Dead Apples

3- Dog Walks

Dex.

Blue eyes.

Blond hair.

A smile that could cure cancer.

An anchor on his neck.

Dex.

I don't want to forget what he looked like because he was so pretty, so I'm drawing him by memory on a piece of paper. I don't forget the tattoo or the smile, I get the eyes and the hair. I don't know anything about him but I want to. He was so fucking pretty.

I have to be skeptical about his personality though, given who he hangs out with. I don't like Jake or the other guys that were in the basement. Ty is alright but I mostly just tolerate him because Sage likes having him around. I want to believe that he's a nice guy but I think that he could be dangerous.

"Yaz!" My dad calls from the hallway and then knocks on my door before swinging it open. I quickly shut my sketch pad so that he can't see what I'm drawing.

"Yeah, Dad?" I ask him, hoping that maybe he has some information on Robby.

Instead of mentioning my brother though, he just tosses me a leash. "The dog needs a walk."

Before I can remind him that it's not my dog, he's already leaving the room, not leaving it up for discussion. Robby always walked the dog because it's his dog. He is so good at taking care of it, training him, walking him, feeding him, cleaning up after him. Ever since he's been gone, my father has decided that I have to do everything for the dog now. And if I don't, he's going to the pound.

But I love the dog and I know that it would crush Robby if his dog wasn't here when he got back so I get up from my bed and put my sketchpad in my book bag before putting it over my shoulder. I slip on my dirty combat boots and head out into the living space where the large dog, Zero, is laying by the door. That's his sign that he's ready for a walk, feeling antsy being stuck in the house for too long.

He's a big dog and so energetic so he needs to be walked a lot.

"Ready for a walk, Zee?" I call to him and when he hears the word 'walk' he jumps up from the door and hurries over to me with a wagging tail.

I hook the leash onto his collar and we head out into the summer heat. Zero is a Belgium Malinois which kind of looks like a short-haired German Shepheard. He's big, active, and really smart. Robby got him really cheap as a puppy when he was going through the training to become a police dog but he failed the tests to actually become a police dog and somehow, Robby got him from there.

He was already pretty well trained, he just got a bit easily distracted. And he's a sweetheart so I don't mind walking him too much it's just that it gets so hot during the summer that I don't feel like walking at all anywhere.

And most of the time, Zero is so hyper that he wants to run instead of walk so I have to put my bag over both shoulders, hold onto his leash for dear life, and we start jogging down the road toward the park where we hang out for a little while.

In my bag, I made sure that I had his favorite toys and a bottle of water so that I won't dry up like a raisin in the heat.

I'm not very athletic so I can't keep up with Zero's jog for very long and soon, I have to make him slow back down to a walk. Which he definitely does not appreciate.

But when we eventually get to the park, it's empty so I unhook him from the leash and get the Frisbee out of my bag for him to play with. He loves the Frisbee and he loves catching it in the air after I've tossed it. So I throw it into the air and let it glide across the park as he runs, barks just once, and then leaps up and catches the blue circle of plastic in his mouth.