Smile...With Teeth

Chapter 15

~In the brightest hour, of my darkest day,

I realized, what is wrong with me,

can't get over you, can't get through to you,

It's been a helter-skelter romance from the start~

~Papa Roach~

Joker found himself walking the now darker streets of the narrows. The way he sees it, he's just gotten used to someone being near him. The girl had unfortunately wormed her wild hair and curvy body into his life. If he was subconsciously looking for companionship, he'd get a dog. He was sure it would take care of the stupid want he had for her.

So he had been walking the darkened alleys for a nice mutt to adopt. He couldn't have a puppy, they needed too much attention. He wanted a vicious dog, one not afraid to bite if it felt threatened. One he could teach to attack on command. Oh he liked the sound of that. For the short time he had the Chechen's dogs, he had enjoyed it.

Now he was getting excited. Why hadn't he thought of this earlier? It was her fault, she was so damned distracting. He heard the growling and scuffling before he came up on the alley. BINGO! He turned and looked into the dark passage. There at the end of the alley fighting over some morsel of trash were two ugly mean looking dogs.

Perfect. Joker walked silently towards the growling mass of dirt and grime. He was within 3 feet of the dogs before they noticed him. Both dogs turned to face him, teeth bared and the growls from deep inside. Joker leaned forward slightly, arms lowered and hands open. He slowly lifted both hands, palms towards the still growling animals.

The fur on their backs was raised, but the teeth weren't snapping yet. Joker took that as a good sign and reached into his pocket. He had grabbed a bit of the chicken from another bowl in his fridge before he headed out. He unwrapped the meat.

The growls had stopped almost instantly, turning to curious whimpers, though they didn't move any closer. The dogs had started to salivate, the thick lines of it falling from their mouths. Joker squatted down to their level. The dogs were watching him with calm eyes, unmoving from the other ones side.

Joker pulled the chicken in half, one piece in each hand. He held his hands out and waited. He knew they'd have to come to him. They had to trust him on their own time. Joker put the two pieces down in front of himself and wiped his hands off on his pants.

"Come on poochie, Uncle J won't hurt you." he said to the dogs. One cocked its head to the side, almost like he understood Joker's words. He waited, enjoying the internal struggle the mutts were having. They didn't want to be anywhere near him, but they really wanted that chicken.

Finally, one of the dogs moved forward and tried for the chicken, as he ate, the other rushed forward ad started on his own piece. Joker watched them devour the food, instantly started sniffing for more. Once they realized the food was gone, they looked up at Joker. He put his hand out, watching them sniff and start to lick his hands. Good, they would be perfect.

He walked back to his apartment, the dogs walking behind him. They kept their distance, but followed along. Joker got into the fence and waited. They finally pushed into the fenced area and Joker closed it behind him. They dogs sniffed around, marked a few spots. Joker moved to the door and went in, leaving it cracked.He moved to the other apartment on the first floor. He had shoved all of the extra mess he didn't need in here. He looked around and found a metal pot and filled it with water.

There, they had eaten, had water, and could sleep here. He felt one of the dogs brush against him. He looked down and watched as the mutts started to drink and sniff around. He turned and closed the main door and locked it. Today had been a successful day. He left the door open and moved to his own place. He moved into his small kitchen and grabbed a soda from the fridge. He grabbed his phone and looked. No messages. He frowned, why was he feeling so worried, was she ignoring him on purpose?