What's Been Going On Within Two Months

by LDEJRuff

Chapter 7 - How Brian Met Vinny

It was one month after the event. I was at home one day and was watching Dateline. They reported a yoga incident that claimed a life. The deceased was an old man named Leo. He left his tiny apartment, and his dog, behind. Vinny is that dog. So, I went to the apartment building to share my condolences with him, introduced myself to him, and gave him some help.

As Brian narrated, he drove to the apartment building in his Prius. He got inside the building and knocked on the door to Vinny's apartment. Vinny opened the door after hearing the knocking.

"Can I help you?" Vinny asked.

"Are you Leo's dog?" Brian asked back.

"I am," Vinny answered with a smile. "Name's Vinny. It's short for Vincenzo. Who are you?"

Brian answered back, "Brian Griffin. I just saw the Dateline report. I'm sorry for your loss."

"That's okay," Vinny replied. "Come in."

"Thanks," Brian congratulated.

With that, Brian went inside the apartment. When he did, he saw that it looked a bit like the one Jillian Russel-Wilcox, his ex-girlfriend, lived in.

"Oh, wow," Brian said in awe. "Your apartment looks amazing. It looks a bit like my ex-girlfriend's apartment."

"Your ex-girlfriend?" Vinny repeated.

"Yeah," Brian replied. "Jillian's her name. She's widowed now. She used to be married to a man named Derrick. He attended a dinner hosted by someone I loathed. Both Derrick and that unnamed were killed that night by a former, jealous, news anchor. She wanted revenge that night, but was killed herself the following morning by an unknown assassin after she tried to kill my owner's wife."

It took some time for Vinny to figure what Brian just said out. Afterwards, he responded, "Oh. I get it now. I seem to remember now. I heard about that night. I used to like that news anchor dame. Dianne Simmons, was it?"

"Yeah," Brian answered. "She was a dick. She and Tom made that April Fools' Day prank about the world being sucked in by a black hole. It made an atheist pray to God, repenting of his sins." He was referring to himself that time, and didn't want Vinny to know.

"Oh, I heard about that prank," Vinny said. "It made a friend of mine take his own life. He didn't know it was just a practical joke. I was surprised to learn then that it was just a joke," he chuckled. "Leo and I used to laugh all the time when we were reminded of that joke."

"Well," Brian began, "I didn't think it was so funny."

"You serious?" Vinny asked, shrugging. "Darn, you need to be humorous, Brian. Maybe you need to take some advice from a pussyhound like me. That's my dog breed. That just means I'm one sixteenth cat."

"Wait," Brian interrupted. "You're a cat, too?"

"Yeah," Vinny answered. "I know it's technically an impossibility, but I can take it if you don't want me as a friend."

"No, no, it's okay," Brian said. "I like a good animal hybrid, especially one that's part feline. And I'd like to have you as a friend."

"Really?" Vinny asked. "You don't mind?"

"Not at all," Brian replied. "In fact, I know the perfect place for an orphaned dog like you."

"Where's that?" asked Vinny.

Brian dropped Vinny off at the pet shop, where he'd later buy him as a Christmas present for the Griffins to take care of.

"This is it, Vinny," Brian assured.

"The pet shop?" Vinny asked.

Brian replied, "Yes. Here's hoping that a family like mine will take you in as their pet one day. Maybe it'll get your mind off Leo."

"Yeah," Vinny said. "Maybe it will."

The two dogs hugged each other.

"Thank you, Brian," Vinny continued, "and goodbye. I hope you and I will meet again one day."

"I'm sure we will," Brian assured.

The two dogs let go, and went their separate ways, with Vinny going inside the shop, and Brian going back to his Prius with that assurance in mind.

And I thought to myself then, 'Maybe I'll be the one to take him in this Christmas, that is, if someone else doesn't, first.' And I drove away from the shop with that assurance in mind and went back home.

Note from the author: In case you're all wondering, the italicized paragraphs are Brian's narration.