“This is true too,” she said in a low, mysterious voice. I leaned in a little, because it sounded like she was going to expand on this thought. Like the act of biting was also some metaphor for something. But she didn’t. She just graced me with a big smile.
“So you still think I can’t speed this whole bowel movement along then?” I asked, trying to move the conversation away from the spiritual and back to the physical.
She shook her head. “Patience.”
“Mmmm, so I should do nothing and be patient?” I said sarcastically.
“Exactly.”
“Those are two things I’m not very good at,” I said.
“Think of it as your chance to practice them.”
“I’m not sure I want to practice them.”
She wrapped her stethoscope around her neck and looked at me for the longest time.
“I think that everything that’s happening at this moment is happening for a reason. I think that you finding this dog, bringing him here, him swallowing your keys and keeping you here, it’s all part of the universe’s plan.”
“The universe?”
“Or God, or karma or whatever you want to call it.”
“God’s plan?” I chuckled, thinking about the name I’d given Cujo in the first place and how opposite that was from anything godly. I looked down at him. Surely, if this was all part of some divine, magical plan, God could have brought me a better-looking dog. Not one that looked like this!
“Here.” Samirah pulled out a piece of paper and started scribbling on it. It seemed to take her ages, but finally, she passed it to me.
“This is the address of the meditation. You should come. Seriously. It can’t harm you.”
“I don’t have a car, so I can’t get there,” I said.
“It’s in walking distance. And the walk will do him good—it might even speed up the process.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Bring him, and I promise that if he decides to go while he’s there, I will personally sift through it for you.”
At that I perked up and looked down at the paper.
“Or I could fetch you if you want?” she asked. I looked up at her. Was she really this nice?
I shook my head quickly. “It’s okay. If I come, I’ll walk. Like you said, it may speed him up.”
I started reading the directions. “Go down Church Street, turn left into Berg Street, at the second house take a left, at the big jacaranda take another left. Pass the blue sign, and it’s the second rusted gate on your left.” I looked up at Samirah. “Huh? These are the directions?”
She nodded.
“There is this amazing thing called Google Maps, trust me, you guys would love it,” I said sarcastically.
“This seems to work for us,” she said with a smile. “We never get lost, and if we do, it’s for a reason.”
I put my hand on my hip. “What’s up with you anyway?”
Samirah laughed. “What’s up with me?”
“Yes, you’re very friendly and you like to give strange advice and say things about the universe and snakes and how Cujo belongs to me and things happen for reasons.”
“I thought his name was Satan?” she asked.
