Page 35 of Yolo

“Really?” I asked.

“I think he’s jealous,” Trance admitted. “Rooster gets to goof off and have fun all day while Panzer has to work. That is, if he cooperates.”

I giggled as I heard them disappear.

Seconds later I heard the click of nails.

I held out my hand and said, “Rooster?”

A wet nose met my hand.

“This is Rooster,” Trance confirmed my suspicions. “He’s a big softy.”

I reached out and down, only to find myself touching the silky fur of a dog’s shoulder where I expected a head to be.

“Oh, you’re big,” I said. “Short hair. Coarse.”

“Cane Corso,” Trance said. “Originally, Rooster was purchased by a police station in southern Georgia that wanted a Cane Corso in their lineup. But this particular Cane Corso is quite the people pleaser, at least most of the time. He was so smart that he made up stuff—like hitting on drugs—when in fact there were none to be had. I tried to break him of this habit, but he’s having none of it.”

“He sounds charming,” I admitted.

“He’s a charmer, for sure,” Trance confirmed. “Walk with us. Here’s his leash.”

He placed the leash into my hand, and then he said, “Tell him you’re ready to go. He’ll guide you down the pathway.”

“I’m ready to go, Rooster,” I said to the sweet boy.

I felt him shuffle a little, then gently turned and faced a direction that was opposite of where I was standing.

Gently, he caught the slack up and started tugging lightly.

Trusting him to guide me, I fell into step. He kept the leash taut and led me down the walkway.

“From here…”

Trance guided me through the entire process.

From start to finish, it took me a little over a couple of hours to figure out all the commands as well as be able to figure out all of the cues the dog was giving me.

For instance, if I was coming to a step, he’d gently stop in front of me and wait for me to catch his collar. Once I was latched on, he walked in front of me, stepping lightly to the side until I could find the curb with my toes.

Stairs were even easier, and we worked well through it all.

By the time we were finished, I was so damn excited.

It felt like I got a piece of my eyesight back.

I’d been holed up in my apartment for the last month, terrified to leave it because everything was just too overwhelming. Not only could I not see, but I was in a city that I’d only ever visited once, and that was being generous because we’d come with Joseph’s family. And Joseph’s family was in the most prestigious hotel that Dallas had to offer.

They’d have died if they’d visited the part of Dallas that I lived.

Needless to say, maybe having a seeing-eye dog could give me back my freedom.

I’d, of course, had the dog thing recommended to me. Multiple times. By both my mom, dad, doctors, and the therapist I saw once a month to deal with the trauma of my injury.

However, I’d dismissed it because I couldn’t see how having a seeing-eye dog would/could help that much.

But here I was, humbled.

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