“Puppy”

She says she wants a pet. How about a cat? They’re easy to take care of. I say no way. Cats are assholes. It’ll just end up ruining my life. Ok, how about a dog? I say maybe. But I gotta approve of it. She likes tiny, useless dogs. I want one that can be my man’s-best-friend. It might be more work, but it’ll be worth it for the love and affection. In theory.

When I was ten, my aunt brought home a puppy. It was only a few weeks old, too young to be taken away from its mother. My aunt told me it would be my responsibility. I would feed it and pick up its shit and train it to behave. So I did. And the puppy grew up to be a giant monster.

Ten-year-old boys can barely take care of themselves, so I didn’t do a good job of training the big puppy. He became too aggressive for anyone else to be around without supervision. If anyone wanted to hang out in the backyard, the puppy would need to be on a leash. When the leash snapped and sent my friends screaming towards the back door, we’d have to put the puppy behind a fence.

The puppy grew smarter and bigger. He learned that he was powerful enough to jump over the fence when he was excited enough. Or he would gnaw on the fence and chew through it. A neighbor suggested barbed wire, like they put on fences to keep cattle from grazing onto I-5. My aunt liked the fence, so she put up barbed wire. It didn’t stop the puppy from chewing through or jumping over the fence. Small cuts on his front legs turned into infections. By two years old, he was no longer jumping over fences or chasing after friends.

When I was twelve, my uncle and I took the big puppy to the vet. I stayed in the car and cried. My uncle told me the big puppy had a look of understanding in his eyes. The pain and immobility was too much, and he was ready to give up so soon into his young life. I think my uncle was just trying to be nice and not make me hate my aunt for putting her fence ahead of my puppy.

Maybe we don’t need a pet right now. "Who’s gonna take care of it?" I say. She sighs and says I’m probably right. I say, "you can just take care of me, feed me and give me belly rubs." She laughs and kisses my cheek and tells me I’m her sweet puppy.

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