I went home that night and told my mom that I had spoken with the guy and that he said he’d make a decision by the next day. When Mom returned from the park the following day she said, “Hmmm, that’s strange, he wasn’t there.”
I told Mom not to worry, and I winked at Lilly and Lou. This happened two more times. Mom would find someone, I would run to the park, talk to them, and then they wouldn’t be there when my mom showed up. Only one person helped me with my lie and said that she had a change of heart. I felt bad for fibbing but I was trying to buy time to figure out what to do. I couldn’t handle the idea of giving Lilly and Lou away.
Then one day I met a woman in the park who knew the Lilly and Lou story well. She was involved in rescuing other dogs and I liked her a lot. She said she would be interested in adopting Lilly and Lou from us if I wanted. I told her that I had become very attached to them and didn’t want to find them another home but agreed that maybe it would be best since I did tell my mother that it was only temporary. I told the woman about my fibs. I’m not sure why I opened up to her but I did. She understood why I would be tempted to do something like that but suggested that I be honest with my mom.
“Lying is just not a good habit to get into in order to get your way,” she said.
She was passionate about this and didn’t give me a big long lecture. It got me thinking about what I had done and I started to feel weird about not being honest with my mom. But I was attached to these dogs. I sat on a park bench and tried to figure out how I could tell her the truth. I had trouble figuring out what I would say, so I decided I’d just take a deep breath and talk to her. I would let what was on my mind come out. My play director called this improvisation.
As I entered our building, I saw that my favorite doorman Eduardo was on duty at the front desk. Eduardo was a friend to us for all the years we had lived in that building.
“You doing okay, Ms. Alicia?” Eduardo asked. He always seemed to know if I was in a good mood or not. I thought that Eduardo was probably a great dad to his two daughters and one son. I leaned up against the front desk and rested my chin on my hands and blurted out, “Mr. Morales, I told a lie. Well… actually, I told one lie, three different times and now I’m scared to fess up.”
His eyes crinkled up when he smiled. “So you really lied three times even if it was the same one! Either way, it’s always better to tell the truth. Everything will be okay if you do the right thing. It might not feel good before you do it or right afterwards either, but in the long run, it’s the best choice. And how many times do I have to tell you to call me Eduardo?”
He made me smile even though my stomach was doing somersaults anticipating the conversation with my mother. “Thanks Eduardo.”
“De nada, Ms. Alicia.” I loved the way his accent made my name sound.
I got onto the elevator feeling stronger after talking to Eduardo. I opened the door to our apartment ready to talk to my mom.
“Mom, Mom,” I blurted out from the front door as I dropped my backpack on the bench. While I was calling her name, I could hear her shouting, “Alicia, please come here. I need to talk to you right away.”
My heart was in my throat and I couldn’t hear anything but the sound of it thumping. She must have found out that I lied.
Before she could say another word, I begged her, “Mom, can I please talk to you right away?”
She interrupted me, “Alicia, I have something I really need to say.”
I did not want to be rude but I said, “Mom, please I can’t stand it anymore.” Now my mom seemed alarmed. “What is it? Tell me.”
I told her what I had done, apologized and told her I would never betray her trust again. I put my head down. I was afraid to see her reaction. It seemed like a year had passed before she spoke.
Finally I heard her say my name in a way that was not like the voice she uses when I’m in trouble.
“Alicia,” she said and reached over to pick up my chin.
I looked up and saw her smiling. “I am not happy that you lied. I’m not happy that you had me going to and from the park like that. But, I am proud of the courage it must have taken to admit what you’ve done.”
She told me how cool she thought it was of me to take time from watching TV or hanging out with my friends so that I could help rescue the dogs and still manage to keep up with school and rehearsal.
I promised her that I would never do anything like that again.
We hugged and I apologized again. “I’m really sorry, Mom.”
We both walked into the kitchen to get the dogs’ dinner ready. Before I could get the bowls out for the pups’ dinner, my mom reached into the fridge to get some homemade food she had prepared for them earlier. She sat down on the floor and started hand-feeding Lilly and Lou. I continued talking while I fed Bella. I watched my mom feed Lilly and Lou and thought how sad I was going to be when they had to leave us.
Then I said, “Oh I have something else I need to tell you. There was one woman in the park who knows Lilly and Lou and their story. I think she would be able to give them a good home. She’s great with dogs. I still don’t want to let them go but I did make a promise to you.” It was hard for me to look at Lilly and Lou and I didn’t want to cry.
My mom waited for Lilly to take one more bite then she looked up at me and said, “Are you crazy? We can’t give them away now. Could you please give me some more food?”
I thought I was hearing things. “What did you say, Mom?”
She tilted her head and said, “You can go back to the park tomorrow and thank that woman for the offer, but Lilly and Lou have been officially adopted by us.”
I was beyond ecstatic. I started to sing and dance and hug my Mom as hard as I could. We ordered my favorite vegetarian sausage and soy cheese pizza from Viva Pizza on Broadway and had a party.
Eventually Lou, Lilly, Bella and I became known as the four redheads. People would stop and stare at us and say, “Wow, what an interesting group.”
Lilly was the smallest. Lou was a bit bigger, Bella was bigger than Lou, I was bigger than Bella, and we all had red hair. They’d look at us and say, “Oh, wow, small, medium, large and extra large.”
Before we moved to Los Angeles a little over two years ago, we had a going away party at Riverside Park. I invited the whole rescue team and all the people in the neighborhood who had gotten to know and love them. My mom hired a catering service to come to the park in the morning and serve fresh muffins, bagels, coffee, juice, spring water, and special dog treats. The caterer was confused as to where the party would be.
I heard my mother talking to her on the phone. “Yes, the party is going to be at the dog park at Riverside Park just above Ninety-Eighth Street. You won’t be able to miss us.” It was cute watching the catering lady hang onto her heavy cart as she trotted down the little hill trying not to lose control of it. One of the guys ran to her to give her a hand. Afterwards, she said that it was the most special party she had ever catered.
My dad was looking forward to our arrival in Los Angeles and he was interested in Lilly and Lou. He’d always ask, “So, what’s the latest with the two dogs and are you packed and ready to head west?”
After the going away party, I called him with the update and asked lots more questions. He told me not to worry about putting the dogs on the airplane, especially since my mom had done research on which airline had the best reputation for safely transporting pets. Lilly and Lou would travel in one really big crate and Bella would have her own crate. My dad must have sent out some special sort of wish to the airport because at the check-in line a wonderful man who worked for the airline greeted my mom and me. I think he could see how nervous I was. He said, “Go outside and walk your dogs. Then come back and see me. I will make sure that your dogs are the very last to go onto the plane so that they don’t have to stay in cargo too long and when you land in LA, they will be the first ones to get out of cargo.”
I wondered if he was an angel. As we were sitting in
our seats on the plane, I looked out onto the tarmac and saw the two crates going into the belly of the plane but I felt secure and grateful that this guy helped us. We were on our way to LA with love and good wishes.
Suddenly I jumped as I heard my cell phone ring. My mom was reminding me that I’d be late for school if I did not get home soon. I looked down. Lilly looked up at me, and I know she was thinking … What did I tell you? Jeez, Alicia, you talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. Then it dawned on me that this kind woman had been so engrossed in the story like me, that we almost forgot where we were.
“How absolutely beautiful, Alicia and it’s wonderful that you’ve given these two such a good home,” said Ina.
“I’m not the only one who is good to them.” I told her about the two boys who live in the front house on our property and even though they’re the toughest guys I’ve ever met, they are really gentle with Lilly and Lou.
“It’s funny, some of the hippest people I’ve met seem to be the kindest,” Ina remarked. “It actually takes a strong person to be kind.”
“It looks as though you’ve shown people how you would like them to treat you and your dogs. That’s important,” she explained.
Ina continued, “When I was younger and growing up in London, of course that was decades ago, I had a little white French Poodle named Dominique. I simply adored her. Recently I’ve realized that I had learned many life lessons from my darling Dominique; things like patience, love, enjoying nature and being kind. Your story reminds me of this. It seems as though this has happened to you too. I would have been delighted if someone had shared a story like yours with me when I was young.”
“Thanks, Ina. The only bad thing that remains from Lou’s past is a scar on his back leg and a little shyness. I look at the scar every now and then to remind myself of the hard life he had.” Ina nodded her head and said, “Exactly. We all may have scars whether they are on the inside or the outside. All people and animals have stories and backgrounds and should be treated with kindness, love and respect.”
“Wow, that’s cool,” I said to Ina. I couldn’t believe how I had been so focused on her bird landing pad of a hat, electric lipstick and the loud flowers on her dress.
“I’m sorry, love, I took all your time this morning,” Ina said.
“Please, I did all the talking. And anyway, I’m so happy when people care and show interest like you do.”
Just as we were getting ready to say goodbye, Howie the cool camera man came over to our table. “Excuse me, sorry to interrupt, but are you Ina Weston, the columnist for the West Times Magazine?”
Ina smiled, “Yes, I am.”
“I’m Howie. My friends and I were talking about that really funny story you did last week. You’re great.”
Suddenly, Ina seemed shy.
“Thank you so much, Howie. You are very kind.”
She continued, “I just heard a great story from my new friend, Alicia.”
Howie looked over at me and smiled.
“I am going to give Alicia my business card and ask her mother to give me a call. I’d like to run this piece in our magazine and open up some avenues for Alicia to tell her tale to groups of young adults. I think there’s a lot to learn from this story.”
“Nice going Alicia.” Howie shook my hand, smiled and said, “How cool is that?”
Ina let out a little chuckle. “Please, I could chatter on all day long. When we meet again, I will tell you more about my little Dominique. I think I’ve finally recovered from the loss of Dominique and am ready to give my love to another dog. Perhaps you can tell me where the animal shelters are?”
“For sure. I have a list of every animal shelter in the city! If you’d like, I could show you around the one where I volunteer. Adopting from a shelter is definitely the way to go,” I assured Ina.
“Well, that would be wonderful, thank you, Alicia,” she said.
Just as the waiter put the bill on the table, Ina reached out and grabbed it.
“This was my treat.” I went to shake her hand but she gave me a hug.
“It was really nice to meet you, Ms. Weston. This was a great morning!”
I looked down and smiled at Lilly and Lou who make me and countless others so happy.
“Come on, my precious pups, let’s get moving.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Doriane Lucia has been formally involved in animal rescue and Humane Education since 1994. While living in New York City, she assisted the ASPCA’s Humane Educator with lessons for children. Invaluable experience was also gained while working as an Adoption Counselor at one of the most highly regarded animal shelters in the country.
Doriane is the founder of Humane Nation Foundation through which she creates and conducts Humane Education lessons. She also holds individual consultations bridging the gap between what is legal and what is humane to better the life of a dog, the family and the community.
Doriane received her Master’s degree in Humane Education from Cambridge College in Boston, MA and The Institute for Humane Education. She is also a member of APHE (Association for Professional Humane Educators) and received the ASPCA’s certificate in Humane Education.
The Story of Lilly & Lou has been introduced to many young adults and children. Doriane thanks you for bringing this story into your home or classroom as it has proven to be a successful tool to help tap into the compassion, potential and passion of our children. A companion workbook with lesson plans is available at:
www.humanenation.us
Mick, Doriane, Sadie and Bula
The Story of Lilly & Lou Page 4