Cole and His Dog

Chapter 2-2

Cole slept until late in the afternoon. After using the bathroom, he got dressed, deciding to wear his shoes instead of the sandals since he knew he’d be doing a lot of walking. He went downstairs to find Adam and his wife, Paula, in the kitchen putting away groceries, with the help of a couple of teens. Cole immediately pitched in after thanking Adam for the bag of dog food sitting in the entryway by the back door.

“There a ton of scraps and bones, wrapped in white paper packages, in the big fridge in the basement,” Adam told him. “The butcher’s going to start saving bones for Bull.”

“That’s fantastic.” Telling Bull to stay, Cole picked up a load of non-perishables, taking them down to store on the shelves in the pantry, then got one of bones and a package of the scraps. Going upstairs, he took Bull into the backyard to let him eat. When he got back to the kitchen, he found Paula had filled an old pot with dog food and put it in the corner of the entryway. “So he’ll be out from underfoot when he eats,” she said.

Cole thanked her and continued to help put everything away. When he checked on Bull a few minutes later, the dog was happily gnawing his bone.

“As soon as I eat,” Cole told him, “you and I have to hit the road and find a good place to bed down for the night.” The moment he said that, Cole realized it wouldn’t be in a shelter. He knew they wouldn’t allow Bull inside, to say the least of sleeping next to his bed. And he wasn’t about to leave Bull to his own resources and take the chance someone would call animal control.

An hour later, after eating dinner, Cole got his backpack, and Bull, and they took off. Since he’d given Adam half his money for Bull’s food, Cole decided it was about time he tried spanging, as Adam had called it. He had no intention of being penniless if he couldn’t find a job—something he was beginning to think wasn’t going to happen any time soon.

While they walked toward downtown, Cole again noticed the people they passed giving them wide berth and wondered if Bull might turn out to be a drawback to his spanging. He decided to test the theory, choosing a movie theater where people were waiting to buy their tickets. He leaned against the wall, telling Bull to sit. Then he held out an empty soft drink cup he’d found in a trash bin they’d passed.

Most of the people avoided looking at him, as if not wanting to admit he even existed. Others seemed leery of Bull and kept their distance. Cole was about to give up and move on when a girl who looked about twenty came over.

“Is he tame?” she asked.

Cole chuckled. “Yes. He’s not a wild animal. He’s also friendly.”

After a moment’s hesitation, she tentatively petted Bull’s head.

“Watch out he doesn’t lick you,” Cole cautioned. “He’s slobbery.”

“That’s okay. I’m used to it. I have a boxer.” She continued petting Bull, while asking, “Are you trying to get enough money to feed both of you?”

“Yeah, but especially Bull. He eats like a horse.”

She pulled her hand away before Bull had a chance to thank her with a lick, digging into her purse. “Here,” she said, putting a couple of dollars into Cole’s cup.

By then, there were a few bystanders watching and listening. A man commented on Bull’s size, asking Cole what breed the dog was. Cole told him, then thanked him when the man dropped a handful of change into the cup.

“You know,” a woman said as she also put a bill in the cup, “you should make a sign saying you’re trying to make enough to keep him in dog biscuits, or something like that. Everyone wants to help animals.”

More than people, I suspect. Cole thanked her for the suggestion, saying that was a great idea.

Once the ticket line dwindled down, Cole pushed off the wall. “Let’s go to the mall,” he said to Bull. As if he knew where that was, the dog took off walking in the right direction so rapidly Cole had to quicken his pace to catch up. “Slow down,” he muttered, and Bull did, giving Cole a chance to see how much money they’d made. “Whoa. I can afford to buy us both steaks,” he commented happily. “Big ones.”

By the time they got to the mall it was dark. Not that it mattered, since the mall was well lit. Cole spotted several homeless people, teens, and adults, leaning or sitting against shop walls, or on the low walls in front of a couple of plazas. He found a vacant spot by one of the plazas and sat. Bull immediately took his place beside Cole, watching the passing pedestrians with interest.

Again, as earlier, a few people drifted over, attracted by Bull. Some of them dropped money into the cup at Cole’s feet, when he said he needed to feed Bull.

They had been there an hour when an obviously homeless man wandered over to sit beside them. “That’s some racket you have going,” he commented. “Maybe I should get me a dog.”

Cole shrugged. “Not really a racket. Keeping him in food, and me too, costs.”

“You might try the dumpsters behind some of the restaurants, if you’re not squeamish. You won’t find much, but I bet he’s not too fussy when it comes to what he’ll eat.”

“Not that I’ve seen so far,” Cole admitted. “Thanks for the tip.”

“You’re new around here.”

“Yeah. I’ve only been on the streets for a few days.” Cole shook his head. “It’s hard.”

“No s**t. At least you have the dog gimmick going for you. That’s more than most of us do.”

“True, but when it comes down to it…”

“You’d rather be home in a nice warm bed. I know that feeling.” The man sighed and got up. “I’d better get moving before someone snags the spot where I crash. A word of advice, kid. Don’t try to bed down in the alleys around here. The cops will roust you real fast. They don’t arrest you, but they will make you move on.”

Cole nodded. “I heard that. Last night we tried down by the creek.” He told the man what had happened.

“So he’s homeless, too.” The man patted Bull’s head. “Take my advice, kid, keep him close and get yourself a piece of pipe or a hunk of tree branch. That way anyone who decides to mess with you will have second thoughts.”

“Thanks for the advice,” Cole replied. “I’ll do that.”

“Good to meet you. Stay safe,” the man said as he walked away.

“You too,” Cole called out.

“Plan on it,” the man replied without looking back.

Cole and Bull spent another hour on the mall before Cole decided it was time to see if they could find a spot by the creek where they could spend the rest of the night. At least now he had a sleeping bag, thanks to The Haven’s donation room. And someone to watch my back. He patted Bull’s head, pulling his hand away quickly to avoid getting slobbered on.

Cole had no intention of returning to where he’d crashed the previous night. He wasn’t about to tempt fate. So he and Bull continued on down the bike path, heading farther away from downtown. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he saw a spot he thought would work—three small trees surrounded by bushes, abutting the concrete retaining wall, with large rocks between them and the creek.

Taking off his shoes and socks, and rolling up his pants legs because the creek was deeper here, Cole waded across and scrambled over the rocks.

“What do you think, Bull? Perfect, huh?” Cole thought it was. There was just enough room between the bushes and the wall for him to spread out his sleeping bag. The bushes were thick, which would keep them from being visible to anyone on the bike path, or from the grassy area at the top of the wall. “Home away from home.” Not a happy thought, but one he was getting used to.

Bull must have agreed, because he settled down right next to Cole when the teen crawled into the sleeping bag. Soon, despite the sounds of traffic and occasional voices along the path, Cole fell asleep.

Sunlight woke Cole the next morning. For a moment he was disoriented, before realizing where he was—and that Bull was nowhere in sight.

“Guess he didn’t think this was such a great spot after all,” Cole muttered disconsolately as he got out of the sleeping bag and rolled it up. Desperately needing to pee, he made his way down to a bush by the edge of the creek a few yards from where he’d slept. It gave him just enough cover to relieve his bladder without anyone seeing him. Going back, he used the bungee cord Adam had given him to lash the sleeping bag to his backpack, then slung the pack over his shoulders.

Just then Bull appeared. He dropped a fast food take-out container—gripped carefully in his large jaws—at Cole’s feet. More than a bit surprised, Cole opened it to find a partially eaten breakfast burrito and the remains of some hash browns.

“Been dumpster diving?” Cole asked, chuckling. Of course he didn’t get an answer. “Here. I’ll share.” He split the burrito in two, giving one piece to Bull while devouring the other plus the hash browns. “This should tide us over until we get back to The Haven,” he told Bull.

They waited until there was no one in sight on the bike path, then waded across the creek. Cole took out his phone, intending to find the quickest way from where they were back to The Haven, only to find out the phone was dead. And stupid me, I didn’t bring the charger. Not that I could use it right now, but…Shaking his head, he stuffed the phone back in his pocket, put on his socks and shoes, and took off walking along the path with Bull by his side.