Thanks for Nothing (From the Files of Madison Finn, 5) (6 page)

“Good-bye!” Madison skipped away.

They drove off.

“Hellooooo?” Madison called out when she walked into the clinic. She didn’t hear any people or animals right away. “Eileen? Dan? Dr. Wing?”

Madison walked into the office first. Dan wasn’t around. She could hear Dr. Wing and a nurse in one of the examination rooms. Madison checked the animal cages. Most of the dogs were calm and quiet. Mr. Wollensky was back there today, grooming one of the Yorkie terriers who had been staying at the clinic for a while. Madison greeted them both and proceeded to read the charts in front of some of the other cages.

Blinky, arrived October 15, abandoned, eyes healing.

Blinky blinked and panted hello. Madison could tell he was getting much better. So were the dogs in connecting cages.

Pavlov, arrived September 30, neglected. Handle with care.

Pavlov was lying there, chest still heaving with uneasy rhythms. He wasn’t hurt on the outside. Pavlov was hurt on the inside. Madison imagined how much he’d suffered before getting to this place. It made her so sad.

Then she came to Sugar the schnoodle’s cage.

Since Sugar had been discovered, Dr. Wing and Eileen had taken extra-special care of her. Her coat looked shinier now. Most of the tangles were combed out. Without the scabs and matted fur, Sugar looked more like a spunky dog—rather than just a mess.

Sugar stuck her nose right up to the cage door and sniffed. When Madison put her finger a little closer, Sugar licked it gently.

“Hello, Sugar,” Madison said. “Schnoodle-oodleeee-oh.” The dog cowered a little, but still came back to investigate Madison’s scent.

“WHO are you talking to?” Dan asked, walking into the back area. “You sound like a yodeler.”

“Dan!” Madison jumped, a little taken off guard. “I didn’t know you were here!”

“So who are you talking to?”

“Just the schnoodle. She’s so pretty today,” Madison said. “I’m glad I named her Sugar.”

“Yeah, she looks way better than before,” Dan said, slinging his backpack onto the floor and walking over to the cages. “You were in pretty bad shape before, but now you’re one hot dog.”

Madison groaned. “That’s so lame, Dan.”

“It was funny! Come on!” Dan snickered. He stuck his fingertips under Sugar’s nose and she licked them.

“What happened to her?” Madison asked. “Do you think she was abused?”

Dan nodded. “My mom says so. We get all kinds of dogs here with problems like burns from cigarettes, broken bones, and not being fed. People can be so mean. I don’t get it. How could you be mean to an animal?”

Madison’s heart sank. She couldn’t believe it, either. As the afternoon went on, Madison found herself drawn to Sugar’s cage more than the cages of any other dogs. This schnauzer-poodle loved all the attention.

“I’m a little surprised at how quickly she’s recovering, to tell ya the truth,” Dan’s mother said when she saw Madison and Sugar together. “Usually these dogs need time before they cling on to ya. You must have something special, Maddie.”

“She’s the one who’s special,” Madison said.

“Yup, this one seems to have a bond with you,” Eileen said. “You’re turning into a special volunteer in only a short time. I’m impressed, and so is Dr. Wing.”

Madison dropped her head, a little self-conscious from the sudden attention. She scratched the top of Sugar’s head.

“Well, I mean it,” Eileen said. “Right away you were a natural at this, and we’re very lucky to have you be a part of our little Far Hills Animal Clinic family.”

“Thanks, Eileen,” Madison said softly. She looked at Eileen’s T-shirt, which read
LOVE A PET, LOVE A VET.

Madison felt loved, too.

When Madison came home, she sprawled on the bed to check her e-mail. She loved the way Sugar had nuzzled, snuggled, and
needed
Madison. Bigwheels would love hearing all about it.

Phin tried to climb onto the bed, but she shooed him away.

“I’m busy right now, Phinnie,” Madison cooed.

Phin barked and got down on all fours like he would pounce. This pug wanted to play. But then he gave up and crawled under Madison’s desk.

There was only one message. It was from Dad.

From: JeffFinn


To: MadFinn


Subject: Let’s Talk


Date: Thurs 16 Nov 5:03 PM


Honey bear, we need to talk soon. I tried leaving a message, but tell your mother the machine is broken. I know you are at the animal hospital. I hope that is fun. Please call me tonight when you get in.


A joke for you: What do you get when you cross a turkey and an octopus? Ha ha.


I’ll tell you the answer when you call!


Love you,


Dad


Madison shut off the computer and dashed downstairs to the living room. She checked the answering machine, which was blinking frantically. She dialed Dad’s number.

What did Dad have to tell her that he couldn’t say in e-mail?

Dad would never put important things in e-mail. He liked to talk about things in person, or at least on the phone.

“Hey, sweetie,” Dad whispered as he picked up the phone. “How’s my little girl?” He always called her that, much to Madison’s dismay. She thought of herself as slightly more sophisticated, especially since junior high began.

“What’s up with you, Dad?” Madison asked back. “By the way, the answer to your riddle is you get a lot of drumsticks when you cross an octopus and a turkey!”

Dad laughed. Then he told her about work being busy as ever. He had purchased a new wok for his kitchen.

“I was thinking about making stir-fry turkey this Thanksgiving,” Dad said.

“Very funny. Dad,” Madison replied, half laughing.

He followed up with another joke. “Hey, Maddie, why was the turkey included as a member of the band?”

“What band?” Madison groaned. “Okay. Why?”

“Because he had all the drumsticks.” Dad laughed out loud. “Get it?”

It was maybe the dumbest joke Dad had told in the longest time, but suddenly Madison felt choked up. She wasn’t sure if she got teary with the mention of Thanksgiving, or if she had a sudden surge of missing Dad, since he hadn’t been around much lately.

“I really wish we could—” Madison swallowed the words. “I wish we could spend Thanksgiving together. Dad.”

Dad got silent on the other end of the phone line. “Gee, Maddie—”

Madison interrupted. “Oh, forget I said that. That was so dumb.”

“No. What’s going on? Is something bugging you?” Dad asked.

“You mean besides homework and my friend Egg?” Madison blurted, trying to shift gears and change the subject.

“Huh? You lost me,” Dad said.

Madison took a deep breath. “I miss you. Dad. So much.”

She could hear him take a deep breath through the phone, too. “I know,” Dad said. “I know you do.”

“So why can’t I spend Thanksgiving with you—and your family?” Madison asked.

“My family? What? Madison, we’ve been over this. The lawyers’ arrangement says—”

“I don’t care what it says,” Madison cried. “I don’t want to spend Thanksgiving in this house if YOU can’t be here. Thanksgiving is supposed to be a family holiday, and I don’t want to spend Thanksgiving alone with no one but Mom because … I just don’t want to. I don’t.”

Dad took another loud breath. “Madison?” he asked sweetly.

Madison was afraid of what he might say. She’d let all her feelings come tumbling out at once. They’d taken her by surprise.

“Why don’t we talk about it at dinner tomorrow night,” Dad said, trying to change the subject. “And about that dinner …”

Madison gulped. “Yeah?”

“I was going to bring Stephanie,” Dad said.

Madison was silent.

Dad quickly recovered. “Unless you don’t want me to. I mean, it can just be you and me alone, Maddie. You tell me.”

But Madison didn’t quibble. She agreed to have dinner with them both. It was hard to have anything but good feelings for Dad’s girlfriend when she always came with a little present for Madison like flea-market earrings made from glass and asked lots of fun questions about school and boys and life in general. Stephanie seemed so interested in what Madison thought and believed. She was pretty, too, with perfect fingernails.

“Hey!” Mom walked in, carrying an armful of groceries. “Who’s on the phone?”

“No one,” Madison fibbed, covering the receiver. Then she admitted the truth. “Just Dad.”

“Oh,” Mom said, walking into the kitchen. Madison could hear her pushing vegetables into the refrigerator bins.

“Bye, Dad,” Madison said into the phone quickly. “I have to go help Mom make dinner. She just got home.”

Mom asked her to help boil water for the ziti while she cut up lettuce and tomatoes for salad.

“I was talking to Dad about Thanksgiving,” Madison said, filling a pot.

“Oh,” Mom replied. “Does he have plans?”

Madison put water on the stove and added a little olive oil to separate the boiling pasta. It was a trick Gramma had shown her. “Actually, he didn’t really talk about Thanksgiving.”

Madison wasn’t sure why she lied, but she did.

“Oh,” Mom said for a third time. “Well, I’m sure he’ll be spending it with that girlfriend of his.”

“Her name is Stephanie,” Madison added. She could tell when Mom didn’t want to talk. Whenever she “forgot” someone’s name, it meant the subject should be changed.

“So where’s Phin?” Mom asked. “We should walk him before supper.”

“Phin?” Madison whirled around, half expecting to find him by her feet, but the pug wasn’t there. “I dunno. I saw him a while ago….”

“He’s been acting funny lately. Have you noticed?” Mom said. She had been taking Phin for long walks during the afternoons when Madison went to volunteer at the shelter.

“I haven’t noticed anything,” Madison said.

“It’s probably nothing.” Mom shook her head. “He’s probably just a little jealous. You’re giving all your attention to the other dogs now.”

Madison giggled. “Mom, don’t be ridiculous. Phinnie doesn’t know what I’m doing.”

The phone rang again and Madison grabbed it. “House of Finn,” she cried into the receiver spontaneously. She looked across at Mom, who was chuckling a little now, too. Lately they’d been goofing around when answering the phone. One night Mom had picked it up and said, “Finn Land.” They almost fell on the floor, laughing so hard.

But Egg was the one on the phone, and he didn’t get what was funny at all.

“House of what?” Egg said.

“Oh, it’s you.” Madison faked a growl.

“What is your problem, Maddie?” he asked. “You can’t still be mad about me being late. I said sorry like a hundred times already.”

“You said sorry twice. That is not a hundred times,” Madison said.

She and Egg bickered some more. Ten minutes later, they came to an agreement to meet the next day after school to talk about the
Mayflower.
They’d meet in Mrs. Wing’s computer lab so they could use the Internet. No one would bother them.

“Don’t forget, Egg, please be on time. I don’t want to wait around forever,” Madison said.

“Yeah, yeah, I KNOW,” he grumbled.

Madison tried to soften the tone a little bit. “This project will be awesome—I know it,” she said reassuringly.

“Of course it will!” Egg said. He sounded encouraged, so she hung up the phone and sat down to dinner.

“Is this a little sticky, or is it me?” Mom asked when she tasted dinner. “We’ll keep practicing, right, honey bear?”

The pasta was overcooked, but Madison ate two helpings.

Right before bed, Madison powered up her laptop.

Mom v. Dad


Rude Awakenings:
It’s hard to be fair and square when you feel like part of a triangle.


Am I being fair to Mom? She is trying so hard to make dinners and to be nice letting me volunteer and taking Phin for walks. Do I say thank you and please enough? I made this whole huge deal about wanting to spend Thanksgiving with Dad and now … everything is different. I just want to have turkey on Thanksgiving and to make them both happy. Am I making Mom sad? Is Dad sad? How am I supposed to be?


Madison hit SAVE and logged on to TweenBlurt.com. She was in search of a friend—and a little perspective. Bigwheels was online! She messaged her keypal, hoping for some wiser-than-wise advice.

: hi there


: what r u doing up??? Ur online!


: Im bored w/homewk


: HELP


: my teachers gave a really hard assignment


: u work all the time


: IYSS


: I don’t mean in a bad way


: :>)


: E2EG I wrote to ask advice about my parents


: what is wrong are they fighting


: What will I do at Thanksgiving with Mom it’s a big mess


: so don’t have dinner w/ Mom


: but I will hurt her feelings if I don’t


: no u won’t, he is ur Dad she will understand that is her job right?


: yeah but she’ll be alone


: so don’t WORRY


: thanx for ur help


: what r u doing 4 ur project in school u never told me


: top secret :-#


: LOL I have a project too BTW


: really??


: I am writing a paper on Wampanoag Indians


: have you ever been to an Indian reservation


: no but I have read a lot of bks


: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ


: r u bored?


: no just sleepy THANKS sooo much 4 ur help


: sweet dreams