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The Dog on Taylor Road
 
a short story by Kody Boye
Originally published in the Writers
’
Stories Webzine, January 2009
There's a long trucking road down in West Virginia where some boys go to become men.Likewise, some men go there to turn back into boys.Taylor Road, set alongside rolling hills, reaches all the way to Kentucky.On a crisp May day, a family of three
—
single father and two teenage boys
—
drove downTaylor Road, heading to an uncle's house in Kentucky.
“Dad,” the youngest, Kyle, says. “Can we stop?”
 Richard, the father, has been so caught up in the scenery that he ha
sn’t realized his sonhas spoke. Dandelions, a green hill’s diamonds, poke out from the luscious forests of groundbound green. Rolling hills spread out far into the distance, so far that Richard doesn’t dare tryto look for the furthest ones. It’s like a painting done by a greatest masterpiece, where they’re
driving.
“Why?” the father asks, returning his attention to his boy.
 
“I have to use the bathroom.”
 
Richard sighs, but nods. He isn’t going to make his thirteen
-year-old suffer for who-knewhow many miles. He
isn’t 
 
one to torture his boys. Some parents usually say, ‘Can you wait untilwe stop?’
 
“We’ll stop here soon, son.”
 From the rearview mirror, he catches his youngest son's nod. Dominique, his oldest,
continues to read. It seems like he’s on h
is second or third book; he hasn't said a word in hours.
“Dominique, you ok?”
 
“Yeah, Dad.” Dominique looks up, revealing a long
face, free o
f blemishes. “I’m ok.”
 
“All right. I was just checking.”
 
“There’s a rest stop in a mile,” Dominique says.
 Richard turns his attention back to the road. The green sign is right; there
is
a stop amile away.
“See that, Kyle? We’re going to stop here soon.”
 
“Ok.”
 For the next few minutes, Richard continues to drive, struggling with the station wagon.
The ’64 Buick
LaSebre, while a nice machine, is getting old. It has a tendency to move too fast or
too slow if Richard isn’t paying attention.
 
It’s a good thing I’m such a careful driver,
he thinks,
otherwise I might’ve been pulled 
over by now.
 
“Dad, can you turn the radio on?” Kyle asks.
 
Richard nods. He’s tempted to offer the front seat to one of his boys, but doesn’t. An
argument would only stress him out.
He doesn’t need this, not on such a long trip.
 After adjusting the channel until Kyle agreed with what was playing, Richard sets hishand back on the wheel.
“You already know the radio is shit,” Dominique mutters.
 
“Dominique,” Richard scolds.
 
“Sorry, Dad. It’s the truth.”
 
“Is not!” Kyle cries.
 
“Please don’t fight,” Richard begs.
 
“Sorry,” the boys mumble.
 
 
The Dog on Taylor Road
–
Page #2
 © Kody Boye 2007-2009
 
The kids have been good for the first little while. Having been going for almost two days,
Richard’s surprised they haven’t broken out in fights over something as little as who ate the last
ninety-nine-cent bag of cheese puffs.
 Ah well 
—
gotta admire the kids for wanting to brave the long trip to see their uncleMark.
 Being an only parent was tough, especially when you had to manage two teenage boys.The turn-off that leads to the rest stop comes into view. Richard checks his mirrorsbefore he signals, merging into the lane beside him. He slows down as he ascends the hill,pulling into a parking space.
“Ok,” he says,
disengaging the car,
looking over his shoulder at Kyle. “Be careful. Don’tlet anyone try to talk you into anything.”
 
“I won’t.”
 
“If someone tries to do anything to you, scream, especially if you’re alone.”
 
“I know. You don’t need to tell me.”
 
“Do you want me to come in with…”
 
“No, it’s ok.” Kyle smiles. His son isn’t rude or condescending
, but understanding.Considering h
e’s a thirteen
-year-
old boy who’s been going through puberty for the past year,it’s surprising that his personality hadn’t shifted into the more obnoxious of teenage stages.
 Kyle jumps out of the car and makes his way across the parking lot. Only when hedisappears into the bathroom can Richard
somewhat relax. Kyle wouldn’t be in there for too
long.
“You don’t have to baby him,” Dominique says, unbuckling his seatbelt.
 
“Don’t…”
 
“He’s old enough to know not to listen to anybody he doesn’t know. He’s not a littlekid.”
 
“All right.” Richard sighs, closing his eyes. He swipes a hand over his forehead a
ndcomes back with sweat.
“I’m not trying to be rude.”
 
“I know.” Richard opens the door. “Come on
. L
et’s get out of the car for a few minutes.”
 Richard stretches his back as soon as his feet hit the ground. Dominique walks aroundthe car to stand beside him.
“Do you have to go to the bathroom?” Richard asks.
 
“I don’t. Do you?”
 
“No. You
do
 
know that we won‘t be stopping again for a little while, right?”
 
“Yeah, I know.”
 With that little issue out of the way, Richard looks up just in time to see Kyle runningtoward them.
“Sorry,” the boy says.
 
“It’s ok, Kyle.”Richard smiles, despite the smoldering heat and the blinding light that’s bouncing off 
the blacktop and into his eyes. He looks around, taking deep breaths of hot but otherwise freshair.
 
The Dog on Taylor Road
–
Page #3
 © Kody Boye 2007-2009
 
It’s ok,
he thinks, running a hand over his beard stubble.
You’ll be at your brother’s placein a few days. Keep your cool. You don’t want to ruin the trip by getting mad at yo
ur kids for noreason.
 
He’s been doing
well so far
—
at least, in his opinion.
“Dad?” Dominique asks.
 
“Yeah?”
 
“You ok?”
 
“I’m ok, son. Just taking advantage of being out of the car.”
 A few more minutes of surveying the area and Richard is ready to get back in. That is,before a dog saunters over to where they are standing. The short-haired, blonde-and-whitecollie stares at the men and two boys. Always, Richard knows, there are strangers in this placeof lonely desolation. This dog is the property of so
me man’s foolishness, a stray to the modern
world.The dog sits at their feet, panting, long tongue hanging out the side of its mouth.
“Hey, boy,” Dominique smiles, lowering
himself 
to the animal‘s height..
 
“Dominique, don’t you touch that dog. It might bite you.”
 Regardless of what he has
 just said, Dominique touches the dog’s head. He’s about tosay something, but Richard gives up before he can even begin. It wasn’t as though he was going
to get Dominique away from an obviously-friendly animal. The kid interns at the local zooduring the summers part time, filling up the other half of his working career. It was only naturalthat he would want to pet the animal.
“Good boy,” Dominique says, stroking the familiar’s neck.
 
“Cool,” Kyle says. He too bends
 
down and runs a hand over the dog’s back.
 
“Come on, guys.” Richard sighs, not
wanting to believe they were being postponed by a
dog. “We gotta get going.”
 
“Uncle Mark isn’t going to care if we’re a few minutes late.”
 
The boys chuckle at Dominique’s rem
ark. Frustrated, Richard slides his thumbs into his
pants pockets, chewing on his over lip. He chants, ‘Don’t get mad, don’t get angry’ in his head
over and over.
“Ok. You can pet him for a few more minutes, then let’s get going.”
 Richard leans back against the station wagon, watching his kids. He feels bad for notletting them have a dog. B
eing a single father and working two jobs, he can’t afford anymore
than he already had. If he could
, he would’ve got a family pet a long time ago.
 
“Come on,” Richard says, speaking up before things get out of hand. “Let’s go.”
 
“Can we…”
 
“No,” Richard says, cutting Kyle off in mid
-
sentence. “You know I make enough to barelyafford us.”
 
Dominique frowns, while Kyle‘s face scrunches up in hurt. The boys give the dog a
fewmore pats before climbing up into the car.
“I’m sorry. You
know 
 
I’d let you keep that dog if I could afford it.”
 
“We know,” Dominique says. “Don’t worry about it.”
 Richard takes one last look at the dog before he pulls out of the rest stop.#
“Kyle, are you sick?”
 
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