Page 9 of Wrench
When she had safely climbed the stairs, not even a second passed before I heard her
shriek, but this time, it wasn¡¯t in enthusiasm.
¡°Eww!¡± she said at the top of her lungs. ¡°There¡¯s dog shit everywhere.¡±
¡°Wh-what?¡± I said, surprised that I stumbled over my words. It had been years since a
girl made me stumble. Turned out all I needed was a special phrase. ¡°What do you
mean?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know! Just get up here!¡±
I rushed up the remaining steps and was hit with a foul, pungent smell that took over
my whole apartment. Sure enough, in almost every three-feet radius was a pile of bodily
fluids from my dog, Buddy. Completely forgetting about the girl, I rushed past her.
¡°Buddy! Buddy! Where are you, Buddy?¡± I called.
¡°Is this how you live?¡± the girl asked with judgment dripping from her words, not
moving from the entrance.
¡°Of course not,¡± I said, checking behind my sofa. ¡°My dog must be sick. Buddy! Where
you, boy?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll say,¡± she quipped. The sarcastic note was the last straw and I turned to her,
pointing at the staircase.
¡°You¡¯ve got to leave,¡± I said.
¡°What? Seriously?¡± she asked. ¡°It won¡¯t take that long to clean.¡±
¡°I¡¯m tired of your voice. Leave.¡±
She scoffed and said, ¡°You¡¯re a fucking asshole,¡± before rushing down the stairs and
within seconds, I forgot she was ever there. Sure, I may have loved sex, and fuck, was I
ever looking forward to finding other ways to make that bitch stop talking, but there was
nothing I loved more than my dog.
¡°Buddy!¡± I yelled louder this time and was simultaneously relieved and worried when I
heard a quiet whimper coming from underneath my bed. I dropped to my knees and lifted
the blanket hanging off the edge to see my German Shepherd lying on his belly with his
eyes big and sad. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Boy? Come on out.¡±
Like the loyal dog he always was, he crawled from under the bed at the speed of a slug,
but at least he was moving. When he emerged, I leaned against the bed and stretched my
