Chapter 2: Another one Bites the Dust
"You think this is easy," I say to the stunned crowd " you think I enjoy talking about the past of my best friend, especially when he's laying in a box next to me." All I got was looks of sympathy from the crowd. "Chase's family was as good as family to me, and Trigger was one of my favorite uncles. And if my parents were still here they would say the same thing, how Trigger and Siren were the best at what they did, just like Chase was." I said with tears in my eyes.
Rocky had took notice of my pain, and he began to walk up to me, which made me feel a little better. This was one of the great things about my mate, he always could cheer me up without even saying a word… wait did I just say mate, whoops well cats out of the bag now then, so now you know I'm gay, and Rocky is my mate, but this stays between us ok ( audience nods) great now where was I… Oh ya…
"Marshall," said Rocky "You don't have to keep going with this if you don't want to," he said with a look that said you should really stop now.
"I wish I could, Rocky. But it is my final promise to Chase, I will tell his story, he did so much for us in his life, I feel like I owe him this one thing" I said with a feeling of confidence when in all reality this was going to be a lot harder than I had thought.
"Well, I'm going to stay up here with you," said Rocky "so at least you can have a shoulder to cry on if you need it"
"Thank you Rocky," I said to the mix breed " I really appreciate it."
"Now where was I with Chase's story…. Oh I remember now…"
(Flashback)
It has been about one year now since Trigger has buried his wife. Everyday has been a struggle for the single father, but he has kept true to his promise to her, he has raised his pups to the best of his ability, and he is happy about how Chse is growing up to be a respectable and proper german shepard pup. Trigger wishes he could say the same about his other son however.
Swift was a different character. He was a typical rebellious teenager, although he had a real mean streak in him. Swift loved to fight, and ever since his mother's death, swift has looked for any outlet to let his aggression upon. Needless to say this always got him into trouble. He had a record as long as my arm. For assaults, petty theft and other various misdemeanors. It disheartened his father who was a well respected member of the Adventure Bay police department. He was disheartened knowing his son, his oldest son, was leading a life that lead to only one place, and that was the pound.
And to the pound Swift went. He was involved in something Trigger could never even imagine, he was a drug runner, and a high level one at that. It broke Trigger's heart to see his son handcuffed and muzzled sitting on the bench, being sentenced to spend the rest of his life in a cage, never to be free again, and never getting the chance to redeem himself.
Six months had passed since Swift was convicted. And every day Chase had asked where his brother was, and every day Trigger tried to avoid telling the young pup the truth.
"He's at a friend's house" he would say and the young pup would walk away, satisfied with the answer he received. Then the call came in that would break Trigger down to his own rock bottom. The pound that housed his son had called him, which was abnormal to begin with, and they informed him that his son had been killed in a dog fight. This was basically the way turf wars from the outside were settled in prisons. They had said your son was in the wrong place at the wrong time because from what they had gathered, he had no gang affiliation, any crime he committed outside the pound was done on his own terms.
Trigger thanked the warden at the pound, he sat down and cried, he cried and cried until he couldn't cry any more.
"First Siren, then Swift…" he paused looking at his son, his last remaining blood, his last remaining relative. And Trigger prayed that this pup would have to endure no more death no more suffering.
"Just let him live a happy life" he asked
Poor Trigger if only you knew what was going to happen next…
Chase was upset that he had to bury his brother, though he didn't fully understand why. He had asked his father and his response was always the same,
"I will tell you when you are older" but Chase never got to hear it direct from his father. Trigger was his son's hero. Everything his father did Chase was sure to copy, from the way he walked to the way he ate to even the way he slept. He even went as far as to address his father as "Sir" a habit that would follow him through his entire life. Trigger was everything to his son, until even he was ripped away from the young pup.
Trigger had been involved in a raid on a drug house. All the officers involved; both human and pup, knew these individuals were heavily armed. He had left his son with his best friend Blazer (my dad) and me. He kissed his son goodbye and said he would be back soon, little did he know, he would never see his son again.
As soon as the door was broken down, all the officers rushed the house. Trigger went to clear the other rooms as he had been instructed, he never saw the man with the shotgun hiding around the corner of one of the bedrooms, because as soon as he rounded the corner it was too late, he had a twelve gauge slug in the side of his head.
Trigger was pronounced dead at the scene, and the chief himself, whom Chase was friends with, walking up to Blazer's house. As soon as he saw the Chief, Blazer knew something was wrong,.. really wrong.
"Chief, what do I owe the pleasure of your appearance too" asked Blazer afraid of the answer.
"Blazer," said the chief solemnly " Trigger is… dead, he was killed in a raid this morning" Blazer's heart dropped as he looked at Chase playing with me.
"Chief," asked Blazer " how do we tell him, and more importantly what will happen to him."
"Don't worry Blazer" said the Chief " I have spoken with the Doctor, and he has a plan, one that can help out this city and this pup all at once. As for telling him leave that to me"
"Hey Chase" the Chief called out " Can you come here for a minute pup?"
Chase ran over to see what the Chief had to say as I stayed back and watched.
"Chase" said the Chief putting a paw on his shoulder " I'm sorry to have to say this to you pup" said the chief with tears in his eyes " but your father…. your father….. was killed this morning in a drug raid. I am terribly sorry for your loss pup" he said as he gave Chase a hug. Chase did not know how to react to this, but how does anyone react, when the one you call a hero, and a friend, is suddenly ripped away, never to be seen again.
Trigger's Funeral was a little smaller that this one here. I know because my father mother and myself went to it. There were officers from all over who came to honor Trigger. Many said words on his behalf. My father, the Chief and a few other officers said words. The Doctor was there with his young son as well. He must have been like 7 or 8 at the time. As they went to bury Trigger in the grave, Chase finally lost it he layed down and sobbed, he cried for his mother father and brother, all taken from him in the first two years of his life. He got up and ran he ran and didn't stop until he tripped over a tree root. He was covered in mud, his face was all scratched up, but he didn't care. What he cared about was the fact that he was all alone in this world, with no family. He layed down and began to cry again, he cried until a set of hands reached down, picked him up and hugged him, he hugged back. The owner of those hands said
" Don't worry pup, i wont let you be alone, I promise you that"...
"So Chase had lost…" said Rubble
"His brother, mother and father all within two years Rubble" I said
The rest of the people in attendance were in tears, many of them had looks of thought on their faces, and I knew what they were thinking, how can a pup who looked so happy all the time come from such a tragic past. And as this story continues, they will see how Chase was when no people are around, and it will be shocking…
This was a hard chapter to write. I don't like killing off characters, but to create an emotional effect for this story, it is needed. Let me know what you guys and gals think so far about the story. I think it is gonna be good, but I wrote it, I wanna see the reaction from the public.
Till next time
Ranger
