Page 18 of Scout Takes the Lead
“We set demolition bombs to clear the area. Then we hustled back to the APC—the armored personnel carrier—-and detonated the bombs. They were strong enough to destroy a big chunk of the hillside, too. We leveled it off so no one could hide up there.” Adrenaline was rushing through my veins as I described the scene, but having Scout beside me kept me from getting too deep in my head. Even so, I looked at D’eriq and said, “That’s all I can say.”
“That’s good. That’s more than you’ve told me in the past about what you experienced, and you did it without freaking out.”
After we left D’eriq’s office, I walked Scout around the trees again. I saw another veteran with a prosthetic leg and a real service dog, and I was tempted to stop him and ask for advice, but I didn’t want to bother him.
I thought about my conversation with D’eriq as Scout and I drove back to Hollywood. Grace hadn’t blinked when I told her I had some PTSD. Was it worth trying to get to know her better, see how she responded if she saw how damaged I was?
10: Freak Out: Grace
By the time of the third obedience class on Saturday morning, the two gay guys with the Papillon had dropped out, and I was down to Alex and Scout, Kenny and Cheyenne, and the two nurses and their dogs.
That was good—-I’d have more time to work individually with each pair. But it seemed like Cheyenne had forgotten everything he had learned the past week. He was wild and couldn’t settle down.
I had to pull Kenny aside and tell him that if he couldn’t keep Cheyenne under control, he’d have to drop out of the class. “I want to be honest with you. I don’t think it’s Cheyenne’s fault that he’s so lively and distracting the other dogs. You need to take more time with him and get him to recognize you’re in charge. A trainer can’t establish that relationship—you’re the only one who can.”
I hated to kick Cheyenne out of the class because I believe every dog deserves to be trained, but he was getting in the way of helping the other pairs and Kenny wasn’t doing his part.
Alex left Scout sitting on the floor and came over to where Kenny and I were talking. “Give me his lead, Kenny,” Alex said. Kenny did. And the transformation in Cheyenne’s behavior was surprising. At Alex’s command, he sat on his haunches, looking up. Alex gave him a tiny treat and praised him. Then he looked at me. “See, Cheyenne can be trained. If you let them stay in the class I’ll keep working with them during the week.”
“If you say so,” I said. I had Alex and Kenny pair up for all the training, and Cheyenne was much better behaved. It was clear to me that the dog was responding to Alex rather than Kenny, though.
“Alex, will you stay behind for a minute?” I asked, when we were finished.
“Sure.” He turned to Kenny. “I’ll come over tomorrow afternoon, all right?”
“You’re a real pal,” Kenny said. “Come on, Cheyenne.”
“That’s not the right command,” Alex said.
“Right.” Kenny deepened his voice to match Alex’s tone and said, “Cheyenne, heel.” And wouldn’t you know, the dog obeyed. Kenny had a wide smile as he walked out.
“He’s got to learn to listen to Kenny, not you,” I said to Alex after they were gone. “Unless you two are going to be, you know, a couple. Not that there’s anything bad with that.”
“No chance of that,” Alex said. “We, uh, have different orientations. But did you hear how he imitated my voice to get Cheyenne to behave? He just has to be more macho, show Cheyenne that he’s in charge.”
“I don’t think macho is in Kenny’s vocabulary,” Grace said, and we both laughed.
Alex hesitated, and I worried I might have offended him by suggesting he and Kenny could be a couple. Instead he said, “Would you like to have dinner sometime?”
I felt a little zing. Becca was right, I did like Alex and thought he was handsome and sexy. “That would be fun,” I said. “Are you busy tonight?”
“I can clear my schedule,” he said with a smile. “All right if Scout comes along?”
“Sure. Since they redid the paving downtown there are a couple of good restaurants that have sidewalk dining. It’ll be good practice for Scout to stay focused on you.”
We agreed to meet at a Chinese restaurant called Helen Huang’s at seven. He walked out smiling, which was how I felt, too.
I wasn’t sure what to wear that night. Alex had come to class in cut-off jeans and T-shirts, but I was sure he’d wear something nicer for a date, and I wanted to match him. I finally chose a pink polo shirt and navy capris, with strappy pink sandals with a high heel.
He was waiting at the restaurant with Scout by his side as I approached, and he looked good enough to eat. He wore a polo shirt, too, and his accented muscles I hadn’t realized he had. Tight jeans, too, and I was eager to see him turn around. I like a bubble butt on a guy, and I hoped he had one. It was kind of awkward when I reached him, neither of us sure whether to shake hands or bump elbows or what. I finally just smiled and said, “You look nice.”
“You look better than nice,” he said. “Very pretty.” The restaurant owner, a round-faced older woman, came out to seat us, and without asking brought a bowl of water for Scout. He immediately stuck his head down and slurped, and when he lifted it he dripped water over the pavement.
After we ordered, I asked Alex, “Did you have a dog as a kid?”
“We did. A poodle. But he was really my mother’s dog more than mine, because she was the one who was home all day to feed and walk him. I played with him, and I took him on walks a lot during vacations and summers, though.”
Alex picked up his Tsingtao and sipped. “We used to go to a lake near the house to swim, and I remember once I was on the shore with Milo, and my mother was on a raft about ten feet out. Milo pulled the lead out of my hand and jumped in the water and dog paddled out to her. That made it really clear who he loved.”
