saw I was standing right across the street from the animal shelter. What’s more, there was a familiar pink-and-white Jeep parked in front of it.

I couldn’t resist going in. There was no way that was a different Jeep; it had to be Anne’s. As I approached I could see the dreamcatcher decal on the right rear panel. I pushed the shelter door open to the sound of barking with some mews mingled in. No one was in the front room, so I poked my head around the corner, into a long run of kennels, and saw a figure struggling to pull a large bag off the top of a pile taller than they were. Hoping I wasn’t gonna get yelled at for being where I didn’t belong, I ran down the row of cages and caught the bag just as the figure had given a tug hard enough to bring it down almost on top of them.

Startled gray eyes watched me setting the bag on the floor.

“Well, you do have a wonderful sense of timing, Asher. Thank you,” Anne said. She had a floppy hat on her head today, and old work gloves on her hands.

“You’re welcome. I saw your Jeep outside and wanted to say hi. Where do you want this?”

“Oh, if you can put it in the wagon for me, that would be great.”

“No problem.”

To me it was light, only fifty pounds, but I couldn’t see how she’d planned to move it all the way across the room to where the wagon sat. I set it in the wagon and pulled it out of the room for her, ’cause I wanted to see all the dogs and cats now that I was there.

“So, how is that poor kitty you found?”

I sighed. “Ghost ended up having a chip in her. The vet found her owners and they took her home.”

“Oh, well, good for her, the sweet little dear. Too often they don’t find their way home, as you can clearly see.”

She was pausing at cages and petting furry little heads, scooping food from the bag and filling dishes. A lab mix jumped up as she opened its cage, leaping and licking her as she tried to settle him down and rub his ears. I couldn’t resist squatting down to the dog’s level and clicking my tongue at him, laughing as he covered my face in doggy kisses. I scratched his ears and rubbed noses with him while Anne gave him food and filled his water dish.

“He’s a friendly guy, why is he here?” I asked her.

“He’s too friendly, I’m afraid. Most people seem bothered by how excited he gets.”

“Aw, poor guy, he just needs room to run. He’d love it out in the country somewhere, bet he’d make a good bird dog, too.”

She smiled. “I bet he would. My son used to have a lab almost the same color as that one; it used to sleep at the foot of his bed and they’d spend their days in the fields together or roaming the woods at the edge of the property.”

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