“I’m really not good with that stuff,” I breathed.
“I noticed.” She paused. “But you’re pretty good with animals.”
We reached the fence that normally enclosed the dogs all day. “They’re simpler than people.”
We stepped in, and I fished a keycard from my wallet to open the back door of the facility. The dogs roared to life, tails wild as they jumped up and down in greeting.
“Ever wonder what they think about you?” she breathed, taking in all the wagging canine tails.
“Doesn’t matter, does it? It’s humans that make life complicated--the needs, the greed, and the selfish motives. Humans poison everything, even the air we breathe and the food we eat, just to make a profit. These guys,” I let the first two dogs out of their kennels, “only need food, water, a walk, and some love to live. It’s simple, and I appreciate simple.”
“Coming from the most complicated man I’ve ever met,” she whispered at my side as I stood, an errant smile darting across my face.
“Dark and complicated might look good on you if you give it a try, little mouse.”
19
“It made her think that it was curious how much nicer a person looked when he smiled. She had not thought of it before.” ― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
Madison
Watching Kyler at the animal shelter was like seeing a completely new person. He actually smiled as a small golden retriever licked him in the face, trying to climb him like a monkey.
“He’s amazing with them,” a middle-aged woman, with salt and pepper hair and ruby red cheeks said, beaming at Kyler with the puppy. “He’s the only person that can make the abused ones calm down. They usually hide or growl at people, but not with Kyler. He’s the kindest, gentlest person I have ever met in my entire life.”
I slowly turned to the sweet looking woman, not really sure if she was talking about the same Kyler I knew. The boy I knew was angry and mean. He was brash and insensitive. Kyler Sinclair was a bully in every sense of the word. But as I watched him smiling at the puppy giving him a bath with his tongue, I couldn’t help thinking that from time to time I saw the guy the puppy saw. The truth was, I knew he was capable of more. I saw moments of kindness and thoughtfulness. I knew he loved his sister, the way he reacted in the hospital told me that. He was genuinely worried; a completely heartless person wouldn’t have done that. Kyler rubbed the back of the puppy’s ears and walked over to me, a smile still plastered on his face. I couldn’t help thinking how beautiful he was when he wasn’t scowling. He was incredibly sexy when he was angry and being mean, but right now he looked almost ethereal.
“Are you going to help, or are you going to just stand there?” he asked, holding out his hand to me. I stared at his long fingers, marred by scars and covered by tattoos. I was worried that if I took it, my skin might ignite by the heat of his skin, but a large part of me wanted to feel his touch on mine in any way I could. Slowly, I placed my hand in his and he closed his fingers on mine. I never understood when my father talked about how my mom was everything until that moment when Kyler Sinclair became a part of me irrevocably.
“This is a different side of you,” I said, as he dragged me towards one of the carts with a frail, thin brown dog huddled at the corner. The poor thing had his head barred and was desperate to move further away from any living thing. His body was shaking and, looking at him, I could tell that his frailness wasn’t due to his breed but to neglect. Kyler opened the door. The sight of the poor puppy's face made my breath hitch and I stumbled back, catching my footing before I fell. “What happened to him?” I asked, creeping slowly towards the dog. His poor face was cut up in small slashes and his ear looked like it was half ripped off. I felt the bile rise from my throat and the tears start to flood my eyes. It physically hurt looking at the poor creature and the harm that had come to him, but I didn’t dare look away.
Kyler slowly approached the poor thing, crouching on the floor, moving ever so slowly.
“Hey there, buddy,” he cooed, “I promise, no one is going to ever hurt you again. I am Kyler,” he introduced himself, as if the puppy could totally understand him. “I know it’s not fun when people who are supposed to love and protect you do nothing but hurt you.”
His words made me stop. I didn’t look at the puppy anymore but my eyes turned onto Kyler. I watched him, his sleeves rolled up, swirling image after image, covering every inch of skin on his arms.
I know it’s not fun when people who are supposed to love and protect you do nothing but hurt you.
I had no idea why those words lingered in my mind, growing larger and forcing all other thoughts out. Everything I had seen about Kyler’s parents were that of loving parents. Sure, they were nothing like my own, but they weren’t bad people, they just put a value on things that weren’t that important in the grand scheme of things. But the way Kyler talked, the sound of his voice all strained and choked up with emotion, made me think there was something else there. And those scars, those tiny scars that were hidden if you looked too closely, but I will never forget how that raised skin felt under my fingertips. Those scars were inflicted by a knife or another sharp
