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Generally, the moment I closed my car door, my internal monologue would resume. I blamed it on all the time I spent working in solitude. However, this little dog might have thought I was cuckoo if I started in. But then again, I wouldn’twant to be dishonest. I wasn’t crazy, at least, nothing in a clinical aspect. I was just regularly crazy. As my mother always said, there are levels to any diagnosis.
I started the car, flipping my rearview mirror down to see her in the back seat. She was still okay. I drove slowly at first, expecting her to have something to say about—anything—but she remained silent all the way to my apartment. It wasn’t until I pulled in that I remembered I didn’t even know if my lease allowed me to own a pet. A mild panic washed over me. I didn’t want to get evicted, charged fees, or have a bad rental history.This could be an out. A way to undo the adoption I wasn’t prepared for. I instantly felt guilty for thinking that no matter how relieved it made me feel.
But when I got out of my car, Dolly’s carrier in tow, I looked around the complex. I saw at least ten dog owners walking around with their pets on a leash. Okay, maybe it was allowed.
Once we made it inside my apartment—nowourapartment—I set Dolly’s carrier down and opened the door. She cautiously walked out and looked around meekly. I opened the bag Samantha had given me and pulled out the kibble and supplies list. In the kitchen, I found two ice cream bowls and filled one with water and the other with her food, apologizing to her in advance.
“These bowls will have to make do until we go to the pet store.”
Her eyes perked up at me.
“The store? Do you want to go to the store?”
She didn’t do it again, but I decided we would go this afternoon, and I changed into a sweatshirt and jeans with some rain boots as the weather looked like it was about to revert to the ol’ soggy foggy.
I went to my closet to search for the clothes and felt my legs weaken. I fell to the floor, and the tears started flowing uncontrollably.
“Dear Jesus,
I’m not sure I can do this.
I wasn’t ready for this responsibility.
In your name,
Amen”
My words were broken, and my voice was muffled as my head lay in my hands. Moments later, I heard a tiny body breathing next to me. It was Dolly, and as I reached over to her, she licked my hand.
“Oh, thank you for the kiss.” I lifted her up to me, and she started to lick my tears. I cried a little more, but after a few minutes, it was followed by a washing of relief over my body.
“Well, Dolly—” She looked at me when I said her name, “that was my scheduled nervous breakdown for the day. Shall we get on with it?”
I sat her down, washed my face, changed my clothes, and put on a few dabs of makeup. She patiently sat on my bathmat, watching every move I made. “There are a few things we must learn about each other, Dolly. The first is I haven’tlived with anyone in a very long time since I moved out of my parents’ house. You are my first roommate, but I know I’m not yours. I hope you will give me the grace to get used to you, as I will you.”
She stared at me intensely as I applied my makeup. There wasn’t enough product in the world to hide my puffy eyes, so I decided to loiter a bit longer until they calmed down.
Picking Dolly back up, I moved our housewarming party to the living room, where I fetched my cell phone and dialed my mom. She answered on the second ring.
“Hi! How was church?”
She lives a few states away and likes to compare notes on Sundays from what we each learned from our sermons. My ear picked up on barking in the distance. I was prepared to start right in about the dog, but then my mother got a chance to speak.
“Hello? What happened? Are you okay? Are you in the hospital? Is this really Katie? IS MY DAUGHTER DEAD?”
“Seriously, Mom, stop.” She is known for watching way too much true crime and now can’t handle the mundane reality of my life.
“I’m okay, but I have some news.”
My mother gasped at the words.
“What? What is it? Oh, or should I say,who is it?”
She wasn’t the only one hoping I’d called to tell her I’d met the love of my life, and he was about to whisk me off to his Italian villa where his family was royalty. Though the only crowns I’ll be wearing in my life would be from Burger King. I’d live in a tent if it meant marital bliss, though.
I sighed. “Well, I adopted a dog.”
My mother screamed and I heard her opening the front door of her house. She paused for a minute, telling me to wait until she saw her neighbors outside.
