4: 4
4
The vet said Buddy's body was covered in bruises, like he'd been beaten.
I held him close, tears spilling over from the ache of it.
Buddy, gentle as ever, curled into my arms and nuzzled the wetness off my cheek.
That was always him. Beaten down, and still trying to comfort me.
The next day, Buddy finally had a little strength back.
Tail wagging, he led me home, happy.
I pressed my finger to the scanner, only to find my print had been deleted.
Vivien. She'd given up on me completely.
I stood there holding Buddy's harness, lost.
The door swung open, and Darrell's cutting voice came through.
“Charles, you blind piece of trash, how are you this shameless?”
“If you weren't clinging to that one time you saved her life, Viv wouldn't want to lay eyes on you for a second.”
He didn't have to say it. I already knew I was a burden.
Even though I'd tried so hard to adapt to a life in the dark, tried not to trouble anyone.
Darrell reached out and gently stroked Buddy's head.
“I really didn't want to take it out on a dog.”
In an instant I was on guard, clutching Buddy tight against me.
“Don't touch him!”
Darrell's voice was flat, his smile vicious.
“I won't touch it.”
“I'm just going to cut Viv's little burden loose for her. That's all.”
The next second he let out a scream, and then came the sound of something heavy tumbling down the steps.
My mind went blank.
Someone rushed past me.
“Darrell, what happened?”
“It hurts, my leg hurts so much. Will I ever be able to run track again?”
Darrell's voice was thick with tears.
“I was just opening the door for them out of kindness, and the dog held a grudge against me. It lunged and bit me.”
“I was so scared……”
I shook my head frantically, pleading.
“No. Buddy was right beside me the whole time. He didn't move.”
Vivien's voice was full of fury.
“You're still lying?”
“Why would Darrell throw away his whole track career just to frame a dog?”
I groped helplessly at the air, my empty eye sockets stinging, going red.
“I'm not lying. Believe me.”
“Check the camera. The camera will prove Buddy's innocent.”
Darrell's sobbing came in broken pieces.
“Viv, don't be angry. He's just afraid I'll take you away, so he set the dog on me.”
“I'm fine. Worst case, I just never run again.”
Vivien's rage burned hotter.
“Charles, the camera's broken, so you think you can do whatever you want, is that it?”
Cold spread through my whole body, like I'd dropped into ice.
So heaven had never once meant to be kind to me.
I shielded Buddy with everything I had.
“Buddy's a guide dog. He's professionally trained. He would never bite anyone, not in his whole life!”
Vivien flung me off hard, and I slammed into the door.
“That was before!”
“You've raised him mean, full of aggression, and now he dares to bite Darrell. He can't be kept!”
She bent down and grabbed the weak, limp Buddy in one motion.
Buddy whimpered faintly from the pain, his legs hanging useless.
He didn't struggle. He only turned his head, with effort, toward where I was.
I reached out wildly, and caught nothing.
I heard my own crying, broken beyond recognition.
“Vivien, I was wrong, I was wrong……”
“I'll send him away right now. Please, don't hurt him.”
“I'm begging you. He's been with me for five years. He hasn't done anything wrong.”
“I'm the one who's wrong. I apologize. I'm apologizing to both of you.”
I knelt on the floor, banging my head against it, begging like a wretch.
But Vivien didn't soften in the slightest.
“It's too late.”
“The moment he frightened Darrell, the ending was already decided.”
Vivien dragged me back into the room and locked the door from outside.
I pounded on it with everything I had.
“Vivien, I'm begging you, let Buddy go. I'll die in his place, I'll die……”
The only answer was the sound of them moving farther and farther away.
I slid down to the floor and didn't eat or drink. My tears ran dry, my throat went raw from screaming.
I don't know how long it was before they finally came back, without any trace of Buddy.
Vivien tossed a white cane at me.
“You can use this from now on.”
Darrell leaned in close to my ear, his voice poisonous.
“A dog you'd pawed at is kind of disgusting, sure, but Viv says dog meat's the most nourishing. Good for the kidneys.”.
Endless nausea churned up inside my chest.
“Get out!”
“Charles, quit making a scene. It was just a dog. This is what it got for biting Darrell.”
How could he say that?
That was Buddy.
Buddy, who'd been by my side day and night for five years, who'd pulled me back from danger more times than I could count.
The last family I had left in this world.
Vivien, for once, came close and stroked my head.
“Charlie, be good.”
“Buddy's gone. I'll make it up to you better from now on.”
From now on?
Vivien, I don't have a "from now on" anymore.
That night, I gripped Buddy's leash tight and slipped out the door.
One step at a time, slow and certain, toward the deep of the sea.
Buddy, walk slower.
Wait for me.
