AN: After reading My Sisters Keeper in class, I was given an assignment in my language class to write "journals" or chapters of My Sisters Keeper from a characters point of view that they hadn't "written" already. For example, in the chapter where Brian confronts Jesse about finding his cigarette at the scene of a fire, we don't know what is going through Jesse's head, so I could have written that chapter from his point of view. Well, I decided to choose a character that I thought had an important role in the book. This character would be Judge. Campbell's dog. :)
We had to choose five different chapters, so here's Monday.
Hope you like it. :) I had fun writing it.
My Sisters Keeper, and Characters(c)Jodi Picoult
Monday
When Campbell opens the door to his office Monday morning, I barge in heading over to my spot by his desk. But before I can reach it, I come face to face with a young girl. With hair so dark it has the appearance of being dipped in coffee grounds, and her cheeks splattered with freckles, she has a slim build and milky brown eyes that now stare at me.
I give her a look before making my way around her.
"What are you doing here?" I say to her. (Though my communication to her is beyond her comprehension… Something about us four-legged's not being able to use our lips and tongues to pronounce certain sounds. Campbell did the research for a case once, don't ask, but you try to say the word "dog" without using your lips or tongue. Be that as it may, I do wish our pronunciation were of higher quality so I could speak your human languages. I'd love to learn French and talk to the female with the poodle next door…)
Anyway, I start to head over to the black coffee mug sitting there by the wooden desk full of water like it always is. I regret it as soon as I take a drink. I should know better than to drink left over water from the day before.
I turn back around to see Campbell say to the girl, "I don't want any Girl Scout cookies."
I cock my head. Who said I didn't?
"Although," he continues, "You do get Brownie points for tenacity. Ha."
The girl, who I'm guessing is around 13 in human years says, somewhat vexed, "I'm not selling anything."
Campbell, whom I've been with for seven years, can, from time to time, be a jerk. I like to think though, that it's not all entirely his fault. Some of it may be the actual Campbell since I know he was a wiseass in school, he's told me, but it could be just an un-harmful side affect. If you had hourly seizures, I think you would develop a tendency to be an a-hole too.
"Kerri," Campbell looks at the girl while pushing the number to call his secretary in the next room over. "What is this doing in my office?"
Then again…
The girl then says something I never would have expected to come from her mouth: she wanted to hire my owner.
"This should be good," I mutter as I lie down and place my head between my paws.
Campbell shakes his head. "I don't think so."
She argues still, saying he doesn't even know if she even has a case.
She steps forward, and instinctively so do I. She stares at me probably noticing that I'm not just a pet. I imagine for a spilt second me smiling at her and taking one of the badass super-dog poses with the spotlight'n'everything, but remember it is against "Canine Protocol" and that I must remain even, act protective, and…"dog-like." Apparently, it's against the "rules" and modern society, to reveal to humans that you understand everything they say, and that we're smarter than we appear.
In other words: it freaks them out.
No really. I smiled at an old lady once who came to the attorney to make a case after she grinned at me, fake dentures and all, and she almost had a heart attack.
The girl, probably out of habit when she sees a cute dog, I happen to think I'm very handsome thank you very much, goes to pet me, but Campbell tells her not to.
"Judge is a service dog."
If I had a bone for every time I heard that one.
She recoils. "But you aren't blind."
We appreciate your contribution to the "Obvious Charity",I think to myself.
"Thank you for pointing that out to me," Campbell replies.
"So what's the matter with you?"
My ears perk up. Oh goody. I love this part.
"I have an iron lung..."
Bull.
"…and the dog keeps me from getting too close to magnets."
The bull continues.
As he asks her to leave, she interrupts him again and they head into a conversation about a case I don't remember, and I take the time to process Campbell's situation.
Heartbeat: normal.
Breathing: normal.
Behavior: normal.
All the vital signs appear to be in order.
After my analysis, I refocus to their conversation just when the girl says, "It's not God. Just my parents. I want to sue them for the rights to my own body."
That's a new one.
Campbell rips up a Post-it and sighs before answering her with a question. "What did you say your name was?"
"I didn't." She sits up. "It's Anna Fitzgerald."
Campbell has stood, and moved to the door to yell at Kerri, "Can you get the Planned Parenthood number for Ms. Fitzgerald?"
I watch as Anna Fitzgerald turns a bright red and stands appalled at his assumption. "What? Planned Parenthood?"
Campbell still believes the situation is about teen pregnancy and continues to babble.
Anna replies with, "My sister is dying, and my mother wants me to donate one of my kidneys to her."
Campbell forgets the papers Kerri went to search for, and instead goes back to sit at his desk. "No one can make you donate an organ if you don't want to."
Not entirely true. People would never ask me if I had to donate an organ to a family member. Then again I'm a dog. Why would anyone care what I think? I'm an animal. It's not like I have feelings or anything. Just have my guardian sign the papers and WHALLA; I'd be on my way to the vet's office. Awful place by the way.
I then realize Anna may be in the same situation…Whether she wanted to or not, her parents would just plaster their signatures on a few documents and then she'd be sent to the hospital to do whatever they please.
Anna glares and spouts out a number of donations she'd gone through since she was born.
"Obviously, you've agreed to be a donor for your sister before."
"Nobody ever asked."
"Did you tell your parents you don't want to donate a kidney?"
"They don't listen to me."
"They might if you mentioned this."
The girl goes on about how her parents rarely "see" her, and explains that she was literally born to save her sister's life. Talk about knowing your real purpose in life.
Campbell taps his pen on his desk and I inch closer. He talks about the consequences if she carries this out, and she understands completely.
I can say I can put myself into Anna's shoes, as the saying goes, but that doesn't mean I'd fit them. I didn't hang around my brothers and sisters for long, but they're my family and I can imagine I'd do anything for them. Then again, I don't think I'd want to end up like her either. Hard decision to make. I wonder if she has hidden motives…
She pulls out a wad of cash hoping it's enough, but attorneys are expensive.
"Maybe I could walk your dog, or something," she suggests.
I like that idea. Having someone else take me out besides Campbell would be nice. A change of pace.
"Service dogs get walked by their owners," Campbell says.
I roll my eyes. Humans and their absurd rules. I forgot. If another person partakes in any activities involving me, I may get "corrupted" or something. Yeah, right.
He then explains everything that is about to unfold before she makes a comment about his name and a brand of soup. I snort, but they don't notice.
Campbell hands her his card in case she needs to contact him, which she then takes and rips. She hands him back a note.
I take it it was a phone number because she tells him, "If you have questions."
I sit up and smile to myself.
Hm.
I might like this kid.
AN: Hope you liked it. :) Please review!
~M
