Chapter 2

Max grinned as Grape kissed him on the cheek as they left the movies. “Thanks for the night.” She whispered through a giggle. Max beamed with pride. “No problem, G.” He said. “I’ll always be glad to take you wherever you want.” Grape laughed and kissed him again, before shoving him into some nearby bushes.

It was evening as Grape and Max approached Peanut’s house, which to Grape’s surprise had a police car in the parking lot. Grape twitched an ear in confusion as she examined the scene. “I wondered what happened…” She said quietly. Max grinned. “Maybe Peanut got his head stuck in a drain pipe.” He laughed at his own joke, but stopped instantly when Grape shot a annoyed look a him. “Sorry.” The couple noticed Fido leave the house. He sighed and shook his head, before noticing Grape and Max. A pang of worry hit his stomach.

He approached Grape, who in an instant realized something was wrong. “Fido?” She whispered. Fido rubbed the back of his head and sighed, trying his best to avoid eye contact.. “It’s Peanut, something’s happened to him…” Grape’s ears flattened. “What? Did he get hit by a car.” Fido shook his head. “Um… Not really.” He took a look from Grape to Max, to Grape again. “I-I think you should come inside, this is a bit personal...” Grape’s eyes narrowed. “Why? Surely you can talk to me about this in front of my boyfriend.” Fido turned his back towards the two cats.

“No, I can’t…”

Grape’s eyes widened and she gasped in surprise of the seriousness in Fido’s voice. She said goodbye to Max and followed Fido back to the house.

Inside the house, Mr. Sandwich was busy talking with a police officer. He turned his head the moment he saw Grape and sighed in relief. He approached the purple cat and hugged her. “D-Dad?” Grape whispered in worry. ”Is Peanut okay?” Mr. Sandwich let go of Grape and put his hands on her shoulders, his eyes glistening. “No, he not.” He said.

Meanwhile upstairs, Mrs. Sandwich was in the bathroom with Peanut. She just gave him a bath and was now drying him off with a towel. Ever since she found him lying on the street, Peanut was crying nonstop. “Shhhh.” Mrs. Sandwich whispered in a soothing tone. Peanut buried his face in her shirt and continued to sob. “You’re alright. Mom’s here. You’re alright.”

Grape sat on the couch with Fido, watching the police officer finish asking Mr. Sandwich a set of questions.

“And what was the time you found the victim?”

“Um… About 12:40, 12:45 PM.”

“Uh-huh. Did the victim say anything about the criminal? Like a description?”

“No, he hasn’t said anything since we found him?”

“I see. Has there been any report of suspicious activity before?”

“No, not that I know of…”

“Any missing possessions?”

“Y-Yes, the tag of his collar is missing?”

“Collar?”

“Yes, the one the criminal used to…to…”

“I understand. Okay, if you manage to get any more information about what happened, please contact the investigation department at this number.” The police officer handed Mr. Sandwich a card. “Alright, see you later then.” He looked at Fido. “Come on Fido.” Fido patted Grape on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, everything’ll work out, you’ll see.” He gave Grape a warm, tired smile before getting off the couch and leaving with the police officer.

Grape and Mr. Sandwich stood in the living for what seemed like an eternity before Mr. Sandwich spoke. “Alright Grape, time to get to bed.” He kissed her on the fore head as she left for her bedroom.

As she lied in her bed, she couldn’t help but hear Mr. Sandwich talk with his wife.

“Did you put him to bed?”

“Yes, he asleep now.”

“Poor guy, going through all that…” He sighed

“Earl, what are we supposed to do?”

Mr. Sandwich paused for a moment. “Well, we could always move…”

“EARL!”

“I know, I know. It’s not like we could move anyways, with the economy all…”

“What if he comes back?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think he’ll come back here now that the police are snooping around.”

There was a moment of silence between the two.

“Earl, who would honestly do that to a dog. I mean, I’ve heard storied about that happening to kids, but not…” Her voice trailed off.

“I know, the sick bastard.”

“…”

“…”

“I wonder how Grape feels.”

“She probably feels worried about Peanut.”

True, Grape sat up and hugged her knees. Just the thought of Peanut getting violated got her sick. A tear fell down her cheek.

“In honesty, I’m more worried about how Peanut’s gonna act…”

“Yeah. I could see how people could get over it. But a dog.”

“The poor guy’s probably messed up in the head.”

Grape heard a sniffle come from Mrs. Sandwich.

“Oh Earl, what are we going to do?!”

“Hey, don’t worry. We’ll get through this. It’ll all work out. You’ll see.”

Grape remembered Fido saying the same thing and lied down again.

“It’ll all work out, eh? I hope so…”