picture. “Strictly platonic, of course.”
She barked quickly in agreement, which was… rather insulting.
“I’m a good lay,” I informed her, “despite whatever you’ve heard.”
I was also trying to convince a dog of my prowess, which meant I probably needed some fucking sleep. “In,” I said firmly, pointing at the front door. She looked at me with a hurt expression, and I sighed. “No, I wouldn’t treat you that way if we were married, but we’re not. So in.”
She sashayed past, tail in the air.
Chapter 22
Journey
My photography class was going swimmingly.
With six classes under my belt, I was back by popular demand. I’d gotten lucky. I’d expected a roomful of bored kids, but they were eager and ready to learn. According to the director of the community center, I ranked right behind McDonald’s and Vampirina with their age group. That was pretty damned high, considering I didn’t come with a McToy and I wasn’t purple.
I had no lesson plan. Mostly I just shot from the hip and tried to expose them to different kinds of photography. I gave them a topic to start with and let their creativity do the talking. That was what art was all about. If nothing else, I could teach them that.
They turned in their cameras at the end of class, and I went through each kid’s pictures, then printed out the best ones to hang on the wall at the community center. My current favorite was a picture of an ant crawling across a leaf. It made me smile. They were taking my words to heart and trying to find the unusual in the usual.
I decided to end the week by taking my art-turned-photography class on a little field trip. Field trip was probably a little ritzy of a term, since it was just the eight of us walking two blocks to the nearest park, holding hands to form a chain the entire way. My niece, Livy, made sure to secure her hand in one of mine before anyone else could. My unofficial teacher’s pet, Camila, snagged the other.
Acting as our unofficial mascot, my dog led the way, her little tail waving in the air like a plumed feather. Her name was Snickers this week, and it was starting to seem like a pretty good fit. Despite not knowing where the hell she was going, she was determined to be in front. She kept looking back at me to make sure she wasn’t off course.
My charges were ridiculously excited and talking a mile a minute. I didn’t care what they did, so long as no one let go of anyone’s hand. I got them across the street safely which was, from my perspective at least, the scariest part of the trip. The way I acted, you would’ve thought we were crossing a six-lane highway, blind, and Snickers was our reluctant guide dog. In reality, it was a little access road that hardly anyone ever used.
I closed the park gate behind us with a sigh of relief. All students were accounted for and no one had broken so much as a nail. Looked like I wasn’t going to be tarred and feathered by an angry parent mob just yet.
I passed out the cameras I’d stashed in my backpack as they chattered excitedly. I’d given up on being thrifty with disposables. Instead, I’d bought some inexpensive cameras on Amazon that were kid-friendly.
“Remember, these are not toys,” I said. They’d heard the speech at least three times before, but I doggedly went down the list of dos and don’ts. “Don’t remove the SD card. In fact, don’t even look at the SD card. Don’t put the camera in any water you may come across. Don’t put yourself in any water you may come across. Try not to—”
“Drop it,” they shouted in unison before looking at me expectantly.
“Exactly. And please don’t open the—”
“Battery compartment,” they filled in.
“Okay, yes. But other than that, have fun.”
“What should we take pictures of?” George asked, bouncing on the heels of his feet.
“Good question. I want you guys to focus on sky art today.” I cast a look upwards and got caught on the beauty overhead for a few moments. It was one of the best subjects in the world, slightly different every day but always beautiful. “Clouds, birds, airplanes—”
“The sun?” Trixie asked.
I tugged on her braid in fond exasperation. I swear to God, kids could take the safest activity and turn it into a nail-biter. It was like they had a divining rod for danger