Lunatic Dog
When I was five, I got chased by a dog when I visited my grandma. My grandma had three guard dogs. The one that chased me was black with red eyes. I wouldn't even call him a dog; he was scary beyond imagination. Ravaging teeth with drool constantly foaming at his mouth. You just knew he was ready to kill anything and anyone that came into our compound. When I was young, I liked messing with the dogs because they were in cages. These dogs were trained to kill, so I had no business messing with them. But what is a young child to do when bored in the village? Exactly you guessed it, mess with the dogs. I had been warned numerous times by my grandma and her staff, to not play or feed the dogs. They were positioned at a particular spot in our compound. They were close to the main entrance, but not too far away from the gate. People were constantly scared to come visit us because of these dogs. Especially the black one, which I personally named El Diablo. He was crazy, quiet, and had an evil smirk on his face. It was like he was consistently saying, “just wait until I get out of this cage, that's your ass”. Only my grandma could control them and some of the guards. Numerous times I had messed with the dogs but I would run straight to my grandma and they would heel. But this one time I fucked up.
The rule of the house was all the kids had to be inside the house by 6:00 PM, because they would let the guard dogs out. I was jump roping and noticed evening time had come. I also noticed how empty the compound was and realized it was probably past six. I proceeded to head inside, but before I could reach the front entrance, I heard growling.” Oh shoot the dogs are out” I thought! While setting my jump rope down and turning around slowly, I got a glimpse of El Diablo. That bastard dog had finally caught me and he meant business. It was kind of like a scene out of a cartoon. I swear we both ran in the same spot we stood creating smoke before I took off, and then he took off. I ran laps around my compound screaming and pleading for the door to be opened. I zoomed through the garden, where the cars were parked, and through all the open spaces available. Where the hell were the guards? Once my mom gets back, they’ll surely be fired. Can they not hear me screaming for my life? I digress, let's go back to my Olympic world-class performance.
I decided to run straight for a gate that connected the kitchen and courtyard. The whole time stupid El Diablo was nibbling on my ankles and leaving scratches. He was always almost fully biting me as I ran. For some reason, I was so damn fast while running. Angels were definitely carrying me! I approached the gate, it was green and tall, but it was locked. Somehow I jumped it, adrenaline is a motherfucker. Just before I celebrated, El Diablo jumped it too! Now, this dog was on crack, he had to be. Was it that serious, did he have to bite me? Did I poke him too many times in his cage? Was it really that deep? It was a stare down and then finally I heard an angel's voice “Jesus”, the angel said. It was my nanny, and then suddenly a guard came out. They arrested El Diablo and took him back to his cage. By this time, I was drenched in sweat and in shock. I couldn’t believe I could run like that. I’m pretty sure if you asked me to jump over the gate like I was Jackie Chan again, I wouldn’t know how to. They took me to the kitchen sat me down and gave me a glass of water.
Everyone was coming up to me asking questions and showing concern. I felt like I was walking through a crowd and a thousand people were speaking at once. After feeling sorry for myself, I looked around for my brother. I knew he locked the door, and he didn't tell me he was going in. I was looking for El Diablo’s partner in crime, I could hear him playing video games in the living room. I was furious! The news had gotten to my grandma. They had opened a bottle of Fanta for me, with a lot of hands rubbing my back to calm me down. I didn't care about any of that stuff, my forgiveness was not going to be bought. They all owed me an answer to my question. “Where the hell were yall?”
Mary