Tina swings around to look at me. “I was going to.” She waggles her brows at me.
She always makes me smile. She’s so honest and raw. But she’s kept her relationship with this Preston under wraps until now. I wonder why.
“Come on, Zhen.” I snap my fingers as we walk out and down the stairs. Zhen’s behind me, only by a few steps. “Mom,” I call.”
“In the living room.” I head in to find her streaming a movie. “What’s up?”
“I’m taking Zhen to the vet for his vaccinations.”
Mom looks at her watch, and back to me. “Oh crap, I was supposed to do that.” She quickly stands.
“I can do it. Stay here and relax. I might take him to the dog park afterward.”
“Are you sure? I can come with you.”
“I’m okay, Mom.”
“Hang on, let me give you my card.” She dashes out of the room, then comes back with her purse. “Here you go.” She hands me her charge card.
“I’m not sure what time I’ll be back.”
“Okay, sweetheart. Just drive safely,” she says.
Zhen follows me out, and I head to the mudroom to get his lead. He walks beside me without it, but I know when we take him out of the house, we have to put it on him. For some reason, it makes people feel safer.
We head out to my new car, and I open the back door for him. “Do you need to pee?” I ask him. Zhen runs over to one of the low bushes in front of our home, and pees against it before running to the car and jumping in the back seat.
I head out of our gates and down the road toward the main part of town. We live in the suburbs of a fairly large and bustling town.
Zhen’s in the back, breathing heavily, and slobbering all over my back seat. “You’re the first person in my car, and you’re drooling everywhere.” Zhen closes his mouth and tilts his head. Then opens his mouth and pants. “Great, more slobber.”
We get to the vet’s office, and I park right outside. Going in, Zhen walks beside me as I loosely hold the lead. As soon as the lady sitting at the counter sees me, she smiles. “Hey Zhen,” she says acknowledging him before me.
Zhen wags his tail, but stays close to me.
“Michael shouldn’t be too long,” she says to me. Michael is Zhen’s vet.
“Thank you.” Zhen and I take a seat in the waiting room. He jumps up on the bench beside me, and places his head in my lap. “You okay?” I ask him. He blinks several times.
I zone out, petting Zhen. But it doesn’t take long for Michael to call us into an exam room. I tap Zhen’s head, and he jumps off the bench, following me into the room.
“How are you?” Michael asks.
“Good,” I smile.
“What can we do for you, Zhen?” he bends, and grunting, picks Zhen up to place him on the table.
“It’s vaccination time,” I say.
Michael is a fantastic vet. He treats Zhen like he’s his own. “Let’s check you out, and make sure you’re all good.” Michael works his hands down Zhen’s body and gives him a thorough examination, even checking his temperature. “He’s good. Come on, buddy. Let’s check your weight.” He carefully places Zhen on the floor, and watches as we walk out to the large scale they have in the waiting room. “Perfect, seventy pounds. Let’s go back in the room, and I’ll get his vaccinations ready. He’s a perfect weight for a dog his size.”
I lift Zhen and put him on the table as Michael gets the vaccines ready. He comes back into the room, and closes the door. “Do you think these will affect him at all?” I ask.
“They’ve never posed a problem in the past, have they?” Michael asks.
“He tends to be a bit sleepy the day after, but other than that, nope.”
“He’ll be fine.”
“Will it be okay to take him to the dog park after we leave here?”
“I can’t see why not.” He pinches the skin on the back of Zhen’s neck, and injects the vaccines into him. He hands me a small manila envelope containing some tablets. “He needs to take one of these tonight with his dinner, and the other tomorrow with his breakfast. It’s to prevent heartworm.” He lifts Zhen and places him back on the floor.
Zhen finds my legs, and leans against them. “Thank you,” I say, and lead Zhen out to the reception area to pay for our visit.
Once we’re in the car, Zhen lays on the back seat, just keeping his eyes open. Thankfully, the dog park isn’t too far away.
“Come on, boy,” I say to him as I open the back door, and take his lead.
I open the gate to the dog park, and unclip his lead. Zhen runs to the other side, then comes back to find me. There’s a coffee cart along the side of the fence. I head over, order a coffee and wait while it’s prepared. I watch as Zhen runs around the dog park, playing on the dog obstacle course. I can’t help but giggle at him. He’s acting so free.
“Your coffee,” the guy says and hands me a cup.
I take it and go sit on one of the bench seats inside the fence.
There are four other people here with their dogs. All the dogs seem to be doing their own thing, which I find entertaining, except for one guy who’s throwing a ball for his dog. The dog runs off to retrieve it and brings it back.
I sip on my coffee, and watch everyone.
“You stupid fucking mutt!” I hear.
The aggressive tone has me swinging my head to the side to see the guy who was throwing the ball punch his dog. The dog yelps, and backs away from him
Zhen must sense something’s not right, and runs straight back to me, positioning himself protectively in front of me.
“Hey!” I yell, as the guy draws his fist back to hit his dog again.
“Mind your own business!” he yells at me.
No one else says anything to him, even though they’re all watching.
I stand, but stop before I can take a step. I blink. The words are caught in my throat. A vivid picture of a discolored, stuffed bunny rabbit, with big floppy ears, forces itself into my mind. I blink again, and the bunny is gone.
Pushing the image back, I charge over to him before he has a chance to hit his dog again. “Don’t you dare hit this animal,” I say, standing in front of his dog. Zhen is standing in front of me.
“Fuck off. Out of my way, you nosy bitch!” the guy spits angrily.
“If you want to hurt that dog, you’ll have to go through me.” I stand firm, crossing my arms and refusing to budge. I have no idea what happened for him to become so aggressive with this poor, innocent animal.
He moves to step around me, but Zhen maneuvers to confront him, baring his teeth so the guy can’t get close to me, or his cowering dog.
“I’m going to beat the shit out of you when we get home.” He points to the dog. “Move out of my way,” he spits at me.
“That dog isn’t going anywhere with you.”
“He’s not yours, he’s mine. Move, before I smash you like that useless fucking mutt.”
My adrenaline is running high. My heart’s going crazy in my chest. The bunny pops back in my head for split second, catching my words in my throat.
“We’ve called the police,” one of the other dog owners calls to me.