Chapter 10: I Don't Hate You
Vinny and Lorraine are in bed. It's two in the morning when Vinny gets that feeling he's being watched.
"Dad?" Matt whispered to him.
Vinny doesn't respond.
"Dad?" Matt whispered to him again.
Again Vinny doesn't respond to him.
"Dad?" Matt whispered a final time. Then Matt taps him on the shoulder.
"What is it Matt?" Vinny asked him as he turned to face his son.
"I can't sleep." Matt told him.
"Why?" Vinny asked him.
"I had a bad dream. Can I sleep with you and mom tonight?" Matt asked him.
"Sure." Vinny told him.
Matt crawls over Vinny. Matt's knee goes into Vinny's groin. Vinny moans in pain.
"You all right dad?" Matt asked him.
"I'm fine. Don't worry." Vinny told him.
Matt goes under the covers, Vinny gets out of bed andgives him an extra pillow from the closet.
"Night dad." Matt said as he went to sleep.
"Night Matt." Vinny said as he went back to sleep.
It's the next morning. Everyone is down stairs eating breakfast.
"Dad how come Mich never listens to me?" Matt asked him.
"He listens to you." Vinny told him.
"No he doesn't. Watch." Matt said to him.
Matt leaves the table and goes over to Mich. "Sit." Matt said to Mich. Mich didn't sit. "Sit Mich." Matt said again. Mich still doesn't sit. "See dad." Matt said to Vinny.
"Come here Mich." Vinny said to him. Mich walks over to Vinny. "Sit." Vinny then said to him. Without hesitation Mich sits. "Good boy." Vinny said to Mich scrathing his head.
"He only listens to you." Matt said to him.
"No, he listens to other people in this house." Vinny told him.
"Like who?" Matt asked him.
"Your mother." Vinny said to him.
"He doesn't listen to me. When I take him for walks he drags me along and when I tell him to stop he doesn't." Lorraine told him.
"He does the same with me." Kate said to Vinny.
"Me too." Marie then told him.
"He use to do that to me. When I was younger." Danny said to them.
"What did you do to make him stop?" Kate asked him.
"I started to work out for football and got stronger then he is." Danny explained.
"How come he doesn't drag you along dad?" Marie asked him.
"I weight more then he does. If he pulls me I ain't going far." Vinny told her.
"What about you Brian?" Matt asked him.
"He doesn't pull me." Brian said to him.
"Why?" Matt then asked him.
"Because when Mich was just a puppy I taught him not to pull me. Now he walks next to me except when he sees a cat or a squirrel. Then he'll try to drag me along. Put when he pulls on the leash I pull him back." Brian explain.
"I remember when Mich would pull you on your skateboard." Danny said to him.
"He still does." Brian told him.
"And Mich and Brian have a bond with each other." Vinny said to them.
"How come?" Matt asked him.
"Me and your mother bought Mich when Brian was eight. Mich would always go near Brian and play with him." Vinny told him.
"I want a dog now." Matt said to him.
"You have a dog." Vinny said to him.
"Yeah little bro. Mich is your dog." Brian said to him.
They finish breakfast. Sarah walks in the house through the front door.
"We need to lock that front door." Vinny said to Lorraine.
"Nice to see you too Vinny." Sarah told him.
"You know I'm only joking with you. I don't really hate you. I just like to annoy you." Vinny said to her.
"Same here." Sarah told him.
"What do you want Sarah?" Lorraine asked her.
"Nothing. Jake and David weren't home. And mom and dadleft last nightfor Florida tovisit Kim and Jessica." Sarah said to her.
"So you were bored and decided to come over here to annoy me." Vinny said to her.
"Pretty much." Sarah said to him.
"Aunt Sarah did you ever have a dog?" Matt asked her.
"Yeah. He was an American Pitbull named Gunner." Sarah told him.
"Oh, I miss Gunner." Lorraine said to her.
"You never told me you had a dog." Vinny told her.
"Yes I did. I told you that a million times by now." Lorraine said to him.
"How come I never saw this Gunner?" Vinny asked her.
"We had to put him to sleep in April of 2006." Sarah told him.
"Why?" Matt asked her.
"He was hit by Mrs.Shenks car." Lorraine told him.
"That's another reason we hate Mrs.Shenk." Sarah said to him.
"Was Gunner a good dog?" Vinny asked her.
"Yeah. Why would you ask that question?" Sarah then asked him.
"I didn't know Gunner. That dog could of been an asshole." Vinny told her.
"Like you?" Sarah then asked him.
"I'm not an asshole. I'm just a jerk at times." Vinny replied to her.
"At times?" Lorraine asked him.
"Fine 90 percent of the time." Vinny told her.
"90 percent?" Sarah then asked him.
"Fine 100 percent of the time to you." Vinny said to her.
"Thank you." Sarah said to him as she walked out the front door.
"I need to teach Mich to be an attack dog." Vinny said to Lorraine saracastically.
"Mich is too nice to be an attack dog." Lorraine told him.
Matt takes Mich outback and tries to teach Mich to listen to him. After thirty minutes of Matt trying to make Mich sit he is about to give up. "Sit." Matt pleaded with Mich for the final time. Mich finally sits. Matt hugs Mich for finally listening to him. Mich then rolls on his back. Matt then rubs Mich's stomach.