The boy doesn’t like girls,
but then he’s only eleven.
He’s very punctual about school attendance,
always leaving by twenty after,
never a minute later.
That’s far more than he needs to get to school on time.
I guess he gets in a basketball game before class
(you know, boys).
Sometimes he forgets his homework or
his house key, but
he’s always gone by twenty after.

This morning I took the dog out for a walk
just past twenty after.
We snuck up on the boy—
just for kicks,
and the dog caught him with his snack bag open
(the dog likes jerky too), and I noticed
across the street, down on the corner
a girl was standing—just standing, waiting for someone?
After I finally pulled the dog off the scent,
The girl yelled to the boy, “Is that your dog?”
And that’s when it finally hit me.
Sneaky devil.

© 2013 Kaweah