What were we all doing here?
Eventually a nice man came to get me, but not to take me to Lucas. Instead, he put a very strange leash on me, one that completely encircled my snout.
“You’re a sweet dog. You’re a good dog,” he told me as he touched me gently. I wagged, thrilled to be leaving the crate. I hoped we were going home to my family!
The nice man led me to a steel door and then outside into a yard. The abrupt change in smells made my nostrils flare. The ground underneath my feet was hard and knotty, with limp grass lying sparsely against the dry earth. Almost every inch of yard was painted with dog smells, evident with every inhalation. “My name is Wayne,” the man told me. “I’m sorry about the muzzle. Supposedly you’re a vicious killer dog who will rip my limbs off.”
His tone was as kind as his hands. He lifted his knuckles to my snout and I licked past the strange collar as best I could. We walked around the yard, staying on a path that ran along a high fence. It was obvious that many, many walks had been taken prior to mine. I gratefully squatted by the fence—I did not want to Do Your Business in the crate, even though it was a large enclosure and other dogs in the room had not been as clean.
The man did not pick up after me the way Mom and Lucas did. “Just another pile for me, don’t worry, Bella. I have to come out in a little while and get everybody’s. It’s the glamor part of my job.”
He was compassionate and he petted me but he did not take me to Lucas. He led me to the same crate, though I sat on the floor and resisted as he pulled my leash.
“Come on, girl,” he murmured to me. “Get in your kennel.”
I so did not want to go in there, but when the man pushed me I slid on the slippery floor and then I was back, curling up mournfully on the dog bed while he fastened the door. I put my nose between my paws and listened to all the bad dogs ignoring No Barks. I was heartbroken. I must have been a very, very bad dog for Lucas to have sent me to this place.
*
Was this my new life? I was walked in the yard a few times a day, sometimes by a nice woman named Glynnis and sometimes by the man named Wayne, and always with the uncomfortable collar that held my teeth together. Dogs barked all the time, whether it was dark or light. Sometimes Wayne came in with a hose and sprayed it and at first the smells of dog poop rose on the wet air and then the odors would fade away, which made the room with all the crates even less interesting than before.
I missed Lucas so much. I was a good dog with No Barks, but I did cry sometimes. I thought I could feel his hands on my fur when I slept, but when I awoke he was not there.
I remembered the squirrel we found in the street, the squashed one. How different it was from a living, bouncing squirrel. It was an almost-squirrel, a dead squirrel.
That’s how I felt.
I did not eat. I lay on my dog bed and never moved when my door was opened for Wayne or Glynnis to walk me in the yard with the high fence. I didn’t even care about all the wonderful markings left by male and female dogs out there. I just wanted Lucas.
When a new woman came and put the strange leash on my nose and led me out into a hallway, I struggled to get to my feet, feeling stiff and lethargic. I went willingly but I did not wag. My head was lowered and I registered all the dog and cat scents on the air without excitement.
She led me into a small room. “Here, Bella, let’s put this back on.” With a familiar tug on my neck I was wearing my collar, so that I sounded like myself again. There was a soft pad on the floor, so I went to it, circled, and lay down with a sigh. “I’ll be right back,” she told me. The woman left. I did not know where I was and did not care.
And then the door opened. Lucas! I scrabbled to my feet and leapt into his arms just as he entered the room. “Bella!” he cried, staggering back and sitting down.
I was sobbing and panting, trying to lick him through the stupid collar. I rubbed my head on his chest and circled in his lap, putting my paws on his chest. He put his arms around me and a feeling of well-being flooded through me. Lucas had come for me! I was a good dog! Lucas did love me! I never wanted to be apart from him again. I was so happy, so relieved, so grateful. My person was here to take me home!
The new woman was there, too. She had found Lucas for me!
“Can I take off the hockey mask?” Lucas asked.
“We’re not supposed to with pit bulls, but sure, she’s obviously no threat.”
Lucas unsnapped the thing around my nose so I could kiss him properly.
The woman held up some papers. “Okay, I know you signed the forms, but I want to reiterate what they say. If your dog is picked up again for any reason within Denver city limits, she will be held for three days and then destroyed. It’s two strikes with pit bulls. There is no process for appeal other than the courts, and I have to say, the judges pretty much defer to the ACOs. Most of the officers here are amazing human beings who are really concerned with animal welfare but the one who picked up Bella is … Let’s just say Chuck is not my favorite, and he’s got a couple poker buddies and they cover for each other on everything. Do you understand what I am saying? It’s the system; it’s stacked against you.”
Lucas felt sad despite the fact that we were back together. “I don’t know what to do.”
“You have to get her out of Denver.”
“I can’t … there are reasons why I can’t move right now. My mom … it’s complicated.”
“Then good luck. I don’t know what else I can say.”
When we left the room and went outside, Olivia was waiting! I yipped with excitement, so happy I wanted to run around and around. She dropped to her knees and gave me love, hugging me and letting me lick her face.
A man approached—it was Wayne. I wondered if we would all take a walk in that yard now.
“Lucas?” Wayne asked.
“Wayne?” They punched each other’s hands, but it wasn’t a fight. “Uh, Olivia, this is Wayne Getz. He and I went to high school together. Wayne, Olivia is my driver.”
“I’m his girlfriend,” Olivia said.
“Nice,” Wayne said, grinning. “Hey, Bella’s your dog? She’s awesome.”
I wagged.
“Thanks. Yeah, she’s a good dog.”
I wagged.
“So you work here?” Lucas asked.
Wayne shrugged. “I’m doing community service. I got caught shoplifting again.”
“Oh.”
Wayne laughed. “No, it’s okay. I’m giving up walking on the wild side, I promise.”
I was impatient to see Mom. I nuzzled Lucas’s hand.
“So what are you doing now?” Wayne asked Lucas.
“I work at the VA hospital. I am an assistant to a couple of case managers. Olivia works there, too—she yells at people.”
“Only at Lucas,” Olivia said.
“You were always going to go to med school,” Wayne said.