Chapter 6 - Temper us in fire, and we grow stronger. When we suffer, we survive.

“She what?” Chloe asked looking at me with wide eyes.

“She ... tried ... to ... kill ... me...” I said slowly.

“I heard that. But why?” Chloe asked me.

I rubbed my eyes.

“Just what I wanted on my birthday, to be explaining to my older sister how my mother tries to kill me in 15 years or so.” I said sarcastically.

“Just tell me, you ass.” Chloe said.

I looked over at her. My eighteen year old sister. I thought back to myself. Maybe I was being too harsh towards them. I mean, I remember what Chloe was like when she was eighteen. Even though she could be a bitch, she could be cool. I debated with myself for a few minutes, honestly debated with myself, if I should tell her. I let out a sigh.

“Okay.” I said, defeated.

She perked up, gaped at me as I grabbed one of her feet and the lotion again.

“It was June, of 2011.”

“Josh, I want a dog though.” Annie said to me as we looked at the two kittens in front of us.

We were at an animal shelter in Rochester. Fawn and Mother had been with us. The kittens were Black and Orange. They couldn’t have been older than a month and were very active.

“But ... but ... they’re so cute!” I said, sticking my finger into the cageignoring the warning signs.

The orange kitten brushed up against my finger, just trying to get some attention. I scratched him on the head.

“Yeah, I want the orange one too, but I want a dog. Come on.” Annie said.

“All right.” I sighed.

We walked away from the kitten cages, and headed towards the dogs heading up and down the kennels.

“Wait,” Chloe stopped me, “What does this have to do with her trying to kill you?” She asked.

I groaned.

“Will you just let me tell my story?” I asked.

“Well you can move faster than that.” Chloe said. “You don’t have to tell me every detail.”

I rolled my eyes at her.

“Fine.” I said before going back to rubbing her feet.

The day out ended with us paying the fee to adopt a little white Bichon Maltese mix, and the two kittens. During the pet interviews, the dog just kept giving us love and licks, the black kitten hid in a corner very shy, and the orange kitten climbed up the attendant’s leg, back and onto her shoulder where the little guy head-butted her to get some attention. Something that would invite us to call him a shoulder kitty. The orange kitten, we would name Odo, and the black one, we would call Belle. Belle was so small that she could sit in the palm of my hand. She looked so sick at the beginning and we did everything to get her to feel better. The dog, we ended up naming Sesshomaru.

A week down the road, we picked up our new fur babies, and brought them home. Belle did not like it in the carrier box and cried the entire way back to the house we were renting, including when we stopped at the pet store for supplies. She was not a happy little girl until we got back. When we arrived back, we brought the pets to the room and relaxed with them, even though Sesshomaru, or Sheshy as we called him in later years, was depressed. Being neutered will do that to a dog, I guess. We watched some television, and played some games until the night hit. We had opted to put Sheshy in the basement, in a cage while we went out. We didn’t want him hurting himself and we weren’t used to him yet, or his behavior so it seemed like the best idea.

Annie and I headed out, though Sheshy had abandonment issues that we had yet to find out about.

Annie and I were headed to the Seven-Eleven only a 5 minute walk away for us when we heard some shouting from the driveway. We turned around to see Fawn screaming.

“What?” I yelled back, before stepping a few steps closer to hear her.

“You can’t just leave with the dog barking! I’m trying to get some sleep!“ Fawn screamed.