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Guard Dog

Tread softly

By Bryan DayPublished 3 years ago 9 min read
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8:59 pm and a half hour til the end of my shift.

The evening summer air was cool and I drove around the little community in circles, idling the time away. A lone firework shot up from a nearby neighborhood and exploded with a loud boom and blossom of red sparks that shimmered and faded away.

The walky talky rested in the cup holder of the security golf cart and flickered a small green light but there was no accompanying voice. I picked it up and rotated the dial back to full volume and waited. Eddie’s voice sounded out.

“3 to Ben.”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“Hey man, are you free?”

I thought about lying and saying I was busy.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

A moment of silence then,

“Can you go up to apartment 587 and help the lady with her dog?”

“What does she need?”

Another pause, longer than the first.

“Call me on the landline.”

I pulled out my phone and dialed the gatehouse. Eddie picked up on the first ring.

“Hey man.”

“Hey. What’s up with her dog?”

“Ok, it’s Rita Arlinger and she just called up here and said her dog is sick and she wants someone to come up and put it to sleep.”

“... she wants what?”

Eddie began to chuckle.

“That’s what she said. I just got off the phone with her.”

“What did you tell her?”

“I told her I’d send somebody up to come and talk to her.”

I thought about Rita Arlinger. I’d been inside her apartment recently, helping her search for missing items that weren’t really missing. Rita was forgetful and getting more so with each passing day.

One thought usurped all the others.

“I’ve been in Rita’s apartment before, she doesn’t have a dog.”

Eddie’s chuckles kept rolling.

“Bro, I don’t know, that’s what she just said on the phone. She said it's sick and she wants someone to come up and kill it. She sounded like she might have been crying”

“Did you tell a nurse?”

“I called Nancy and told her but she said we should go up first and talk with her.”’

“huh”

“...soooo, you gonna go up?”

“Yeah man, I’ll head up there.”

“You think she stole someone’s dog?”

“I don’t know man. I was just up there two weeks ago. She doesn’t have a dog.”

A big hearty guffaw to send me off.

“Good luck bro.”

Her apartment was just off the elevator on the 5th floor, first one to the left.

Before I reached the front door, I heard the TV on from within, tremendously loud. It was an old game show. I stood and listened.

“DON’T GO ANYWHERE, THIS MATCH IS JUST GETTING STARTED, BACK AFTER THESE MESSAGES.”

I knocked loudly on the door with all four knuckles.

A few seconds went by, then the deadbolt unlatched with a smooth sliding click but the door remained closed.

I waited.

The hinges groaned as the door swung open.

Rita was like most of them. One description for a hundred: little and old with short white hair. She wore a plain white tee with powder blue slacks and a matching blazer.

The skin under her eyes was puffy red and moist from fresh tears.

“Hello?” Her voice quivered.

“Hi Rita.”

She stared at me with a blank expression, no indication of recognition.

“Do you remember me? Ben from security? I helped you look for your necklace a couple weeks ago,” I yelled over the volume.

I could see the wheels turning in her head as she surveyed my face.

Infomercials now about prosthetic teeth that fit over bad teeth. A man in his early thirties was giving a testimonial wearing the miracle mouthpiece. Sonic assault.

“I JUST LOVE TO SHOW OFF MY CONFIDENT SMILE!”

“They said you needed some help with your dog?”

She gave two little nods of her head.

“He’s very sick.”

“You want me to take a look at him?”

“OK”

She stood aside and I went in.

Her apartment was immaculately clean. Hardly any personal items on display. White carpet with no stains and plenty of bounce to it. The kitchen counter tops spotless and clear. Only the kitchen light and the glow of the TV lit the otherwise dark apartment.

The television was enormous, a sixty inch flat screened behemoth that asserted its presence in the room. It rested on a short white table.

“I've been trying to feed him for three days and he won’t eat anything,” she said as we entered her living room.

She walked me over to a white chaise lounge, next to the television.

“Just look at him.”

Resting on the cushion with a small bowl of chicken cutlets at it’s side sat a large Rottweiler stuffed animal. It was posed so that it rested on all fours.

I looked at Rita. Tears started to well up in her eyes as she looked helplessly at the little stuffed doll.

“This is the dog Rita?” I asked.

She nodded, sniffling.

“He hasn’t moved in three days.”

He’s not moving anytime soon, I thought to myself.

She shuffled around me, closer to the TV stand and retrieved a small bowl filled with water.

I kept my eyes on her as she kept hers on it, moving slowly forward, careful not to spill any liquid.

She held the bowl of water under the snout for a few moments then let out a small sigh and laid the bowl next to the chicken cutlets.

She looked up at me.

“He won’t even drink water. I keep trying, but he just doesn’t want it.”

A used car ad now blaring next to my head,

“WE’RE SLASHING PRICES LEFT AND RIGHT SO COME ON DOWN AND TAKE A TEST DRIVE IN YOUR DREAM CAR.”

An air horn screamed out for extra savings emphasis.

Why is this thing on so loud?

I looked around the living room and saw the remote sitting on a coffee table. I walked over and picked it up and turned the volume down to barely above a whisper, then walked back over to her.

“How long have you had him Rita?”

“Oh, a little while, I suppose.”

“Huh. And when did he start to get sick?”

“Maybe a couple days ago. I think. I just know he’s not moving and that’s not a good sign.

How is one supposed to get out of these situations? I thought.

Rita nudged the bowl of cutlets towards the little canine doll.

“I wish you would drink,” she implored.

Best to just do it quick. I mean, what do you do?

“Well, to be honest Rita, I’m not really sure that I can do anything.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean it’s not something we usually take care of in security. Usually you would take him to a vet.”

“But he’s suffering.”

I looked down at the inanimate dog.

“Yeah…”

“You see it for yourself. He won’t eat or drink anything I bring to him. He’s in pain and I don’t want to look at him like this anymore. I can’t look at him anymore tonight like this.”

I looked into Rita’s sad little eyes.

You poor little lady, I thought. You’re standing right here with me but you're not really here, are you? Drifting somewhere else.

“Well I mean, if you want… I could just take him with me, if you’d like.”

“You would?”

I nodded my head.

“What would you do?”

“I’d make sure he was taken care of.”

“Would you kill him?”

“Well, I’ll stop his suffering.”

“You would kill him?”

“Yeah Rita, I’ll kill him.”

She looked down at the little lump of stuffing and fabric. The tears began to well again.

“I just can’t look at him anymore. You think it’s best, don’t you?”

“I think if it helps him, it's the right thing to do.”

Her head gave a few quick nods.

“OK then. I’ll take him with me.”

I reached down and slid my arm under the stuffed animal. For a moment, I was unsure if I should act like it was heavier than it was. I hoisted it up gingerly and tucked it under my arm. It’s head stuck out straight forward.

“OK Rita. I’m gonna take him with me and see that he’s taken care of.”

She looked into the plastic marble eyes, then reached out her little wrinkled hand and began to softly stroke it’s head. This time the tears didn’t just well, a few trickled out.

“He’s been a good dog.”

I reached up with my free hand and gave her a small pat on the back, hoping the soft gesture would be of some reassurance, whatever it may be.

“It’s ok Rita. He’s been a good dog but we’ll stop the suffering now, ok?”

She retreated her hand and looked at me.

“OK.”

I started towards the door and she followed in tandem

“What I’ll also do Rita is I’m gonna call the nurses and have them come check on you. I know it’s probably been a rough couple days and they can check on you to see if you need anything.”

“OK.”

I opened up the front door and stepped back into the hallway and turned back to face her.

“Just hang tight for a little and the nurses will come and check on you."

“OK,” she muttered. “Thank you for all your help.”

“It’s no problem, you take care.”

I turned and started off. I didn’t hear the door close and knew she was watching me til I was out of sight. When I knew she couldn’t see me anymore, I stopped and listened.

A few moments of stillness, then I heard the door softly close and catch and the lock turn.

In the elevator, I held the stuffed animal up and looked at it face to face. It’s mouth had been fashioned to be open and turned up, a little canine smile. No teeth. Little beads of water clung to the tiny cloth fibers.

“Haven’t moved for three days huh big guy? I wonder what all you saw in there.”

I tucked it back under my arm.

I pushed the button for ground and we headed down.

9:29.

I slid open the glass doors of the gatehouse but did not enter.

Eddie was sitting at the counter, playing black jack with himself.

I tossed the stuffed dog up on the counter top.

“Got ourselves a new member of the team, the guard dog.”

Eddie’s eyes widened.

“No way bro.”

“True story.”

“Bro, no way!”

“She was trying to feed it and give it water.”

“Seriously?”

“Feel it’s nose. It’s still wet”

Eddie got up and gave the face a squeeze.

He let out a loud laugh in disbelief,

“Oh man, what did you do?”

“I went up there, she showed it to me sitting on the couch and said she wanted it killed so I took it with me.”

“You didn’t try to tell her?”

“I didn’t know if I should. I figured I might crumble her world if I told her it wasn’t real. Figured I’d just go along with it and have the nurses go up and talk with her.”

“Bro, that poor lady.”

The phone rang and Eddie walked over and picked it up.

“Security, this is Eddie.”

I pointed over my shoulder with my thumb and gave a small wave to Eddie.

He waved back then looked at the dog and laughed silently to himself.

I pantomimed a phone with my hand and mouthed the words, “call the nurses,” and pointed to the stuffed animal. He gave me the thumbs up.

I slid the doors shut and headed for the time clock.

Walking through the parking lot, another lone firework exploded overhead, bursting out green and gold. A couple of dogs started barking nearby and I thought of Rita alone in her apartment.

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About the Creator

Bryan Day

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