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Living History Illinois Flockify DM, Saturday 12:04 PM
AlCaponesGhost25: Want to tease some history nerds together?
SingerQueen: Always. How?
AlCaponesGhost25: I’m posting a poll for people to vote on the most important Illinoisan. The options are Henry Ford, Martin Luther King Jr, Clara Barton, and JFK
SingerQueen: But none of them are from Illinois.
AlCaponesGhost25: Exactly!
SingerQueen: LOL AlCaponesGHOUL is more like it.
AlCaponesGhost25: *devil emoji*
T he day passes quickly with the distraction of spirited conversations online, but after work, I load the dogs up and head out of town. Cholula is restless with excitement in the back seat while Cap glares at me for stuffing him into this moving tin can.
“We’ll get through this, bud,” I tell him. “We’ve got to be more like Cho now, okay? Ready for adventure.”
There are several other dog-human pairs already warming up when we arrive. Some are doing recall, others weaving between cones. All look like they’ve been taking classes forever. In the back of the property, there’s a large hangar-like building, and in front of it, two fenced-in fields and a smattering of small buildings. I leave the dogs in the car and go up to the main one to check in.
As I reach for the handle, the door opens from within and a smiling Leo exits, Tilly at his side.
“Cora?” His expression falters at the edges. “What are you doing here?”
You have got to be kidding me. “What are you doing here?” I counter.
“I asked first.”
I purse my lips. “If you must know, I’m training the dogs.”
“Uh-huh.” His eyes narrow. “Does it by any chance have something to do with the Winter Fest’s dog show?”
My spine stiffens. “How do you know about that?”
“Well, no thanks to you. I went to check out the Winter Fest website after you mentioned it to see if I should get a booth there, too, and whaddaya know? You left out a small detail.”
I glance at my car. Two curious faces are following my every move. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, come on. I don’t blame you for not telling me about the contest, though technically one might say it skirts the agreement of our truce, but don’t pretend you didn’t know exactly what you were doing.”
I cross my arms. He’s so infuriating. “Fine. Maybe I didn’t want more competition from you than I already have, so I chose not to tell you. Clearly, you’re more than capable of figuring things out on your own.”
He cocks his head. “Sure am. And if you ask me, that’s the wrong attitude. Competition is what makes us better.”
I scoff. “I take it you’ve signed up for the show, then?”
“From a marketing standpoint, it’s a great opportunity. Lots of visibility. People tend to remember Tilly when they see her.”
Tilly looks up upon hearing her name, intent on her owner.
I can’t help it—a frustrated growl escapes me.
Leo chuckles. “Guess I’ll see you inside. Good luck and may the best dog win.”
Even his backside looks cocky as he walks toward the hangar. If I let down my guard in the car the other night, it is now firmly back in place. He’s enjoying this way too much, and I can’t say I’m looking forward to training Cho and Cap in front of him. They know the basic commands, but many dogs do. I’m sure Tilly is already show material.
I pay my fee and leash up the dogs. Cholula pulls like she’s twelve pounds going on forty-eight while Cap moves at a more reasonable pace.
The space is divided into two rectangles—for large and small breeds—separated by temporary three-foot fencing. Leo is in the other enclosure, thankfully, so I’m going to do my best to pretend he’s not here. I tie Cap up and start warming up Cho. Keeping her on a leash, I run her around the space a few times to let her get her zoomies out. Then I let her sniff the tunnel, cones, and seesaw at the edge of the space. She’s all over that, happily walking up the tilting board without much prompting. Promising.
Next up is Cap. I do the same lap with him, but he only sniffs the end of the tunnel and then returns to me for another treat. “You have to go through it, silly,” I coax. He doesn’t move. I sure hope the woman with the brown lab isn’t signing up for the contest because her dog knows all the tricks. She laps the course again and again, and all I hear is, “Well done, Boxley. Up and over. Yes!”
Leo is also watching them, his face mirroring the discouragement I’m sure is on mine. I can’t see Tilly, but I do take heart at his seeming dismay. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Tilly doesn’t have all this down. She is still a puppy after all.
Behind me, Cholula barks for my attention, and after that everything happens too fast to follow. A pale blur flies out of the large breed enclosure, clearing the fencing with margin. It’s Tilly, and she lets out a high bark, which sets Cholula off in an even more giddy fit. Before I can reach her, she’s snapped the leash and is ready when Tilly reaches us. It’s the park all over again. The two dogs circle each other as if they’re long-lost besties finally reunited and take off.
“Tilly, here!” Leo calls from afar, but I’ve seen this before. No matter how purebred Tilly is or how well-behaved at home—Leo’s got nothing on Cholula.
I chase after the two dogs to the fence, thinking I’ll catch Cho there, but to my surprise, she also clears the obstacle, as small as she is. For a moment, I stop panicking and allow excitement in its place. The choice between Cho and Cap is clear. I’ve got my contestant. Unfortunately, the other dogs in the arena are getting in on the mayhem, and the shouts from other owners pull me out of my epiphany.
“Call your dog back,” one man yells at Leo, who’s jogging back and forth depending on what direction the pack is taking, Tilly’s limp leash in his hands.
“You know, you really should keep your dog under better control,” I tell him with a smirk when I reach him. This time it wasn’t Cholula’s fault, and I’m more than happy to feed him his own words in place of a humble pie.
“Ha, ha, very funny.”
“I think it is. Oh, how the righteous fall. Maybe if you lie down on the ground they’ll come back. Worked last time.”
He looks down at the sawdust as if considering this.
“I’m joking. Wouldn’t want to ruin that fancy leather jacket of yours.” What was he thinking wearing that here?
“Then how will we get them back?”
Our eyes trail the romping canines, who clearly have no intention of stopping any time soon.
At that moment, the door opens and the teacher enters with one of the other patrons. She raises a whistle to her mouth and blows a long, high-pitched note. The dogs immediately stop in their tracks.
“Leash up,” she calls. Then she looks at me and Leo. “And you two—I’d like to see you both in my office.”
Leo and I gather our dogs and walk to the main building.
“Unbelievable,” Leo says. “Called to the ‘principal’s office’ like some…” He doesn’t finish the sentence but keeps muttering under his breath.
I tug Cho and Cap along across the muddy grounds. “Why are you making such a big deal about this? She probably just wants to remind us of the rules.”
“Well, I don’t like it.”
“Being in trouble? Does it hurt your feelings that someone thinks you fucked up?”
He doesn’t respond, but the crease on his brow deepens. I must have hit a nerve.
Once inside, we stand shoulder to shoulder in front of the matron in charge who’s leveling us with the glare to end all glares.
“I am sure I made it clear when we spoke on the phone that we require our clients to have at least a basic level of control over their animals when they attend our classes.”
“You did,” Leo says.
I nod.
“And yet here we are.”
Leo juts his chin out. “Tilly is usually well-behaved. But when she sees Cora’s dog—”
I whip my head his way. “It’s my fault now? Tilly started it this time.”
The woman’s ruddy cheeks puff up. “This has happened before?”
“Only once,” Leo assures her. “And like I said, it’s not typical.”
I scoff. “You would blame me. You’ve disliked Cholula from the get-go. Just because she looks different and doesn’t have a fancy pedigree doesn’t mean you can throw her under the bus.”
“I’m doing nothing of the sort.”
“Be that as it may…” The woman demands our attention again. “We will not be inviting you back here.”
What? I gape at her. “No, please. I need a place to train my dogs for Winter Fest. I promise this won’t happen again. If his dog hadn’t gotten loose—”
The woman raises her hand to stop me. “Unfortunately, we have zero tolerance for that sort of thing here. It’s for everyone’s safety. My hands are tied.”
Her words leave a burning, stinging sensation across my skin as if she’s slapped me. We’re dismissed.
“But I…” My arms fall limply to my side.
The finality in her statement gives me no choice but to walk out of there. Leo is behind me, and halfway to the cars, I do a one-eighty on him. “Thanks a lot,” I say. “Without this place, I can’t train them, and we can’t be in the show. Not only have you ruined my best chance of saving the store, but I’m also out fifty bucks for the registration fee.”
“What do you mean ‘saving the store’? Are you in trouble?”
Me and my big mouth. “That’s none of your business.”
“So we’ll find a different place,” he says, voice placating.
“I’ve called all of them. And while I’m sure you can afford to join any one of those fancy clubs, I can’t.” My voice cracks. Fuck.
His hand flutters across his hair, clearly uncomfortable. “I’m sorry, okay? I should have had a better hold on Tilly.”
“That’s right.” I wipe my nose with the back of my hand. “And it wasn’t Cholula’s fault.”
“Well, technically, if Cholula hadn’t been there…”
I give him the iciest glare I can muster.
“Sure,” he says. “It wasn’t Cholula’s fault.”
Another infraction of his comes to mind. “ And there’s nothing wrong with her.”
“If you’re referring to our run-in in the park, I still think that was a justified question. She looked completely bananas with that ice cream cone in her mouth.”
I hate that he’s right, but I don’t have the energy for this anymore. All I want is to go home and pull a blanket over me. I turn back toward my car.
“Are you going to be okay driving home?” Leo calls after me.
“Does it matter?” I ask.
To that he says nothing. Like I thought.