Now it was thirty-three years since the final Miners attack and twenty-five since the last Allah alert, just before the Surrender of ’73. Still, terror becomes part of a collective DNA and an old man yelling for help set off a mini-panic. A few shopkeepers ran out brandishing bottles, while a shoe repair person sprayed water resistant repellant on anyone nearby and a grocery store owner roamed up and down with an armful of apples. He threw some at the bus, breaking a window. Not to forget a couple of men fainting, a little girl running her bicycle into a light pole and yes, the police he’d narrowly avoided this morning did finally arrive.
And Pablo wondered why they missed their 10 AM appointment.
Pablo let Puppy back into the examining room and touched his right ear with a raised index finger.
“Mick, can you wait outside?” Puppy asked.
Mantle happily slid out of the chair and pocketed a few lollies. “I ain’t letting him drill.”
“No need, sir. Your teeth are great.” Pablo smiled and closed the door. He frowned that familiar somber look and busied himself cleaning the double end probe. Puppy spun around in the bicuspid examining chair, making little whoopy noises.
“Are you going to do that for long?”
“Until you stop me.”
Pablo stilled the chair, leaning forward to pick at Puppy’s teeth. Puppy pushed him away. “You’re overdue for a cleaning. You have food stuck.”
Puppy rubbed his finger over his teeth, horrifying Pablo. “There. Clean bill of health. About Mickey.”
“His teeth are pretty good for someone who hasn’t been living well. There should be more decay. All the teeth are solid. No gum disease.”
“Maybe he just has naturally pretty teeth.”
“Maybe.” Pablo had obviously considered and rejected this line of thinking. “He has all amalgam fillings.”
“So?”
“Mercury fillings were banned in 2024. Too dangerous.”
“He’s old.”
Pablo sighed and consulted his notes. “Not that old. He says he’s 64. Let’s assume he’s lying and he’s 70. That still means if he had his teeth filled when he was born, the amalgam would’ve been illegal by four years.”
“What if he lived somewhere that disobeyed the law?”
“Renegade dentists using hazardous waste fillings?” Pablo sighed pityingly. “There’s something else. He has unusual scar tissue on his gums. At first I thought it might’ve been self-inflicted from how you’ve described him. Or from some altercation. But it’s a surgical procedure. Pre-laser.”
“I guess those same renegade dentists theory is out.”
“Yes, Puppy,” he said wearily. “His gums were cut, twice actually.”
“When did that process stop?”
Pablo exhaled slowly. “Easily seventy years ago.”
Puppy cupped his hand under the faucet in the small rinse-and-spit sink.
“Use a cup,” Pablo said angrily.
“More fun this way.” Puppy licked a green lolly. “He needs a Lifecard.”
“Can’t they print out his records?”
“He’s not in the system.”
Pablo shrugged. “Not surprised. He’s lived deep in the DV. I saw a lot of this when I worked at the clinic on East 161st. They change names. Forget their names. You know how it is from your Dad.” Pablo tenderly clasped his shoulder. “Bring him back to The Facility, Pup.”
“I can’t. I’m already in pretty deep. Banned from Monroe’s and the M43 bus route.” Puppy tossed the lolly stick and missed the garbage. “Can you give him a temp medical ID?”
The dentist shook his head adamantly. “I’m not comfortable with that.”
“C’mon.” Puppy pulled the Lost Lifecard brochure out of his back pocket, unfolding Grandma’s chiding expression on the cover. “It says if a doctor examines the applicant and gives him a clean bill of health, he can get a temporary Lifecard.”
Pablo hesitated long enough for a deep frown. “I shouldn’t, Puppy.”
“Is it illegal?”
“It’s a question of judgment. To issue a med temp when you have doubt isn’t something a wise person does.”
“That’s why I’m asking you.”
Pablo didn’t smile. “I’m not in a position to take chances.”
“I don’t understand…”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Are you in trouble?”
“No.”
“Then why…”
Pablo hesitated with that closed-eye, anguished internal debate expression which he used for everything from bending the law to ordering dessert. He would’ve made a good martyr. “Because I’ve been told that I might be asked to be a Cousin.”
“Shit. Really? That’s wonderful.”
“Yes,” Pablo said, agitated. “You’re not supposed to know this.”
“Sure, sure, sure. Amazing news, Pab. Your dream coming true…”
“If it happens. They probably ask a number of siblings, though no one knows how many since you’re not supposed to tell.” He gave Puppy a warning look. “Now you understand why I can’t do anything to jeopardize this. If it happens.”
“I think this would only augment your candidacy.”
“How?” Pablo’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re demonstrating compassion and empathy. You’re putting the needs of some crazy old guy ahead of your own. Isn’t that what being a Cousin is all about?”
Pablo thought on this. “You’re playing me, aren’t you?”
Puppy spread his thumb and forefinger apart an inch, grinning.
Pablo grunted unhappily. “He has to take the smile-o-meter test first.”
“I’m sure he’d love to.”
It took two Bobby’s Burgers to wash away the supposed agony coursing through Mick’s face “like a whore tap dancing on your balls,” he’d growled while insisting the meat was human. A slice of Der Vunder German chocolate cake was required when Puppy insisted they return to The Foyer and get the temporary Lifecard validated before Pablo changed his mind.
Mickey wasn’t happy about waiting on line again. Two wonderful hours of complaining punctured Puppy’s tolerance. Living alone all these years, he’d only had to deal with his problems. He was always there for Zelda and Pablo, but they weren’t in his bed or bathroom. Just him with his own guidelines of what was acceptable whining, easily adjusted. Or ignored. Loneliness had its benefits. You alone were the master of your misery.
“Can we take a damn taxi?” Mickey grumbled outside, his shiny new temporary Lifecard safely in Puppy’s wallet.
“Monsters also drive taxis.” He’d barely talked himself out of a ‘bot discrimination ticket for Mick’s behavior this morning. Robots were especially sensitive. Perhaps he’d be, too, if there
