Standing inside of Charles’s bedroom, Auntie Kiki visually scanned the room for clues. Lili, the loyal German Shepard mix, claiming to be in deep meditation, laid on Charles’s bed and took a nap. It didn’t take long for Auntie Kiki to spot Charles’s failing test papers. It also wasn’t hard to, in overhearing Charles’s parents’ fighting, figure out what made him runaway.
“You overindulge him!” yells Charles’s father.
“That’s not true.” replies Charles’s mother, trying to stay calm.
“He doesn’t know how to dig himself out of problems because his mommy is always there to do it for him.”
“That’s not true!”
“C’mon, Vanessa. He’s a cry baby. He goes right to you with every problem, and you always let him believe he bears no blame.”
“Michael, he has it rough at school.”
“He doesn’t try at school. He’s a failure!”
“Their yelling is ruining my mediation.” Lili says, sleepily.
“Lili, let’s just leave. We’re not going to find anything of use here.”
“But I’m not done meditating!”
“The sooner we find Charles, the sooner you can get back to your nap. I mean, your meditation.”
The duo ventures out into the night. The warm April day has turned into a chilly full mooned evening. As they walk, Auntie Kiki’s mind races through her mental filing cabinet, trying to figure out what she may have missed about Charles. Lili, on the other paw, sniffs the air, trying to find Charles’s scent.
“Someone is making sausages.” says Lili, drooling. “I miss sausages.”
“Lili, focus.”
“Okay. Okay.” Lili takes a few strong sniffs. “I don’t smell him.”
They keep walking, leaves crunching beneath their feet.
“Have you thought of what you’re going to say to him?”
“Did you hear his dad call him a failure?”
“Yeah.”
“How do I counter that?”
They stop walking. Auntie Kiki takes a seat on a park bench. Lili hops up next to her.
“His mom didn’t.”
“She didn’t deny it.”
“So?”
“It’s just pretty rough.”
“Yeah, it is.” says a voice in the darkness.
Lili lets out a startled howl.
“Charlie?” Auntie Kiki says, looking around.
“Yes?” Charles replies, staying hidden.
“Where are you, kid?” Lil asks, catching her breath.
“Huh? You’re a dog!” Charles replies, walking out from behind some trees.
“Huh? You’re a boy!” Lili replies, mocking him.
Charles and Lili laugh.
“What are you doing out, Charlie?” asks Auntie Kiki. “You have everyone up there worried.”
“But not my parents.” Charlie says, sadly.
“I don’t think they know you’re out yet.” Lili says, matter-of-factly.
“Right.” Charles says, sarcastically.
“But I’m sure that once they do, they’ll be terribly upset.” Auntie Kiki says, patting his shoulder.
“Yeah. They’re good at that.”
“What happened?” Lili asks, nudging Charles.
“I failed my science and math exams. My Dad thinks I’m sabotaging my chances of getting into college.”
“You’re only a junior. You still have time.” Auntie Kiki replies, calmly.
“Not in the opinion of Professor Michael Cable.”
“Your Dad needs to calm down.” Lili says, scratching her back.
Charles laughs. “You should tell him that. I’d love to see his reaction.”
“Oh, I’d love to!” Lilli says laughing.
Suddenly, Auntie Kiki spots Charles’s sleeping body under a nearby tree.
“Charles, you’re sleeping under a tree! You’d rather risk your life sleeping in a park than sleep at your parents’ house?!?”
“Yup!”
“Charlie!”
“What?”
Auntie Kiki crosses her arms and groans. “You can’t possibly mean that.”
“Well, I do. My parents’ just keep fighting about me.”
“That’s how humans show how much they love each other, kid.” Lili responds laughing.
“Your parents just want what’s best for you. I’m sure they’d be hurt if they knew you’d prefer sleeping here over their house.”
“I don’t want to listen to them fighting anymore.”
Auntie Kiki shakes her head and rubs his shoulder again.
“Would you talk to them for me? Both of you?”
Auntie Kiki and Lili look at each other. Lili gives her a mischievous smile. Auntie Kiki sighs, defeatedly.
“If you wake up and go home, yes.”
“Thank you!” Lili and Charles say together.
Later on that night, once Charles had quietly snuck back into his bedroom via his window and his parents were each in dreamland, Auntie Kiki and Lili paid a visit to the Cable family’s house. First, they checked on Charles who was asleep in his bed, smiling happily. Next, they checked on Vanessa Cable, asleep in her bed. Lastly, they checked on Professor Cable, asleep on the couch, having fallen asleep watching television.
“Show time?” asked Lili, grinning.
“What do you have planned?” asked Auntie Kiki, genuinely confused.
“Nothing more than taking old Mike Cable down a couple of notches.”
“You spent a lot of time with Anne’s grandmother, didn’t you?” asked Auntie Kiki, laughing nervously.
Anne’s grandmother was a no-nonsense woman who believed that kids needed to be built up in order to thrive. She believed that women especially mothers needed to set strong examples for their children and to protect them fiercely. She would’ve loved to have spoken to Charles’s parents.
In response to Auntie Kiki’s question, Lili just smiled.
Professor and Mrs. Cable had no idea what was coming. They would awake in the morning with a vague recollection of a spirit woman and her dog reprimanding them for being too hard on their son. However, they wouldn’t be able to recall Lili’s threat to Professor Cable to loosen up or she’d loosen his legs. Auntie Kiki made sure that that got erased from their memories. They would be able to remember that Charles had runaway because of their fighting. On a connected note, they’d recall their promise to try to use calmer words and voices around him and about him. It was a short, but successful overdue conversation. Dreams can be useful tools if you knew how to use them properly. Auntie Kiki was becoming a pro.
“Thank you, Lili.” Auntie Kiki said, once they were back in her apartment. “I feel like we really did something good today.”
“That’s because we did.” Lili replied, hopping up onto the couch.
“Time to meditate?” Auntie Kiki asked, sarcastically.
“Uh huh.” Lili replied, yawning.
Auntie Kiki sat down next to Lili and smiled. “Good night, Lili.”
