Don't Judge a Dog by it's Coat
I hear my mother’s voice from the garage, “William. Come here and help me with the groceries please.” Oh, crap I am so busted. She’s back earlier then I thought.
“Coming mom.” I push Max into my room, closing the door behind me so he can’t get out.
I run into the doorway of the garage, seeing my mom holding a load of groceries in her arms and more in the trunk of our van. I quickly take the ones in her arms to lessen her load and walk them into the kitchen. Passing my door as I go down the hallway, a silent prayer going through my mind. Please don’t make any noise Max. I have to think of the best way to tell my mom about you. If not, you’ll end up at the pound and I’ll be grounded until the end of summer.
I put the groceries on to the counter beside the refrigerator. I quickly go back into the garage where my mom is having trouble with two 12 packets of Dr. Pepper. Knowing my mom so well I figured she would have bought my older sister’s favorite soda since she’s coming to visit.
“I can carry those. Do you want them in the fridge so their cool when Ravana comes?”
My mom reluctantly let’s go of the cardboard boxes, not wanting to seem weak in my eyes since the awful divorce with my father. But I know her, hiding her emotions and her problems from me since I still live with her. Ravana wasn’t part of the awful court hearing since she is 21. For me it was different, being 16 years old was a huge issue. Having to go through custody hearings and child support. My dad trying to drive my mom into the ground to make her seem like a bad parent. But in truth he was, my mom got custody of me which was a pleasing and a sure thing. I can go stay with my dad on the weekends, but I choose not to since it’s just a huge fight every time I am around that man.
My mom grabs the last of the bags and closes the lid, “Yes, please. Your sister will be coming in a few hours, she said she might be bringing someone with her.”
“Maybe it’s her boyfriend,” I shift the weight of the soda to keep a better hold of it, “or better yet her girlfriend.”
My mom smacks me lightly on the head, “William, don’t judge your sister for her life choices. Just because your father didn’t like.”
Her face drops a little, the expression changing to a somber note. I know bringing my dad up always makes her feel bad. I overheard her at the hearing on the last day, saying that she didn’t want me to not have a father figure around. She didn’t want that for her children, having to go through that herself. She didn’t have her father around when she was growing up, he had decided to leave when she was born.
“Mom, I know. Is there anything else you need help with out here?”
“No, I got it. You go ahead and...” My mom stares at me, “Did you get another shower? Your hair is wet, look it’s soaking into your shirt.”
“Oh. Yeah, I got some dirt on me outside while I was planting some seeds into the gardening box I made for the house.” I move toward the door to get out of the garage, “Shouldn’t we get these groceries into the kitchen?”
My mom looks at me, a small crease appearing around her eyes as she looks at me. Don’t give anything away, she doesn’t know you have a dog in your bedroom. That questioning look of hers won’t work this time. She found out about the broken window and the fight at school a year ago, but she won’t this time. I have to keep Max a secret if I want Max to stay. Don’t reveal anything not yet.
“Right.” She walks past me going into the hallway, “I have to start making your sister’s favorite meal for dinner tonight. I hope her friend will like it.”
As we walk down the hallway toward the kitchen, I ask, “What are we having exactly?”
“Well, I’m making pork chops with noodles and mashed potatoes and a salad, that should be okay. I know that you don’t really care for pork, so I added a salad to give you another option instead of having to heat one of those tofu meals,” she passes my room and there’s a quiet whimper from underneath my door.
Immediately I freeze for a second. My hand shaking on the boxes. Please say you didn’t hear that. Why can’t anything go my way for a change for once in my life?
“William, Did you hear something?” She turns to look at my door. Oh, crap.
“No, nothing.” I squeeze past her and go into the kitchen. I put the cases of sodas down beside the counter, so I can open them.
My mom follows me into the kitchen, putting her groceries onto the table, “I thought I heard something. There was some sort of sound in the hallway.”
I have to divert her attention, think of something. “Oh, I think I know what you heard. It was the air conditioning. The system is acting up, I heard it earlier when you left for the store. I called someone earlier to come and check it out. But they won’t be here until tomorrow.”
She looks at me with her parental gaze, questioning my explanation. I try to stay calm not wanting to let the cat out of the bag. I breath slowly, relaxing my face so that I look calm under the pressure of her blue eyes.
“Well thank you Will, I’m so happy that you could do that for your mother. Do you mind helping me put these away then, so I can start cooking?”
“Sure,” I start putting the cold stuff away as my mother gathers all the things she needs for dinner. I put half of the first case of Dr. Pepper away on the top shelve of the fridge. Knowing my sister since I was little this isn’t gonna be enough to satisfy her addiction to this carbonation beverage. I put the other half of the first case into the bottom drawer. She’ll not look there first until she runs out on the top shelf. I place the second case beside the fridge just in case I have to put more in or if Ravana wants one that isn’t cold.
I look over at my mother preheating the oven and grabbing the pork chops from the one grocery bag she had. Covering the raw meat with different spices to bring out the favors, my stomach shifts a little. Meat is one thing that I don’t really care for anymore in my life. I had a severe case of food poisoning a couple years back at a new restaurant. Being forced by my sister and father to go since it had opened right near our grandparents house. I have not touched anything relating meat since that day, being afraid of getting sick once again.
I gently hold onto my stomach, feeling the slight urge to puke but I hold it back, “Hey mom, could I talk to you about something later after dinner? Whenever Ravana isn’t here maybe.”
My mom looks at me, “You can talk to me about anything baby,” she puts the pan down onto the counter, “What do you want to talk about?”
I shake my head, “Not now, later.”
She turns her head slightly, and then nods, “Okay, we’ll talk after your sister leaves. By chance it isn’t about something that involves a girl.”
I shake my head hard, “No. Mom, really. I don’t even have a girlfriend. I don’t even have any friends that are girls.”
“I was just asking, I didn’t know if you had a lady friend that you.”
“Mom. Stop. Please. It’s nothing like that.”
“Okay, dear. Just tell me when you want to talk.” She picks the pan back up and starts putting the pork chops inside, “Why don’t you go to your room for a little while? I know the smell of this makes your stomach hurt a little. Just rest before Ravana gets here okay. I’ll make sure to air out the kitchen, so the smell is gone.”
“Yeah okay, I’ll be in my room then I guess. If you want me just yell. There’s no reason for you to come in okay.”
My mom looks at me, and then waves her hand. Going back to preparing dinner for later, becoming focused on the items in front of her.
I grab a bottle of water from the cabinet near the hallway. Preferring the water to be room temperature then cold whenever I need a drink. I slowly walk to my door, looking back to see if my mom is looking into the hallway after me. There is no sight of her, oh great now I am being paranoid. I slowly open the door, not seeing Max as I hold the door slightly open. I slip through the opening and find Max laying on my bed a chewed-up notebook beside him.
“Max, bad dog. How did you even find this?” I put the bottle of water on my nightstand, and grab the remains of the notebook, “This was important to me.” Flipping through the ripped pages of the book, there are a few that are still attached to the binding. I can still make out some of my sketches of different things that I did so far this summer. A drawing of a bird, my mother watching her favorite tv show and a self-portrait are the most intact out of the rest. I look around the room confused on how Max would have gotten this specific notebook. I had it laying on my desk under a book that I was reading for the summer. I find the book chewed apart beside my chair, that explains it. Now I owe my mom a new copy of The Outsider by Stephen King. Thanks Max.
Max’s ears turn toward me. Lifting his head up from his crossed paws in front of him. His tongue rolling out of his mouth, panting a little and a small whimper escapes his lips. I quickly put my hands over his mouth to shut it, gently holding his teeth together.
“Max, shh… you have to be quiet. That means no barking, whimpering or panting. If she hears you I am dead. I’m going to explain everything after dinner and especially when Ravana isn’t here. Ravana will want to send you to the pound. She wasn’t allowed a pet when she was my age, so we’ll have to play this cool. I can make a better case in front of mom alone then in front of Ravana.” I’m going overboard a little on Max being quiet by forcing his mouth close, sorry boy.
I’ll just put on some music that should cover up some sound. I let go of Max’s mouth, his tongue coming out to lick my hand a little. I wipe the back of my hand on my jeans, and pet his head, scratching between his ears. I pull out my phone from my pocket and scroll through my playlist to find a song to listen to. Nearing the end of my list I find the perfect song. I haven’t listened to it for a while, so the lyrics are a little rusty but it’s a classic. I lay my phone down on my nightstand next to my water as Follow me by Uncle Kracker starts playing through the small speakers.
I settle down next to Max, laying my head on my pillow. Max wiggles up next to me to lay in the crook of my arm. Petting his head, I slowly drift off getting lost in the song and the feeling of touching Max’s head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“William. Your sister and her friend are here come out and say hi.”
I sit up with a start, my heart feeling like its about to come out of my chest. Was it all a dream? I snuck a dog into my moms house and haven’t told her about him. I turn to shut off my phone which is playing We didn’t start the Fire by Billy Joel and see a pitbull laying next to my door. Nope, wasn’t a dream.
“Coming, be out in a sec.” I shout, jumping off the bed and pushing Max away from the door, “Max get away from the door. I’ll bring you a little something after dinner okay. You need to be a good boy okay. Absolutely no barking got it.” I leave my phone on the nightstand playing music, this should mask some sound if my mom walks back the hall. Ravana will just think that I left my stereo on like when we were kids.
I squeeze out my door and close it to make sure Max doesn’t get out. I’m still thinking of how I’m going to bring this up to my mom. Do I do a direct approach or something else, I can’t lie to my mom forever. That nap didn’t help my situation at all. I’ll have to think it over more while having dinner. I definitely want to keep Max, I just have to convince my mom.
I walk into the kitchen picking up on small traces of lavender and pine air fresher. I look at my mom in the kitchen finishing up on the mashed potatoes and the noodles on the stovetop. A bowl of salad is already sitting on the dining room table with different dressings around it.
“Hey Will, get over here and hug your big sis.” I turn to see Ravana in the living room, looking very much the same as usual. Her hair is dyed a new color, this time being a shade of blue. Her outfit showing off her curves and the few tattoos that she has.
I walk over to her going around the couch to stand next to her. She quickly grabs me into a bear hug lifting me off the ground and shakes me a little. Putting me to the carpeting she says, “How is it that I can still pick you up little brother? Shouldn’t it be the guy who is lifting the girl.” She ruffles my hair “ Scarlet, come over here and meet my little bro, William.”
A girl appears from the window hiding in the shadow of the curtains. I didn’t see her at all when I came into the room. Coming out of the shadow like a vampire emerging from the depths of a cavern. The sun having already gone down by the looks of it. I had slept longer than a couple of hours thinking back on it. My playlist had jumped to the beginning of my songs since Billy Joel was near the middle of my playlist of 200 songs. Scarlet kind of looks just like Ravana but a different color scheme, are they dating? Her hair is dyed pink instead of blue and her outfit covers more of her skin than Ravana’s. Could Ravana have finally found a soul mate?
Scarlet looks at me with a questioning look, “I hear from your sister that you’re into steam punk. You don’t seem the type."
This takes me back a little, it’s odd that Ravana would talk about me. I am just her little brother and her life is so much more exciting. Running her own business which tailors to goths, steam punks and anyone that is interested in dark black accessories. I know that my hobby to draw and anything steam punk wasn’t something that our father liked. He believed that I was following my sister’s path. He wanted me to follow his footsteps instead and play football like his own father in the past, “Steam punk is one of my favorite things. I don’t like to wear a lot of black, so I don’t fit the typical mold. But I make my own stuff from different parts from junk that I find. I recently made a pair of googles.”
Ravana nods her head, ruffling my hair once again, “I’ll let you two get to know each other. I’ll just go talk to our mom and help set the table maybe.” She elbows Scarlet on the arm, “Scarlet, you should ask Will here about the item you are trying to find.” Then she walks away from us heading toward the kitchen, a grin appearing on her face as she goes to my mom’s side. What is she up too?
Scarlet shakes her head, “Rava, that girl can get on your nerves once in a while. I can’t believe how you kept sane while you were growing up with her. I live with her now and she makes me want to pull my hair out.”
Are Ravana and Scarlet dating then or could they be married? I’m just speculating, maybe they’re just rooming together. Friends do that I think, share a space and stuff, “She’ll do that to you. You’ll get used to it. Not to change the subject, but Ravana said you’re looking for something. How can I help?”
Scarlet rubs her hands on her black jeans and says, “I don’t want to be a bother and it’s gonna be a lot of work. It’s just that Ravana said that you are crazy good at making things with your hands especially steam punk accessories And my boyfriend is trying to find someone that could make him a cane for a convention that is coming up next month. I’ve looked all over the place for one and I’ve had no luck. I want to surprise him….”
“Wait, you and Ravana aren’t a couple?” I just jumped the gun didn’t I. At this moment if it was Ravana I was talking to I would be pushed to the floor and hit repeatedly for interrupting her. I brace myself for the same treatment afraid that Scarlet is a lot like Ravana.
She looks at me, shaking her head, “No. Ravana and I just share an apartment. We’ve been friends for a long time ever since she graduated high school.”
“I just thought.”
“It’s okay Will. It happens a lot to me especially whenever I’m around your sister. Your mother thought the same thing when I came in. I don’t swing that way, but nothing is wrong with it.”
Scarlet shifts her hair to her another shoulder and moves her boots on the carpet.
I understand her, not being biases myself, I ask, “What kind of cane are you looking for? One that is made out of wood and decorated, or one made entirely out of metal?”
She pulls a picture out of her back pocket. It’s folded into fourths. She hands it to me and I unfold it to look at what she’s thinking. The picture is a little crudely drawn looking like a 5-year-old drew it on a rainy day. But I can make out the design and some of the materials for the details.
“Sorry about the design.” She looks down at her boots and then back up at me, “I know it’s hard to make out, but he kind of wants something like this. But if you can make improvements on it go ahead. I think he would like it more if it wasn’t exactly made to order, you know. And I can pay you for your hard work.”
“Don’t worry about it. I can do this on the house.” I push my hand through my hair, “I can see what pieces I have to make the cane. If not, I’ll go look for some parts. I would say I should have it done in three weeks, right before the convention. Thinking about it, I see why Ravana brought you with her now.” Ravana wanted me to help her roommate with her problem. Maybe she actually thinks I got talent for this since I’ve been creating more things recently with the divorce. She always made fun of my draws but not my creations when it came to making something new out of different things.
“Are you sure? I can definitely pay you for the work you do. Ravana said that you don’t usually make things for other people that’s why...”
I shake my head, folding up the picture and putting it in my pocket. “No. It’s okay. I just like to make these things when I have free time. It’s a fun hobby and I have loads of time since it’s summer right now. All I ask for payment is a souvenir from the convention, like a button or t-shirt and a favor in the future.”
She gives me a weird expression, “I can promise the first part of the agreement, but I need to know what the second part implies just in case I get into trouble. Like you want to go to a bar or have a drink when you are under the age of 21.”
What is it with people older then me not understanding? I wasn’t thinking of that at all but that is a good idea. “That’s not it at all. I was going to ask if you could convince Ravana to let me come with her to a convention if she goes. She says that you guys go together a couple times a year, and I really want to go to one.”
“I get you kid, I can ask her and if she says no,” She says, smiling and patting me on the shoulder, ”you can still go, you’ll just go with me and my boyfriend instead. Sound fair.”
“Yeah. You got yourself a deal Scarlet.” We shake hands, and then Scarlet ruffles my hair a little. What is it with ruffling my hair? It’s not that shaggy, I push my hair down a little feeling a few pieces sticking up.
“Dinner is ready come take your seats. Ravana has already set the table.” My mother shouts from the kitchen, carrying a pot to the dining room table.
Scarlet and me walk over to the dining room table. Passing Ravana who is already sitting down, drinking a can of Dr. Pepper. Another can sits next to her plate within arm’s reach. I can never understand my sister’s obsession with that drink. Taking my seat at the table in the middle where my sister has placed a bottle of water. I touch the bottle and realize that it isn’t cold, usually she would grab a cold bottle to irate me. Scarlet sits next to Ravana at the head of the table while I watch as my mom goes back behind the counter. She comes back with another pot and places it next to the girls. She sits down across from Scarlet and beside Ravana. Ravana always having to be the first one into the food, pulls the cover off the pot our mother has just brought in. As the cover is removed I feel a slight shift in my stomach, meat. I turn away from the food on the table finding the salad near my seat at the far end of table. I load up my plate with vegetables and some croutons, drowning it all with salad dressing.
“Mrs. Davis, could I use your restroom?”
My mom nods her head, taking a sip of tea from her glass, “Certainty, its right back the hall, third door on the left. You can’t miss it.”
“Thank you. I’ll just be a minute.” Scarlet excuses herself from the table, bumping into my chair, “Sorry Will.”
“It’s okay,” I say and continue to play with my salad, mixing the dressing around to soak all the lettuce. Scarlet disappears from the room going back the hallway.
“So, Will, did you take the job that Scarlet asked you?” Ravana says waving her fork of pork in the air.
I shift my weight in the wooden chair. Not wanting to look toward her if she is putting meat in my face, I say, “Yeah, I’ll get started tomorrow on making it.”
She laughs a little, “What did you ask for payment? A hundred bucks or a date with a girl.”
I shake my head, “You’ll find out later. Mom this salad is good, did you add something different in it.” My sister is always teasing me on my dating, I’ve had a hard time getting a date for multiple reasons. I’ve given up on the whole dating game until after high school, I’ll play the game when I go to college. Most of the girls in my high school want the jock type or the cool type of boyfriend. Not the art/smart boy that makes things in his free time instead of attending football games or parties.
My mom scoops a serving of mashed potatoes onto her plate, “Well I added a little oil and...”
“Mrs. Davis, did you say left or right door?” Scarlet shouts from the hall. I jump out of my seat, as I hear a yell from the hallway and a thump.
“Scarlet are you okay?” Ravana gets out of her seat going to her friend. A powerful smell comes into the room, the smell of a dog. I see Max run into the dining room, going under the table. I can feel his paw on top of my foot, I try to pet his head to keep him calm but.
“What is that?” My mom stands up sending her seat backward, hitting the ground with a thump. Sending Max flying from out under the table running into the living room, his tail tucked between his legs. I stand up, going after him into the living room. I am so dead, why did Scarlet have to open my door? God has to hate me since this always happens. Why he is doing this to me? I can’t get a break, I had a plan and now it’s ruined.
Ravana comes into the kitchen, looking around the cabinets and then in the dining room. I watch from the living room hoping that they didn’t see Max run into here.
“Is Scarlet okay, what happened?” My mom says, picking up her chair and placing it back in place.
“She’s okay, she just got startled from something coming out of Will’s room. She said that it tripped her when it came rushing out.”
“What do you mean something came out of his room?” My mom moves toward the living room, Ravana right behind her, “Did you see what it was?”
“I think it was a dog, it looked like a pitbull. Wait, why are you asking me?” Ravana says placing her hands on her hips as she stands in the doorway of the living room right behind my mom, “It was in Will’s room. Isn’t there a rule in this house that we don’t keep pets?”
My mom looks at me, her face showing her disappointment at my secret. She scans the room, “Ravana don’t start now. Will, what is going on?”
I turn away from them, looking at the curtain where I can see Max’s tail sticking out. “Well Mom, It is a dog.” I turn back to look at them, “He’s a pitbull, his name is Max. I found him, and I want to keep him.” Max appears from out behind the curtain, his head coming to be level with my knee. I bend down and scratch between his ears, Max’s tail wags in enjoyment.
“I can see that it is a dog but why is it in my house?” My mom says, flinching her hands into fists and then releasing them, “I told you before that we couldn’t have pets in the house.”
Ravana comes closer to mom, stepping right next to her, “You better answer her Will. Unless you want to be grounded for…”
“Don’t butt into this conversation young lady.” Our mother says, turning to look at Ravana, and then back at me, “Go into the dining room.” Ravana looks perplexed at our mother, her eyes shifting between her and me. She reluctantly goes into the dining room. The sound of her chair being pushed back echoes through the room and her saying to Scarlet, “Don’t go in there.”
“Now Will, answer me.”, Her expression hardens not showing anything within her eyes, “Why is this dog in my house?"
I stare off with my mom, “I brought Max in because I wanted to. The only reason we couldn’t have had a pet in the old house was because of dad. He didn’t want to deal with anything involving an animal. Cleaning up after it or feeding it was too much like work. That’s why Ravana and I didn’t have a pet growing up.”
“Don’t bring up your father young man. I am asking you, why you brought this dog into my house? Just because your father didn’t want a pet doesn’t mean that I didn’t want one either.”
“Why can’t I bring up dad? He’s the one that ruined our lives. He hurt you, he tried to hurt Ravana. He would beat me every chance he got. That’s the only reason why you left him was because of me.” My voice rises as I try to fight back tears, “Why can’t I have one good thing in my life that I truly want Mom? I didn’t ask to be born into this world, I didn’t want to be my father’s son. I didn’t want to be the reason for your divorce.” A few tears leak from my eyes, a soft whimper from Max beside me makes me wipe them off.
My mom walks up to me, putting her hand on my shoulder, “Will, you weren’t the reason for the divorce. Don’t you ever think that you are the problem. You aren’t your father’s son. You are your own person. I just can’t take care of a dog right now. There is too much for me to do already. And a pitbull can be a dangerous breed of dog. It’s been over the news about people being attacked. I’m sorry Will.”
I grab onto my mom’s hand and look her directly in the eyes, “Max isn’t a bad dog. Look at that face, he wouldn’t hurt a fly. You don’t have to take care of him. Max is going to be my responsibility. I promise I’ll take care of him. You don’t have to do anything. I’ll even get a job to pay for his vet bills and pay for his food. Please mom, I don’t have that many friends. A dog is…”
There is a loud thump as Ravana comes stomping into the living room, “Mom, there is no way you can let him do this. Will can’t have a dog. Especially a pitbull.” I look at Ravana, her face is puffed out and turning a shade of red. Her anger boiling to the point where she’ll have a screaming match with our mother. Mom always wins the battles, but I don’t know about this time. Why is Ravana being this way? What did I do that could make her mad about me wanting a pet? Can’t she see that Max is a sweet dog?
Our mom turns to her, her gaze fully fixed on my sister, “Ravana, you are not part of this conversation. I make the decision around her. So, you don’t decide on what Will can have and what he can’t. Go back into the dining room”
I bend down to the carpet my kneels touching the material. Max licks my face as I pet his head, scratching the sides of his head. He places his paw on my leg as I pet him. Good boy Max. Please mom, think it over.
“I will not go back into the dining room. This night was supposed to be about me coming to visit. Not about Will wanting to keep a stupid dog. Look at it Mom. It’s a vicious breed of dog. And look it’s nothing but a mutt. A stray off the street. It probably has rabes.” She points at Max, her tone being harsh. “You can’t possibly let him keep it. You made me get rid of the kitten that my friend gave me when I was 12 years old.”
My mom turns around, her eyes fully on the Max and me. A small smile appears on her face, “Ravana, I don’t see this dog being vicious or has rabes.” She takes a deep breath, “A boy has to have a dog. Will needs a friend now, this dog can be good for him. You had tons of friends in school, not like Will. And you don’t live here.” She turns back on Ravana, crossing her arms in front of her chest, “I bet that back home at your apartment you have a pet. A dog or even a cat. Can’t you let your brother be happy? I don’t see anything wrong
with Will keeping this dog now.”
Ravana stops her foot, “That’s not the same. Argh. Mom.”
“This is the end of this discussion Ravana and don’t you dare say that you are leaving because I am not listening to you. You are acting like a child, and you are a grown ass woman. You did that the last time you came over to visit. Now go back to the dining room table, Will and I will be right over.”
Ravana stares at her, her expression turning into different emotions across her face. She brushes her hair off her shoulder and soberly goes back to the dining room. Never underestimate my mom when she is not in the mood to deal with Ravana. Why did Ravana not want me to keep Max? I’ll have a fight with her soon I know it.
My mom turns back to look at me and Max, I stand up from the ground, “Thank you, Thank you. I’ll take great care of him I promise mom. You don’t have to worry…”
My mom raises her hand in front of me, “Wait Will, there is one thing that you have to do before I agree fully with you keeping this dog. You need to explain to me how you found… hmm. Max was it.”
I look at my mom as a feeling of pure happiest spreads through my body. I can feel a smile spread across my face. I rush to hug her, ingulfing her into a huge hug. She hugs me back and says, “You can explain over dinner okay. I would like to enjoy my food before it gets too cold. You can bring Max to the table as well, he has to stay on the ground though.”
I shake my head in agreement, “No problem. Max is a good boy. Aren’t you boy?” Max barks at me, I scratch his head lightly as he follows my mom and me into the dining room.
Scarlet looks at us as we head to our seats, Max follows behind me as I pass her and Ravana. Scarlet smiles a little, resuming her plate of food and taking a drink of water from her glass. Ravana on the other hands sends me daggers from across the table, taking a drink from her Dr. Pepper. She quickly stands up though and heads to the kitchen. Probably to grab another can from the fridge. Max sits next to me on the ground, looking up at me with those big puppy dog eyes. I look at the plate of meat in front of Scarlet and motion to her to hand me a piece. She hands me the plate, my stomach shifting slightly at the close smell of the meat that I am holding. I have to get over this if I am going to keep Max. I quickly slip him a piece of pork from the plate. He greedy takes it, biting into it and laying on the ground as he enjoys some food.
“Now Will,” I turn to look at my mom, “how did you find Max?” She cuts her pork chop into pieces and says, “Or how did Max find you? I would like to hear the full story.”
I nod my head and say, “Well you see...”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’m sitting outside of our new house next to the gardening bed. I had stumbled upon a few packs of seeds at the supermarket and decided to buy them. Wanting to plant a small garden of flowers that could brighten the outside of our home and cheer up my mom a little. Sitting under the summer sun, beads of sweat run down my arms as I work. I finish digging the holes for the different packets of seeds. Opening the packets of Sweet Peas, Pansy, and Marigolds to plant. Wiping my hand on my forehead, I accidently smear some dirt there.
“Great. Mom’s going to kill me. Ravana is coming over soon and I already took a shower.”
I put a few seedlings into different holes that I made, spreading out the different flowers to make it look different. I cover the holes over gently with dirt, patting the ground to make sure the dirt isn’t too loose. I get up from the ground to go grab the watering hose, stretching my legs I see that I have dirt on my blue jeans.
“That’s nice. Now I have to change. What else can go wrong today?”
I run to the other side of the house to get the hose, turning the knob so the water can go through the hose. I push the trigger to make sure the water works, and a jet of water comes out. Turning the lever on the handle I switch the stream into a light spray to water the flowers. I pull the hose as I go around the house. Stopping in front of the gardening bed, I spray some water over the dirt to lightly get the ground wet.
“Too much water will kill the seedlings and then they won’t grow.”
I take the hose back to the side of the house, when I round the corner I see something sticking out of the bush separating our house from our neighbors. I don’t know what it is, maybe a racoon or a baby bear, those are common around this area I think. This is Pennsylvania, so there is a lot of wildlife. What do I do? Drop the hose and put it back later or spray the thing to scare it away? If I don’t put the hose back mom will get mad at me. If I spray it, it should run away, animals are scared of people.
I point the trigger at the thing, switching the handle to a jet of water and quickly push the handle down letting out a stream of water. The creature seems to jump at the water, moving farther into the brush and out of my sight. I move a little closer to the house hugging the walls, wrapping the hose around my arm to put into its box and turning the knob off. I turn around and suddenly fall to the ground, hitting my head in the process. I squeeze my eyes shut for a second and opening them to a big brown thing on my chest. I scream at it and try to push it off as I push I get the smell of wet dog mixed with something else. The smell of trash enters my nose, making me gage a little. I stop pushing and realize that the brown thing is actually a dog. It’s very dirty, covered in caked on mud.
“This is the first time I’ve had a dog this close.” I look at the dog closer, I don’t see a collar around its neck, “Get off me you big goof ball.” I push it off my chest and manage to sit up. “Where did you come from? Do you have an owner?”
The dog turns its head at me, seeming confused at what I am saying. He licks my face covering me in slobber, I push him off again. Dog drool gross. Wiping my face on my sleeve I see that my shirt is covered in mud and it is wet. “Oh, Great. Now I’m wet, I have a big dirt stain on my favorite Star Wars shirt and I smell like dog. This is not my day.”
I get up off the ground and brush the dirt off my butt. Wait, why am I doing this I am already dirty? The dog sits there staring up at me. I wave my hands at it, trying to coax it away, “Go away.”
The dog doesn’t move at all from beside me. I walk away from it heading to the front door, I turn around to look and the dog is following me. “I don’t have anything for you. Go home.” I walk around the corner of the house until I stop in front of the gardening bed beneath the front window of our house.
I bent down to get eye level with the dog, “You don’t look like you’re a bad dog.” The dog inches closer to me, “You didn’t bite me when I sprayed you or when you jumped on me.” Maybe he’s just lost or something? I could help but what about mom.
The dog puts his paw onto my leg. His tongue coming out of his mouth into a sort of smile, “I can’t have a dog.” I push his paw off my pants, a new dirt mark on the leg. “My mom told me that I couldn’t have a dog. It’s a rule since I was a kid.” Wait, but she never said that I couldn’t help a dog if one appeared to me.
I carefully put my hand out toward the dog, in change he immediately put his head toward me. I haven’t been around that many dogs since we were never allowed any kind of pet in the house, especially when we lived with my dad. My hand goes to the top of it’s head and start scratching between it’s ears. It’s tail starts wagging, moving its head with the movement. He must have been someone’s pet at one time.
I lower my hand to my side and turn to look at the front door. If I can keep the mess down Mom will never know it was here. Wait, is it a guy or girl dog? “You’ll have to promise to behave yourself when inside, okay?” The dog barks at me, I’ll take that as a yes. I can clean it up in my bathroom since I can hide the mess better than in the main bathroom, “I can clean you up and maybe find something for you to eat. And then you have to go.”
It turns it’s head at me, it’s ears flopping on it’s head. I chuckle a little, it’s cute but very filthy. How am I going to bring it inside? If it walks in there could be paw prints on the carpet. Could I carry the dog through the house? Mom won’t be back for another two hours at the most, that’s plenty of time to get a shower and give this dog a bath.
I hesitate a little standing up, “I’m going inside to get a shower before my mom gets back. Do you want to come in and get cleaned up too?”
The dog barks at me, jumping up and down. I’ll take that as a yes. I stand up the whole way and head to the door. The dog right on my heels as we climb up the three steps. As I reach for the door handle I stop, a thought going through my head.
I reach down toward the dog, my hands hesitating over its sides, “Sorry, I got to carry you inside. You can’t walk on the carpet. If you leave mud, then she’ll know that you are here.”
I get a look that doesn’t seem like he’ll might being picked up off the ground. I wrap my arms around his chest, lifting him up gently from the concrete steps. Shifting him around in my arms I manage to hold him, against my chest. His chest touching my chest, his head is over my left shoulder. I can hear his breathing so close to my ear. Holding the dog close to my chest, I manage to get the door open. I could have opened it before I picked him up. Nice thinking Will. Is it a boy dog? I’m not checking now, he’s a little heavy for me to just stand here and check.
I walk into the house, pushing the door close behind me with my foot. As I walk past the living room and the dining room, I say “My mom will get mad at me for this, but I can’t leave you out here either. I’ll just not make a mess. The same goes for you. Got it.”
I walk back the hall to my room across from the hallway bathroom. My door is already open since I left it that way when I went outside this morning. I turn around inside my room and close the door with my foot, hearing the click of the metal as it closes. I shift the mass in my arms to have a better hold of him. Slipping a little from the mud and water still on his fur, I walk into my bathroom and place him in my tub. The dog looks up at me as I put him in the porcelain bowl. He seems comfortable inside, he barks and turns around to sit on his butt. That works, I look down at myself and see the condition of my Star Wars shirt. It’s now fully covered in mud, the image of Darth Vader gone beneath a layer of mud. I pull the shirt off and throw it in the hamper, I’ll do my laundry later when my mom is watching her tv show.
I look around my bathroom grabbing a few things from under the sink and around the brim of the tub. “Soap. Shampoo. I got a washcloth, wait a cup.” I look around I can’t find anything in the bathroom. I turn to go into my room, almost forgetting the dog in my bathtub. “Stay.” He looks at me with a confused look, his butt still sitting on the shower mat. I quickly go into my room, looking over my dresser and then my desk. I adjust my black steam punk goggles hanging from my desk lamp and grab the plastic cup that I was drinking out of yesterday. The contents empty. Luckily, I had this from the other day, when my mom and I went to the fair for a change.
I come back into the bathroom and see the dog has his paws on the rim of the bathtub, standing on his back to feet. I quickly bend down beside the tub, pushing him back in. I look at the faucet, and then the dog. Hopefully this doesn’t end with me getting bit. I turn the knob on, making sure that the warm is warm. As the water reaches his paws, he licks at it. Drinking up some with his tongue, I lightly scratch his head. His tail wagging, I grab the cup and get to work trying to get this mud off him. I turn off the water after a few mintues, the water only reaching to about his knees. As I go I can make out his actual fur color. It’s a brown with some white and black mixed with it. And I can make out it’s gender, it’s definitely a guy dog.
I finish with the last bit of water, rinsing him off. As I step back to look at my work, he shakes sending water all over the place. Ahh, no, stop. At least that is over, I grab a towel from the rack beside the curtain to dry him off. And I let the water in the tub go down. The water is like the shade of brown that you would find in a river after a huge rainstorm.
“Come here boy. Come on.” The dog jumps out of the tub, standing on my rug. I didn’t get bit, so he has to have been someone’s pet. Where is his collar? Maybe they abandoned him, he is friendly. I’ve seen his breed in a book and on tv before, he looks like a pitbull. He’s not a bad dog. People are just judgmental in this world. Maybe we have something in common though.
I start wiping him off going from his back to his head, “Lucky you found me boy. A coyote could have gotten you. Their supposed to be around these parts of the county. Or someone could have hit you with their car. Reckless drives in this neighborhood.”
I continue drying him off, getting closer to his face, holding his head in the towel I dry the sides of his head and the top, “I’ll call you Maxwell, Max for short. Do you like that boy?” He just looks at me with sort of a smile, I finish drying him off and throw the towel in the hamper. Max squeezes past me going into my room, I quickly follow him trying to grab him. I don’t want wet dog on my bed. I watch as he jumps onto my bed though and lays down at the foot of the mattress. At least he’s not on my pillows.
“Max.” He looks at me, his ears flopping to the side. Max is a silly dog. Wait, I can’t give him a name that means that I want to keep him. What would be wrong with keeping him though. I would have a friend for a change, and he would be a nice addition to the family. He might even cheer up my mom if she is feeling upset. You can’t resist that face, argh, I got to think this over more. First, I need to get cleaned up before mom gets here. I look at Max, comfortable on my bed, “Stay there while I get a shower okay. Don’t destroy anything.”
Max looks at me with his ears flopping to the other side of his head. I shake my head and grab another pair of clothes from my dresser. Grabbing a pair of clean jeans and a clean t-shirt to change into after I am done. I look at Max as I close the door slightly, he’s spread out on my bed more, having turned onto his back. His paws are sticking in the air, and he is scooting his back around on the covers.
“Silly Dog” Note to self though, I have to clean the covers later as well. I put my cloths on the sink counter and start the shower making sure the water is hot for my shower. I take off my jeans and boxers throwing them into the hamper. I’ll have a full load of laundry to do tonight. I quickly jump into the shower, putting my head under the stream of water to wash my face. Washing the dirt off my arms, I continue to try to get the scent of wet dog off my skin. As I am about to finish getting the conditioner out of my hair. I hear a squeak from the door as it swings open. I pull back the curtain and see Max staring at me.
“Max. Go lay down.” I close the curtain and massage my scalp to get the conditioner out, “I’m in the shower. I’ll be out in a second.” I hear Max bark and I open the curtain again. Max stands there looking at me. Alright, I’m done now.
I turn off the shower and grab the other towel on the rack. Wrapping it around my waist as I climb out pulling the curtain open. Max barks at me again, jumping up and down on the titled floor. “Max. Shhh... You need to be quiet.”
I dry off my skin the best I can and put on my clothes. I roughly dry my hair with the towel, pieces of my hair sticking to my neck. I look at Max staring back at me, a quiet whimper escaping his lips. I throw the towel into the hamper and go into my bedroom. I head for my nightstand knowing that there should be something in there for a snack that I could feed Max. I pull out a Snickers, and then I put it back. Chocolate can harm a dog I think. I pull out my last Twinkie and open the plastic. “Here Max.”
Max comes into my room, tail wagging like a fan behind him. He sits in front of me, looking up at the pastry treat in my hand. I drop it and he catches it with his mouth. Engulfing it with two bites, “Good Boy.”
Max looks back up at me, a quiet whimper comes out of his mouth. I rummage through the drawer finding a packet of crackers. I open it and throw a few on the ground. Max manages to catch two of them as they come toward him. “Here you go boy. I’ll get you something bigger soon. This should hold you over a little bit.” Max wags his tail, eating up the crackers off the ground with only a few bites.
“I still got to break this to my mom.” I ruffle my hair a little, “I’ll have to take you to the vet if mom says I can keep you. To make sure that you’re okay. I have enough money saved up from past birthdays and stuff, so I should be able to cover it.”
Max turns his head away from me toward my door, his ears sticking up in the air. “Now Max I need to tell you a few rules before my mom gets back okay. One...”
“William. Come here and help me with the groceries please.” I hear my mother’s voice from the garage. Oh, crap I am so busted.
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