Leaving You Behind

Cristina wiped away the beads of sweat rolling down her face. Wearing a hat would have helped keep her cool, but there was no use lamenting it now. Only a few weeds stood between her and well deserved rest. Besides, Anais would be ecstatic to see her garden transformed. With Cristina’s hard work the garden would start to look decent again. With one final tug, her tired hand pulled the last weed from the dry dirt. Right on cue her neighbor’s voice came from the back door that led to the yard.

“Why don’t you come inside sweetheart? You’ve worked plenty.”

“Let me just finish cleaning up,” Cristina replied through a tired smile.

With all the weeds thrown in the trash, Cristina trudged inside the old woman’s home. Anais was seated at the small dinner table inside the kitchen, writing away inside her black book. Seeing Cristina she quickly set it to one side. Gardening gloves tossed onto the table, Critstina sat down opposite the older woman.

“Finally done! I just need to plant some flowers and your garden will look beautiful.”

“You have no idea how much I appreciate everything you’re doing,” Anais replied with a grateful smile.

Cristina batted the old woman’s words away, “It’s no problem, I like helping. The sun was killer though.”

“Speaking of, here,” Anais stood up to retrieve a pitcher of cold water from the refrigerator, “This’ll make you feel better, grab a glass won’t you?”

Cristina had been inside Anais's home enough times to know where everything was. Since she had moved in next door, Cristina had done her best to help elderly neighbor. It was the least she could do with the amount of hospitality Anais had shown her from the beginning. As she downed her glass of water the young woman eyed the little black book again, it was hard to keep her curiosity at bay.

“Writing in that book of yours again?”

Anais paused, seemingly caught off guard but regained her composure almost instantly, “I like to organize my thoughts and at my age there’s plenty.”

Cristina nodded, but she didn’t believe Anais entirely. The old woman was very secretive with it. Not once did she leave it out of her sight, always had it within reach. Before the subject could be pushed further, a bark interrupted the women.

“Ellie must be getting anxious,” Anais said, clearly relieved for the interruption.

Cristina shook her head, “I don’t get how you can take care of that dog,”

“She’s a good dog, you just need to give her a chance,” Anais refuted. Cristina stood up with gloves in hand knowing her neighbor was about to ask that she leave in order to let the dog out.

“I know I know, but she’s more than a handful for you. She’s small but aggressive.”

“Not with me, you know that. Now, it’s best you go home to rest and I can take Ellie out of the bathroom. I’m sorry I can’t let you stay, but I can’t leave the poor thing cooped up.”

“Ok, but call me if you need anything please.”

Anais only nodded, ushering her out in order to close the door. With a final wave, Cristina made her way to her own house through a gate door between their properties. Both houses were relatively the same, the main difference was Anais’s home was run down. They never touched the subject, but Cristina figured Anais couldn’t pay for upkeep. Despite having her own things to do, Cristina always helped her friend out. Not out of pity, but pure human kindness. Life would be better if people did favors out of kindness and not from the expectation of receiving anything in return. This didn’t make Cristina feel like she was a good or better person, but it did fill her with a sense of personal satisfaction.

But as much as she liked helping, tender, aching muscles begged for rest and Cristina was more than happy to oblige. A cold shower helped clean the grime and wash away the soreness she felt. Wailing sirens cut through her moment of peace. On any other day she would have ignored them, however they sounded too close by. Anais came to her mind, ignoring her soaking hair Cristina quickly wrapped her body in a robe and ran to check on her friend. Her heart beat a fast rhythm at the sight of an ambulance and cop car stationed on the old woman’s driveway. Paramedics were already headed inside with a stretcher and equipment. Concern moved her to run after them, when a hand grabbed her arm. She turned in anger to yank herself out of the grip but seeing who it was caught her by surprise.

Anais’s son stood there, face grim, “You can’t go inside, it’s best you go back home.” While Cristina had only ever seen Patrick a few times, he’d made it clear he didn’t like the friendship she had with his mother.

“This doesn’t concern you, go back home,” he repeated.

Cristina yanked her arm out of his grip, “I need to know if she’s ok.”

Patrick glared down at her, “You better go back home or you’ll regret it.”

For Anais’s sake, Cristina begrudgingly listened to him. However, Patrick couldn’t stop her from looking through her window. Minutes that felt endless ticked by, the wait agonizingly slow. Finally, a paramedic walked out. Patrick walked towards him surely to ask about Anais but the man only shook his head. Tears swelled in her eyes, Cristina didn’t need to hear what was said to know her friend was gone. Sure Patrick wouldn’t let her near Anais, Cristina could only cry from the window. Only when the ambulance drove away did she tear herself from the spot.

As Cristina slept a noise took her from her dreams. It was hard to distinguish at first but after straining a bit she realized it was a muffled barking. With everything that had occurred Cristina hadn’t thought of checking on Ellie. Obviously Patrick hadn’t taken her with him. Ellie was probably hungry and it wasn’t like Cristina could leave her to fend for herself. The least she could do was feed the dog for tonight and try to figure out what to do with her in the morning. Moving quickly she walked out of her house to Anais’s back door. Luckily the sliding door was still unlocked. Not knowing if Ellie was loose or not she made sure to move as quietly as possible.

No matter how many times Cristina had tried to win her over, Ellie just did not like her. Ellie didn't like anyone, only Anais. Tiptoeing to the cupboard for dog food she looked around through the darkness, but still no sign of the dog. Filling up a bowl with kibble she figured she should look in the bathroom first. Turning the doorknob slowly Cristina peeked through a small gap. Sure enough Ellie was huddled in a corner of the bathroom. Surprisingly Ellie didn't charge at her angrily like usual. Instead the little dog stayed in her corner, only letting out a growl when Cristina entered. Careful not to frighten the dog further, Christina gently set the bowl down on the floor and exited the bathroom without a word. Having completed her mission it was time to go home and rest for good. However, something on the kitchen table made her pause. The little black book Anais kept so secret lay there, its owner no longer able to keep anyone away from its contents.

It was wrong to snoop but her curiosity was too strong. Her fingers finally touched the small book, flickering over the pages before opening it to peek inside. Phone numbers made up a majority of what was written. The rest was a list titled: Ellie’s Favorite Things. It consisted of the dogs favorite treats, toys, even music she liked. This last one made Christina smile, it was something only Anais would do, write down Ellie’s favorite music. Deciding Patrick would just throw the book out, Cristina took it back home with her. Not knowing why, she couldn't help but read the list over again. Smiling, Cristina felt that even if Ellie didn’t like her very much she would win her over with Anais’s list. At least for the time being while she figured out what to do with the little dog.

Sure enough, the next day went more smoothly than she could have imagined. Little by little she won Ellie over, using what Anais had left written. Not wanting to leave her neighbor’s beloved pet alone, Cristina spent the whole day there. By the time she went back home Ellie had stopped barking and nipping at her. This went on for the next several days until finally Ellie listened to Cristina when she called her name. During that afternoon Cristina realized she couldn’t keep sneaking into her friend’s home. Ellie would have to go back with her, it wasn’t like Patrick was going to come get her anyway. Getting the little dog to go with her would have been an impossible task had it not been for the book. Sure, she was still an excitable dog but Ellie no longer held the aggressiveness she once had. If Cristina hadn’t seen the change herself she wouldn't have believed it. Once she had helped Anais chase after her down the street and now here she was lying on Cristina’s couch like it was her own. More weeks passed and still no one came knocking at Cristina’s door for Ellie. Not that this bothered Cristina, she had already grown too attached. It was easy to see why Anais had loved Ellie so much.

Ellie had been living with Cristina for about a week when a stranger knocked on her door.

"Hello,” a man greeted her, “I would like to talk to you about your neighbor if you have time."

"Yes, of course" Christina replied not quite sure what this would be about. For a split second she worried that maybe Patrick had sent him to get Ellie back. Nevertheless she let the man inside, hoping that wasn’t the case. As they settled down on her couch, Ellie trotted in from the kitchen tail wagging. Cristina looked for a reaction but the man said nothing.

"So, what can I help you with?"

"To begin, I'm Carlos Ruiz, I was Mrs. Jackson's lawyer and put in charge of her will. That includes making sure that all conditions were met. Everything was settled months ago but there's still a matter of one condition for a small portion of her estate."

The more he talked the more Cristina felt confused.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but what does all this have to do with me? I would assume this matter would be better discussed with her son."

Carlos smiled, "That would be true if he or anyone else had completed the task. But they didn't, you did."

"How can that be? I didn’t even know there was a will, much less a clause" Cristina objected.

Instead of answering Carlos asked petting Ellie’s head, “This is Anais's dog isn't it?"

"Yes, but why the question?”

Carlos smiled, “Anais stipulated that if someone could 'tame' Ellie, they would inherit twenty thousand dollars. It was open to anyone as long as they did it within two months. If no one could, I was to take her and donate the money. I went to her house today because the deadline is tomorrow. But now that I see that she's here and she’s happy, it's more than clear that you met every qualification.”

“What?” was all Cristina could sputter. Anais had always given the impression of not having much and here she was now giving Cristina something incredible. Of course the money would help her out but she couldn’t help feel more grateful for Ellie. It had been difficult losing her dear friend but through the process Cristina had gained another.