No Strings

Chapter 46--Death

I was crying on the floor rocking to myself. My pet was dead. I could hear the screams and yells of my current boyfriend. He'd reached into the cage and slammed it against the ground. When it still moved he stepped on its head. It was only a ball python. They don't bite. They are shy by nature.

"I hate snakes, you know that," he raged. He was screaming words I couldn't make out. White noise filled my ears.

My first pet was dead and he wasn't sorry. I choked up and rocked not knowing what else to do. I didn't want to go home. I had no one to tell. His boots clicked against the floor. He came towards me. I winced. He was still angry. I was cradling the body as the blood seeped into my clothes. I couldn't speak. My throat thickened. All that could come out was tears and sobs.

"What's wrong with you?"

I forced my body open and reached for my cellphone in my pocket. As I dialed 911, he was standing over me.

"I'm sorry."

I said through my tears, "No you aren't. You aren't...."

"But I love you. I need you..."

The tears came, but I hit the "talk" button before he said anything else.

He shook me and said, "Take it back. Don't do this."

I talked to the operator inconsolable. It was so bad that she had to trace my cellphone. The police came. One was a woman. They arrested him. Even though my pet was dead, I felt sorry for him. He called me from the jail. I wanted him back. He was the only thing I had left.

On the way to pick him up and to drop the charges, I stopped in a pet shop. I bought a new ball python and a hedgehog. I talked to both of them in whispers for a long time. I never went to lift the charges or post bail. He spent a year in jail and I never heard from him again. This never replaced my lost pet.