{"sf1_id":834139,"sf2_id":null,"title":"The Adventures of Peter Gray chapter 9: Joseph's News","author":"Domus Vocis","words":2363,"posted_at":"2015-03-20T21:46:00.000Z","tags":["Adolescent","Adventure","Anatomically Correct","Anthro","Anthropomorphic","Canine","Character Development","City","Clean","Cub (clean)","Emotion","First Person","Friendship","Human","Humor","Mammal","Multiple Species","New York","New York City","No-Yiff","Non-anthro","Pregnant","Raccoon","Science Fiction","Series","Short Story","SoFurry","Speciesism","Story Progression","Story Series","Various Species","Wolf","alternate reality","boy","innocence","teen","urchin"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/834139-the-adventures-of-peter-gray-chapter-9-joseph-s-news","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/834139","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=834139\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Chapter\n9\nJoseph's\nNews\nI could remember the first day I met Joseph\nKinnick like it were me first memory. Back then, me arms and legs were brittle\nas bone, and fur more matted and patched than an old rug. It had only been only\na few months since the Incident, a few months since the orphanage, and me days\nwere spent wandering New York all alone.\nI knew Edward and Hansel had to be somewhere\nby then, seeing how they just got off the ferry to start a new life in the\ncity, but after the Incident, I didn't wanna get them hurt.  I couldn't be greedy of their kindness when\nthey had to look out for themselves and each other like brothers.\nI walked along Henry Street with nothing but\nme papa's pocket watch, an old newsie's cap I found in the trash a week prior,\nand torn clothes even a burlesque dancer wouldn't wear. I didn't know what the\npretty vixens did, but I saw plenty of 'em in alleys to guess at age eight. The\nsmell of the city already ingrained itself in me by then, and me nose was\nawestruck by the smell of fresh bread. And what smelled like the same cookies\n'good cubs' earned at the orphanage. \nI remember turning around a corner and seeing\na two-story building with words me eight year-old mind saw read 'Bakery', and\nthe amazing smells me mind couldn't process took over. I ran over to the glass\nand stared inside at the marvelous foods,, my tail wagging as I went inside\nfrom the rain. It was so warm.\nBehind the counter was an older wolf wearing\nan apron, he had very gray fur and was reading a newspaper about something\ncalled the 'Homestead Strike' and it 'escalating further with workers'. I could\nnot recall much, other than the look in the wolf's eyes as I tried to grab a\nbagel.\n\"It costs two cents,\" he spoke in a low\nrumble. \"Ya got anything?\" Speechless, I shook me muzzle, and I felt my paws\ntremble at how much I was starving. As I turned, me right eye caught the wolf's\nears perking and me ears heard a low sigh. \"Hey, you look awful, kid. How about\nI start a small tab, and ya can pay fer it over time?\" \nWith nothing but the pitter patter of the\nrain outside, I slowly turned to the guy behind the counter and saw a hint of\nconcern in his eyes, and I nodded before he tossed me a fresh muffin. And when\nthe food slid down me throat, I attempted to purr in delight like those cats\ndid. Instead, I got meself a low burp, that made him chuckle. \n\"I'll take that as a 'thank you' then,\" He\nplaced the newspaper down and looked to me curiously. \"Ya got a name, boy?\nMine's Joseph. Joseph Kinnick.\" A smile formed over his muzzle, and I saw his\ntail wagging behind the counter.\nI looked, and simply said, \"Peter, sir. Peter\nGray.\"\nNow, instead of the kind gentlewolf, I was\nfacing the annoyed gentlewolf.\nNow, me and Joseph were facing each other in\na table in the Bakery. Lance was sitting with James nearby eating some\ncomplementary bagels while Joseph towered over me as in sat in the most creaky\nand wooden chair of the bunch. Fursons and gentlewolfs walked by the place\nuninterested, the smell of freshly baked bagels and bread overwhelming the\ndining room like a whiff of perfume.\nAs Joseph looked down at me, me muzzle went\nfrom side to side, and I saw the window of the bakery. Why hasn't Joseph turned the 'closed' sign to 'open' yet? I\nwondered. \n\"How many times have I told you not to get\ninto fights, Peter?\" Joseph spoke to me in a rough whisper. From how his wife\nRose scurried up and down the stairs, I guessed little Johnny was sleeping or\nsomething. The thought of him sleeping and cuddling in his cradle formed a\nsmall smile on me muzzle, but it was short-lived when Joseph asked me again,\n\"Are you listening, boy?\"\nI jumped. \"Too many times if ya asked me,\" I\nsighed with crossed arms and a curled tail. Me gray fur bristled when Joseph\ngroaned. \"And besides, why should ya care if I get into fights anyway?\"\nThe old wolf looked to me blankly. \"Ya knew\nif you and yer friends came over here, I'd be your Lincoln against the\nConfederacy with that coyote, didn't ya?\" he asked loudly. I heard footsteps\nabove me ears and a crying noise, which caused a frown to appear under his\ncrossed eyes. \nRose hurried down with little Johnny in her\ncradling arms and scowled at me and Joseph like we stole Governor Roosevelt's own\nglasses. \"Honey, I thought I told you to please keep it down?\" the she-wolf\nsoftly growled at us, her arms still cradling the cub. She craned her neck and\nwhispered something soothing.\n\"I am truly sorry Rose,\" Joseph eyed me while\nscratching the back of his head. \"I was just telling Peter that I've told him\nnot to bring fights near the bakery. And not involve his friends in those\nfights with Flint's son.\"\nI heard Rose gasp and saw she was looking at\nme oddly. \"You have a bruise, Peter. Are you alright?\" she asked. \nRose was talking about the one Gavin gave me\non the left side of me muzzle, and it tingled whenever I pressed one of me\nfingers to it. \"Ah it's fine, Rose. Ain't like I jumped offa Brooklyn Bridge\nright?\"\nJoseph glared at me shortly, and I folded me\nears in silence. Even Lance and James paused in uneasiness, with Lance's tail\nflicking uncertainly with his expression. I didn't know what to expect either. \n\"Peter, all of that roughhousing, me rescuing\nya from trouble With Mr. Flint's son, it...it...\" Joseph stumbled with words and\nplaced his mighty right paw on the table, and me fur trembled at what he was\ngonna say. \"...it's unacceptable and...\" He erupted a very low growl, soon\nsurprising me when it turned in chuckling. \n\"...it makes me wonder about Johnny when he's\nyer age.\"\nLike that, a smile bigger than the city shone\nthrough me canines, and me tail wagged deviously. Joseph was sometimes harsh to\nme with me tab, telling me lesson after lesson, but the one thing I always\nforgot from the baker was that he could be more generous than a Brooklyn nun on\nChristmas. \n\"Ah, for a split second I thought ya was\ngonna skin me alive, Joseph,\" I chuckled with perked ears. \"Guess I\nunderestimated your kindness, Joseph.\" \n \"I\nhope Gavin didn't rough ya up too much though, Peter?\" Rose asked while sitting\nnext to Lance and James with little Johnny in her arms. \"You have a bruise on\nyour right cheek.\"\n\"Eh he'll be fine, honey,\" Joseph sighed\nwhile sitting down with a smile of nostalgia. \"When I was his age, I got meself\ninto some fights worse than him.\"\n\"That's cause you lived in Harlem,\" the\nshe-wolf mumbled with a soothing tone. \"And the boys you fought weren't related\nto Francis Flint.\"\nFrancis Flint was known to be what some\ncalled 'a pain in the...', followed by a dozen words that caused mothers to cover\ntheir cub's ears. I hadn't met the older and (some say towering) coyote, but I knew he worked in the same factory that James'\nfather worked at. Mr. Lawton once told me that he once met Francis, and the\ncoyote sneered so much that it was his permanent expression. \nNo wonder Gavin's\nafraid of him,\nI giggled to meself.\nI turned to see James asking if he could hold\nJohnny in his arms, and to Joseph's slight reluctance, she gently handed the\nsmall cub to him from her paws. \"Now be careful, hold him softly by the head\nand lower back. Don't place your palm on the base of his tail either...there you\ngo dear...\"\nI slowly walked over to them and couldn't\nkeep meself from smiling at the young human holding the adorable wolf cub in\nhis small and blue blanket. Johnny got most of his cute cheeks from Joseph,\nwhile God gave him Rose's emerald eyes and lighter fur. The young cub wasn't\neven half a year old and I knew he'd go on to do great things with his\nplayfulness. And that playfulness was shown when Johnny started nibbling on James'\nthumb like it were made o' sugar. \nHe looked at the baby with a soothing smile. \"E-Easy\nthere little buddy...\" James chuckled. I inched meself closer and smiled at the\ngiggling in the young cub as me friend held him. \"Ain't he a young tyke, Mrs.\nKinnick? He kinda reminds me of Annabelle, save for the ears, the tail...\"\nSuddenly he made a foul face and quickly handed Johnny over to Rose. One whiff\nof the scent gave me a hint. \"...and whatever you're feeding him.\" \n\"Yeesh! Forgive me, but what do you feed him, ma'am?\" Lance flinched\nat the smell like I was and covered his nose with a curled tail. \"He smells\nawful.\"\nI covered me own muzzle, and sneezed at the\nsmell of corn and mashed beef. \"Woah! Excuse me boys,\" Rose carried the\nsquirming little Joseph in her arms (a good distance from his smelly tail) and\nbrought him to the base of the wooden and creaky stairs, but stopped a moment\nto look at Joseph. \"Frankly honey, I dunno if I'll be able to handle his\nbrother or sister.\"\nAs I was drinking a cup of water to get rid\nof the foul taste from me mouth, I choked a gulp and perked me ears at Joseph.\n\"What did she say?\" I turned to the stairs, but she was gone. \"Did she just say\nwhat I think she said?\"\nJoseph, sitting himself down on the chair\nacross from me with a wagging tail, gave me an early Christmas smile. \"That's\nright, Peter Gray,\" he clapped his paws together in a happy laugh. \"Rose is\npregnant!\"\nI felt a spray of water erupt from Lance's\nmouth, covering me in his spit. As I shook the moisture offa me fur and wiped\nthe water from me paws onto the table, I gave him a lasting stare at his smug\nmuzzle. \"Did ya really have to do\nthat, ya raccoon?\" I asked. \n\"Nope, but I couldn't resist.\"\nAfter James stopped giggling, he turned to\nJoseph next to me. \"So you're gonna be a father again, Mr. Kinnick, sir?\" he asked\nwhile taking another bite of his bagel. Shrugging, I took one for meself. \"Is\nthis the reason you're in a good mood today?\"\n\"Yep.\"\nI widened me eyes in a huge expression at\nLance, who gave it back. We both looked each other dumbfounded, like we\nsilently asked, \"That's his 'good mood'?\" \n\"What do you think it is? A boy or a girl?\"\nLance asked Joseph curiously. I saw the hint of annoyance from his next\nquestion, and prayed for the exact same answer. \"Or maybe twins like my\nbrothers?\" \nJoseph flicked his tail and flinched.\n\"Honestly,\" he jutted out to us. \"I hope that he, or she, is the last one.\" I\nnoticed the wolf lifting his muzzle to look behind him and all around the four\nwalls. \"If I get another young cub after this one, I dunno if I'll be able to\nafford getting me wife pregnant again.\"\nJames suddenly asked, \"How are they made, Mr.\nKinnick?\" \n          I choked on a piece of bagel and\nlaughed at the embarrassing look on Joseph's muzzle. \"W-Well James,\" I cleared\nme throat and began with, \"A baby is made when-ow!\"\nJoseph stomped me footpaw under the table and\nspoke, \"Say one word and we'll see if Gavin'll be the only furson nearby to\ngive ya a blinker.\"  He even showed his\ncanines in a smirk. \n\"But I was just saying that when two fursons\nget together, the man-\" he stomped on me footpaw again, and I winced. \"Ow!\"\n          While Lancie giggled like a loon\nnibbling on a bagel, but James tilted his hairy round head confused. \"Mr.\nKinnick, what's he talking about?\" \n          Joseph looked at the young human boy\nand nervously smiled. \"He ain't talking about anything, James,\" he said in a\nforced tone, tail flicking like a piece of furry rope in the wind. \"If he was,\nPeter Gray here will have to pay me a dollar per bad word he said in...\" I perked\nme ears and widened me eyes.\n          \"So how's Rose feeling with the baby\nanyways Joseph?\" I cheekily asked with a wagging tail. Whenever he did that,\nthe wolf was as serious as police officer after an urchin stealing food. \n          Without hiding his grin, Joseph nodded\ndelightfully. \"Why yes, young Peter,\" he said. \"She's a tad nervous for having\na second cub, but it'll be nice for little Johnny to have a brother or sister.\"\nWith a slight shrug and wiping some settling dust from the ceiling, he\ncontinued, \"especially since these times are so-\"\n          \"The time!\" Lance suddenly sprung from\nhis chair, green eyes wide. \"Peter, what time is it? Hurry!\" I reached into me\nright pocket and took out me father's pocket watch, telling the crazy raccoon\nthat it was half past four. \"Dang it! Dang it! Dang it! Mum wanted me back half\nan hour ago! She's gonna kill me and skin me like a sheep!\"\n          Me and James sprung up like\njack-in-the-boxes. \"Then it's time for me to go too!\" James chirped in. \"Thank\nyou so much, Mr. Kinnick; the bagels are wonderful.\" He smiled at the wolf and\njoined Lance as I saw his tail walk outta the door in a hurry.\n          \"No problem!\" he shouted back. As I\nwas about to eat the last bagel, Joseph said something that made me wanna throw\nhim in the oven on the other side of the room. \"After all, the bagels go onto your tab.\"\n          And it wasn't the bruises on me that\nwere sore.\n","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/827975-the-adventures-of-peter-gray-chapter-8-alleyway-chase.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/846676-the-adventures-of-peter-gray-chapter-10-april-fool-s-day.json"}