Dialectical Journal

Chapter Two: Pups

When I woke with a few rays of light peering through my window. I got up stiffly, pulling my gun out from under the pillow as I did so. Since initiation as I almost always had a gun on me, it was a dangerous world in Chicago, your life could end at any moment. There was a couple times that just tapping the gun in my waistband had saved me from confrontation. I slipped out to the kitchen as Jack's snores still rang through the silent house. I quietly made myself a bowl of cereal and ate it watching some old western on the TV. You would think that having run away from your past would make your life more interesting, but instead it only made things mundane and painful.

When I was done I placed the bowl in the sink and went

back to my room. I pulled on some clean clothed, tucking my gun into the waistband on my clean jeans. With Jack still snoring I decided that I might as well start to unpack the clothes that were stuffed into my bag. The shirts hung nicely on the hangers while everything else was put away in drawers in the bottom of the closet. The sweatshirt that I had been wearing the night of the fire still laid at the bottom of the bag. It still smelled of smoke. I pulled it out and the shiny red lettering caught my eye on the back where it could be see under the hood. It read 'Tine', my old nickname.

Our family had immigrated to Chicago after my dad's death when I was eight, but even living in the U.S. we all still tended to speak Gaelic. Tine, ironically meant fire. My mother had called me that since was born because of my red hair, she said it was a sign that I was destined to have a fiery personality. She had been right till after I joined with Jack. I had mellowed out and didn't act out like I had before and now I tended not to speak or react to anything. I was slowly trying to become invisible because if your invisible you live longer than those who acted out and stood out.

I heard Jack start to wake as I walked into the bathroom. My long red hair was in disarray as I looked in the mirror. My once bright blue eyes were now dull and emotionless. My face a cold mask of indifference. I ran my brush through my pin straight hair and pulled it up into a ponytail. The only problem with wearing my hair up was that the scar that ran from behind my ear to my shoulder blade was visible, it had been part of my initiation. Jack walked out of his room as I came out of the bathroom. He gave me a side hug as he passed me.

"It's going to be okay, Deen. I'll make sure of it." He emphasized it with a squeeze before he stepped into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. I don't know how he did it, but Jack had always had a way of making me feel better. We had been close since I was old enough to walk and follow him like his shadow, being only a mere two and a half years apart we couldn't remember a time without each other.

I finished getting ready and waited by the door for Jack as he grabbed the cheerio and threw me the keys. He climbed into the passenger's seat as I got into the driver's. Once we got to Seattle to found a target and went inside. Jack went over to men's section of the store while I made my way to the home section. Most of the quilts were girly over over priced so I picked out a pale green quilts that came with thick looking tan sheets for myself and a black quilts that came with gray sheets for Jack. Next I headed over to the lamps and got a couple off white lamp shades to go on the bare lamps. Jack was waiting for me by the check outs holding four small boxes. He moved into one of the lines when he saw me and I followed behind him. I placed the quilts and lamp shades on the belt behind the boxes. They were alarm clocks and smoke/carbon monoxide detectors.

"Why do we need alarm clocks?" I couldn't help but ask.

"The money me have isn't going to last forever, I'll have to get a job and I'll register you for school at the high school on the way back into town." Jack handed the cashier a couple hundred dollar bills and we both picked up a share of the stuff to carry.

"If you're going to work, so am I. I haven't attended school in six months, Jack." I would do horrible if I went back to school now.

"The last time you attended you were taking AP classes. If you get signed up for regents classes and pay attention you'll do fine. You need an education, even if you don't think so." Jack took the keys and climbed into driver's seat.

"You dropped out, too. What are you going to do for work?" There aren't many options for high school drop outs to find work.

"I'll apply for a GED and I'll look through the papers. We'll stop by the store in Forks to get a paper to and look through the job ads. Plus there's sure to be something we'll need for the dog." Jack sounded like he was getting annoyed, so I backed off. We pulled up to a large building and walked inside, the inside seemed gigantic compared to the outside. There were several breeds of dogs through the kennel, ranging from new born pups to adults. A tall gray haired man looked up as a bell rang above the door. He held up his index finger in the hold on a minute motions as he put a yellow labrador into it's kennel. He walked over to us with a smile on his face.

"I'm Tom Kenneth, you're Jack Quinn, I presume?" He introduced himself holding his hand out to Jack to shake. Jack nodded and shook his hand.

"Yep and this is my sister Aideen." I nodded to the man and he smiled and reached out to shake my hand.

"Well I got a selection of dogs that meet your specifications." Tom led us to a back room with at least a dozen kennels lining the wall. This room was quiet in comparison to the main room, all these dogs were adults and chewed on their toys contently or laid silently. Tom opened five of the kennels, each of the dogs stood, but none made a move to get out.

"Teacht." I was shocked when Tom gave them command to come in Gaelic, but it also made since that Jack would want a dog to only answer to Gaelic. All the dogs got out of their kennels and lined up in front of Tom, taking a seat as they waited for their command. Jack nodded as he watched the dogs. They were all different breeds. A rottweiler, German shepherd, doberman, labrador, and a breed I didn't recognize but looked similar to the German shepherd.

"Can you run through a routine with them?" Tom nodded to Jack request and ran the dogs through a routine of commands.

"Which one's are the youngest and oldest?"Tom point to the rottweiler and doberman that were panting heavily after going through the commands.

"Which dog did you take the most time training?" Tom smirked at all the questions and gave the German shepherd looking dog forward.

"This is Póilín, he's a Belgian Malinois." Tom introduced. I smiled the name meant officer, seemed kind of fitting with the way the dog had followed orders.

"He's the one." Tom put the dogs back into their kennels before leading us back into the main room. Póilín trotted along side Jack, his lead dragging behind him. Tom and Jack talked price and what we would need. I zoned out till I felt something small scratch at the back of my leg. I looked down to see a little pup who whines up at me as it hopped up on it's back legs and place it's front paws just above my knee. I squatted down and picked it up. I licked my face and caused me to giggle. With my giggle Jack turned to look and was surprised to see the pup in my arms. Tom smiled at me as the pup settled into my arms.

"That's one of our newest litters. She's a German shepherd mixed with a wolf hybrid." I smiled as I looked to see the pup was starting to fall asleep. Jack was studying the pup and for the first time in a while a small smirk graced his face. A girl about ten years old came around the corner as I pet the little pup behind the

ear.

"Oh!

Papa, I'm so sorry, she got away from me!" I little girl said as she saw the pup in my arms. Tom laughed and shook his head.

"I think we'll take her." Jack said and I was shocked. He smiled and finished paying and running over what would need to be done and things we would need. I stood and smiled at the pup that was sleeping in my arms. She was a light gray with delicate black and white markings on her face and paws. She was adorable. Póilín laid quietly in the back while the little pup slept in my lap all the way back to Forks.

"What are you going to call her?" Jack glanced over at me. I shrugged as I studied

her.

"Sonas." I decided. Jack nodded and focused on the road. Sonas startled a little as I moved to get out of the car, but settled as I laid her back down on the seat. Jack went off to get a paper while I went to get supplies for the dogs. I got dog food, a collar and leash for Sonas, two dog beds, a couple toys, bathroom pads for house breaking Sonas, a bag of treats and a dog brush before heading back up front to meet up with Jack. He held a paper, two lengths of rope, two bowls, a box of clasps and a box of new work boots. We cashed out and went back to the car. Sonas jumped up with her front paws on the window as we got closer, she let out a squeaky bark that made me smile. I scooped her up as I opened the door and got in the seat.

Jack watched amused from the corner of his eye as I opened the package that held the collar and struggled to get Sonas to hold still so I could put it on. I finally got it secured around her neck when Jack pulled into a parking lot off the highway. There was a collection of buildings spread through the area, but the building closest to the highway had a sign that said 'Main Office'. Jack told me to stay in the car before climbing out and walking to the building. I don't want to go back to school, I don't want to make any connections in this town if there's the chance that we would have to pick up and run at any point, but when Jack had his mind set to something there was no changing it.

When Jack got back in the car he had a hand full of paper that he shoved in the center console. He didn't say anything as he put the car in drive and started toward the house. I payed more attention to everything, than I had yesterday. It would be important to know how to get around without Jack always having to direct me or drive me around. When we pulled into the drive way I got out and set Sonas down on her leash, she set nose to the ground and started smelling everything. Jack open the back door and had Póilín jump out. He took the lead off and had him heel as he walked around the yard and got to know him better. I took a seat in one of the chairs on the porch with Sonas sniffing around the porch as I watched.

It was weird how much Jack and Póilín seemed to be a perfect match. They both walked straight and stiff, like drilled military soldiers. Both were scanning the trees and perked when they heard a car pass. After a while Jack went back to the car and grabbed out the rope. He tied a hefty knot around a tree branch and then measured out almost a hundred feet before cutting the rope. He fastened a large clasp to the end of the rope so it would hook onto Póilín's collar. He then came toward the porch and tied the other length of rope to the post on the porch and repeated the progress with the exception that the rope was let out only about fifty feet.

"I'll build a small shelter for Póilín just inside the trees." Jack motioned to a spot just behind the tree he had tied the knot to. I nodded and scratched behind Sonas's ear as she climbed into my lap to lay. Jack got the paper out of the car along with the papers he had got at the school. He handed the paper to me and took a seat in the other chair with Póilín laying next to him. I glanced through the papers. A schedule, the rules, a list of supplies, a reading list for English, and a map of the school.

"When do I start?" Jack looked away from his paper to me.

"The secretary said that spring break just started Monday and that school wouldn't be back in session till next Monday." I nodded and looked down at the list of supplies again. I would need everything on here. Nothing was salvageable after the fire. I looked through the reading list, these were some of the books that I had read during my sophomore year in Chicago, but they were sophomore level reading here in Forks. I guess Jack was right, I would do fine. I had already taken geometry and World History wouldn't be that hard to catch up on. Jack must have told them not to include a language course and told them that we already speak Gaelic and good deal of Italian and Spanish from going to such a diverse public school in Chicago.

Maybe and education wouldn't such a bad thing.