On the way back to the living room, I was livid. This resistance, this talking back!! It wouldn't do. I owned him, now, and everything around him. I wanted a clean, uncluttered space to work in, and I knew how to make it so. I spoke Bobby's "language", and knew what to do to set things right.
I'd more or less broken him on several occasions - turned him into a, beseeching, subhuman, blubbering pile of waste. But, it seemed now, it was to be an ongoing project. I was not in a hurry. Like a professional painter, I had a vision of what I wanted to create, and would take the time, the necessary steps, to realize it.
I took my chair, leaving Bobby on all fours before me, his leash dangling. I could tell that he sensed something serious was going to take place. He didn't move even a fraction of an inch, and he kept his face down.
The Mrs Rafferty episode was foremost on my mind. Just when I was beginning to think that this moron was getting the hang of being my dog, he retches up an unsavory slurry of sniveling and begging. To me, it was a grave failure. On my part, too, I suppose. But that was a matter for my own private reflection. Here, in the living room, we would focus on Bobby's shortcomings.
For certain, the "Mrs Rafferty challenge" was a new mark for Bobby to strive for. The woman knew so many people we knew; our schoolmates, their parents and families. Word would almost certainly spread; the strange relationship spoken of furtively, in low tones.
There had been previous tests that Bobby had passed satisfactorily. I once instructed him to kiss the feet of an old man while riding on a bus. Bobby got down on his knees before the geezer and got in one soft kiss on the well-shined shoe before the man shot up from his seat, alarmed and cussing like a sailor. There had been a sizable audience, too. I'm not sure how many saw what exactly had taken place, but the sideways glances and whisperings convinced me that at least those nearby did. I insisted that we ride to the end of the line so that I could relish their reaction.
So, his balking at the latest task showed me that more work was needed.
"You are one sad sack of shit, you know that?" I said.
"What made you think that you had anything at all to say?" I continued, rising from my seat.
"Ma'am, I..."
"Who the fuck told you you could talk, you spineless, ridiculous loser!?" My vehemence causing spittle to fly from my mouth onto his back.
Bobby stayed stock still.
"Get up onto your knees, loser boy."