{"id":2151,"date":"2012-07-09T11:57:00","date_gmt":"2012-07-09T19:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/onelife\/?p=2005"},"modified":"2012-07-09T11:57:00","modified_gmt":"2012-07-09T19:57:00","slug":"weiner-dogs-geldings-the-town-sluts-daughter-novel-excerpt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/?p=2151","title":{"rendered":"WEINER DOGS & GELDINGS-“The Town Slut’s Daughter” novel excerpt"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nNo matter how many times they moved, Bill and Jeanette managed to find another shack, the latest a long, low rancher in Langley. Jeanette was homesick, longing to return to Quebec, despite how wretched life there had been. Would she ever be free of the past, the fear that Sister AnnMarie might come along and yank her pigtails or rap her on the knuckles with a wooden ruler?<\/p>\n

Fiona didn\u2019t find too many empties but worried her mother might hurt herself again, relieved she\u2019d had taken up crochet, though all the crappy old furniture was covered in ugly, acrylic afghans. Why can\u2019t she use real wool? Bill had gotten her a pet, a little wiener dog she dubbed Schultz, after the character in Hogan\u2019s Heroes.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy couldn\u2019t you get a real dog?\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a Daschund. He\u2019s a tough little bugger! Full of piss and vinegar. Just watch him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The little bugger dragged in a giant field rat. Jeanette cheerfully tossed the carcass into the garbage, explaining the godamned things liked to chew through her telephone cables. She mopped up the blood as Fiona watched Schultz chase down more vermin, sturdy little body parting a sea of tall grass.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were bred to go down badger holes.\u201d Jeanette deftly shuffled cards, machine-rolled cigarette dangling from her lips. \u201cYou know how mean a badger is?\u201d She dealt out a hand of Solitaire, Fiona relieved she wasn\u2019t badgering her into Gin Rummy. \u201cShultz doesn\u2019t know how little he is.\u201d Jeanette gloated. \u201cHe takes on any dog that crosses his path. He wriggles under, goes right for the jugular.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, they say pets resemble their owners. Or is it the owners that resemble their pets?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeanette laughed. \u201cYeah, we\u2019re tough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fiona once watched her mother evict a drunk twice her size and half her age by the seat of his pants. She was currently earning a reduction in rent for lifting bales of hay, feeding and watering the landlord\u2019s horses.<\/p>\n

Jeanette admired the animals through the slats of a wooden fence as Fiona perched on the top rail. She could feel the thoroughbreds\u2019 hot breath on her collarbone as they snuffled, nudging her arm for carrots. Funny, I\u2019m not scared when I know what they want. Jeanette pointed at the pinto.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndian Joe. They just gelded him.\u201d<\/p>\n

What was left trotted round the periphery, stallions shadowing him, nipping his neck and flanks. He snorted and kicked wildly but the stallions were ruthless, tormenting until he ran under a hemlock to cower. Fiona quickly clambered down, Jeanette grabbing her by the arm.<\/p>\n

\u201cFiona. No! What do you think you\u2019re doing?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe needs help! Why don\u2019t they leave him alone?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re too young to understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll right.\u201d Jeanette ground her cigarette butt into the fence post. \u201cDo you understand he\u2019s a freak? Spooking the studs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fiona stared at the pinto stranded in his altered state. Jeanette sighed. They headed back to the house, Fiona informing Jeanette she was moving to LA.<\/p>\n

\u201cAw, no!\u201d gasped Jeanette. \u201cDon\u2019t tell me that!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry. I have to go. We wanna get signed. All the major labels are down there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, I\u2019ll miss you!\u201d Looking to the ground, Jeanette began to cry. Go for the jugular Ma.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can come visit,\u201d said Fiona, both knowing it was a fiction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy won\u2019t you let me be your mother? You\u2019re just a baby! My baby.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fiona shook her head No vehemently, Jeanette wincing. Fiona watched Schultz, the wonder wiener, yipping and dogging horses, inches from hooves the size of his head. Pointing, she nudged her mother. Jeanette\u2019s eyes rounded at the mutt\u2019s antics.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo badgers, but he\u2019s happy as a pig in shit, isn\u2019t he?\u201d<\/p>\n

Laughing, she whacked Fiona across the shoulder blades, nearly knocking her into the knee-high muck. Two days later, the Virgin Marries moved to Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

1<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No matter how many times they moved, Bill and Jeanette managed to find another shack, the latest a long, low rancher in Langley. Jeanette was homesick, longing to return to Quebec, despite how wretched life there had been. Would she ever be free of the past, the fear that Sister AnnMarie might come along and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2151"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2151\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}