001Dog Town, Chapter 41. Out of Charge. The next time Quinn came, he ran to the book basket, got green eggs and ham, and headed down to the basement. He was faster than me. Well, everybody is faster than me. They were already halfway through the book when I arrived. That was okay. I knew the story. I just like to watch Quinn enjoy himself. Over and over, Metalhead repeated the words, and over and over, Quinn turned the pages. After the seventh time through, Metal had began slowing down. Management had forgotten to charge him. He was saying the words slower and slower and slower. I am Sam. Quinn didn't like this. He had to wait too long to turn the page. I couldn't plug in Metalhead myself, and with so many people around, it would have been dangerous
002to ask Mouse. Then something else weird happened. Quinn took his finger and tracked each word as Metalhead said it. And when Metalhead did run out of charge, Quinn kept going. It wasn't reading exactly. Quinn had the words memorized. But it was a start. You could almost see Quinn's mind putting the sounds together with the letters. In the next few weeks, we saw Quinn mouth the words as Metalhead said them. And then one day, Mr. Molinari put all the words in a list. And Quinn read each and every one. Quinn wasn't a bubbly, smiley kind of kid. Most of the time, his expression was as serious as cement. But when he read those words, a light went on inside of him that had not been there before. Chapter 42. I didn't see it coming. Not everybody
003was happy about what was happening between Metalhead and Quinn. The animosity between real dogs and metal dogs ran deep. Almost every real dog in Dogtown had been passed over in favor of a metal dog. And though there were other metal dogs who wore Reading Buddy sweaters, none got the attention of Metalhead. I have to admit, I was partly to blame. I'd seen Quinn struggle for such a long time that I was thrilled when he finally found a buddy. Of course, I would have liked his buddy to have been a real dog, but I wasn't a sore loser. Just seeing Quinn doing well made me happy, but not all the dogs felt this way. My excitement only made matters worse. If only I'd seen it coming. Chapter 43. Bad Liars. I was surprised his management about
004what happened on the next reading buddy day. Quinn came roaring up to the book basket to get green eggs and ham like he always did, but it wasn't there. He ran for the next basket. Not there, and the next, and the next. Not here, not there, not anywhere. Green eggs and ham was gone. Books disappeared now and then. Management borrowed a book. The library swapped out a title. A kid took one home. So I asked the dogs on reading Buddy Row. Do you guys know what happened to Green Eggs and Ham, but every dog shook his head? No. Dogs are bad liars. Have I mentioned this before? If a dog grabs your butter dish, you hear the crash. You see the entire stick of butter in his mouth. But when you ask him, "Did you
005steal this butter?" He says, "No." Then sulks away tail between his legs. So yeah, I knew the dogs were lying and Geraldine to did too. Chance, baby, go easy on him, dog. He meant well, she said. I didn't need to see the tattered pieces of the cover in Bustard's cage to know which dog meant well. Chapter 44. A happy accident. Quinn was beside himself. Mr. Molinari did his best to talk him down. It's a happy accident, he said. Nothing against Mr. Molinari or anything, but if your bone falls down a storm drain, that's an accident, but it's certainly not happy. Quinn didn't buy it any more than I did. So, management stepped in. She got all up in Quinn's face, suggesting title after title. Quinn turned red. Then, he began shrieking and spinning around. He
006was starting to understand the world around him in a way he hadn't before. And the book that had made the difference was gone. Still, it wasn't okay to behave that way. So Quinn was suspended from reading buddies, which made Mouse and me very sad. Chapter 45. Buster. I was boiling mad at Buster, and I hopped down to the basement to tell him. So u want to play ball chance? Buster asked when he saw me. No. Buster wagged his tail. Please, please, please. Why did you chew Quinn's book? I barked. Buster's tail stopped wagging. His black nose quivered. Metalhead took Geraldine spot spot in first cage. That was Metalhead's book. First off, that was weeks ago, I said. Buster's tail slinkedked down between his legs. Geraldine needs needs help. What you did didn't help Geraldine. It
007hurt Quinn. Oh. Buster nodded his paws. So now we've got a big mess. Uhoh. Uhoh. Buster nod faster. Uh oh is right, I said. Wait, wait. I know how to fix it. Buster jumped up, burped loudly, and wretched until he produced a little white puddle with tiny flexcks of orange. That's not going to work, Buster. The books ruined. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Won't do it again. Never, ever, never, Buster said, licking up his tiny pool of puke. Never ever. How many times had I heard that before? But Geraldine's right about Buster. He wasn't mean or malicious. He was misguided was all. I sighed. All right, Buster, but please don't chew any more books. Never, ever, never, ever, he muttered, chasing the ball around his pen. Lucky for Buster, he was adopted that day. Buster was pretty much
008the only dog that ever got adopted from the basement. But it happened to him regularly. Someone would ask if there were any goldens in Dog Town, and management would bring Buster up to the front. Then Buster would do his adopt me routine. He'd dance on his hind legs, push an imaginary doorbell with his paw, and balance a stack of milk bones on his nose. His finale was two paws on either side of a bent head. He was praying the family wouldn't take him would take him home. It worked every time. Even though I was still mad at him for chewing up green eggs in him, he was a good friend, and I'd hoped he found his forever home. But Buster being Buster, who knew?