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“It’s an easy one,” Derek replied. “It’ll be fun for Clara and the baby. Hold on, everyone!”
I braced myself, but Derek drove carefully and without the siren blaring. Baby Anthony gazed up at me, as if he could gauge the situation based on my reactions. I smiled back at him and waited to see where we were headed.
The destination was a few blocks away from my family restaurant, in a little corner of a residential neighborhood. We parked in front of a house where four people—two adults and two children—were standing on the lawn, waving at us.
“What is it?” I asked. “I’m not squeamish, but I don’t like seeing people distressed…”
“Trust me: you’re going to be fine.” Jordan was already laughing. “Look at that.”
“Hah!” Taylor suddenly said while climbing out of the cab. “Been a while since we’ve had one of these.”
I frowned at the family standing on the lawn. What did the guys find so funny? But then I looked beyond them at their house. More specifically, at theroofof their house.
A grey husky dog was standing on the roof.
“What the…”
I rolled down the window of the cab so I could hear the conversation.
“Loki got up on the roof again, huh?” Derek asked.
The mother of the family nodded. “Damnedest thing. Must’ve grown wings.”
The dog—Loki—was standing proudly, jaws open while he looked down on the humans. It was a single-story house; there were no upper-floor windows he could have climbed out of.
“Loki?” Jordan called. “You think you’re a good boy, don’t you?”
“Awrr awrr awrrrah!” the husky replied noisily.
“He’s a bad dog!” the mother said, wagging her finger. “Very bad dog, Loki!”
The dog sat on its haunches on the roof and let out a long, argumentative howl.
The sight was so funny that I couldn’t stop myself from giggling. Over in his car seat, Baby Anthony joined me with his own infantile giggling.
Taylor and Jordan brought a ladder down from the fire engine and carried it over to the house. They deployed it while the father of the family warned them not to damage his gutters. All the while, the husky continued to howl at everything and nothing.
“Up you go,” Jordan said.
Taylor did a double-take. “Why me?”
“Because you’re the youngest, and I had to do it last time. Get on up there and wrestle you a husky.”
“Awroooooo!” the dog said.
While the family—and neighbors, by this point—looked on, Taylor climbed the ladder to the roof. Loki the husky backed away as Taylor made it to the top and set foot on the slightly-sloped shingles.
“Come here, buddy.”
Taylor reached for the dog, but Loki wasn’t having any of it. He deftly ran up to the steepled middle of the roof, then walked along the crest to the edge. Taylor grumbled and followed, but right before he reached the dog, Loki turned and trotted to the other side. All the while, the dog howled and talked in that way only huskies can, jaws chomping in the air as he let out a babble of dog-talk.
“Stop playing around and get the dog,” Derek ordered.
Everyone was laughing except Taylor, who was trying to maintain his balance on the roof. Back and forth the two chased each other, like some vintage Tom and Jerry cartoon.
“Come here,” Taylor grumbled.
“Awr awr awr!” Loki argued back at him.
