The next day, Rose and Rita were ready to start the day.
The small gang made their way into the city when the sun rose in the sky.
Rose stayed by Dodger, going at the same pace he was. "Wait up, you guys!" Rita called, galloping to catch up with them, "You guys up for hotdogs?"
"You bet I am, Rita! What about you, Dodgie?" Rose replied, tail wagging furiously.
"I'm up for it if you two are," Dodger said with a smile.
They all ran through the streets, jumping on top of cars and taxis to get to where they needed to go.
Traffic was abundant; The day was beautiful. Neither one of them wanted to find food yet; They were all too busy playing together.
They would chase each other and wrestle around like any puppy should.
Rita was more agile than Rose and Dodger, and she was the fastest.
Rose had learned all that there was to know about being a great street dog and she was happy to pass down her knowledge to Rita.
Dodger then sees Louie setting his stand at a street corner.
"There they are!" Dodger called when he spotted their food.
They all jumped from the cars and landed on the sidewalk that Louie was on. "Now, Dodge? I'm tired..." Rita panted, falling over on her side.
Rose looked back at the hound mix and perked her ears up. "C'mon, Rita! It'd be nice to have another paw," she said.
"Alright, I'll help you guys out," Rita groaned as she got to her paws again.
"You just saying that because you're getting hungry?" Rose asked, tilting her head towards her.
Rita blushed bashfully. "Okay, yes. I am," she said. Rose smiled and playfully pawed at her.
The three dogs get out of sight of Louie. "What's the plan?" Rita asked them. Rose stayed crouched, her mix-matched ears perked upwards and her eyes focused on Louie.
"I'll get the hot dogs while you and Dodger distract him," Rose suggested.
"Sounds good. You're still recovering after all," Dodger said, agreeing with the plan. Rose looked over at him for a moment. She didn't want to be reminded of what went down with that pitbull last week.
"I'm fine, Dodge. It's nothing I haven't handled before. Now c'mon, lets get our dinner," Rose said confidently.
Dodger and Rita nod at Rose before they both dashed out of the alleyway, making sharp turns towards the overweight man.
Rose waited until Louie was completely distracted before going in. She watched as Dodger started to bite at the man's raggedy shoes and Rita started to bark at him in a taunting manner.
When he was completely distracted, Rose snuck up towards the hotdog cart, still crouched. Louie didn't see Rose taking a string of hotdogs from the cart with her teeth.
When she grabbed them, she yelled out, "Hey! I got it! Let's get out of here!"
At this, Rita and Dodger followed her in a gallop towards the traffic. Louie was shaking his fist at the three canines as they escaped.
(Alleyway)
Rita couldn't stop laughing from the excitement. She met up with the other canines. Rose had the hotdogs wrapped around her neck proudly.
"You still hungry?" Dodger asked with a self-satisfied grin on his muzzle.
"I'm starving! Why don't we go ahead and eat this and take home the left overs for Einie?" Rita said.
Rose dropped her head and used her paws to get the hotdogs off of her neck.
The three puppies started to eat their fill.
As they were eating, Rose noticed that Rita was quiet while they ate.
"Cat got your tongue, Rit?" Rose asked, having a paw over hotdog.
"Yeah, something got you upset?" Dodger asked casually. He didn't want to make a big deal of it all.
Rita slowed her chewing down, feeling uncomfortable right away. "Since when do you like to talk about feelings?" Rita asked, trying to get him to change the subject.
"Eh, usually he don't, Rita. I don't like to talk about mine. Too much drama," Rose said.
Rita looked at the two dogs, appreciating their concern. Rita never took Rose and Dodger to be reserved.
"I... miss my mom and sister. Willow, she never found a home. I'm sure she's on the street like myself, or even taken to the pound..." Rita said.
Rose dropped her ears and looked away, feeling the same way about Kaiden, her brother.
"I understand how you feel. I haven't seen Kaiden since I was a few weeks old. I don't know if he's in the pound or possibly got a worser fate," Rose said sadly.
"Maybe you guys coulda brought them with you guys. They would've left if they wanted too," Dodger said, finishing up his hot dogs, "It's not your fault, you guys. Rita, you said your dad's a street dog, yeah?"
"Yeah. Why?" Rita said. "Maybe she had the same instincts as him. You're just as good as him. Rose, what about your mother? Wasn't she as street dog too?" Dodger asked.
Rose perked up and looked at him. "Yeah. But she was still a pet when she was pregnant with me and Kaiden. She wasn't supposed to be mates with another dog. When those humans found out, they took her here in the city and left her," she said.
"You guys can't take care of everyone. Rita, you said that your sister was bad news! If she was worth it, she woulda taken you with her. Rose, even your brother was the same way," Dodger said to them.
Rose knew about Rita and her sister didn't see eye-to-eye for the time they lived together. Rose felt a bit of envy because she didn't have the opportunity to get to know her brother.
She didn't know what his personality was, but that didn't mean she didn't want to know that he was possibly dead or in the pound.
"Do you guys miss your moms?" Rita asked them, eating in silence.
"No, we don't," Dodger blantly answered. "We don't need them, Rita. They both left on their own agenda," Rose said harshly.
Dodger dropped his ears and closed his eyes. He didn't appreciate that thought going into his mind.
Rita dropped the matter when she saw the sound of their voices. Other than where their mothers were, neither had said much about themselves.
They were all friends, so they could trust each other. After all this time, Rita couldn't shake off the feeling that she didn't know them completely.
Rose felt like she didn't know Dodger all that well either. She saw them as family, but usually they were always joking and playing around like puppies do.
Rose finishes her hotdogs and gets her to paws. "Alright, enough of this serious talk. Let's get back home. It's gonna get dark soon," she said, looking upwards at the sky.
"Sure thing, Rose. How about we have another race?" Dodger agreed, stretching his limbs. He had gotten over his defensive side.
They were happy that Rita didn't ask anymore questions when Rose brought up the race.
Rose was happy to going back to just having fun with her two best friends.
Dodger picked up what was left of the hot dog link and threw it around his neck like Rose did.
"You guys are on. Don't drop Einie's food though," Rita said with a grin, dropping to a play bow position.
"Let's go!" Rose cheered, bounding on her paws from left to right while wagging her tail vigorously.
The three dogs raced each other back to the barge.