idisagreecompletely

It was so hot. Unbearably hot. August in Phoenix is not where you want to be without an air conditioner. We had just pulled into the parking lot and I was rushing towards the office building to get out of the heat. We had been in the Datsun pickup for over 2 hours with no air.

I was guzzling the water from the bottle and rushing ahead of my boyfriend. It was the summer between my Junior and Senior year in High School and we had taken off for a week to visit his Mom.

When I turned to look back at him, a movement caught my eye. I thought I might be getting a bit delusional from the heat. I wiped the sweat away from my eyes, squinted and looked again.

There was something moving around in a parked car.

I walked over and looked in.

It was a dog.

Locked in a car with the windows up.

The temperature outside was 115 degrees.

What I had seen was him struggling to get up. He had stuck his paw up and placed it on the glass. He didn’t have the strength to keep it there and he had fallen back onto the back seat.

I gasped and tried to open the car door. It was locked. I ran around the car and tried all the doors. None of them opened.

I began to panic.

The dog was not moving.

I spun around and looked for something to break the glass. I saw a large rock near the bushes and ran over to it. I picked it up and ran back to the car.

My boyfriend was staring at me.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

I said nothing and took the rock and smashed the window. I had to try 3 times before it shattered. By then my boyfriend had come over. He pulled me back.

“What the HELL do you think you’re doing?” he screamed.

“I have to get the dog out of here,” I said as I pushed him away. I opened the car door, grabbed the dog and pulled him out. He was barely breathing.

He stood there with his mouth open and looked at the glass on the ground. I ran over to some shade and laid the dog down. I didn’t know what to do so I started fanning him.

There was foam all over his mouth.

“We have to get out of here before someone sees,” he said as he came up behind me and grabbed me by the arm.

“Shut-up and bring me the water from the truck!” I yelled. I took my water bottle and poured it over the dog. I washed his muzzle. “Come on baby, please keep breathing,” I sobbed as I rubbed his fur. I ran my hands over his face and put my mouth to his and breathed in. I didn’t know what I was doing. His head flopped back. I pulled it back to me and tried again.

“WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE” he screamed.

He was worthless. I ran over to the truck and grabbed the water and poured it on the dog. I pushed on his chest and kept breathing into him.

His eyes fluttered.

He wasn’t dead but he had passed out.

“You put your mouth on him? That’s fucking gross! I’m never kissing you again,” he said.

I looked up. “You got that right,” I said and kept fanning him and talking to him. I sat down and cradled him in my lap and stroked his face. He was coming around.

I didn’t see the cop car arrive. I heard a woman screaming about her car being vandalized. Someone must have seen what I had done and called the cops.

I didn’t care. They could have called the entire force and I wouldn’t have stopped.

“Miss, you mind telling me what you’re doing?” the cop asked.

I looked up. I thought it was obvious but I guess not.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY CAR?” a woman screamed.

I looked down at the dog and leaned over. I put my nose against his. He licked me. He wagged his tail for a moment and then closed his eyes again.

“I broke the window to get the dog out,” I said.

The cop walked over and kneeled in front of me. He looked at the dog and stroked his face. I looked up at him and then back down at the dog. He was breathing but not very well.

“We need to get him to a vet,” I said and began crying.

“I didn’t have anything to do with it. I swear! We were just walking and suddenly she is breaking the glass,” the soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend said.

The cop stood up and turned to the woman. “This is your car?” he asked. I laid the dog down and stood up. I was very interested in her answer. I looked back at him and then back at the woman. I began to walk towards her.

“You left your dog in the car in THIS heat?” I screamed.

“YOU RUINED MY CAR YOU CRAZY BITCH!” she yelled.

Suddenly I was lunging towards her. I was aiming for her eyes. I shoved her back. The next thing I knew, someone had grabbed me by the waist and picked me up. One moment my feet were on the ground and the next moment they weren’t. I was suspended in mid-air for a moment.

The cop had picked me up. He carried me away from her. He opened up the back door to his car. He put me back on the ground and told me to sit down and be quiet. I nodded.

“I promise I won’t go near her, but can I sit with the dog?” I asked.

“No. You stay here. I’ll take care of the dog,” he said.

He radioed for animal services and told them it was an emergency. He walked over to the woman and advised her to be quiet and he would take a full report. He then walked over to the dog, picked it up and gave him to me to hold.

Not once had the woman shown any concern towards her dog.

My soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend walked over towards me. I ignored him and petted the dog.

I knew I was in trouble but I didn’t care. I sat while the cop talked to the woman. I couldn’t hear them and I didn’t want to.

“Miss, can you please step out of the vehicle?” the cop asked. I looked up and he was looking down at me. The woman was with him.

I held onto the dog and got out. The cop stayed between the woman and I. As I walked by, he put the woman in the back of his patrol car. She began to yell at him and he ignored her as he slammed the door closed.

“What happens now?” I asked.

“We’ll wait until they get here. How is he doing?” he asked and stroked the dogs face. He opened his eyes and his tail wagged again for a moment. I was glad he was a small dog.

“He’s OK but not very responsive,” I said. I felt nauseous from the heat and heartbreak.

A few minutes later, animal control arrived. They gently took the dog from me and promised me they would take good care of him. The woman in the patrol car was still yelling but the windows were rolled up.

“I hope you didn’t leave the air on for her,” I said.

He chuckled. “Yes I did, but I didn’t want to.”

I sighed and looked down at the ground. “I guess now you want all my information,” I said.

“Nope,” he said and walked away. He got in his patrol car and drove off.

This was not the first time nor the last that I rescued an animal.

To be continued.