led
louder and then snapped at her. She screamed and she said Jimmy you come
in the house this minute and leave that nasty dog outdoors and I said I
won't come, I hate you.

Then mommy said Jimmy! You wicked, ugly little monster, and I said I
don't care, when I get big I'm going to hurt you and throw you in the
wood shed and lock you in until you die and make you eat coconut pudding
and Bobby hates you too. And mommy looked terrible and I could feel how
much she was afraid of me and I said you just wait, I'll hurt you bad
when I get big, and then she turned and ran back to the house. And Bobby
wagged his tail and said don't worry, I won't let her hurt you any more
and I said Bobby you shouldn't have snapped at her because daddy won't
like me when he comes home but Bobby said _I_ like you and I won't let
anything ever hurt you. I'll always take care of you no matter what. And
I said promise? No matter what? And Bobby said I promise. And then we
told Bobby the panda to come out but it wasn't much fun playing any
more.

After a little while mommy called me and said lunch was ready. She was
still white and I said can Bobby come too and she said of course Bobby
can come, Bobby's a nice dog, so we went in to eat lunch. Mommy was
talking real fast about what fun it was to play in the barn and was I
sure I wasn't too cold because it was below zero outside and the radio
said a snowstorm was coming, but she didn't say anything about Bobby and
me being out in the barn. She was talking so fast I couldn't hear what
she was thinking except for little bits while she set my lunch on the
table and then she set a bowl of food on the floor for Bobby even though
it wasn't Bobby's time to eat and said nice Bobby here's your dinner.
Bobby came over and sniffed the bowl and then he looked up at me and
said it smells funny and mommy said nice Bobby, it's good hamburger just
the way you like it--

And then for just a second I saw what she was thinking and it was
terrible because she was thinking that Bobby would soon be dead, and I
remembered daddy saying a long time ago that somebody fed bad things to
the Bennet's dog and the dog died and I said don't eat it, Bobby, and
Bobby snarled at the dish. And then mommy said you tell the dog to eat
it and I said no you're bad and you want to hurt Bobby, and then I
picked up the dish and threw it at mommy. It missed and smashed on the
wall and she screamed and turned and ran out into the other room.