Page 40 of Girl, We Go Together
The second I showed him the footage to prove my point and saw that he didn’t give a fuck, I flew out the door. I hoped my baby would just stay in the backyard to use the bathroom. But when I walked outside, he was nowhere to be found in the backor along the side of the house. My bare feet collided with the cool pavement, but I didn’t care.
“MELLO!” My voice cracked and echoed down the street as I started to lightly jog.
My chest burned almost immediately, my lungs begged for relief as my thighs rubbed together, and my body fought me every step. My breath came heavy, and a light film of sweat started to form on my forehead. I hated myself for not being able to move faster, but I kept going, even though my heart felt like it was pounding out of my chest, and my vision started to blur.
At the corner, I spotted him. His little tan and white body was standing confused, with his tail wagging faintly as he sniffed the air.
“Mello, come here!” I wheezed, my voice breaking with hope.
Relief flooded me when he turned around and saw me, but only for a second. Because just as I stumbled closer, he took another step right off the curb. Time slowed. My legs wouldn’t work fast enough, but still, I tried my best to dart toward the street. My eyes cut toward the traffic light just as it turned green.
“Mello!”
A horn blared. Tires screeched. And then I saw the impact that shattered my heart into a million pieces. I heard his hurtful bark before I even saw his body tumbling and then hitting the asphalt. He lay there too still, too quiet. I screamed so loud it tore something inside me. My knees gave out on the concrete.
“No, no, no!” Tears blurred my vision as the world tilted.
Behind me, the sound of the front door slamming open cut through the ringing in my ears. Orion’s voice boomed my name, but I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breathe. All I could see was Mello, the last piece of normal I had, broken in the street. The box truck that hit him didn’t even stop; it kept going as if nothing had happened. I was still on my knees in the street, shaking and sobbing so hard it felt like my chest would split open.
“Mello!” I cried.
My arms stretched out like I could will him back to me. Then Orion’s footsteps pounded up behind me. He didn’t drop down beside me, didn’t even reach out. He didn’t even go toward the street to check on Mello. Instead, he stood there, towering over me with his face set like stone.
“Cayla, get up,” he said flatly.
I whipped my head toward him with swollen red eyes and tears streaming down my cheeks.
“That was my baby! Do you understand that? He-he was—” My voice broke again.
Orion exhaled hard, rubbing his hand over his beard like I was overreacting.
“Cayla, it’s just a dog.” He looked toward the street and then grimaced a bit. “He’s gone. Ain’t no point in losing your mind out here.”
My mouth fell open. Just a dog. Just a dog. I shook my head, disbelief cutting deeper than the grief itself.
“Are you serious right now!”
“Yeah, I’m serious.” His tone was cool, almost dismissive. “You're pregnant. Stressing over this ain’t good for the baby. You need to calm down. Crying in the middle of the street ain’t gonna bring him back. You're out here with no fucking shoes on.”
My stomach twisted as a fresh ache stabbed through me. I wiped at my face, and anger bubbled beneath the sorrow. Mello wasn’t just a dog. He had been mine before Orion. He was comfort, protection, and the only family outside of Zynea I had since my mother died. And now he was gone because of OJ, and Orion couldn’t even see that shit. I guess he had had enough of seeing me cry on the cool pavement. He grabbed my arm, tugging me up onto shaky legs like this whole situation was nothing.
“Come on, let’s go in the house. We’ll figure it out later.”
I looked to the street and saw that Mello was torn to pieces. There was no taking him to a vet, there was no getting him back. I wanted his little body to be properly disposed of, but when an 18-wheeler rode over him, I just closed my eyes and let the tears fall down my cheeks. I let Orion pull me back down the street, but inside, I was shattered. Because in that moment, I realized the distance between us wasn’t just grief or stress. It was something heavier. Something I wasn’t sure could be fixed.
Back inside the house, I collapsed onto the couch, clutching my stomach like I could hold all the broken pieces together.
My face was still wet, and I couldn’t get the sound of that truck hitting Mello out of my head. OJ sat stiff at the edge of the recliner on the opposite side of the room. He was swinging his little legs like nothing had happened. His whole demeanor was just blank. From that moment, all the love I had for the little boy was dead. He had eyes of a demon with the heart to match. I would never forgive him for this.
I stared at him, my heart pounding in my chest. The camera footage burned in my mind. I couldn’t get him opening that back door and smirking when Mello ran out of my head. He knew. He knew exactly what he was doing. Quickly, I thought back to a time when he tried to walk Mello, and I remember telling him that he always needed a leash because he didn’t listen.He can’t go out without his leash,was exactly what I told his ass.
“OJ,” I said sharply.
He looked up, wide-eyed but quiet.
“You let him out on purpose.” My voice cracked with rage and grief tangled together. “Why would you do that? Why would you hurt Mello like that?”
OJ shrugged. His tiny shoulders lifted like it was no big deal. “He was just a dog.”
