The Animal Hour Read Online Free

wall rang again just as she reached it. She snatched it up. Held it to her ear.
    There was nothing. Then a dial tone. The caller had finally hung up.
    â€œOh shit!”
    She slammed the phone down. The Shithead flung himself against the door so hard, so loudly, that she spun to face it. He did it again. The door seemed to bulge inward. She backed against the wall and stared at it. Where the fuck was Dustin Hoffman now?
    â€œYou hear me, Avis?”
    The baby was starting to whimper, afraid.
    â€œSsh,” Avis said. She stroked him. She bit her lip as the tears streamed down her cheeks.
    Randall slammed into the door. She gasped. She thought she heard the wood cracking.
    â€œAvis, goddamn it!”
    â€œAll right!” she shouted. And now the baby started crying. She stroked him, jogged him up and down. “All right, that’s it!” she screamed.
    The Shithead pounded wildly. The door cracked and jumped in its frame.
    â€œAvis!”
    â€œThat’s it!” she screamed. “Stop it right now, I swear to God, or that’s it, that’s it! I’m calling Perkins.”
    On the instant, the pounding stopped. The screaming stopped. The room went silent except for the baby’s tentative cries. Avis held the boy against her shoulder, bounced him up and down. “Ssh,” she whispered. “It’s all right now. Ssh.” She sniffled. She took a quick swipe at her nose with her knuckles. More loudly, she said, “Do you hear me, Randall?”
    The silence went on for another second. Then: “Damn it, Avis,” he said. But he did not shout now. He said it quietly. “Damn it.”
    â€œI’m serious,” Avis said, jogging her baby. “I mean it. I’m going to call him. I’m going to call him right now.”
    â€œGoddamn it,” came the voice—the suddenly little voice—from behind the door. “Look …” And then: “Goddamn it … Goddamn it, Avis, what do you have to pull shit like that for?”
    â€œI mean it,” Avis called back. “I’m picking up the phone. Just go away, Randall. I’m picking up the phone right this minute.”
    â€œA-vis,” the Shithead whined. “Come on. Come on, I mean it. Don’t do stuff like this. I mean it.”
    â€œI’m dialing him. I’m dialing Perkins right now.”
    The baby had lifted his head from her shoulder. He was looking around with wide-eyed interest. “Pah?” he wondered softly. The baby liked Perkins.
    â€œListen, Avis, could we just talk?” said Randall through the door.
    She gritted her teeth. She hated this, the way he sounded now, the humiliation in his voice. She wanted it to stop. She wanted to leave him some pride. Maybe she could let him in, she thought. Even if he was a Shithead. Maybe they could just talk, just through the chain maybe. Just for a minute. She closed her eyes, took a breath. She forced herself to go through with it. “The phone is ringing, Randall,” she called.
    â€œShit,” he said softly through the door. But he tried one more time. “You know, I’m going to call my lawyer, Avis. I am. I’m gonna call my lawyer on this right now, today, as soon as I get home.”
    She pressed her lips together, almost overwhelmed with pity. She knew Randall didn’t have any lawyer. She knew it was just something he said whenever he felt helpless and weak. The tears that had pooled in her glasses spilled out now in little streams. And still, she made herself go on. “It’s ringing, Randall. It’s ringing right … Hello! Perkins? Hi, it’s me, Avis.”
    â€œAll right, all right,” Randall said quickly. She could hear him moving away from the door now. She could hear his voice growing fainter. “All right, but I’m serious, Avis. You’re gonna hear from my lawyer on this. You can’t just do this. I got rights. I got rights, you