Chapter 12: Looking Back
It had been a few hours since I returned home from the Bulgari Hotel where Dodie Smith was staying in on holiday. Neither mum nor dad had come back yet so it would still be a while until I could tell dad that Dodie said "Hi". I had thought about the old photos Dodie had shown me of her past and that gave me the idea to look back at some of my own memories with the Dalmatian family. It didn't take long for me to find the photo album neatly placed on one of the bookshelves before I took a seat and opened it at the latest page.
The most recent photo of course was one taken on my 21st birthday. Still can't believe that was only a few days ago. As I kept scrolling backwards through the pages, my eyes would glance across photos of my siblings' birthdays including Da Vinci's, the Triple D's, you name it. It was there that I realised the album was bigger than I thought it was with how many photos were taken of all the family's special occasions. Quick as a whistle however, I laid a finger on one page, stopping it as I looked at the photo on said page. The photo was of a ten year old me with Da Vinci and DJ by my sides as we stood at a balcony, the bright lights of London illuminating the night sky as snow could be seen slowly falling behind us and a little inscription at the bottom of the photo.
'First Christmas with Cody'
[Flashback – 11 Years Ago – December 24th]
The whole of Dave's house was absolutely bustling with other human people and anthros alike, and that wasn't just from my Dalmatian family, the other anthros were no doubt friends or relatives of the other guests here. Dave's home wasn't anything too fancy, but I was more surprised at how much space there was left with how many guests were here. Working as a doctor really does have it's benefits, especially when you're working with a well-trained nurse Dalmatian.
"And the next thing you know, me and Dolly were almost about to be shipped to Serengeti!" Mum told Dave as they both shared a laugh from the story she was sharing. I myself was a little shy from the amount of unfamiliar faces here so I just stuck to the sofa with my glass of warm milk. Amongst the chatter, I could hear some disoriented mumbling and giggling as I turned to see Dimitri 2 stagger in front of me, looking inebriated.
"He...Heyyyy Codyyyy?" He slurred at me with a quivering smile. "Do… Do you really think Santa's real…? I mean… He… How can he even go down da chimbley if ya live in an apartment?!" Dimitri 2 laughed, nearly collapsing behind the coffee table before Dylan caught him.
"Dimitri 2, have you been drinking mulled wine?!" Dylan stared mortified at the tipsy teen Dalmatian. "Awww come on, Dylaaan, it's Christmaaaas…! I'll stop tomorrow!" Dimitri 2 protested as he quickly grabbed another bottle of wine and tried to open it. "You'll stop right now!" Dylan declared in frustration, trying to grab the bottle from Dimitri 2, only for him to hastily run out of his reach and try to make off with the bottle with Dylan in pursuit. "Dolly! Stop Dimitri 2 before he drinks even a drop of that bottle!" I heard him call out as I could no longer see the two within the crowd, Dimitri 1 and 3 meanwhile watching while snickering.
"Man, I love Christmas!" Dimitri 1 said, plopping next to me on the sofa. "Especially when you wake up tomorrow and get so much cool stuff!" He then beamed, no doubt excited for tomorrow morning. "Uh, you know Christmas is about giving, right?" I pointed out to him as Dimitri 3 sat next to me and pulled me into a one-arm hug. "Oh, that's riiiiight! So how about you give everyone here something? Oh, I know! Remember that Bowie song you and DJ did at the park?" Oh boy, were they suggesting that I sing in front of everyone? Then again, I was able to sing to a whole crowd back in Regent's Park so it wouldn't be any different. Dimitri 1 seemed to read my mind before standing on the sofa and facing the guests.
"HEY EVERYBODY!" He yelled out before putting his fingers to his mouth and whistling loudly, making me have to cover my ears as I saw many of the other guests cringe at how loud it was.
"Dimitri 1, is that really necessary?!" Mum said in frustration, digging her finger in one of her ears. "Yep! DJ, we need you for this one!" Dimitri 1 replied before waving over to my brother with the headphones whom walked over to us.
"Now ladies and gents, boys and morons! Put your wine glasses down and give a hand to DJ and ace singer, Cody!" Dimitri 1 announced eagerly whilst Dimitri 3 set up a nearby karaoke machine whilst screaming "WOO, CODY!" Now I was feeling even more shy with all eyes on me. Luckily, DJ seemed to notice this and patted my shoulder to comfort me.
"You got this, bro. You and me." He said with a wink before passing a microphone to me before getting one for himself. I inhaled and exhaled to compose myself as the instrumental track began to play.
Wham! - Last Christmas
[Lyrical Codes]
Italics – Cody
Bold – DJ
Bold and Italics – Both Together
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special
Once bitten and twice shy
I keep my distance but you still catch my eye
Tell me, baby. Do you recognise me?
Well, it's been a year. It doesn't surprise me
I wrapped it up and sent it
With a note saying, "I love you," I meant it
Now I know what a fool I've been
But if you kissed me now, I know you'd fool me again
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special
A crowded room, friends with tired eyes
I'm hiding from you, and your soul of ice
My god, I though you were someone to rely on
Me? I guess I was a shoulder to cry on
A face on a lover with a fire in his heart
A man under cover but you tore me apart
Now, I've found a real love you'll never fool me again
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special
A face on a lover with a fire in his heart
A man under cover but you tore me apart
Maybe next year
I'll give it to someone
I'll give it to someone special
I let a small shy smile creep on my face as DJ and I heard the applause of the guests whilst mum walked over and gently hugged us both, inciting some "Awwww"s from the other guests.
As a result, I was confident enough to get to know the guests a little more and talk with them. Some of the anthros seemed to even adore me, often taking pictures with me. All the while, Dylan finally managed to get Dimitri 2 under control. He never even swallowed a drop from that bottle he made off with and the other two Dimitris offered to keep an eye on him so he wouldn't pull that stunt again.
Later, I was stood out in the balcony watching the festive lights of London blink in the distance as light snow slowly floated down from the sky. It was seeing those lights that reminded me of the very last Christmas I celebrated with my birth mum sometime before she died. She had taken me to a light festival in the Yateley town centre and I remember just being left in awe at how vibrant and bright the lights were. The memory alone was enough for me to shed a tear with it being the last beautiful memory I had of her.
"...You okay, Cody?" I blinked before glancing to my right to see Da Vinci had joined me at the balcony and was looking at me with slight worry, no doubt having seen my tear. "Y-Yeah. I just remembered the last Christmas I had with my birth mum." I explained, trying to smile bravely only for Da Vinci to quickly pull me into a hug. "We'll make sure this is your best first Christmas with us, Cody. We promise." Da Vinci said in my ear as I felt another hand rub my back, making glance behind me to see DJ had joined us.
"Yeah, bro. You can count on us." He said affectionately. I couldn't help but pull DJ into the hug as well, turning the embrace into a group hug.
"Oh! I like, see a total photo op here!" The voice of Dallas suddenly caught our attention as we all saw at the doorway joined by Destiny and Deja Vu. She held up a camera and got into a photographer stance as we did our best poses for the picture as Da Vinci, DJ and I exclaimed in unison.
"Merry Christmas from the Dalmatian family!"
SNAP!
[Present Day]
And they were true to their word. Christmas morning was the absolute best I celebrated with the Dalmatian family altogether because even if I knew I was adopted, I felt like a true part of the family… and I always will be.
After a few more minutes of looking through the album, I delicately put it back on the shelf after acknowledging how many blank pages were left in the album which made it very clear that there would be many more memories to come in the future, especially now that I was with Dixie and Dolly was with Hansel.
The best I could do, was make the most of it.
Brian's POV
God, why did Kevin have to tell me that his favourite brand of beer had to be Speedway Stout? No one will hire me into a paying job and Kevin doesn't even give me money to pay for it. How am I supposed to afford a pack of these everyday? I swear my cut of the pay when Cruella gets rich from whatever she has planned for those mutts better be worth it.
"BOW-WHACKA-WOW, COMING THROUGH!" I had no time to react to the sudden voice as something immediately brushed past me, making me lose my balance before falling backwards.
I wheezed in pain as the pack of bottles landed hard on my chest, nearly knocking the wind out of me. I also felt a little disoriented too as I could feel something warm and wet on my left temple. I dabbed my fingers on my face and looked at them to find blood. I must've slammed my head against a wall and gashed myself as the delayed pain came into effect, making me grunt before I glared in the direction of whatever sped past me to see someone already in the distance rolling away on a skateboard, the only thing I knew about the person was that it had a feminine sounding voice.
"HEY, YOU DUMB BITCH! HOW ABOUT YOU WATCH WHERE THE HELL YOU'RE GOING!" I yelled out in anger, but the figure didn't stop vanishing into the distance, making it likely that they hadn't heard me. I groaned as I tried to stand up with the pack of bottles which somehow hadn't broken from the fall. God damn, the pain from my newly received cut was unbearable. It was like I was suffering one of the worst brain freezes imaginable. My focus was cut short when I heard another female voice, this one sounding much younger.
"Hey mister, you okay?" I blinked before seeing a young Dalmatian girl with pure white fur. And by pure white, I mean she had absolutely no spots on her whatsoever. She couldn't be younger than twelve and was wearing an orange shirt with a bone on the front and shorts. I tried to shrug off the pain whilst trying to stand back up with the pack. "Yeah yeah, kid I'm fine. Now run along, I've got things to do." I was about to fully stand up until I noticed that the girl took out a small white box and took out a cotton ball and a plaster.
"Your cut doesn't tell me that you're fine, mister." She said a little stubbornly as she managed to reach up and wipe the blood off my wound with the cotton ball before applying the plaster on. Admittedly, I was a little surprised on how such a young dog knew how to treat a wound like this. "My mum is a nurse herself. And when I grow up, I want to become one too, just like her!" She grinned proudly as she looked up at me.
...She was actually kind of cute.
"Heh. Well, thanks kid." I gratefully said before she waved to me and headed off.
I tried to process what had just happened seconds ago as I continued on my way back to my hideout. This young anthro found me hurt and didn't hesitate to help me. It didn't make any sense. Whenever I was injured long before I became a teenager and started to mess with Cody, none of the anthros who saw me would care.
Those fucking two legged beasts always treated me like garbage. Kept calling me "Monkey" and said things like how I didn't belong among them. Well I was glad to have the last laugh when I got a bit of a growth spurt when I turned thirteen and started making anthros suffer like I did and it felt so cathartic. But over time, it felt like it wasn't enough. I wanted to be above everyone in my area so when I enrolled into the same school that little snot, Cody was in, I made sure that all the other kids knew that I was the boss of that school. Humans and anthros alike.
But… Now after how nice that girl was to me when every other anthro I came across put me through hell, I'm left confused. Maybe not all anthros are nasty dominant assholes who just see me as some dumb monkey?
Ugh. Probably not. When many of a species have made it clear that they have a problem with me just for being a human then I'll have a damn problem with them for being anthros no matter what.
And I won't stop to make another anthro suffer for the rest of their life if they choose to push me for their own amusement.
Author's Note: And so, Brian's motivation for becoming a bully in the past is finally revealed.
Also, Brody R.E. Hall asks: "What's your YouTube channel?"
My YouTube channel is JackTheCryogonal, you can also go on to my FanFiction profile and find my YouTube channel and other contacts on there.