Charlie IV
Chapter 3
It has been 3 months
Charlie was getting big, well bigger, so Rick had to not exactly get rid of the little tennis balls since they were still around here somewhere. He was thinking probably under the trailer, so they'd been replaced by normal tennis balls.
So long as there weren't any cars coming or going Rick was willing to toss, not really throw, the tennis balls. After all Charlie wasn't that big yet. The ball went down the road and Rick watched him chase after it. His bringing the ball back skills were still lacking a little. All right, maybe lacking a lot, but it was obviously still fun for him and that was the point after all.
"CHARLIE!" Rick could hear him being called over and he watched as Charlie instantly abandoned his ball and bounded over to Mrs. C. "Good boy, Charlie." He got petted and she leaned down to lavish a kiss on him. "So what did you do with the ball, Charlie?" His mouth was clearly empty.
Rick was used to most of this by now. He tossed, Charlie chased, and he fetched said ball. Though he was also used to Charlie seeing someone and abandoning the ball completely and going their way. To whoever it was. He wanted to see them, get petted, and maybe get a kiss. And if he was really lucky, seriously lucky, get a Milk Bone dog treat.
He had found out that his best friend wasn't the only one with dog treats and since everyone's was different somehow all the better for him.
"Hello, Mrs. C." Rick had retrieved the ball as usual and was walking over to her.
"Mr. Rodgers, I don't know what possessed you to get a dog, but you managed to find the best dog in the city, maybe even the entire State of California." She knew by word of mouth that Charlie was well loved by everyone in this park.
Between Mr. Rodgers helping everyone with literally anything and now Charlie, he was very popular. It was also January so it was a little cool outside if not downright freezing. Not that Charlie seemed to notice.
"Charlie!" Justin skidded his bike to a stop, let it crash to the ground, and rushed over to Charlie who met him halfway.
As far as Charlie was concerned everyone in this park was part of his really big pack. He loved everyone. He was also the only dog in this park, not that he cared or had even noticed.
"JUSTIN!" They all heard his name being yelled.
"AW!" He had only just reached Charlie and wanted to play with him about as much as Charlie wanted to play with him. "I have to go, Charlie." A now dejected Justin picked up his bike and pedaled home. This was so not fair.
"Come on, Charlie, I don't know about you but I'm cold and you've had enough exercise this morning. See you later, Mrs. C. Come, Charlie." That got him moving.
Rick could get him to sit – most of the time. He always came when called. He would sometimes speak when asked to. Though it helped if he had a treat in hand. They were just getting started on "Shake!" He hadn't gotten the hang of that one yet.
There was one little thing that might someday be trouble...potentially. Charlie hated SQUIRRELS! Rick had no idea how it had happened. He saw one, it took off running to get away from Charlie and Charlie took off after it till he had treed it. Not that they had that many trees. So it tended to use cars and trucks to go under to lose Charlie before it found a tree.
At about 4 months old, now he was a lot bigger than he used to be. Charlie was also a lot faster and one of these days that squirrel was going to lose.
Rick opened the door and said, "Inside." He watched Charlie jump up, go inside, and immediately hit his water bowl, drinking like there was no tomorrow.
At 4 months old he was also off puppy food and into true dog food. This was where Rick found he had a small problem. He really did want the good stuff for him, he truly did. It was just that stuff was expensive and the stuff in the grocery store wasn't nearly as expensive. But if he could just find someone to publish his book he swore he would only buy Charlie the very best dog food.
"You're making a mess, I hope you know." Rick watched as Charlie drank. His body was bigger so that meant his tongue was bigger and he didn't just lap it up, he lapped it over the side and onto the floor as well. Then when he was done it dribbled out of his mouth and all over the floor, requiring Rick to get a towel to clean it all up.
"You know what time it is." Rick picked up both brushes and sat on the floor. "Come over here." Rick watched as wet mouth Charlie walked over to him and stood there for his weekly brushing.
At first it had started out as a real chore for both of them. Charlie would stand still for it mostly because if he did he got a treat. Now, though, he usually didn't get a treat. What he got was hugs and kisses and that suited him just fine.
Rick, though, had learned the hard way that a collie had two totally different coats of hair. The rough hair that gave Charlie his color and inner downy hair which was what really needed to be brushed. If he didn't brush this hair it would get all matted and become uncomfortable for Charlie.
But brushing also created this massive pile of hair that went into the trash can. "Too bad I can't sell this stuff. I could make a fortune off of you." Rick stuffed the big fluffy pile of hair into the trash and watched Charlie lay down in his bed.
There was a positive side to Charlie being 4 months old, besides everything else naturally. He no longer needed the puppy pee pads. When Charlie needed out so he could do his business he would tell Rick. It was unmistakable.
Charlie was presently content to just lay in his bed and Rick was perfectly content to just sit there and watch TV. Problem was what was on the local channels, which was all he got or anyone else in this trailer park got, was crap. Having a day off wasn't all fun and games. So he turned it off so he somehow didn't become addicted to what Mary Jo did next or whatever her name was.
But just sitting here was boring. In the extreme. "So what do we do about this, Charlie? It's January and it's only up to..." Rick strained his neck to look at the nice big thermometer that was just outside. "All of 56 degrees and it isn't even lunch yet."
Except all Charlie did was lay there looking up at him with those big eyes of his. "We're supposed to be training you so where do we go next?" He couldn't get inside malls. They didn't let dogs inside unless they were service dogs and Charlie wasn't one. Yet.
"How about an airport? LA? Ontario International isn't too far. It's what, 15 maybe 20 minutes tops. Of course I have to pay to park but you'll get to see and maybe meet a lot of people. Just what we're supposed to do.
Rick was up and got his wallet and keys. He put on his coat again and picked up the leash that was only 8 feet long. That had Charlie up immediately and standing at the door. "Looks like you're ready." Rick was amused.
Rick let Charlie out and closed and locked the door. He was even more amused to find Charlie standing next to his truck waiting to be lifted up so they could go wherever it was they were going.
Now there was one thing about cars and even trucks that Rick took very serious. He certainly didn't want Charlie getting hit by a car, so he got one of his neighbors to help him. He figured they owed him for all the help he did for them, after all.
So with Charlie on a leash he was waiting for the car to drive past – not too fast – and when it reached them Rick slapped the car, screamed, and fell down taking Charlie with him. The idea was to impress upon Charlie that the outside of a car was dangerous. Just not the inside of a car.
It took a lot of trips over several days before Charlie started to catch on but it seemed to be working. Moving cars were bad; parked cars that were not running were good. Being inside the car where he could see where they were going was even better.
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"MOMMY, PUPPY!" They had finally been spotted but she had hold of his hand so he couldn't just rush Charlie like he obviously wanted to.
"You do not just pet strange dogs, you have to ask first," she reminded her son while her husband kept pushing a cart full of luggage.
"Can I pet your dog?" Since this was what it took and he wanted to pet the puppy, he asked.
"Of course," Rick told him and instantly Charlie had a kid petting him followed by doing his best while down on his knees to hug him. Charlie even gave him a quick lick.
"Kisses, Mommy!" He looked back at her while still hugging Charlie.
"Tell him thank you and let's go, Robbie."
"Thank you." He did what he was told. He gave Charlie one final hug and found his hand being held and they were gone.
However, for anyone watching that opened the flood gates. If someone wanted to pet Charlie, he got petted. That in turn showed everyone that hadn't seen him with the little boy that Charlie could be petted. So even the newer people learned that there was a dog in the area that they could pet.
Rick got a lot of "Can I pet your dog?" "What's his name?" "Bye Charlie."
Now the pamphlet had said to do this in moderation. With that in mind Rick walked around so Charlie could get used to the sights and sounds and getting petted. They stayed about 30 minutes and then they left to go home. Rick decided to splurge. So he stopped at a Wendy's drive-thru and quickly learned that Charlie had a very active nose and was not bashful about standing in his lap with his head out the window. He was even betting that if he could Charlie would climb out his window and through the drive-thru window to get at what was inside.
"Can he have a biscuit," the lady taking his money asked him. Soon Charlie was back on his side eating a biscuit while Rick took his bag and drink and set it where Charlie couldn't get to it easily and drove home.
"No, you can't have french fries. Dogs can't have people food. How about a liver snack instead?" Rick got up, fetched his bag of treats, and sat back down.
"Sit." Charlie got a treat. "Speak." Charlie got a treat. "What's on top of a house?" Charlie just sat there. "Woof," Rick said and Charlie barked and got a treat.
Then Charlie was suddenly conflicted. He could hear him but he wanted another treat at the same time. This allowed Rick to go back to eating his burger and fries.
"The mail man." Rick watched him stop and stuff his box with mail and drive off. Opening the door had Charlie jumping out. He raced to the box and watched the mail truck stop and go, stop and go while Rick pulled out his mail.
"Maybe junk, but it might have coupons for somewhere useful." That got tucked under his arm for later. Ripped open the next one. "No, I don't want to sell my truck." Except he was out of hands so back into the trailer he went followed by Charlie jumping in with him.
"Nothing! Not even a rejection letter. You would think they could at least say no. Everyone else has." Thankfully it wasn't bill day so it all went into the trash and he could go back to eating his lunch.
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"You're officially, as far as I know, 6 months old today. So what would you like to eat to celebrate?" Rick questioned him as he looked at him.
Charlie barked at him since he was being talked to. "No, you can't have a cup cake. Do they even make a doggie cakes?" Rick asked him. "How about a treat instead?" Charlie watched as Rick stuck his hand into his doggie treat bag and started wacking the floor with his tail.
"Sit," Rick ordered and gave him a treat. "Speak." Another treat. "Who's your best buddy? …Speak." Another treat.
A knock on his door interrupted Charlie's birthday treats. "Mr. Rodgers," a boy yelled through the door. This got Charlie to start barking since he knew that voice.
Rick opened the door and Charlie went out and worked at getting petted by the boy who did exactly that. "Mom wants you again."
"I'll get my tool belt." Rick retreated to get his belt and locked the door behind him. "Let's go, Charlie." Rick didn't think he needed a leash around here. Everyone in this park knew Charlie. "I forgot a tennis ball." Rick stopped so he could go back and get one.
"We have tennis balls. Mom bought some for Charlie," he told Rick.
"Oh!" Suddenly even his neighbors were buying things for Charlie. That made him happy.
Rick found out what she needed while her son threw the tennis ball. Charlie knew not to run out in front of a car, not that they had many cars driving through the trailer park.
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"What did you find?" She was outside and could see Rick's feet but that was all she could see of him. The rest of him was under her trailer.
"Trouble." That's what Rick had found. Rick pushed and slid on his back to try and get out from under her trailer. Once he was clear he looked up at her. "I can't fix this. I'm sorry but I can't. They used copper to route your propane lines to your furnace. Maybe that's allowed for a trailer and maybe not. But that copper line is touching other metals all the way from your propane tanks to your furnace.
"I can see holes in your copper pipe and my moving the pipe made them even bigger. I don't know why now and not earlier but you're leaking propane. What you need to do is turn off the propane at the tanks and call someone."
"You're sure you can't fix it?" Having Mr. Castle do it would save her lots of money.
"Sorry, no. Even if the copper was water pipes I couldn't fix that either. PVC waste pipe, now that I could fix. Fix some of your electrical, yes. But not this. I'm thinking you need black steel pipe but maybe not, I don't know." Rick worked at standing up and brushing off the dirt and dust.
"It all needs to be replaced. More than that I don't know. Maybe who you get can show me and maybe I can do it myself after that but not now. You're going to need a professional. I'm really sorry."
"Thanks, Mr. Rodgers." She was disappointed but at least he had tried.
"Good luck." Rick turned toward his trailer. "…Charlie, let's go home." Charlie came running even if the boy did have a ball he could play with.
"Mom?" Even he could see that his mother looked unhappy.
"Jump in." Rick opened the door and let him jump inside and watched him head straight for his water bowl.
Rick needed to start thinking about dinner since he needed to thaw something from his freezer. So out came chicken and then it went back in and out came hamburger.
"How about some homemade chili? What do you think?" Rick asked Charlie who was standing there looking up at him. "No, you can't have any. Now let's see if I have what I need." Making homemade chili meant he needed a lot of ingredients, a number of spices, and the biggest pot he had. Plus he needed Tupperware to put leftovers in. He might be eating chili for days after this.
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Rick was letting it simmer and took Charlie outside just in case he needed to do his business. He didn't mind living in a trailer all that much. It was better than some of the places he had grown up in with his mother while she worked. He had even spent his fair share of his growing years backstage while his mother worked so this was actually better.
Just if he could get his book published by someone he might even be able to improve his life. "All done?" Rick questioned Charlie who was actually just standing there looking the place over. "Okay, back inside."
He needed to stir his chili anyway.
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Charlie was munching away on his little bit of canned dog food and mostly dry dog food. Canned food cost so much more than dry did but Charlie clearly loved canned food so one can typically lasted almost a week. Five days to be precise while Rick dished out a bowl of his homemade chili and sat down to eat
"Hey, not bad. Maybe I have a future in cooking instead of writing. What do you think?" Rick asked Charlie who didn't even bother to stop eating and answer him.
"Yeah, I thought you would say that. We need to think of someplace else to take you so you can get used to seeing people." Rick tried to think while he ate.
"The bus station! Loud buses and loud people; maybe even horns honking. I promise we won't stay long. What do you think of that idea?" Rick watched as Charlie licked his bowl clean for the second time, and then drank some water, and came over to look at Rick to see if he wanted to share his marvelous chili.
Charlie stood there watching him. "BURRRP!" And kept watching Rick.
"Burp? You know if you didn't eat it so fast you wouldn't burp. Did you know that? Or care? I thought that's what you would say. Okay the bus station it is." Rick ate his homemade chili. Eventually after the chili in the pot had cooled a little he put it into a Tupperware container and put it into his refrigerator.