Leilani shuffled closer to him. "I like long stories."
Duke sighed. He didn't want anybody feeling sorry for him. Then again, he felt he owed it to her to tell her. He recently realized he had feelings for her, and she was the only animal who ever asked why his life took such a turn! "Well, it all started when I was gettin' ready to move out of my dad's house. Me and two of my siblings were livin' with him, and the other two were at our mom's. My little sister got really sick, she was in and out of the hospital, and we couldn't afford to continue her treatment for much longer. My dad, my mom, my two workin' siblings were tryin' to pay for it, but it still wasn't enough. None of us were exactly rich. I myself was tryin' to get a job, but I wasn't havin' much luck."
"Was it a weasel thing?"
Duke shrugged. "Eh, maybe. Dad kept tellin' me it was the time of year when the job market ain't too open, but I don't know if that was completely true. Anyway, I was out one day, continuin' my job search, and I see this block party. I wanted to see what was happenin' and here there's this sweet music and all these games, food, and drinks. A few animals had tables where they were sellin' stuff. I start jammin' out with the rest of the crowd, and I see a wallet fall out of this wolf's pocket. It was a fancy lookin' wallet too, maybe designer, I dunno."
Leilani's eyes brightened. "Lion Vuitton?"
"Eh…yeah! I think it was, actually!"
Leilani squealed before her face dropped. "Oh, sorry. Go on."
"Well, I picked it up and was about to return it to him, but then I saw how much money was in it. It must've been thousands! It was more than what was needed left to cover the expenses of my sister's treatment! I kept goin' back and forth between givin' it back and takin' the money to use for my sister's treatment, then I thought about how worried and sad we all were, how happy and bouncy my sister was before she got sick, how fluffy her fur was before she started losin' it. I decided to take the money out of the wallet. I walked away, acted all natural, and I went home and told my family a friend gave me the money. Not only were we able to finish my sister's treatment, but we ended up usin' the rest of the money on ourselves. I think my dad knew somethin' was up, but I think he just pretended not to know nothin'. Ever since the wallet and our family gettin' use from the money, it became easier for me to try to make it big time by takin' stuff."
"Oh. Wow. I'm sorry."
"Eh, it's okay. My sister's better now." Duke turned onto his back. "Ya know, I sometimes wish I never stole that wallet in the first place. I think if I hadn't been too proud, I would've asked a friend to let me borrow money or somethin'."
"Well, at least your sister's better. You know, maybe we should meet each other's families? My family is much smaller than yours; me and my sister were the only ones in the litter, and my parents never had any more litters."
"Huh, well, I'm pretty sure my family would like you. It was me and two of my brothers in the first litter, then my sister and other brother in the second. I'm one of the middle children, technically."
Leilani sniffed. "I just…I just hope I actually get a chance to introduce you to my family!"
Duke's heart jumped. Her crying came as quite a surprise! He pulled her close and kept his arm around her. "Hey! Hey! Lei! It's alright! We'll be okay! We're just gonna be workin' on a farm, learnin' stuff, then gettin' the cops right after! Remember, ya got me with ya! The Duke of Weaseltown! A member of the criminal underworld!"
A laugh escaped through Leilani's tears. "You're not wrong."
As he and Leilani sat together on the train ride to Meadowlands, Duke felt a bit guilty for feeling as excited as he did about their "mission." Leilani was clearly excited as well, but he knew she was more nervous than he was. Could he really blame her? She was a country girl from Bunnyburrow who just recently moved to the city, and she was already infiltrating a criminal organization!
Duke turned to his left and saw Leilani's paws were folded as she rubbed her thumbs together. Dressed in her pink tie-dye tank dress, Duke liked seeing Leilani wear clothes that were more "her." He himself decided to allow himself to not appear as tough, with his sweat pants and emerald green shirt.
He glanced up at the windows, then tapped Leilani's shoulder. "Hey, Leilani, I think we're almost there."
Leilani gasped and stared at the windows. "Oh, wow! I guess we are!"
"Okay, great!" Travis, who sat across from them, rushed over and grabbed onto a pole. "I forgot to tell you two this before, but this time, I managed to get a friend to pick us up this time, so if he acts like he knows me, it's because he does."
"Eh, thanks?" Duke raised an eyebrow.
The train stopped.
Leilani took a deep breath. "Well, here goes nothing!"