Dog

20 the minnesota review Mike Swope Dog Jill looks up from her plate to look at him. The small curtains of the window next to the stove slightly billow in the cool breeze. "I talked to Lorna today. She mentioned she was looking for an apartment." She makes uneven spirals in her macaroni and cheese with the points of her fork. "She wants to move in with me." Nathan scoops up a forkful of his macaroni and cheese. "You ought to throw me out, then," he says to the deep blue plate beneath his chin just before he accepts the food into his mouth. She stops making the spirals. "Some people think I might be better off," she says across the table. She, too, eats from a blue plate. "Who says that?" he asks, looking up. As she answers, he answers with her: "It doesn't matter." She stares into his eyes. "I'd be a fool not to give it some thought," she says as she rests her hand on the table next to her plate. "Wouldn't you do it if it'd save you a little money?" The hand in her lap grasps a paper napkin. He looks down at his plate, but says nothing as he takes another bite. "There's nothing to worry about," she says in the silence, "because I know it'll never happen.' He slowly shakes his head. Swope 21 "Who wanted to move out?" she asks. "You'd have ended up paying for half the rent and half the groceries if you went to live with Tim, and you say you can't afford to pay half the rent here." Again there is silence as he surveys his plate and takes another bite. Beneath its smooth surface he imagines sunfish and perch swim. "Why did you want to move in with him?" she finally asks as he watches the fish fan their tails smoothly back and forth. "Because I knew it wouldn't happen," he answers without lifting his eyes from his plate. He takes another bite, spearing a sunfish with the points of his fork. It almost slips free, wriggling and shaking, as he slowly maneuvers it to his lips. As she watches, he wipes his chin with his napkin and looks into her eyes. "I love you," he says. In the ensuing silence, the distant bark of a dog drifts through the open window beside the stove and comes to rest between them in the center of the table. ...