surprise when Andrew won and still kept his face unreacted. After gathering his winnings in a bag he let a grin spread across his rougish face.
  "And round uno goes to Andrew S Barkin." He said with a chuckle. Joey scratched his head as the other dogs went off, Andrew staying. The mutt's tail was wagging.
  "Barkin huh. No relation to Charlie B Barkin I trust?" Joey asked, smiling. Andrew nearly jumped out of his fur knowing that this Doberman knew his father.
  "You won't tell my dad will you? About my gambling?" He asked, looking apprehensive. Joey saw his worried look and chuckled.
  "Nah, you're one in a million when it come to gambling." The Doberman said. He offered his paw. "I'm Joey, nice to meet ya Andrew." Still looking nervous, Andrew shook, shocked by the size of the Doberman's paw.
  "Cripes dog, your paw is huge!" Andrew said as he pulled back. "What are ya, part Mastiff?" This made Joey laugh.
  "Nah, pure Doberman. I just come from a healthy line of fighting dogs." He replied, winking. Before Andrew could reply, they heard through the intercom that it was time to close. Andrew gave a grin back and picked up his bag.
  "I think I like ya Joey. You'll see me back here tomorrow." Andrew said, winking. Joey gave a nod back as he smiled, watching the mutt leave. He gave it some thought awhile when realization dawned on him: this was a bad neighborhood, and with a big bag of meat this late at night was bound for trouble.
  Ripping off his red vest and hat, Joey raced out after Andrew.

  Andrew was walking alone, the streetlights flickering. He glanced up at them and rolled his eyes. The things were always busted...
  "You'd think a town like this would be able to afford new lights." He grumbled to himself. He didn't notice other dogs using the alleyways to hide, get around, getting ahead of him slowly but surely. As soon as he turned the next corner, he stopped dead. The dogs were snarling at him, licking their lips hungrily.
  Andrew grinned nervously, and started stepping back. But moments afer he felt a cold nose touch his back and he jumped forward, looking behind him. More vicious dogs moving toward him. Andrew moved to the middle, legs shaking a bit and still grinning.
  "Hey guys." He said scratching his neck nervously. "Heh... Dark out tonight huh?" The vicious mutts merely snickered at the slight stutter in his voice, moving toward him. Then they pounced on him.
  He gave a yelp and strted to try and fight them off. There were to many, and he was quickly overwhelmed. He tried everything: punching, kicking, biting, even hitting them with the bag of meat he won. He knew he was going to go down, and fought hard as he was suddnely grasped by the neck in the teeth of one of his attakers. He thought this would be the end and shut his eyes tight.
  Out of nowhere the dog's jaws slackened and was shoved off, and he felt the dogs beat off him, hearing ferocious, violent barks above him. He opened his eyes and saw Joey standing above him, his red eyes flashing in the flickering street lights and his teeth bared, growling loudly. He saw dogs trying to jump on Joey, but what they got were a few swift punches to their muzzles.
  "Leave him alone ya lousy mongrels!" He snarled, grabbing one and throwing it into the crowd. The dogs began to whine and back off, and Andrew stood up slowly. He felt something grasp his arm so tight it hurt and he looked, then seeing it was Joey's paw. The Doberman's eyes darted side to side.
  "Andrew, leave the bag." He growled, and the mutt looked like he was about to protest when Joey squeezed. "No, listen. They are gonna follow us if you keep it. Just let it go, I'll pay you later."
  After a bit of decision, Andrew nodded and let it go, Joey leading him out, keeping a good grip on him. They only got ten feet when they heard Andrew's winnings getting torn into, then they started running. They were soon back at Andrew's place, panting. The young mutt looked at Joey after he let him go.
  "Thanks man. I owe ya one." He panted, wagging his tail a bit.
  "No problem. Just be careful from here on out, awright?" Andrew gave a nod, then started going inside. When he reached the top step, he turned and looked back at Joey.
  "I'll be sure to introduce you to my family sometime." He said, smiling. Joey smiled back.
  "It'll be a pleasure." He said, then turning and going to his own home.

*

  "... And ever since then, been Joey's best pal." Andrew said, chuckling. "Even brought Rosa a few times to meet him." He gave his sister a playful nudge. Joey rolled his eyes in mock annoyance.
  "And look at that, I got an annoying mutt as a step brother." He joked. "More like a win-lose scenario instead of win-win." Everyone had a laugh at that. He took a look around the room, then said "I guess Charlie is next..."