'Man, Duff, you had to see the place. The dogs had their names stitched on their collars. I felt like I got to know them personally, even after just a few minutes with them.' Karl's eyes got real wide.
'Take it easy. Karl, take it easy,' I hoped he would chill out a little.
'There was a beautiful basset girl named Sadie; she just looked at me with those big eyes, and I felt sick. There was a guy right next to her in a cage named Arthur, and he really wanted out.'
'Karl…' He wasn't even close to stopping.
'There was also Louie. Man, what a character he was. There was Lola Love, and you know what? She couldn't bark because her vocal chords looked screwed up like someone had kicked her.' Karl shook his head and gritted his teeth.
'Karl, look, just…'
'Then there were these two best friends in one cage. One was a tri-color and the other was more white. They were Blake and Sherlock.'
'Karl, focus,' I said.
'There was one named Maui, another one named Sally, and there was even one named Guffy, and they were really happy and wanted to play even though they were in cages.'
'Karl, please…' He was a runaway train.
'There was even this strange Maltese/Pom mix; A tiny little thing named Tedward.'
'That's not the worst of it.' Karl got real quiet.
'Huh?'
'Al's mom is there.'
'What the fuck are you talking about?'
'He ran right to her cage-skipped about 35 others and went ballistic when he saw her-crying, howling, trying to get in the cage.'
'Karl, I don't-'
'She's pregnant again, Duff. Those bastards just get the females pregnant twice a year, have them give birth, sell the puppies, and eventually discard the mothers. That's how this shit works.' Karl paced back and forth.
'How the hell can you tell if it's Al's mom. Karl you're getting way out there.'
'Her cage had 'Gladys' written above it. It had a list of the fathers. The way I figured it 'Vernon' must've been Al's father.'
'C'mon!'
'Call whoever you got Al from and ask him to look at the papers and it will say. As sick as this place is, they have to file AKC papers to get the dogs registered. Otherwise their price drops.'
Al was originally owned by the Nation of Islam. He had been trained as a bomb sniffing dog and a man-trailer, but they gave him away because he kept pissing and farting all over the place. A client of mine named Walanda had adopted him and when she went to jail for 60 days, I took Al. Walanda got murdered in jail and Al and I became life partners. A buddy of mine named Jamal, who I knew from the gym, knew the whole story. He was in the Nation back then, didn't box any more, and worked at McDonough High. I rang him up on his cell phone.
'This is Jamal.'
'Jamal, it's Duff.'
'The great white hope. I seen you made the papers for your football game antics. Man, Duff, you gotta stop gettin' hit on the head, my man.' Jamal had tendency to say what was on his mind.
'Yeah, yeah. Look I got an Al question.'
'Man, Duff, he's a dog. You're always calling me with Al questions.'
'You remember where you guys got him?'
'You guys'? Duff, I left the Nation years ago.'
'Sorry J, You know what I mean.'
'They got him just west of here. I forgot the town's name. It was just outside of Syracuse.'
'Johnsville?'
'That's it. Some funk ass country folk had a whole hound dog production line. Kind of fucked up, to be honest with you. They almost wouldn't sell him to us 'cause we were of color, as you liberal whiteys like to say.'
'Look Jamal, this is going to sound like a really crazy question.
'
'Duff…those are the only kind you got.'
'Do you know or do you have papers that tell you about Al's parents.'
'You won't believe it, but I do. Typical cracker ass lineage for a hound dog. They must've thought they were all sorts of clever.'
'What was it?'
'Well my short-legged friend was originally named after the hero to all you white folk-or at least the ones with some soul.'
'What the hell are you talking about?'
''Ol Al was born E-L–V-I-S. And you know the Nation had that changed before they got out of that big 'ol gate at that farm.' I didn't say anything. I couldn't.
'Duff, you there?'
'Yeah, yeah. So let me guess. Al's parents were Gladys and Vernon.'
'There you go.'
I thanked Jamal and sat down hard on the couch. Maybe I was going crazy.
'I was right wasn't I?' Karl said. He got out of his chair again and started pacing. 'We got to stop those bastards.' I began to think he was right. Now, I knew I was going crazy.
'Karl-'
'I also found out the guy who owns the place is Luther Campbell,' Karl said.
'So?'
'Luther Campbell is a right wing nut. He's Rush Limbaugh on crack. His followers are para-military 'Give- America-back-to Americans' types. Here's an article on him from some ultraconservative newsletter.' He handed me a cheaply produced newsletter featuring Campbell on the cover, in front of a flag, posing with his hunting rifle.
'So you got a Republican raising hounds. I'm not sure he's broken any laws Karl.'
'Duff, you gotta open your eyes, man.'
'Karl, can we get back on our original conversation/'
'All right, all right. Let me tell you about Newstrom.' Karl stopped his pacing almost for what seemed like dramatic effect.
'Go ahead,' I exhaled. It was all getting a little hard to follow, but I figured I might as well hear all of it.
'He's coming for us. He told me. He's coming to Crawford. He said we're making too much noise and there's too much at stake. He's coming to eliminate us.'
'Hold it-you talked to him?'
'Yeah.'
'The same guy that a few days ago had so much of an effect on you, you almost killed yourself?'
'Yeah.'
'How the hell do you explain that?'
'He switched gears; there were people around. I don't know; it's the way he is. He's unpredictable, he has no emotion. He knows the suicide didn't work, so he moves on.'
'What has he moved on to?'
'He's coming for us. He's coming to Crawford.'
'For what?'
'To eliminate us while carrying out his other plans.'
'What plans?'
'The massacre didn't happen at Notre Dame. He's bringing it here and wants to take care of us with it,' Karl raised his eyebrows.
'Look Karl, I got arrested in Indiana. Everyone thinks I'm Looney-tunes and I'm exhausted from traveling. I think it might be time for me to give up my battle with the NOW.'
'Sure, I don't blame you,' Karl said it flatly and he wouldn't look me in the eye. He did blame me.
