Koby, one of the dogs, welcomed me as soon as I entered the door. He is a black Belgian Malinois that acts as if he has known me for a long time. He looked so happy to see me again. Lucy got him when I have left the town, and he has only seen me on the few occasions that I visited. He jumped to me excitedly, then he laid on the floor asking to be petted. I crouched down to reach his belly. He smelled like the oregano leaves and his paws are full of dirt. On the floor, a few inches from where he lays are some random items that may have been left by the kids after playing: toys, clothes, powder bottle, drinking glass, Lucy’s lipstick, a piece of candy, shoes, doll, torn papers… Koby stood again and went off his way to the garden.
I sat on the chair to wait for Lucy. The twins said that she will be back soon.
Lucy has three kids: a teenager, perhaps seventeen or eighteen years old, and twin girls of about five or six years of age. She usually leaves them alone in the house when she needs to do her stuff. Whether it was for work of whatever, I have no idea.
I remained sitting, making myself busy on the phone. Next to my chair is another chair stuffed with a pile of neatly folded clothes. I can smell the lingering fragrance of the detergent that Lucy uses.
Through the window, I could see Koby digging the soil. Near where he digs are some cooking herbs that Lucy planted: oregano, lemongrass, coriander, thyme. There were more but I could not recognize them from where I sit. Koby seemed to change his mind, stopped digging and decided to lay beside the oregano leaves. And then, I heard a growl beside me.. Kent, the other dog, is looking at me, scrutinizing my full intention of being in this very spot of the Earth. Around his neck is a collar. Not a usual dog collar, but one decorated by Lucy’s late husband.
I tried to make the look of “I am a good person” but Kent was not convinced. I have met this dog several times, even when he was still a puppy way, before Koby arrived. But he would always treat met this way once he sees me again after a long time.
“Kent, go outside,” I heard the woman said. It was Lucy’s mother. She lives next door and checks on the kids whenever Lucy leaves.
“Hey Natalie! How’s it going? It’s been like.. what? A year? Since I last saw you,” she said. “Lucy must be here by now. Oh! Hey, Mark! What have happened here?” she called Lucy’s teenage son. She was looking at the scattered mess on the floor. “Girls, come get your toys,” she said to the twins, “your mom will be upset with all these mess,” she said to them before she turned to me again. “Sorry, do you want some drinks?”
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