Fall (Justin Bieber)

Part 11

"I'm going to call my mom again. My phone is at home, dead battery. Can I borrow yours again?" I asked.

"Of course." he replied, handing me his phone.

I went to unlock it and realized it had a word passcode.

"Oh, I'll enter my password for you." he suggested as I typed in 'password'.

It opened and I giggled.

"Nice password..." I chuckled while dialing my mother's number. I hoped she would pick up this time.

*ringggg* I got nervous. *ringggggg* Why wasn't she answering? *ringggggggg* Each ring felt like it was getting longer. *ring-click* "Hello?" I heard sobbing in the background.

"Rombo couldn't get up. When we went to pick him up and get him to stand... he just... he just fell." my mom cried.

I felt tears spill down my face and Justin was so quiet that you could practically hear them hit the seat of the wheelchair. My mothers sobs increased until it turned to hysterical hiccups. It happened everytime she got emotional. Unfortunately, the genetics passed on. Before I knew it, I was hiccuping, sniffling, and crying all at once. Justin stood there with a look of concern. I built enough oxygen to ask a question.

"What are we going to do?" I questioned, still letting tears stream.

"He............. sleep." mom whispered, obviously still in hysterics.

"Why didn't you answer the phone earlier? Talk louder. I cant hear you." I said, nervous.

"We called the vet. We put him to sleep, Fall." she mumbled, but still managed to speak.

I was done. Rombo was the only friend I had besides Jessie, and Rombo always listened to my rants and emotional speeches. I'd depended on him for 12 years. He was my love. He was my anchor. He was more than a pet. He was more than family. He was my way through darkness.

I hung up. Justin stared at me, intently. He was ready for an explanation.

"When I was 7, we went to an animal shelter. My mom told me I needed to learn "responsibility". But really, I think we all just wanted an addition to the family that wouldn't need diapers." I chuckled under my breath. "My mom knew I would grow up an only child, so she wanted me to have a companion through the journey. Rombo was the 1st one at the shelter I felt connected to. My dad kept telling me to get a big dog. Size didn't matter to me. Then I came across Rombo. Little Rombo had one blind eye. His eyes were different colors. But, that's not what I felt attracted to. It was his strength. My dad had always argued with my mom. I was never strong enough to handle it. I cried myself to sleep every night, but with this dog, I wouldn't have to. I felt that I could never be scared of mommy and daddy with this dog. My dad drug me away until he found a dog he liked. He tried to talk me into getting it, but I refused. He picked it anyways. When he was registering it, I ran back downstairs to tell Rombo goodbye. That's when my mom realized we were inseperable. She talked my dad into his senses and we adopted Rombo. I was so happy. I grew up with him, trained him, loved him. Sure enough, he kept me strong through everything. But his blind eye developed into a bigger problem last year when it lead to a brain tumor... he was put to sleep today. He couldn't walk or function anymore. The thing that kills me most is that even throughout his strength, he still had to suffer. He was abused before the shelter, but the blind eye crept up with him the entire time. I know... I know what it feels like to be strong when you know the strength wont help anything." I explained, crying between sentences.

Justin pulled me into a tight hug. I hugged him back, letting my tears drip on his shoulder. I imagined he would pull back and explain how expensive his shirt was or something, but he just let me rest my head on him and let it all out. Maybe he wasn't so bad.

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So, why do you think she knows what it's like to be strong when you know the strength wont do anything? Yeah... that's all you have to wonder about for now. Tell me what you think, send me your predictions/opinions/ideas in the comments of my page or on my twitter.(@strxtfordlarry)