On The Line: Just a Pet?
BY BARBARA “BJ” ANDREWS continued
his pills designed to send him to nev- er–never land. Mom argued, he ignored her and instead asked “Tay–Too” what she thought about being brushed. The puppy watched him intently, cock- ing her head, seeming to hang on his every word. I had never seen this usually ram- bunctious puppy so quiet and attentive. He asked her again and she scooted clos- er to him. I asked mom if she had a brush and then laughed when she came back with the only thing she could find—her own hairbrush. Mom chattered and fussed about dog hair in the house as Roy ignored her and clumsily brushed the puppy. Amazingly she sat perfect- ly still for all of a minute before she grabbed the brush and ran with it! He laughed at her antics and we exchanged glances. He hadn’t laughed like that in months. The next day we packed to leave and although Roy was in his chair, he was very quiet. As we carried our suit- cases out, he called “Tay–Too” over to say goodbye. We stood quietly by the door, not quite sure how to broach the subject of leaving her with them. We couldn’t hear what he said to her as she sat looking up at him but when she eased onto his lap and licked his face, we saw his hands tremble and the tears roll unchecked down his whiskery cheeks. Mom knelt by Roy’s chair and asked if he’d like to just let her stay. He looked up at me and I nodded. His eyes cleared to the steel blue I remembered from long ago and he pulled himself up straighter in the chair, looked at my mother and told her that they couldn’t afford a dog, especially such a fine show dog. Then, sinking back down in his chair, he mumbled, “We can’t take care of ourselves Mother, how can we take care of a dog?” Mom took his hand and told him we wanted to give Key– Too to them and that it did seem she was a sensible puppy and they could manage her care if he wanted her to stay. “Tay–Too”, he corrected. He fell silent. His eyes misted and we realized he was thinking of Duke. We all were. When he finally looked up at me I could only smile and nod past my tears. Tay-Too, confused by the strange silence, nuzzled his hand for reassurance. We pretended not to notice his tears as he pulled her closer and muttered aloud, asking her if she’d ever be as big or as smart as “Old Duke”.
When she had quieted down, Mom gen- tly woke Roy. The moment was all we could have hoped for. He opened his eyes and although I hate to be melodramatic, it really was love “at first sight.” But was much more than that. There was some kind of understanding that took place. He extended a hand and she came to him, hesitant, ever so qui- etly, wondering and confused in her puppy way about this lump of a human whose only movement was a trembling hand. When he fondled her ears, she turned and licked his hand and although Roy didn’t suspect at the time, from that moment on, she was his dog. He stared at her and she gazed quietly back at him. Then he smiled and finally remembered we were present. Never taking his eyes from puppy, he asked her name. We told him Key–Too Success O’BJ and he repeated it as best he could in his drug–slurred speech. Somehow it came out “Tay–Too” and Tay–Too it always was. We resumed conversation, careful not to mention the dog or why we had brought her. Roy soon tired and Bill helped him back to bed but before he closed the bedroom door, Roy asked if the puppy could take a nap with him. Mom shrugged her shoulders when I pointed out that Key–Too might not sleep and there were all sorts of things
she could destroy in the privacy of Roy’s bedroom. My husband ignored us, soft- ly closing the door on the two of them. At supper, Tay–Too shared the TV tray that he had asked to have in the liv- ing room instead of in bed as was his custom. The puppy stole the slipper off his foot and laid her head on it, watch- ing up at him. When mom took his tray away, she wiggled around to the side of his chair where his arm dangled limply. She licked his hand and he responded by tweaking her ears and they both dozed off. None of us dared offer a com- ment even among ourselves. We left them in the living room and retired to the porch. Later that evening, she shared his bedtime snack and when mom fussed about crumbs in the living room and spoiling the puppy, he told her to just go back in the kitchen and leave them alone. We smiled. Key–Too slept in his room that night. She woke everyone bright and early the next morning, anxious to go out- side. Nothing in his room had been touched but his slippers were under the bed where she had cuddled up to them. Roy got up with her and mom said it was the first time in nearly a year that he had gotten himself out of bed. He had breakfast, took his medications but refused the portion of
134 • S how S ight M agazine , A pril 2018
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