D: Shadow Dog

Shadow Dog

The battered pickup in the driveway meant Jenny's stepfather was home.
She had hoped he wouldn't be released from the county jail early this
time. While he
acted the model prisoner in jail, he was a demon when he came
home.

Jenny's pace slowed as she neared the old house with peeling, pale
green paint. Her stomach hurt with dread as she approached; she wanted
more than anything to be in bed protected by her blankets and her dog.
When she stopped at the front door, she heard the cigarette-crusted
voice of her stepfather.

"Pick her up! Are you some kind a' stupid, or what!"

"Honey, I just want to make sure she gets home from school ok. I
want."

"You want! What you want is to fix me dinner! I've been eating that
slop at the jail for three weeks. Get steppin'."

"But, honey, Jenny..."

Jenny heard the slap through the front door. There was a moment of
crystal silence. Then she heard her mother's panic-stricken intake of
breath; then sobs. She opened the door fast and ran into her mother's
arms. Her stepfather grabbed Jenny on the arm, but she turned fast and
burst at her stepfather, her little nine-year-old arms thrashing at his
chest.

While it did not hurt her stepfather, it surprised him. He tossed her
aside without effort. Jenny looked up from the floor at him. He was
smirking at her while he pushed back his greasy black hair from his
forehead. He fluttered his eyebrows quickly and exaggeratedly, as if to
imply it was all humorous to him.

Seeing this, Bonnie lost her fear and began hitting him as hard as she
could. This time it hurt, and he became enraged. He swung with a hard
right cross. She hit the floor unconscious immediately. Jenny was
terrified; she got up and ran to her bedroom.

Howard turned, went into Bonnie's bedroom, packed his clothes, and then
loaded two suitcases into the old pickup truck. He knew this time the
Sheriff would put him away. Time to go. At the truck door he hesitated
for a moment. His face changed, and he returned to the house.

As he closed the front door behind him, the silence was stark. Then
Howard heard a wispy guttural sound, like a deep rumble. But he knew
there were no animals in the house. Moving quietly down the hall, he
stopped at Jenny's closed door. She was in there.

"Come out, little Jenny, come out."

He grasped the doorknob and turned. There was something wrong?.

Instantly his wrist was on fire. He looked at it and saw deep puncture
wounds, and was bleeding. He gaped stupidly at it for a disconnected
moment. Then he heard the snap of the bones in his wrist, and the pain
found its way to the brain like a gunshot.

He tore himself away from the door and ran, screaming, to the truck,
leaving in a blend of pain and fury.

Jenny went quickly to her mother and held her while she cried and
called
9-1-1.

Jenny and her mother had been transported to the little county
hospital,
treated, and then released. Jenny was fine, but her mother had a split
lip
and cut on her chin that required a single stitch. A police officer
gave
them a ride home.

Few words passed between mother and daughter at dinner. This was not
a
new experience - only more violent. Their lives changed dramatically
when Howard's liquor, parties, and bail money dried up their excess
savings. And Bonnie's split-shift position at the little caf? hardly
paid the rent.

Jenny and Bonnie spent the rest of the evening on the couch together,
gaining strength from each other. Neither wanted to break physical
contact with the other. They tried to watch television, but it held no
interest. They were tired and stressed, so they decided to go to bed
early.

Mom walked Jenny to her room and watched as she changed into her pink
pajamas, then climb into the little twin size bed. She sat by Jenny for
a moment, leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.

"Honey, I'm sorry?"

Jenny put her finger on her mother's lips.

"Its going to be OK, mom. It's not your fault. I know."

"Want me to sleep in here with you tonight?"

"I'll be OK. My dog will be here to protect me."

Bonnie thought her daughter's make-believe dog was a good thing.

"Good. Have you named it yet?"

"It already has a name, mom."

"Oh. What's that?"

"'Old Nick'. He said he would always protect me."

Bonnie looked at the sweet face of her daughter, sighed, rose, and went
to her own room to sleep.

"Good night, honey. Yell loud if you need me."

Bonnie's bedroom light went out, and the house was dark. The pinkish
light from the neon lamp on the street corner shone in, creating
shadows on the walls. Jenny called Old Nick, but he was not there. She
put her head on the pillow, and just before she drifted off the sleep,
she heard a shuffling sound in the room.

She sat up excitedly. There on her wall was the shadow of a huge dog.
The shadow moved slowly from one wall to the other, ending up near
Jenny's bed. Jenny wondered how she knew the dog's name, because he
never made a sound.

"Come close, Old Nick, let me pet you."

The shadow moved to her bed. Jenny could feel the weight of the large
animal, but could see only a shadow on the bed.

She put her hand on the shadow, and in a few minutes was asleep.