Ties (Book 1)

7. The Test

We drove down Grand Regency Circle not saying much, surrounded by a comfortable silence. We looked at all the houses with the perfectly cut bushes with fountains in the middle of driveways, enclosed by iron gates. Long driveways lined with the newest car models that had been cleaned so much they looked lustrous in the sun.

After a while of just staring out the window, I thought about what I was dressed in, definitely not date-appropriate. Wait. Is this a date? I still sported my loose black tank top that spelled 'Bear Squad' in silver round studs paired with my athletic shorts. I was wearing running shoes to a date. Oh my gosh. If my mother saw me, she would scream and I would actually agree with her.

"How about you tell me what you're thinking so hard about? You're going to get wrinkles from scrunching your forehead so much," Levi interrupted my inner babble.

"Is this a date?" I asked unceremoniously.

"Yes and no."

"How so," I asked bemused.

"I can't tell you yet. Don't worry you'll find out," he explained vaguely.

"So these clothes are okay? I didn't even think about what I was wearing," I translated my worry into words.

"Don't stress yourself. You're perfect, honey."

A frown formed on my face again. "Honey," I asked bewildered.

He just smiled at me and focused back on driving, silencing me. I am going to go out on a limb here, but I think it is too early to be calling me honey.

Fifteen minutes later, we were driving through an older neighborhood; we pulled into an animal shelter. Without announcing anything, he got out of his truck, forcing me to do the same and follow. He never turned around to verbalize what his intentions were, so I continued to match his step and walked inside the small building.

"Hello, Kyle, this is Mackenzie," Levi told the tallest man I had ever seen.

"Mackenzie, how have you been? You haven't passed by in a long time," Kyle greeted me.

"You know each other?" Levi asked, utterly blown away.

I moved my gaze to Levi. "Yes. I volunteered here the whole summer. It was a great distraction," I told Levi. "I've been better now, thank you. How has it been going here?" I turned my attention to Kyle again. He looked the same as before; he stood out with his dark brown skin, gray hair, and blue eyes. I remembered the story he told me about his parents struggle to be with each other. His mother, a Dominican who migrated to America, had a limited amount of English words in her vocabulary. His father was American, so he did not know any Spanish except for 'hola.' Kyle had said his father had learned Spanish for her and his mother learned English for him. But not even something as important as language stopped his parents from being together.

"I'm glad to hear that, Mackenzie. We've been doing well here; more adoptions have been happening."

"That's so good to hear. What happened to Cocoa Puffs?"

I held my breath until Kyle answered. "Some newly weds passed through here, and they adopted him. They laughed when they heard his name, said they'd keep it."

I could not contain the happiness that Kyle's news brought. "Thank God! It's great they kept his name; it reflects his heart, not his appearance."

"Cocoa Puffs?"

"He was a large boxer Mackenzie grew very fond of during the summer. Everyone was scared of him, but he was sweeter than jam," Kyle replied to Levi.