Training
With Wolfie
By Karen Singer
Chapter 2 – Part 1 of 2
Brian
stared at his phone. No calls…which
meant no work. Of course, he wasn’t
really sure he wanted to go to work. The
kids were always vicious toward substitute teachers, or at least they were to
him. Other substitutes said the kids
were sometimes a little problem, but for him, they were always a major
problem. But no work, meant no money. And he had to live. Unfortunately, all too often, his phone
didn’t ring in the mornings, so despite how awful the kids always were for him,
he needed his phone to ring.
He
checked the clock one more time. School
had started twenty minutes ago. His
phone wasn’t going to ring. He was going
to be faced with another day where he didn’t know what to do. He sometimes got to talk with other
substitute teachers. They all seemed to
work more than he did. Why? But at the same time, he wondered how they
could stand it. Did the kids behave any
better for them? It always sounded like
it. They talked about lesson plans and
teaching. He talked about what monsters
the kids always were. Of course, the
older kids were always worse than the younger ones. The older kids often frightened him.
He
turned away from staring at his phone and glanced out his front window. He saw his neighbor and landlord, Mrs.
Murphy, walking up her driveway toward her mailbox. He watched as she opened it and put her mail
inside. She raised the red flag so the
mailman would know to stop and pick up her letters, then she walked back to her
house again. He rarely got any mail, not
even very many bills. And of course,
never a friendly letter. He sighed and
headed back toward his couch where he turned on his small ancient TV set.
Later
in the morning, he wandered outside to walk around his little rental house in
the bright spring sunshine. As he turned
the corner from the side of the house up to the front, he saw Mrs. Murphy out
front talking to a man in overalls. He
saw the pickup truck in her driveway.
One of her repair men he guessed.
She owned quite a few rental houses around the area and hired several
men to keep them all running properly.
With a nod of his head, the man turned and walked back to his
truck. She turned back toward her house,
but she stopped when she spotted him in his front yard. “Not working today?” she called.
“No,”
he called back. “Not today.”
She
walked over toward his house where she could talk to him easier. As she turned off of the sidewalk and got out
of sight of the front window, she could hear Wolfie inside starting to
bark. The stupid dog didn’t like letting
her out of his sight. She had only come
outside in the first place because it was easier to talk business without the
stupid dog causing problems. She knew he
needed a bit more training, but she never seemed to get around to it.
Brian
saw her walking towards him. He
hesitated to walk closer to her after yesterday, but since she seemed to be
acting friendly, he approached her too.
He met her at the property line.
“I
think substitute teaching must be a terrible way to make a living,” Rosa
said. “You seem to have way too many
days off.”
“I
know,” replied Brian dejectedly. “I
don’t get called for nearly as many jobs as I’d like.”
“How
about other substitute teachers, do you know how often they get called?”
He shrugged.
“From what I can tell, more than me.”
She nodded.
“That’s because the kids walk all over you too much, and the schools
know it.” He just shrugged his shoulders
instead of replying. “So what do you do
all day when you’re not working?”
“Not
much,” he replied. “There isn’t much to
do.”
She nodded knowingly. “Why don’t you come over in a little while
and play with Wolfie again. I know he’d
like it.”
He
thought about it for a moment. He
enjoyed playing with the big dog, but after yesterday… “I don’t think so,” he
replied. “Not today.”
“Look!”
she said a bit more forcefully. “You’re
not doing anything today, and Wolf needs a playmate. You meet him out back in half an hour. Got that?”
“I
don’t know,” he replied hesitantly.
“Just
be there!” she ordered more forcefully.
Then she turned and walked off, leaving him right where he was. She had thought quite a bit about what had
happened yesterday with Brian, and somehow, it had interested her. But in view of her former, or mostly retired
profession, she guessed that it was only natural. She didn’t know it until that moment, but she
just then got the idea in her head that she was going to push the boundaries
with him a bit…just as an experiment.
Then she guessed that they both would see if he had any backbone in him
at all.
Half an hour later, she let Wolf out into the
big backyard again. She looked around
but didn’t see Brian. She waited another
fifteen minutes. Still no Brian. She left Wolf outside and went into the house
and phoned him. “Wolf and I are
waiting,” she said in her no-nonsense voice.
“Get over here and play!”
“But…”
“But
what? Did you get a call to go to work
today?”
“No. But…”
“Then
there are no other buts! You’ve got
nothing better to do and Wolf needs a playmate.
Now hurry up!”
Brian didn’t know what to do. She was actually frightening him. “Can…can I change my clothes first?” he
finally asked.
“Hurry
up!” she replied before slamming down the phone. She smiled.
He was coming. Let the games
begin. But then she corrected
herself…the games began yesterday.
Brian hurried to change his clothes, although
he didn’t know why he hurried. He
finally forced himself to slow down before he left through his back door. Play with Wolf! He usually enjoyed playing with Wolf. But after yesterday…. Yesterday had been a bit embarrassing. He could still almost taste the liver treats
she had made him eat.
Wolf caught sight of him and again ran to the
fence barking while Brian slowly walked toward the gate to let himself in. He was having trouble finding the enthusiasm
for playing that he had felt before, but as soon as the gate was closed. Wolf’s enthusiasm lifted his spirits somewhat
and he ran into the backyard with the big dog.
Rose sat on the porch and just watched them
play for a while. She knew she had to
take it slow and easy with him, especially right now. She didn’t want to scare him off completely –
at least not yet. Her phone rang, more
business. She hurried inside to answer
it, but when she came back out again, she brought the box of dog treats with
her.
She sat and watched Brian and Wolf chasing
each other for a few more minutes. But
Brian couldn’t run as much as Wolf could and shortly she saw him begin to
tire. It was time for a refresher
course! “Brian! Wolfie!” she called. The two heard her and started toward the
porch, Wolf at an enthusiastic dead run that would have frightened anyone else.
Rosa was afraid that Wolf was going to jump
on her again, but fortunately, he didn’t.
He just ran back and forth across the porch until Brian got there. Brian climbed the steps and once again sat in
the corner chair across from her. He
looked a bit winded, but otherwise a lot happier than he had looked
earlier. “I think you like playing with
Wolf,” she observed.
He smiled.
“Yeah. He’s a lot of fun.”
“He’s
a big dog with a lot of energy. I
appreciate you giving him the exercise.
And I can certainly see that he likes you.”
Brian laughed and rubbed the fur around
Wolf’s neck again as he dog came back over to him. “He’s a great dog,” Brian replied.
“Humph!”
Rosa grunted.
“Sometimes, anyway. I’m afraid he
still needs a lot more training. There
are times he nearly drives me crazy.”
She paused for a moment.
“Speaking of which…” She picked
up the box of treats. “Let’s see what you
both remember from yesterday.”
“But…”
Brian started to protest.
Rosa cut him off before he could get any
further. “No buts! Think of this as you helping him with his
training.”
Brian wasn’t too sure about that, but mostly,
it was just something in the tone of her voice that forced him to do as she
wanted.
Rosa pointed at Wolf. “Sit!” she commanded. The big dog sat. “Good boy,” she praised, happy that for once
he had actually complied the first time she asked. She pointed at Brain. “Sit!”
He laughed this time. “I am sitting.”
She smiled at him. “Good boy.”
She looked directly at Wolf.
“Speak!” The big dog barked. She pulled a treat out of the box and held it
to his mouth. Wolf eagerly swallowed it
whole. She looked directly at Brian as
she put her hand back into the box.
“Speak!” she commanded.
Laughingly, Brian barked too. She
pulled out another treat and held it up to his mouth.
Brian turned his head away. “No thanks.”
“Take
it!” Rosa ordered.
He looked up at her worriedly. “Do I have to?”
Rosa nearly laughed inside. The boy didn’t have the guts to really refuse
at all. “Yes! Now eat it!” she ordered as she again pressed
the treat to his mouth.
Reluctantly, Brain took the dog treat into
his mouth and chewed it, then finally swallowed it. Yuck!
Rosa didn’t stop watching him until she saw
him finish it. “Good boy,” she praised.
“Now go back out and play for a bit more. I’ll make you a sandwich for lunch, would you
like that?”
She had surprised him with her kind
offer. “Sure!” he replied
enthusiastically. “Thanks!”
Rosa watched them playing for a few moments
before she went inside to make them both some lunch. When she was ready, she called them inside.
Brain walked into her kitchen, a place he had
never been in her house before. She had
set a plate with a simple sandwich on it and a glass of tea on the table for
him. Another place at the table held a
plate with a small salad on it. He sat
down in front of the sandwich.
Rosa said nothing while he sat down. But Wolf was now pacing expectantly around
her. If she didn’t give him something to
eat when she ate, then the darn dog could sometimes be a problem through her
whole meal. She pulled a package of a different
kind of treat out of her cabinet. Wolf
saw it and began running around in a small circle until she held one out for
him to take. She looked up at Brain. “Would you like one too?” she asked.
Brain’s eyes went wide. He knew she was only joking, but still… “No
thanks!” he replied.
Rosa smiled as she put the box of treats
away. With what she was planning on
doing, if the boy didn’t start showing some backbone, then very soon he would
probably be eating those treats too.
As soon as lunch was over, Rosa led them back
out to the porch again. But before they
could get off of the porch, she pointed at Wolf. “Sit!” she ordered. Wolf sat immediately, right where he
was. She turned and pointed at
Brian. “Sit!” she ordered. Brain again went over to his usual chair to
sit down. Rosa
scowled, but said nothing. She picked up
the box of treats from the swing where she had left it earlier. She looked at Wolf. “Speak!” she commanded. The big dog barked. She fed him one of the treats. She looked at Brain. “Speak!” she commanded. Brain barked too. She pulled a treat out of the box and held it
up to his mouth. There was no hesitation
this time as he took it and ate it.
“Your barking still needs some improvement,” she said as she watched him
eating it. “I think you need to try to
make it more forceful.” Brian said
nothing.
She walked back over to Wolf and knelt down
in front of him. Wolf continued to sit
where he was, but his nose instantly went closer to the box of treats in her
hand. “Shake!” she commanded as she held
out her hand. Wolf hesitated, but he
finally put his paw into her hand and she shook it up and down. Then she dropped it and gave the dog a
treat. She looked at Brain, then got to
her feet. She knelt in front of
him. “Shake!” she commanded as she held
out her hand the same way.
Brian looked at her like she was crazy. “What?”
“I
said shake!” Rosa repeated in a much firmer
tone of voice.
Brian hesitantly held out his hand out toward
her, but he held it out more like a man would to shake hands with another
person. She grabbed his hand and turned
it palm down, then she shook it up and down a few times before dropping
it. Then she reached into the box and
pulled out another liver treat for him which he ate unhesitatingly. Rosa was
smiling inside. Progress! Whether he knew it or not. “Okay, you two, go play!” she ordered.
She again sat on her swing while the two of
them went back out into the yard to play.
But it wasn’t long until her phone rang again and she had to go back
inside to answer it. “Hello?” she spoke
into the phone.
“Rosa!”
her friend’s voice came over the line.
“What are you doing?”
“Connie!”
Rosa replied delightedly. “What am I doing? That’s a good question. In fact I’m almost afraid to answer.”
Connie laughed. “That doesn’t sound like you at all!”
“Well
then, why don’t you come over and you can tell me how crazy I am to my face.”
“That
bad? Honey, I was going to see if you
wanted to do some shopping, but this sounds much juicier! I’ll be right there!”
Rosa nearly laughed when she hung up the
phone. Unlike herself, Connie was still
very much active as a dominatrix, a profession that Rose herself used to
enjoy. But nowadays, now that she was
older, she was nothing more than a businesswoman who collected rent from her
various properties. She had left all the
really “fun” stuff behind her…mostly.
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