Charlie IV

Chapter 4

Charlie was officially, unofficially, a one-year-old today and it was a big day in more ways than one. Rick got off his bus with a spring in his step. He had high hopes for today. So much just might actually happen today.

Charlie being a year old was far old enough to do one thing that he loved. His internal clock told him Rick should be coming back soon. So he had jumped up onto the sofa and was standing there, looking out the large window to see if he could see him. The second he did he put his front paws on the top of the back and started barking at him.

Then when he got a lot closer he would jump down and wait on bouncing feet for Rick to open the door and out the door he would charge and spin around his legs, whimpering and barking at him since he was so happy.

"Hi, Charlie." Rick was down on his knees so he could hug him, kiss him, pet him, and scratch where he liked being scratched the best. "Did you know it's your birthday today? I have a surprise for you. Hopefully you'll like it. Let me get your leash and a poop bag and we can go."

That was one thing about having an adult dog. He needed exercise and one way to get exercise was to walk the park all the way around as best they could a minimum of three times. Along the way Charlie would lift his leg and pee on something after sniffing it and eventually pooping for Rick to pick up with his baggie.

Since Charlie was still young this wasn't just a simple old lady walk. This was a nice brisk walk because that was what Charlie wanted. He also knew where everyone he really liked lived and Rick was no fool. Charlie was looking to see if any of them were outside.

Three times around the park and Rick was back home and unlocked the door. He needed to feed Charlie, get changed, and dressed for his coming guest.

First, though, he pressed play on his answering machine. "Mr. Rodgers, this is Kimberly Miller. I'm a test/observer for ATD. I'm calling to confirm that I will be at your place to meet you and Charlie to determine if you two are ready for testing and then certification. If five o'clock does not work for you please call me." BEEP!

Rick didn't have a problem with that so he listened to his second message. "Mr. Rodgers, I'm Henry Wallace with Black Pawn Publishing. We would like to talk with you about your book you submitted to our office. Please call me at this number to make an appointment when we can meet in our office. 818-555-0654. I look forward to your call." BEEP!

"HOLY SHIT!" Rick scrambled for a pen and paper so he could write the number down. But he had to play it back so he could hear it again. First he had to go through Kimberly's message again and moaned. He was glad he had one of these things but this thing was incredibly stupid.

Finally he scribbled down the number, grabbed the phone, and called Black Pawn Publishing. "Henry Wallace, please," Rick said to the lady that answered the phone. "My name is Richard Rodgers."

Henry picked up his phone. "Mr. Rodgers, thank you for returning my call."

"My pleasure." Rick got right to the point. "I work what you might call the late shift with UPS so anything after 3:00pm works best for me unless it's my day off."

"I think we can make that work. Give me a minute." He needed to check his calendar and conference room availability. "How would November 4 at 4:00 in our office work for you? I know traffic can be bad on a Friday so Thursday should be better." He knew getting home was hell; maybe getting into the city was easier.

"That happens to be my day off so any time will work perfectly."

"Excellent. Just let me lock in the use of the conference room for two hours starting at 4:00. Tripp Tracey and Mike Miller will also be attending this meeting. They are two of our editors here in LA. As you know our main office is in New York City but since you don't live there..." Henry let that trail off as part of a poor joke.

Rick chuckled a little. "Good thing I don't live there then. I would never make it to the meeting."

"Good point. Your meeting is scheduled and we look forward to meeting you. Have a pleasant evening, Mr. Rodgers." He actually hung up.

Rick said Thank you to dead air. He hung up in shock and kind of needed to sit down. He made it a step or two and plopped down on his sofa.

"They want to talk to me, Charlie. What do you think about that?" Rick reached out to pet Charlie and ruffle his hair. "What do you say we celebrate? I think I'll even join you." Rick got up, opened his freezer, and pulled out a small container of vanilla ice cream. He picked up Charlie's bowl and dished out one scoop since that was all he really needed. Rick didn't want him throwing up or getting diarrhea.

"Happy Birthday!" Rick put his bowl down and watched as Charlie sniffed it since this was something new but it was in his bowl and he was hungry. A quick taste test had him soon licking his bowl clean, not once but twice, and now he was looking for more.

"Dog food." Rick picked up his bowl and poured out some dry. Rick took the can out of the refrigerator, emptied it into his bowl, and threw the can into the trash.

"Happy Birthday," Rick told him again and watched him dig in. That was one thing about having an adult dog. An adult dog ate a lot more dog food than a puppy did.

Rick was also partly celebrating Charlie's birthday and partly having Kimberly show up today. He had a single brownie and put some of Charlie's ice cream on top. And then he grabbed a spoon and sat down to eat.

Rick was almost done and had been watching Charlie standing there sniffing hard while he ate. "I suppose I've addicted you to ice cream now. I just knew that was a mistake. You know it tastes better with a brownie."

"Fine. I'll let you lick my bowl." Rick put it on the floor and was seriously amused as he watched Charlie lick his bowl across the floor, trying to get every last taste out of it. Until he finally stopped, got a drink of water, and came back to Rick.

"I suppose you want out now so you can play. The kids are home from school by now and she isn't supposed to be here till 5:00. …Go find your ball and we'll play." Rick's smile was wide as that had Charlie searching the trailer looking for a tennis ball.

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Eventually Rick lost control of the ball to one of the boys when he was spotted. The boy threw it and Charlie went racing after it. When he brought it back it was either one of three things. One was keep away and chase me to take it from me. Two was squeeze the ball really hard to see if the boy could get it out of his mouth. Three was simply drop it and take off running where he expected him to throw it and always did.

"CAR!" Rick spotted a potential problem as a car drove into the complex. It was soon going slowly so it wasn't really that big a danger. But it did have the boy and Charlie off to one side waiting. The both knew to avoid cars.

Rick watched as the car parked right out in front of his trailer and a woman got out.

"Mr. Rodgers?" She saw a dog not far away with a young Black boy holding a tennis ball next to a sitting collie.

"That's me," Rick confirmed.

"I'm Kimberly Miller." She reached out her hand to shake his.

"A pleasure." Rick shook her hand. "Charlie, come." Rick didn't really need to look. He knew Charlie would show up.

Kim was a little impressed as the dog left the boy with the ball, came up to Rick, and sat down right next to him. "I see you have some of the basics down." That was good.

"Come, sit, speak, leave it. He also knows a number of words that will set him off like..." Rick leaned in closer and tried to whisper, "squirrel." Charlie immediately barked and looked around but remained sitting.

"Thankfully those things are not typically inside a building," Kim said. "I noticed he and the boy suddenly went to the side of the road."

Rick nodded. "I made a point of making sure Charlie knew moving cars were dangerous. Parked cars not so much and being in a car was great, especially with the window down just enough to stick his head out of. That and he loves drive-thrus. Lots of interesting smells."

"Great!" Kim liked parts of that. "Show me where you live and I need to see how you and Charlie get along."

"Right this way." Rick took her to his door and opened it. "In, Charlie." Charlie jumped inside and waited. Kim went next followed by Rick who closed the door.

He lived in a trailer. She had people that lived in small apartments so she didn't judge. She saw a bed, bowls, and his huge bag of dog food. She also noticed that she was getting sniffed up pretty good but not pushy.

"Sit." She watched him instantly sit so he got marks for that. It didn't take just Rick to get him to do the basics.

"Everyone in the park knows Charlie. The kids play with him all the time. We've been to an airport, bus stop, strip mall, inside a dog food store, the beach a few times. Always on a leash. I don't have any children and I'm not married but he, for reasons I don't understand, Charlie loves kids.

"He wants them to pet him, hug him, and let themselves drape all over him. It's nice but I don't understand it. Unless the kids in the area have something to do with that. He's grown up around them.

"He was just this little puppy that was a rescue. Full of fleas, ticks, and worms. Tomorrow is our weekly brush day," Rick said. "Nobody warned me at the time that collies shed that inner coat. I get hair everywhere. It comes out in these big tufts. You can even grab and pull, it's that bad."

"That's a collie or a sheltie," Kim said. "Every dog sheds. Those two simply are some of the worst when it comes to shedding. I need you to step outside for a few minutes first, please."

"Sure." He knew Charlie wasn't going to bite her so he stepped outside and closed the door.

This was Kim's time to look Charlie over and see just how much she could do to him before he objected. Except he never did. She knew she had hurt him but he never let on that she had.

She took him through the basic commands to see how many of them he knew. She found he even knew down in addition to the ones Rick had mentioned earlier.

"You are a good dog, aren't you," Kim cooed at him. She petted him and then looked at his teeth and into his ears. She squeezed his paws and even pinched them to see if he was sensitive and he just took it. "Sit, stay." Kim opened the door, went outside, and left the door open to talk to Rick.

"He checks out so far. I have one final thing to test since I want to see this." It was a test for Charlie in this case. "Follow me, please." Kim walked him away and saw that Charlie was still inside. "I want you to call him and once he's outside I want you to say car and then squirrel."

"Oh, boy." Rick knew Charlie knew all those but which one was going to win out?

Rick sighed. "Charlie, come!" Rick watched Charlie shoot out the door since this was what he wanted to do so badly since being left behind.

"CAR!" Rick yelled and they both watched as Charlie got off the road and instantly sat. "SQUIRREL!" Now Rick didn't know what he was going to do.

They both watched as a sitting Charlie looked everywhere and barked to see if he could see a running squirrel, but he didn't so he just sat there.

"Not bad!" Kim was impressed. "Walk me to my car, please. Charlie can come with us." Kim began walking and didn't fail to notice that Rick petted Charlie, kissed him, and told him he was a good dog.

"Last thing. This is my leash and not one of yours. I want you to use it and walk him. Give him various commands as you wish. Then use the magic word squirrel." Kim heard Charlie bark but he didn't leave them even if he wasn't presently on a leash.

Kim watched him hook Charlie up and walk him. Then the unexpected happened. "CHARLIE!" Justin was on his bike and rode hard at both of them. He let his bike crash to the ground like always and hugged Charlie who just stood there.

"We can't play now, Justin," Rick said. "See that lady over there? She's watching Charlie."

Justin kept his arms around Charlie. "You…You're not getting rid of Charlie, are you?" He would be devastated if he did.

Rick shook his head. "No, never! She just needs to watch him for something important."

"Oh, okay. Bye, Charlie." Justin let go of him, went back to his bike, and began riding his bike around the park again.

Rick continued to walk Charlie and made his way back to Kim.

She was standing there waiting for him with something in her hand. "Meet me here." She handed him a piece of paper. "When do you have a day off work?"

"The day after tomorrow, November 4th," Rick replied.

"That will work. We're going to give Charlie his first true test. New smells, new places, and people that are hurting, including family members. I will have a vest for him to wear. It's a requirement for the hospital. How much does he weigh?" The vests were all adjustable but she needed to start somewhere.

"Just under 70 pounds at our last trip to the vet."

"Bathe him, brush him, and meet me at the front of the hospital at 10:00am. This is the first of three and is followed by another evaluation between you and Charlie. We're going to give him and you a lot to think about. I like what I see so far, Mr. Rodgers. Three big tests yet to go. Bye, Charlie." Kim petted him and got in her car.

Rick stood there watching her leave and then he looked at the paper. Kaiser Permanente Anaheim and Irvine Medical Center

Anaheim wasn't exactly close to where he lived. This might take him an hour or more. Ten o'clock didn't sound so bad but he was sure to hit traffic, so maybe a little more than an hour.

"We have a job, Charlie!" Rick was happy for that. It also meant for a busy day. Ten o'clock at the hospital for Charlie, followed by 4:00 at Black Pawn that was also downtown. "You want to come to my meeting, Charlie? If we stay too long at the hospital I may not have a choice. Better dress up for this."

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"Oh, boy." Charlie would allow this but he could tell that he didn't like it. Rick didn't have a tub just a shower. But he did have a tub he'd bought and brought home to give Charlie baths in outside. He had a garden hose, a sprayer, and shampoo that made Charlie smell nice and sweet.

"I know you hate this but she said give you a bath. I hadn't even thought of doing it but it sounds like a good idea. I mean who wants to smell a dusty dirty dog? Besides me.

"In you go." Rick picked him up and put him in the tub that had water in it. He began getting him wet before adding the shampoo into his fur.

Now the only real problem was he didn't have a dryer. All he had was a stack of towels for him to stand on and be rubbed with followed by sitting on the ground and brushing him.

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A nice clean Charlie was soaking wet and being lifted out of the tub. Rick grabbed a towel just as Charlie shook his body for all he was worth to get rid of the water. Rick was almost fast enough but not totally fast enough. Now he was rubbing to get him dry. Changing towels for a dry one gave Charlie a chance to shake again and send water everywhere, getting Rick even wetter than he already was.

Finally using up his towels, he started brushing him with the first brush. As he brushed him Charlie shook again. "I really wish you would stop that. I'm going to need a shower before going to bed thanks to you." Still Rick kissed his head and kept brushing.

"There, all clean and mostly dry, I think. Now inside before you get yourself all dusty and dirty." Rick closed the door after Charlie jumped inside. He cleaned up and stowed everything under his trailer along with everything else that was down there.

Now he needed a leash and poop bag before taking that shower and going to bed. He had to get up early tomorrow and maybe take another shower. Charlie smelled great but Rick needed to smell just as good for the hospital visit.