Riley

Within three hours, Sandra had gone from ‘dirt poor’ to ‘would never need to worry about money again.’ However, there was a catch. She looked down, just in time to see it pee on her shoes.

Swearing softly, Sandra let Riley out, for the third time in as many minutes, and took her shoe off. She stood, thinking about how to get rid of the mangy, flea-bitten mutt. Visions of poisoned dogfood and accidents with car tires ran through her mind. The lawyer had told her the will was legal and the part about keeping Riley was airtight. The will had stated “as long as Riley shall live.” Sandra smiled grimly; THOSE words had a familiar ring. He had even brought Riley along to the reading of the will and left the dog in her car when he walked away.

She walked over to the kitchen sink and tossed her shoe and its mate into the trash. Padding barefoot across the floor she smiled grimly. At this rate, she would have to spend the whole 6 million buying new shoes! Riley barked and she opened the door. He waddled in and went straight to the blanket she had put down in front of the couch. Turning around three times, he fell over and began snoring. She smiled in spite of herself. He might even be kinda cute if he was clean. Shaking her head, she thought about how much she had always hated dogs; they were so needy and loud and a lot of trouble.

She glanced at the clock. It was just now 2, so she had time for a quick jog before Brian’s school was out. Smiling as she thought of telling him they were going to live forever in this wonderful place, she laced up her running shoes and left.
Sandra jogged along the empty road, thinking about how she had ended up here, in Barkley Bay aka Small Town, USA. She didn’t miss the noise of the big, busy city, but she felt a pang of loss for her best friend, Karen. She needed to call and see if Karen could make it down for a visit soon. She hadn’t seen Karen since Tom had….she shook her head. No good thinking of that loser!
Sandra shook her wet hair out of her face. The light drizzle matched her mood today. The fog rolling in, as it did every afternoon, gave the surrounding hills a soft, surreal look. As she jogged past the little restaurant on the corner, the mingled smell of salt water, dead fish and fried potatoes reminded her that she hadn’t had lunch yet.

As she ate a quick Lunch Special, she thought about the changes which would now come to her life. At last, she would have her own home and she and Brian could have some peace. She would never again worry about how to buy the things she needed. The only downside was that stupid dog! Riley was old, incontinent, and half blind. It growled at Sandra every time he saw her; she wasn’t sure if he thought she was breaking into the house, or what, but he had growled and grumbled every time she unlocked the door to the huge house that Aunt Penelope had inexplicably left her.

When her marriage had dissolved, she had run to her aunt; although Sandra had only seen Aunt Penelope a few times in her life, Aunt Penelope was her only living relative. She was actually Sandra’s dad’s great aunt and she had always seemed very old and doddering to Sandra. However, when Sandra and Brian showed up at her door in the middle of the night a month ago, she had let them in and listened to Sandra’s incoherent tale of woe.

“There now, child,” Penelope had said, patting her awkwardly. “It will all work out. Let’s get you to bed.” She had led the way upstairs to a beautifully furnished bedroom with a small room for Brian right next door. Riley had curled up next to Brian and growled when Sandra tried to move him off the bed. Brian mumbled something in his sleep and put both arms around the dog, whose tail hadn’t stopped wagging since he saw Brian come into the house. Sandra sighed and left the room. She slept well and woke up with a small feeling of hope.

Aunt Penelope had been talking with a man when Sandra and Brian came down to breakfast the next morning. “OK, Mrs. Julian, I’ll take care of it.” The man bowed over Aunt Penelope’s hand and left without acknowledging the two on the stairs.

Aunt Penelope looked up, “Just a business matter, dear ones. Come to breakfast,” she added. She held out her hand to Brian, who hid behind his mother. Aunt Penelope smiled and they followed her into the large dining room.

While they ate the delicious eggs and bacon, Aunt Penelope and Sandra had a light conversation about the weather and shared stories about Sandra’s dad, who had grown up in this very house. After breakfast, Aunt Penelope suggested that Sandra might want to drive into town and get Brian registered for school. She had already told Sandra that they could stay as long as they needed to.
Sandra had agreed to stay until she was able to find a job and a little place for her and Brian. The old woman just smiled gently and nodded. She went to “have a little lie down” and Sandra took Brian to the elementary school and enrolled him in the first grade class. Brian was scared, so Sandra sat with him and helped him learn the names of some of his classmates. She spoke briefly to his teacher about his autism and prior school experiences and said she would send for his records that afternoon.

Life settled into a routine. Each morning after a delicious breakfast prepared by Mrs. Abernathy, the cook, Sandra drove Brian to school. She walked him to the door of his classroom and left to go job hunting. After a disappointing morning, she would return to the house, ignore Riley’s growling, and go for a jog. She would return to the house, again ignore Riley and shower before going to pick up Brian.

She met with Brian’s teacher frequently and was pleased at how quickly he had settled in. He still wasn’t talking, but he was beginning to smile again. Sandra drove to the school and waited with the other parents. Children poured out of the school with happy shouts; Brian came slowly walking down the steps, a worried frown on his face. As he climbing into his booster seat, she asked, “What’s wrong Buddy?” He shook his head and looked out the window. “Tough day?” Brian shrugged and continued looking out the window. Sandra quietly watched him for a few minutes, looking for clues to his obvious distress. “Ready to go see Riley?” She asked and was relieved when he smiled and nodded eagerly.

Brian and the dog had become inseparable in the last month. For some reason, the dog seemed to sense the little boy needed a friend. She had finally given up trying to remove the fat dog from Brian’s bed at night. She had been worried about the old dog’s frequent accidents, but Riley always slept through the night and Brian’s bed remained dry. Her shoes seemed to attract him more and he had peed on them on a regular basis. Luckily, she had found a Goodwill close and quietly replaced shoes rather than talking with Aunt Penelope, who adored the old stinky, grouchy mutt.

Maybe that was why, when Aunt Penelope had unexpectedly passed away last week, she had left the dog to Sandra in her will. “For the remainder of his life, even!” Sandra had tried to argue with the lawyer, but he had told her the will was legal and her Aunt Penelope had expressed her joy that Riley would be taken care of.

So now, she would never have to worry about where her next meal was coming from or how to assure Brian’s future. Sandra had hired Aunt Penelope’s lawyer and he was working on her divorce. He still hadn’t found where Tom and his secretary had gone, but he had assured her that it was only a matter of time. At least she didn’t have to worry now about asking for child support! The lawyer reassured her that, since “the child’s father” had abandoned them, there would be no question of her getting custody.

She smiled as Brian jumped out of the car and ran to let Riley out of the house. Riley ran to Brian, tail spinning, and licked his chin. Brian laughed and gave the smelly old dog a hug. Sandra grimaced, but was glad to see that Brian’s mood had improved. She called to him,” Bri? I’m going to write some letters. Stay right here in the yard, OK?” Brian grinned and nodded. He and Riley went racing around the corner of the house. Sandra went inside, relieved that Brian had a large, private yard to run in; and a dog of sorts, she thought with a grimace. A dog to love was something his doctor had suggested a year ago. Tom had objected because he always thought Brian just needed “to buck up and be normal!”

Why had she stayed with that insensitive jerk? She knew it was because she was afraid to leave him. He had always told her that he would track her down if she ever left, so she had stayed through years of abuse, only to have him run off with his secretary! A pang of anger shot through her, tinged with pity for the poor sweet Suzie, who had no idea of her probable fate.

These thoughts were interrupted by a loud scream of pain. Heart pounding, Sandra tore outside and around the corner. She stopped short at the sight of her soon-to-be ex howling in pain and anger with Riley firmly attached to his arm.

Swearing loudly, he was hopping around trying to get the persistent dog off of his arm by hitting at it. He saw her and his face darkened. “Get this filthy mutt off of me—now!” She ignored his demand and frantically ran past him to where Brian lay in a huddled heap.

She scooped her baby into her arms. He was sobbing and there was blood on his face. Terrified, she ran her hands over his head searching for a cut, but could find nothing. Tom’s swearing in the background suddenly stopped and she turned to see him coming towards them, fists clenched. The dog lay still on the ground.

Heart pounding, Sandra curled protectively over her son. She closed her eyes and waited for the blows she knew were coming. Suddenly, a deep voice barked, “Stop right there with your hands where I can see them!”

Sandra looked up to see a large police officer pointing a gun at Tom, who stopped and put his hands over his head. Brian was still sobbing, but struggled out of her arms and ran to cradle the dog in his arms. Sandra watched as the police officer handcuffed Tom and forced him to sit. “Are you all right, Ma’am?” he asked. Sandra nodded. “When you are ready, I would like to hear what happened.” She nodded again, taking a shaky breath.

Sandra wiped away the tears which were running down her face and looked over at her son. He had stopped sobbing and was crooning, “Wiley saved me” in a singsong voice. Tears flowed again at the unfamiliar sound of her son’s voice. Then she smiled as she saw the dog’s tail wagging feebly.

The blood on Brian’s face turned out to be Tom’s. He admitted that he was planning to take Brian from her and, when he had grabbed Brian’s arm, the dog had attacked him. She nodded when the police officer asked if she wanted to press charges. He read Tom his rights and put him in the car.

The blond officer walked over to the dog and looked him over. “He’s going to be alright,” he said to the small boy. “He just had the wind knocked out of him.”

Brian said, “Wiley saved me!” and the officer nodded.

“Yes he did! He’s a hero!”

Sandra hugged her son and smiled into the officer’s blue eyes. He blushed and asked, “Would you like me to come back later? Just to make sure you, I mean, the boy is OK?” She smiled and nodded at him. Then, she looked down, just in time to see Riley pee on her shoes.