Page 217 of Just One More Thing

Seventy pounds of bulldog fury tears across The Green with a lot more speed than anyone thought bulldogs were capable of. French Fry dives toward the slideshow screen and pulls up at the last second.

A second too late.

He hits the screen.

The frame wobbles. The image of twelve-year-old Mo and me freezes for one perfect second before the whole thing comescrashing down in a tangle of fabric, metal, and one very confused seagull.

The crowd gasps.

French Fry flaps out of the wreckage in a burst of feathers, gets disoriented, and lands in the top tier of the mimosa fountain.

Wayne points at him. “KARMA! THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS! THAT’S WHAT YOU GET!”

Hank emerges from under the fallen screen with feathers sticking out both sides of his mouth. He prances back toward us with the swagger of a bulldog who bit his nemesis in the ass.

He walks past me.

Past Mo.

Past Ryan.

And walks straight to Wayne.

Then he drops the feathers at Wayne’s feet.

A token of solidarity between two beings who have both been wronged by the same bird on the same day.

Wayne looks down at the pile. Then at Hank.

“Did you—did he just—“ Wayne looks at me. “He brought me a present. He avenged me, Jake. This dog avenged my honor.”

Wayne drops to his knees and grabs Hank’s face in both hands. “You’re my best friend from this day forward.”

Hank looks back at him with the expression of a bulldog already regretting the gift.

Then he farts.

Wayne jerks backward. “WHAT THE?—“

Mo folds into me, laughing.

Bethany is laughing so hard no sound’s coming out.

Mr. Humphrey hmphs from somewhere behind us.

Hank waddles back over and sits against my leg, pleased as hell with himself. I scratch behind his ear. “Good boy,” I whisper.

Charlie catches me at the bar while I’m building Mo a Bloody Mary that looks more like a buffet than a drink.

He claps a hand on my shoulder. “Congratulations, brother.”

“Thanks, man.”

He points at me with a celery stick. “You good?”

I look across The Green. Mo is laughing with Maddy and Miss Hattie. Hank is beside her like private security. The whole town is moving around us like this day belongs to them too.

“I’m better than good.”