Chapter 3: Chapter Two/James
"You're my whole life. I would never be happy again".
-Peeta, The Hunger Games
I was driving down the road in my minivan. My music was turned all the way up. I was listening to my 60's music, the best kind out there. Especially the song Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison playing on the radio. My windows were rolled all the way down. I didn't care if anybody heard it. The song was a bop back in the day and still is at least I think .I would care even less if the police tracked me down. What can I say? I am a bad guy. A very bad guy, I might add. No, I am actually quite a good guy.
Let me explain to you why I am such a good guy. You see I was driving down my street, and I just so happened to see a mother and her pups. Normally, a person who drives wouldn't stop, or maybe they would pick them up unless you're a dog catcher. Today, I decided out of all the crap in my life I'll do something good for a change.
I parked my minivan alongside the dumpster. I went to the back, and opened up the cages. I worked part time at Pet Score, an animal store. I had extra cages in the back, it was my work truck I used to pick up animals from local shelters. I opened them up, one of them bigger cages for the mother. I glanced over and she had about five pups around her. I unlocked two more of the smaller cages. I grabbed my catch pole and slowly approached the dogs.
I held the pole tightly in my hands. The mother dog had her head bowed down. She was getting in an attacking defence stance. I was prepared to grab her. People without proper training shouldn't try anything like this, likely I had my license for it. I crept to her very slowly until my pole was only an inch from her face.
"Grrr." I heard her growling at me.
My hands started to shake and get sweaty. The pole was starting to slip. I couldn't let her see the fear she invoked in me. Dogs could sense things like that. We stood there, staring at her. Her pups started to surround her. She kept snapping at them to get back. I quickly wrapped the pole around her neck while she was distracted by her pups.
She struggled against it, the dog was strong too. I carefully picked up the mother. I kept her a safe distance away from my face. The dog was still struggling against me. I put her in the cage, and locked it behind me. She tried to snap at me through the cage. I put my hands up and closed my eyes. I let out a small breath. The dog frightened me to my core.
I went back to get the pups. They were scrambling trying to hide from me. I counted five pups. I looked around, like I was playing hide and seek with them. I found a couple in these boxes. I could hear their whimpering, and their small growls as I reached for them. I found the last one by the dumpster. It was tiny. I was guessing it was the runt of the bunch. I only made that conclusion based on its size compared to the others. I locked them in the last two cages I had. All growling at me and looking at their mother, whimpering. I shut the van doors behind me, and headed back to the drivers side.
I figured I could maybe make a couple bucks off these pups. Maybe even sell the mom too. I finished driving down the street until I reached my road. I turned on my signal light to the right, and headed to my house. When I did make it to my house, I reversed park the van into the driveway, that way it'll be easier to get them out. I unlocked the back of the van, and grabbed my catch pole again. I laid it beside the garage door.
I pressed the garage button on the side, and typed the password. The garage door opened up. I rarely used it but it will work for the dogs. I grabbed one of the puppies' cages first, and carried it into the garage. I went back and grabbed the other puppies, and finally the mother dog's cage too. She was heavier than the rest.
I closed the garage door while the pups were whining loudly. I made sure the van doors were shut and locked. When I was satisfied I headed back into the house with my catch pole. I laid my keys on the table and headed for the bathroom. I grabbed some towels. I needed to get some supplies to take care of them tomorrow.
I grabbed a few blankets out of the closet. I went into the living room and grabbed some of the pillows. I added new pillows and towels on my checklist of things to get. I opened up the door that led to the garage. I turned on the light. The mother dog was growling at me. I put the pole aside and grabbed the broom. I started to sweep the area. A thought occurred to me. I needed them to sniff my scent without getting close enough for them to bite me.
I ran back inside and grabbed a dirty shirt, and brought it back into the garage with me. The floor in the garage was dirty, I don't want to spoil them, but it was just too dirty even for me. I swept until I was okay with it. I laid the blankets down and added the pillows around it. I added the towels away from it. They could use those as temporary puppy pads. I made my way to the cages in the middle of the room.
I used my shirt and stuck it up to the puppies' cages. They sniffed it deeply, each taking a turn and turning their wide eyes up at me. I threw the shirt down to the side. I opened up the puppies' cages first. The mother kept giving me death glare stares. I let the puppies run around. They kept sniffing everything around the garage, which wasn't much though. When I thought they were okay, I grabbed the catch pole. I unhooked the locks on the mother dog's cage.
I kept the cage closed with my foot until I got a better handle of the pole. With my foot still holding the cage, I took my free hand and picked up my shirt again. I pressed it up against the cage. The mother dog cautiously made her way. She sniffed it and growled at me. Then, she turned her back and went to the end of the cage.I took a deep breath. I placed the shirt on top of a nearby small table. Here I go. I slowly opened up the cage, she was pressed against the back of the cage too. I opened it up and stuck the pole in first. She snapped at it. Vicious. That's what came to mind. I wrapped the hook around her neck. I pulled her close to me. I snatched the shirt again and held it up to her. She kept struggling against the pole. I didn't want to let her out in case she tried to bite me. Which seemed like a good possibility at the moment.
After a moment I finally got her to calm down. She sniffed the shirt again.I didn't want to challenge her. Surprisingly she didn't bite me when I let her out of the cage, unlike most people I know. Like I was saying, I had the catch pole around the mother and carried her over to her pups. I grabbed each of her pups until not one was left, and put them all in a pile together.
After they were all settled down. I headed back inside the house, shutting the door behind me. The mother didn't trust me yet, I guess for good reason too. I didn't want to wake up knowing the mother had bitten me to death. I took a shower, getting the dog's smell off of me. I made my way to the kitchen, and heated up some leftover spaghetti. I didn't have any dog food, so they were going to have leftovers too. They ate out of the trash anyway.
I picked out three bowls from the cabinet. I filled it with spaghetti leftovers. I opened up the garage door. They were all asleep too. I saw that one of them peed on the floor, and one even pooped. I put the bowls down and headed back inside. I got another bowl, this time bigger and filled it up with some water. I grabbed some paper towels, and a small trash bag and headed back out to the garage. I took the bowl filled with water, and placed it on one of the clean towels.
I took one of the other towels and used it to clean up the pee. I had the paper towels trapped in my armpits. I grabbed a few to clean up the poop. Once it was done, and cleaned up, I remade their beds for them. I headed back to my house, and washed my hands. I scrubbed them until I thought they were squeaky clean.
I went to sleep that night, but could hear them in the garage. I tried to tune out the noise. It wasn't working, I went back and found the water bowl was emptied. I fixed the mother with some water. I went around the house looking to make sure that they wouldn't be able to escape. My house was all cluttered up. You would figure that. I headed back to bed, knocking stuff over. I finally got some shut eye.
I always hated the early morning hours. I went to check on the pups and their mom. They were still sleeping, and I saw the mess that awaited me. Ugh. I wasn't going to like this. I had to keep reminding myself of why I got them. The first one was, I wanted to be a good guy, but the more I had them , the more I thought of money. The bad guy in me couldn't resist a good offer.
I grabbed my keys and headed to the store. I was low on human and dog supplies. I first went to where I worked. I picked up some dog food and some canned milk for the pups. It cost me almost a hundred dollars. Figuratively, at least. I ran some errands around the grocery store. I needed food for myself too.
The pups ate my leftovers I was going to eat in the next couple of days. After I was done, I headed back to my house. They were laying right where I left them. I fed the mother. Now I am not usually a dog person, but since this is a stray dog I might keep her. I could also breed her too. The thought of money swirled and toyed with my mind again. I slightly grinned at it.
The dog looks quite skinny though. I didn't know if she was gonna be able to make it the first night. She looks healthier now, at least compared to what she did when I first got her.
A couple of months later…
The pups were starting to grow. They looked to be healthy too. I wasn't a veterinarian, but I could tell when a dog was eating right. That much I knew. I will admit they are a beautiful breed of dogs. I couldn't quite put my finger on what type of dog but who cares right? It still bugged me to figure it out. I mean dogs like huskies could sell for a fortune.
I couldn't tell if they were mixed huskies or if they were german shepherd breeds. Well, I need to figure out what they are so I can tell people when I sell them. You heard me right. I decided the money was worth it after all. These dogs were starting to get annoying, and I could use it. I live in a crappy place. Not being a nice person pays way more than if I was.
The mother was in much better health. She is still a working progress though. I am finally happy that I can make some money in about five more months. I could really use it, and besides these dogs are useless to me. I haven't got any complaints yet though. We will see how that goes in the future.
Five more months later…
The pups are big enough to start selling. I feel like a proud owner. I have fed them and kept them alive for so long. I took them off the streets. I don't think I will mention they are strays. They might sell faster that way. I don't know out of the five pups I may keep three or so. I know now I definitely want to keep the mother. She is in good enough shape to start breeding again. There are three of the pups I have gotten attached to.
I decided to name them Rotter, Bexley and Kenzie. I haven't really decided if I wanted to keep them. It's still a decision. I could use them for breeding too. That sounds like a pretty good idea to me. Those are just some names I picked out, I haven't decided if I want to keep those names though.
The other two I am possibly wanting to keep aren't as attached to me as I hope. Kenzie, Rotter, Bexley, and the other two pups formed a pack. It would be hard for me to break that. Now I guess I have to keep them too. What to name them I wonder...
I finally decided on the names and to just keep them, Kenzie, Bexley, Owen, Rotter and Mutt. Mutt gets on my nerves more than any of them. She is always whining and wanting this or that. I say someone is a tiny bit spoiled. I don't understand how though. I treated them all the same. Sometimes I wished that I would have given her away.
My plans for selling them went down the drain. They were all attached to each other. I might end up selling Mutt and Owen though,and retrain them to somehow be okay with it. That's the thing though I can't. If I did my other protectors would go too. I don't even think they would think twice about me.
I was finding the perfect dog to breed with the mother. I hadn't fed her for days. I knew she was hungry, but I was punishing her. She tried to escape. I caught her just in time too. That'll teach her something. At least I hoped that it would.
I left the house, I had to go to work for a few hours. When I came back to find the pups standing. I felt like that was somehow communicating. I went into the other room. I can hear their low barking. I watched as I saw Kenzie laying down. She wasn't moving, I thought she was sleeping, but I couldn't see her chest rising and falling. I didn't hear her pant either, or the way her ears turned at the slightest noise.
I walked up to her. I could see foam coming out of her mouth. Kenzie had just died from Provo. I had to bury her. I came to get the Mother of the dogs. When I picked her up, I carried her to the food bowl. The other two pups followed me. I grabbed the broom and threatened them. Then, Owen, the male pack of the group, tried to attack me!
I was lucky Rotter came around the corner. He attacked Owen. Owen started to bleed to death. It all happened so fast. Owen, however, gave me an idea. Dog fights. I would have to get in touch with my friend Cade.He was an expert in that field area.
I gently approached them. Owen had looked me in the eyes like I was his meal. Like I would taste much sweeter than anything else. In that instance, I thought my life was over. I knew he was going to attack me. I also thought he could read my mind. It was like he was smiling at me.
He then leaped so fast my eyes couldn't catch it in time. I heard a whimper and then the last breath. I looked down. Rotter was laying over his dead brother. Blood pooling out of his mouth. He looked at me with regret but pride. I knew then I could break that bond between them. Rotter just proved to me I could. I had to bury Owen next to Kenzie. I had his blood all over me. It was gruesome.
Don't worry. I am not the bad guy, remember. I am a good guy. The good guy who was fixing to make a lot more money than most people. I knew what I was fixing to do. I wasn't fixing to go back either. Rotter was my one true chance of happiness.
While I was sitting there daydreaming I could see Mutt ready to pounce on me next. Mutt saw she was outnumbered. She didn't jump how I had hoped she would. Breaking the last chains of their will.
Instead, she looked up at me. Hatred, clever, smart and emptiness filled her eyes. I knew she was gone. I knew from the very moment her brother hit the ground, she was gone. I also knew I saw hurt in her eyes. She knew what I was capable of. Yet, I somehow knew what she was capable of too. I knew she could take all of us in a heartbeat. That's one thing I do admire about Mutt though she is quite strong; she is also too clever for a human being.
That night, I heard the cries of the family as they bid farewell to Owen and Kenzie. I closed my eyes knowing what was to come and what I needed to plan.
I knew that Mutt was dangerous. I just have to be careful that she doesn't come back, or else I'll hit her with the broom as usual.
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