The Beagle Problem
Back when you’re a child, and you’re lonely,
a parent might get you a pet, well I was given a beagle, cute little guy when
he came to me. My step-father brought him home one day I don’t remember his
name or what exactly I called that beagle but, I grew attached to him over time.
Well, dad may have given me that puppy but he definitely wasn’t in love
with him, like I was. Dad fed the dog of course and let me keep him as long as
I walked him. It was me and my little beagle against everyone and everything,
until the poor dog messed up and caused dad a problem.
It was a day we were going fishing, and dad loaded the fishing poles and
equipment in the trunk and then the cooler filled with cold drinks and snacks.
He smiled at me and said let’s go fishing! Of course I wanted to go and jumped
in the car, taking my beagle along. Dad looked and smiled, and said I hope he
behaves, the dog he meant of course, not me.
Dad had a problem with my beagle, he didn’t like the fact the dog liked
to dig. My beagle dug holes in the back yard and dad had to fix them. He wasn’t
happy about that one for sure.
We drove to that lake to fish in dad’s Cadillac, bright yellow with
green cloth interior and in great shape. As, we drove along, my beagle, started
to scratch at the backseat, and dad told the dog no, in a harsh tone. The dog
never understood of course and thought it was playing, dad didn’t take it that
way when we got to the lake.
When we arrived at the lake, I got out of the car with my beagle and waited
on dad to unload everything we needed of course, I was still young. Dad
unloaded the cooler and snacks, and set them down, then the fishing poles and
tackle box and bait. Then as I watched, dad, unload a piece of chain, duct tape
and an item that looked like a lead doughnut. I was puzzled, what that was for?
Dad looked at my beagle and then at his backseat of his Cadillac, and his face
changed to anger. He looked at the dog, then at the seat and back and forth he
went, dad was mad, the beagle had dug a hole in his backseat. That was it for
my poor beagle.
Dad turned and grabbed my beagle by the back of its neck and held him
high helpless. The poor dog yelped and cried but, that didn’t bother dad, the
dog ruined his Cadillac.
I watched in terror as dad, took the duct tape and taped my beagles
mouth shut, and then taped his front paws together and his back ones too. Then
he looked at me and said damn dog will never ruin another thing for me. He
reached out and grabbed the chain and weight and wrapped the chain around my
beagle, the next thing I know, my beagle was heaved by him into the lake. I
watched as my beagle struggled against the weight, but he never came back up,
just bubbles. Dad had solved the problem of the beagle, it was his solution.
The dog ripped his seat up and that was the end of it. Dad said, well the hell
with that dog! Never again did I have a
dog or pet, and if I ever thought of one, my mind would replay dad’s solution
to his torn seat by my beagle and I forgot any thoughts of having a pet. As Dad
put it damn dog gave me a problem so I got rid of it. Sadly, he never mentioned
it again, and I knew then, my dad was a cold hard bastard.
Dad’s way of handling things was through violence and threats. Because
when I spoke up, asked him about my beagle and why he did it, dad, didn’t
explain a thing, but he did get angry at me. What he said was, I pay for you to
eat, sleep, drink, dress and go to school, and if you think I am going to let
you ruin my life, well, I will shoot you and bury you in the backyard and it
won’t affect me one bit.
Because of my beagle and how dad handled it earlier,
and what he said to me after, when I was a grown man and dad was dying, I
refused to go anywhere with him. I didn’t want to be anywhere near, never mind
alone with him due to his cold ways.
The sad part is the dog was gone and I lived with nightmares or this drowning and fear for my whole life as long as this man was around.
Macattack56's Blog 