“I didn’t get you anything, Tina.” I feel so bad. We never exchange gifts.
“Good. Because I don’t want anything. Well, except the car.” She blows Mom and Dad a kiss.
“You bought me something, and I didn’t get you anything. That’s not fair.” I don’t want to accept the present, because I feel like I’m not contributing to our relationship.
“When have I ever said you have to do something for me because I do something for you?” she questions.
She’s right. She may be impatient, bossy, and generally a pain in the butt, but she’s not greedy or selfish. Not with me. “Thank you.” I open the little box, and inside is a gold pendant on a gold chain. The pendant is two rings entwined. One has my name on it, and the other has Tina’s. “Wow,” I say in a breathless voice. “This is beautiful, Tina.”
“I want you to know, that no matter where our lives go, I’ll always be with you. If you need me, just call, and I’ll be there.”
I smile again. Tonight’s been really overwhelming for me. I’ve been showered with so much love. I take the chain out of the box, and signal for Tina to help me put it on. I don’t need to say anything. She stands, comes around to my back, and clasps the chain around my neck.
I pick the pendant up, staring at it. “It’s perfect, thank you.”
Tina leans down and gives me a kiss on the cheek.
Tonight, is the best night of my life.
“Who’s ready for dessert?” Dad asks.
“Me,” Mom and Tina answer in unison. I nod my head, too overwhelmed with all the emotions running through my body to verbally answer.
What a night.
“Are you taking Zhen or do you want me to?” I ask Tina as I stand leaning against her door.
“Can you? I’ve got a date, and I want to get ready.”
“Who’s the date with?” I walk in further to her room, and sit on her bed. She’s sitting at her table, cleaning her face with a make-up wipe. Zhen follows me, and lays with his legs spread behind me on the floor. “You hot, boy?” I ask as I lean down and pet his back.
“I swear, that dog doesn’t give a rat’s ass about anyone else in this family. Anyway, it’s with Preston,” she says.
“Oh yeah, that’s the guy you met when you went out with Gabriella and Willow last month. You’ve been seeing a lot of him. When am I going to meet him?”
“I’ll set something up,” Tina says, smiling at me in the mirror.
“You two going out today? During the day?”
“No, not during the day. We’re going out tonight. Dinner, then a movie.”
“And you can’t take Zhen to the vet for his vaccinations, why?” If she’s going out tonight, she can take Zhen to the vet.
“I have a very valid reason.”
“Which is?”
“I don’t want to. I’m getting ready for our date.”
“Now?”
“It takes time to look this good.” She waves her hand over her body, and I can’t help but let out a laugh. “Anyway, he doesn’t listen to me.” She looks back, and sees Zhen laying on the floor. His eyes staring at her. “Zhen,” she calls him. He doesn’t budge.
“Go on,” I say to him.
Zhen gets up, and takes a few steps to Tina. She lowers her hand, and gives him a few pats before she returns to her beauty regimen. “See? He doesn’t listen to any of us.”
“Come here, boy,” I say to Zhen. He slowly trots back to me, and sits on my foot. “I’ll take you to the vet.” His tail wags and flicks my ankle. Zhen stands seconds before I do, it’s like he can anticipate my moves. “Have fun tonight.”
“I’ll see you before I go. Oh, hey, can I borrow that black shimmery top?”
“Which black shimmery top?”
“The black one. The one you wore to Dad’s forty-fifth. Remember?”
“Yeah, sure. Do you want me to get it?”
“Nah, I’ll get it after my shower.”
“Be safe tonight, Tina. If I’m asleep when you get home, wake me so you can tell me about it.”
Tina swings around to look at me. “I was going to.” She waggles her brows at me.
She always makes me smile. She’s so honest and raw. But she’s kept her relationship with this Preston under wraps until now. I wonder why.
“Come on, Zhen.” I snap my fingers as we walk out and down the stairs. Zhen’s behind me, only by a few steps. “Mom,” I call.”
“In the living room.” I head in to find her streaming a movie. “What’s up?”
“I’m taking Zhen to the vet for his vaccinations.”
Mom looks at her watch, and back to me. “Oh crap, I was supposed to do that.” She quickly stands.
“I can do it. Stay here and relax. I might take him to the dog park afterward.”
“Are you sure? I can come with you.”
“I’m okay, Mom.”
“Hang on, let me give you my card.” She dashes out of the room, then comes back with her purse. “Here you go.” She hands me her charge card.
“I’m not sure what time I’ll be back.”
“Okay, sweetheart. Just drive safely,” she says.
Zhen follows me out, and I head to the mudroom to get his lead. He walks beside me without it, but I know when we take him out of the house, we have to put it on him. For some reason, it makes people feel safer.
We head out to my new car, and I open the back door for him. “Do you need to pee?” I ask him. Zhen runs over to one of the low bushes in front of our home, and pees against it before running to the car and jumping in the back seat.
I head out of our gates and down the road toward the main part of town. We live in the suburbs of a fairly large and bustling town.
Zhen’s in the back, breathing heavily, and slobbering all over my back seat. “You’re the first person in my car, and you’re drooling everywhere.” Zhen closes his mouth and tilts his head. Then opens his mouth and pants. “Great, more slobber.”
We get to the vet’s office, and I park right outside. Going in, Zhen walks beside me as I loosely hold the lead. As soon as the lady sitting at the counter sees me, she smiles. “Hey Zhen,” she says acknowledging him before me.
Zhen wags his tail, but stays close to me.
“Michael shouldn’t be too long,” she says to me. Michael is Zhen’s vet.
“Thank you.” Zhen and I take a seat in the waiting room. He jumps up on the bench beside me, and places his head in my lap. “You okay?” I ask him. He blinks several times.
I zone out, petting Zhen. But it doesn’t take long for Michael to call us into an exam room. I tap Zhen’s head, and he jumps off the bench, following me into the room.
“How are you?” Michael asks.
“Good,” I smile.
“What can we do for you, Zhen?” he bends, and grunting, picks Zhen up to place him on the table.
“It’s vaccination time,” I say.
Michael is a fantastic vet. He treats Zhen like he’s his own. “Let’s check you out, and make sure you’re all good.” Michael works his hands down Zhen’s body and gives him a thorough examination, even checking his temperature. “He’s good. Come on, buddy. Let’s check your weight.” He carefully places Zhen on the floor, and watches as we walk out to the large scale they have in the waiting room. “Perfect, seventy pounds. Let’s go back in the room, and I’ll get his vaccinations ready. He’s a perfect weight for a dog his size.”
I lift Zhen and put him on the table as Michael gets the vaccines ready. He comes back into the room, and closes the door. “Do you think these will affect him at all?” I ask.
“They’ve never posed a problem in the past, have they?” Michael asks.
“He tends to be a bit sleepy the day after, but other than that, nope.”
“He’ll be fine.”
“Will it be okay to take him to the dog park after we leave here?”
“I can’t see why not.” He pinches the skin on the back of Zhen’s neck, and injects the vaccines into him.
He hands me a small manila envelope containing some tablets. “He needs to take one of these tonight with his dinner, and the other tomorrow with his breakfast. It’s to prevent heartworm.” He lifts Zhen and places him back on the floor.
Zhen finds my legs, and leans against them. “Thank you,” I say, and lead Zhen out to the reception area to pay for our visit.
Once we’re in the car, Zhen lays on the back seat, just keeping his eyes open. Thankfully, the dog park isn’t too far away.
“Come on, boy,” I say to him as I open the back door, and take his lead.
I open the gate to the dog park, and unclip his lead. Zhen runs to the other side, then comes back to find me. There’s a coffee cart along the side of the fence. I head over, order a coffee and wait while it’s prepared. I watch as Zhen runs around the dog park, playing on the dog obstacle course. I can’t help but giggle at him. He’s acting so free.
“Your coffee,” the guy says and hands me a cup.
I take it and go sit on one of the bench seats inside the fence.
There are four other people here with their dogs. All the dogs seem to be doing their own thing, which I find entertaining, except for one guy who’s throwing a ball for his dog. The dog runs off to retrieve it and brings it back.
I sip on my coffee, and watch everyone.
“You stupid fucking mutt!” I hear.
The aggressive tone has me swinging my head to the side to see the guy who was throwing the ball punch his dog. The dog yelps, and backs away from him
Zhen must sense something’s not right, and runs straight back to me, positioning himself protectively in front of me.
“Hey!” I yell, as the guy draws his fist back to hit his dog again.
“Mind your own business!” he yells at me.
No one else says anything to him, even though they’re all watching.
I stand, but stop before I can take a step. I blink. The words are caught in my throat. A vivid picture of a discolored, stuffed bunny rabbit, with big floppy ears, forces itself into my mind. I blink again, and the bunny is gone.
Pushing the image back, I charge over to him before he has a chance to hit his dog again. “Don’t you dare hit this animal,” I say, standing in front of his dog. Zhen is standing in front of me.
“Fuck off. Out of my way, you nosy bitch!” the guy spits angrily.
“If you want to hurt that dog, you’ll have to go through me.” I stand firm, crossing my arms and refusing to budge. I have no idea what happened for him to become so aggressive with this poor, innocent animal.
He moves to step around me, but Zhen maneuvers to confront him, baring his teeth so the guy can’t get close to me, or his cowering dog.
“I’m going to beat the shit out of you when we get home.” He points to the dog. “Move out of my way,” he spits at me.
“That dog isn’t going anywhere with you.”
“He’s not yours, he’s mine. Move, before I smash you like that useless fucking mutt.”
My adrenaline is running high. My heart’s going crazy in my chest. The bunny pops back in my head for split second, catching my words in my throat.
“We’ve called the police,” one of the other dog owners calls to me.
The guy looks around at everyone, and calls his dog over. The dog cowers on the ground, but won’t go to him. “Come here, boy,” I say as I crouch toward him. Zhen stands still between the man and me, and the other dog comes to me. “Have him, he’s a dumb mutt anyway.” The guy turns, and jogs out of the park, obviously trying to get out of here before the police show up.
The dog whimpers beside me as he lays on the ground.
“Hey there. Are you okay?” I ask softly, patting him on the head.
The guy takes off quickly, spinning out his tires as he leaves.
“Oh my God, that was so brave of you,” a woman says.
“I couldn’t just stand there watching him beat his dog,” I reply. But the delayed shock of it is making me tremble.
Zhen smells the other dog’s butt, the other dog smells Zhen’s. “Looks like you have a new dog.” She looks over her shoulder, and sees her husband waving his phone at her. “Good. My husband got that guy’s tags. We’ll report him to the police when they arrive.”
“He shouldn’t have any animals. Why would you do that?”
She shrugs. “We’ll wait with you until the police come.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
Zhen and the other dog walk together around the park. I have a little laugh. “Don’t they look like they’re friends who are talking?” she asks.
“They do. I’m not sure how my parents are going to take me bringing another dog home. I suppose we’ll soon see. I think I’ll take him to the vet, get him checked out first. He looks a bit underweight.”
“Makes you wonder why that guy would bring his dog to a dog park if he would publicly mistreats it. What makes people do that? Probably drugs.”
I gasp, and look around me. Placing my hand to my heart, I can feel it fiercely throbbing in my chest. That damned bunny comes forward again.
“Are you okay?” the woman asks.
I’m stuck, unable to think a coherent thought, let alone a sentence.
Zhen appears beside me, and he nudges me with his head. The other dog, sits on my other side.
“What was that?” I whisper.
“Hey, are you okay? You’ve gone all white,” the woman asks. “Do you need some water?”
“No, I’m um, I’m okay.” I shake my head, trying to dislodge the image of the bunny.
It wasn’t pleasant. The bunny was old and tattered. Darkness surrounded it, not happiness. It’s probably impact from the shock.
“Police are here,” the woman says.
The image has left a sour feeling rumbling in my stomach. There’s something sinister about it, but I can’t put my finger on it.
The police walk into the dog park, and I stand back, letting the woman and her husband explain what happened. Zhen and the other dog are now playing together.
I give my statement to the police, but keep an eye on the dogs, still being distracted by that image of the bunny. I don’t know what’s happening. It’s like a blur. Everyone’s talking, the dogs are having fun, and I’m under a veil of heaviness I can’t explain.
“We’ll follow up with this, and if there’s anything we need, we’ll be in touch,” one of the police officers says. They both walk out of the park.
“You were so brave,” the woman says again.
“Thank you.” I smile. Turning, I whistle for Zhen, and both dogs trot toward me. “Come on, new guy. I’ll take you to the vet and see what he has to say.”
Both dogs walk together brilliantly, like they’re life-long friends. Zhen jumps in first, then the other dog. I get in the car, start it and head back to the vet.
Once inside, the receptionist looks up and does a double take. “You’re back?”
“I’ve got an extra dog.”
She peers over the counter and smiles. “Where did you come from, buddy?”
“I kind of rescued him. Long story short, there was a guy at the dog park who was beating him.”
“Oh,” she gasps, her mouth falling open in shock.
“I know. Anyway, do you think Michael has time to check him out, please?”
She looks at the computer, checks her watch, then back to the computer. “Yeah, he’s got a patient in there with him now, but he should be able to squeeze you in straight after.”
“Thanks, you’re a life saver.”
She looks at me and smiles. “In this case, I think you’re the life saver.”
I hear the door open to Michael’s room, and a woman walks out holding a pillowcase. I see whatever is inside the pillowcase, moving. Or should I say, slithering.
“Yuck,” I grumble as a chill runs over my spine. Zhen turns to look at me. “It’s okay,” I say and pet him.
“Molly, you’re back already?” Michael asks.
“I have someone I’d like you to look over to make sure he’s okay.”
“Then come in.” The other dog is so placid, and gentle. He just follows Zhen, and Zhen follows me. “What’s happening?” Michael asks.
I give him a rundown on how I came into possession of this dog.
“Poor, dog. But, I’m glad he found you. Alright, let’s get you up on the table.” He picks the dog up, and gives him a thorough examination. He takes some x-rays and checks everything.
It feels like we’ve been in here for an hour by the time Michael has finished. “Is he okay?”
“He’s fairly healthy, considering what you told me. He’s definitely underweight though, so he needs some tender loving care, and a lot of food. I have no idea if he’s had his vaccines though.”
“Can we give them to him again? Will that be too much if he has had them?”
“No, not really. But judging by what you’ve said, I doubt he’s been taken care of. He needs a wash. He’s got fleas, and he stinks.” Yeah, he does. I have to agree on that.
“What kind of dog is he?”
“He’s definitely got boxer in him, but as far as the any other breed, I have no idea. He’s not a pure bred. I hate to say it, but he could’ve come from a puppy mill.”
My stomach churns with disgust. “I hate when people are cruel.”
“What do you want to do? You can surrender the dog to me if you don’t want him, but I can’t guarantee we’ll find him a home.”
“No, I’m taking him. Give him his vaccines, and I’ll get him cleaned up.”
Michael smiles, and heads out of the room. Zhen is relaxed beside me, while the other dog anxiously pants. Michael returns and places the kidney tray on the counter. “So what are you going to call him?”
I shrug. “No idea.”
“He’s a pretty good boy, considering I assume he’s come from a fairly hard life.” He pinches the skin on the back of his neck, and injects him with the vaccines. The dog whimpers. “It wouldn’t surprise me if the guy who hurt him was some kind of drug addict. I see it a lot with abandoned or mistreated animals. Some are even given drugs or used for target practice. The things I’ve seen are horrible. Unfortunately, not all can be saved.”
“Please, don’t say any more. I don’t think I can take it. Animal abuse is a… it’s…” I shake my head, my heart bleeding with sorrow. “It’s beyond disgusting. I wish I had a stronger word for it.”
Echoes of You Page 6