Ryan’s Focus hatchback pulled up to the curb in front of a modest frame house on a quiet street on the old west side of town. It was early afternoon. Ryan had been told by the ex-Mrs. Thompson that André had purchased the house as a fixer-upper before the divorce. He had had it completely remodeled and furnished. It had been on the market as a rental for university students when the marriage broke up. André and the dogs had taken up residency instead.
“Yes, yes, here, here, Ry,” André sang out as the car came to a stop. Ryan opened the door of the driver’s side and went around to help André. He could hear the dogs barking excitedly. The barks were not of an aggressive, warning nature, but were rather joyous. Recognition that their master had come home. Ryan was concerned that André might
