“Uhhh, I asked for this afternoon off, remember? It’s my parents’-” “I need you to put in some overtime today.” She cleared her throat with a frog-like croak and then reached up to pick her nose with her pinky. “What’s up?” I asked as I tried not to wince. “Nope,” she spat, and I felt my stomach drop. See you tomorrow?” I grabbed the mop-bucket combo and made as if I was going to leave.
The woman just wanted slaves that did her bidding, and she’d been put in charge of the center because her uncle was some big shot who donated money to the mayor. She never smiled, never laughed, and never seemed to care about the animals we rescued. “Hmmm.” She glanced around the walls, my mop, the step stool, and finally the ceiling.īeatrice wasn’t exactly an attractive woman, but what really got me was how mean she was. “I just finished cleaning up all the shi- poop from the floors, walls, and ceiling. “Hey, Beatrice!” I said as I turned to the stout woman who ran the Animal Control Center.
“Victor! Why are you lounging around? What is your problem?” my boss’s voice cut through the silence of the clean kennels like nails across a rough chalkboard. Today was also the two-year anniversary of their death. Three years after that, they got hitched, and I was born. It was twenty-five years ago today that they got married and started their dual veterinary practice.
Then it would be time to go visit the graves of my parents. After they were back, I could tell my boss I was ready to clock out. The offending stray was now quarantined in our vet unit, and all that was left was for me to move the rest of the dogs in from the yard. It had taken me three hours, but the last of the dog pens were now sparkling clean and devoid of the explosive canine diarrhea that had sprayed across the walls, floors, and ceiling earlier this morning. My spine cracked a bit with the effort, and I let out a long sigh as I looked at the clock. “Well, that’s the last pile of shit I have to mop up.” I took a long breath of air that no longer smelled like dog feces, leaned my mop against the wall of the Los Angeles County Animal Control kennel, and then raised my hands above my head to stretch.
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