A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

Chapter XL: Hair of the Dog

"Ya' sure ya' want to?" he asked rubbing his thumb over my knuckles. "We can always wait."

I was worried if we waited too long it wouldn't happen. It would never be the right time, or something would come up and postpone it further. One of us would change our minds. I wanted to be absolutely certain I was ready. We talked it over for hours. Angus said he was ready, but perfectly okay with whatever I decided. 

I knew deep down, this was something Angus really wanted. And I didn't want to disappoint him. 

I had disappointed him enough.

**********

My brother left with his wife to go spend the weekend with some "friends". 

None of them get along.

Their dog Sapphire came to spend three days with us. Twenty eight kilograms of pure dog. Lightning speed. Unmatched strength. Two kittens, one point eight kilograms each. 

Scared to death.

Two baby gates hung in the doorways. Nothing between the beast and the prey but cheap, plastic bars. 

My parents. 

Me. The animal hater.

Ivy braving the massive dog by creeping her way across the floor. Magnolia trembling under the couch, refusing to come out. A total of eighteen lives between them. Half of them gone. 

Sapphire at hurricane speed, crushing everything in her path. The kittens scramble. They scatter. Mum and Dad argue. They fight.

The gates swing shut. Sapphire whines and paces. The kittens peer around the corner. Sapphire barks and the kittens lose two more lives. Dad in a fit of rage takes it out on the dog. Yells. Screams. Calls her stupid. Sapphire trots toward Mum with her tail between her legs. Mum comforts her while Dad shakes his fist. 

I'm taken back to childhood, cowering in fear behind the couch as my father loses his temper for the fifth time that day. None of them remember. They think I'm lying.

I comfort the kittens. Ivy balances on the rim of the litter box. It tips. She falls over, everything crashing. Litter, food, and water consume the bottom of the cage. Mum is going crazy. Sapphire wants nothing to do with Dad and paces while Mum and I clean up. I stay silent.

Am I still the animal hater?

Mum locks Sapphire away. Ivy paces and cries for her mother. I am but a poor substitute. Magnolia is nowhere to be seen. 

Day One.

Ivy covered in eggshells. Mum rubbing her tired eyes. Suggests my brother get a second dog to occupy the first. 

My grandmother comes over for a visit. Frail, unsteady. Tomato soup gone awry. Magnolia stays locked in her cage, fearing ending up as food. Ivy nearly meeting that fate. Sapphire's barks loud enough to wake the dead, fur on end. Another life lost.

Day Two.

Sapphire's sharp teeth digging into my skin. She doesn't let up and I turn away from her, folding my body in on itself. She gives up. I'm hurt.

The plane is late. My brother is exhausted. The kittens locked away in a spare room, meowing to be released. Sapphire chases them back in. 

Finally she goes home.

Day Three

**********

I choked back my emotions and gently squeezed Angus' hand. I could see him looking at me but I stared at the footpath under us. My thoughts kept repeating over and over and over.