Up for Adoption

Mr. Mulbary

Austin came and picked me up around two in the afternoon and on the way back home, I couldn't stop thinking about Kory. About how hard it must be to be around all those other dogs all the time. I was lucky to be able to escape the other kids when school was over, but she had to live with them. I didn't know how she dealt with it.

"So, you think you did okay on your first day?" Austin asked as we drove.

I shrugged. "It was alright, I got to play with some of the dogs."

"Good," Austin said. "And you were feeling alright doing all that?"

"Actually...yeah," I said. And I meant it; nobody bothered me, everyone was really nice and it was nice being around all the dogs. I didn't mind it when they got close to me and they didn't try to talk to me, not that they could, and I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be. So it was safe to say that I was already liking it at the shelter. 

"Really? Well, that's good," Austin said. "I have to admit I was a little worried you would quit after the first hour and I was expecting you to call me to come pick you up. So this is a nice surprise."

"I like dogs," I said firmly as I felt slightly offended that my brother didn't have more faith in me.

"I know you do," he said. "I'm glad you did alright in there, I guess I was wrong to worry."

'Maybe not totally wrong' I thought as I looked over him. I couldn't blame Austin for being concerned about me. After all, it wasn't like I ever really proved that there wasn't anything to worry about, with the way I had acted before in similar situations which usually ended with me begging to go home. I could actually see why he might have been leaning toward the idea of sending me to that special school but that didn't mean I wanted to go.

"Oh, by the way, you're on your own for dinner tonight," Austin said. "Because Macy and I are going out."

"Okay," I didn't like Macy but I was glad to be on my own for a little while. Even being in a place full of dogs could be a little crowded and I was glad to have a place I could go where I could take a break. I just hoped that our apartment would continue to be that place.

The next day, I went in to the shelter again and I was actually looking forward to it. I don't usually look forward to anything that involves leaving the apartment but I wanted to see the dogs and Brady. I wasn't sure why I wanted to see him, we weren't really friends yet but for some reason, I looked forward to meeting him again.

When I walked in, there was a man standing at the front desk. He was talking to Gina and judging by the look on her face, I could tell that their conversation was not a pleasant one. The man was dressed in a clean, crisp navy blue business suit, his grey hair was neatly combed and he had thin mustache on his face. He also had a gold watch and carried a briefcase. It was easy to tell that he was an authoritive figure.

"You know you can't hold on much longer," he said smugly to Gina. "Your lease will be up soon and then the landlord is going to throw you guys out along with all your mutts and you will no choice but to shut down this god forsaken dog pound."

"It's a shelter, Mr. Mulbary," Gina said sternly. "And the lease isn't up yet; we still have one more month and-".

"And what?" Mr. Mulbary smirked. "You're down on your luck already, it'll take a miracle for you to raise enough money before the lease is up. You've only found, what, three dogs homes in the last two months? There's no way you'll get more adoptions by the end of the month."

I didn't know who this guy was but the way he acted and how he talked to Gina made me want to hit something. And I had a feeling Gina felt the same way by the way she glared at him.