As soon as I walk into JoJo's Jungle my mood instantly lifts. Marie was right about one thing; this is exactly what I needed. We walk over to the dog kennels and sit in front of them. As we open all three cages a mixture of puppies fly through the openings and shower us both with wet, slobbery kisses. The speeds of their tails echo their excitement of being free. They clamber around over our laps and run at their full potential through the shop.
Joe walks over from behind the counter with a small smile on his face. "A bit early today, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I've had a rough day and needed some animal time, and Marie wanted to visit before she had to go to class."
"I'm sorry to hear you had a bad day. And hello, Marie. How are you?"
"I'm great! Just being eaten by puppies!" She giggles and Joe offers his hand to help her to her feet.
He then pulls me to mine and looks around. "You know you have to put all these pups away if a lot of customers come in."
"I know. I’m moving them to the pen now.” I scoop a tiny Yorkie off the floor and plop him in a tear down pen I suggested for near the door. This way customers can pet the dogs and watch them play, while the dogs get a little exercise. Marie follows with a fluffy black Pomeranian.
"I know you do." Joe looks almost sad but before I can ask him if anything was wrong Leo comes out of the back carrying a large cardboard box and Joe hurries over to hold the front door for him. I push the thought away for later and continue grabbing puppies.
“So, what’s new here?” Marie asks as she looks all around the store after setting the last dog in the pen.
“Well it doesn’t look like we have anything new from this week. Actually, it’s really cleared out in here. They must have made a lot of sales while I was off yesterday.”
“Oh well, that just means there’s plenty of room now for new animals. I hope they get some more rabbits soon. Those things are so darn cute!” She walks over to the rabbit pen and pets one of the few remaining ones.
“Of all the exotic animals in here you like a plain old rabbit.” I laugh to myself.
The bells on the door ring as a customer walks in and I click into work mode. She looks around appearing lost, so I walk up to her. “Can I help you with something?”
Her shoulders relax and she smiles, grateful for my offer. “I sure hope so. My son asked me to pick up some crickets for his bearded dragon. He usually comes in to get them himself, but he’s been feeling sick, so I volunteered to pick up some, but I have no clue what I need.”
I smile. “That’s okay, I’ll get you a couple dozen to give to your son. They’re only a dollar a dozen.”
“That’s great! Thank you so much!”
I begin walking to the back room where we keep the crickets and feeder mice. Marie calls out to me from the door, “Since you’re working now, I’m going to get out of your hair and head to class. Do you want me to pick you up tonight when you get off?”
“No, I close so I’ll have one of the guys drop me off.” I wave and start bagging crickets.
CHAPTER NINE
As my shift begins to wind down, I look out the window into the night. The street is empty like the shop. I love working until closing. It’s usually when the guys are in the best mood and when the joking really starts. Half the time I end up in some cage with an animal. It sounds mean but it’s all in fun.
I finish sweeping my pile of dirt and dog hair into a dustpan and put the broom away. When I walk to the counter, instead of being greeted with laughter, it’s uncharacteristically quiet. Joe opens the cash register and hands me an envelope.
“What’s this?” I open the envelope to find a few twenty dollar bills.
“It’s your pay for this week.” He doesn’t look at me when he answers.
“But it’s Friday. You have always paid on Mondays.” I go to hand the envelope back, but Joe shakes his head.
“You won’t be working here anymore after today.”
“What?” For a moment my thoughts fly apart. What have I done wrong? I go through everything in my mind that I’ve done today. Nothing stands out as wrong but there must be something. Something worth firing me over. I was being fired, wasn’t I?
Joe, Leo, and Dwayne just stand silently. What did I do?
“Is this because I let the puppies out?” It’s an irrational thought but right now I am irrational. “I mean, I only did it so they could get some exercise, I feel sad that they’re caged up all the time, but I don’t have to do that anymore, really, I’ll leave them in their cages and -”
“Katie, calm down.” Joe’s voice is soft and level like he’s rehearsed that very line a hundred times.
“How can I calm down when you’re firing me, and I have no clue why?” Tears form in my eyes, but I refuse to cry in front of these guys.
“I’m not firing you. Katie, we can’t keep the shop open here anymore. It’s become too expensive. There are not enough people here to buy things to equal the expenses of keeping the shop open. I’m going to Baltimore where my brother lives. He told me about a building for rent for the shop and he is going to give me a place to stay until I find my own.”
Through all this I stay quiet, unbelieving. I look at Leo and Dwayne. How are they not upset? This is all they do. What will they do without the pet shop? I look back at Joe. “Who’s going to work for you if you don’t have us?”
Joe takes a deep breath but before he can respond, Dwayne speaks up, “We’re going with him.”
“What?” For the second time tonight, the air rushes out of my lungs and my brain stops working properly.
“Katie, we swear it’s nothing against you, but we don’t have anything tying us here, no college, no family, no other jobs. Other than a few friends, including you, we won’t be leaving much behind. Joe is really going to need us.”
Leo walks over and throws his arm around my shoulders. “We hate leaving you, but you have school. You’re going to do great things with your life. Don’t let this bring you down. It’s not like you’ll never see us again. That’s what breaks are for, long car trips. “
“How can you guys do this?” The tears slip out now and I can’t help but act petty. “Don’t you see what this place means to me? I come here all the time, even when I don’t have work scheduled. This place makes my bad days better. Look at today. I had a bad test in Calculus. I was so upset but as soon as I got here, I felt so much better. I forgot all about it.” Until now.
I try to think of an alternative. I’m majoring as a veterinary technician because all my life I’ve wanted to work with animals, but who says I need a degree to do that? Finding this job has shown me it’s everything I want. I allow myself to think of the possibility of going with them. Would having a job make the disappointment of dropping out of college less drastic for my family? Would I be seen as a failure? Even as I play with the idea in my mind, I know I couldn’t do it. My life is here. Here with my parents and Scotty. I couldn’t imagine packing up and leaving them behind.
Joe watches the waves of emotions filter across my face. “We know how much you care about this place and the animals here. And I’m sorry to hear about your test.” He pauses to dig out a pack of tissues from behind the counter and hands them to me. “But we’re not making money here. We’re losing money. We can’t stay open if we don’t have the money to take care of the animals.”