Nothing gave Seneca a sense of 'home' more than working with Kennedy and her rescue dogs on Sundays. This Sunday they were washing a particularly wily, newly acquired greyhound named Freya.
"Seneca, hand me that wire brush, would you?" Kennedy asked without looking away, her old red and grey flannel shirt soaked from holding the skittish dog. Freya had other ideas about where she wanted to be, and none of them included this particular vessel of soap and water.
"How can people be so terrible," she lamented, turning to retrieve the brush.
Kennedy shook her head, working her fingers into the dog's matted fur. "I found her and her friend Frecki in the other room chained to up behind an abandoned grocery store. They didn't have any food or water. Poor babies were half-starved, dehydrated, and the worst of it is these." Kennedy tilted the dog's head to the side exposing deep, dirty scabs that seemed to circle the dog's neck. "From chains that were wound around their necks to keep them tied up. Poor baby, these are definitely infected."
Seneca handed Kennedy the wire brush, then moved to hold the dog so Kennedy could brush the burrs and muck from the dog's short coat. Kennedy took the brush, then wiped a stray lock of grey and brown hair from her face. The rest of her hair was braided into a tight bun.
She smiled her thanks before going back to the dog. "There's that 'always bitch face' Live loves so much," she teased.
Kennedy rolled her eyes. "It's the face God gave me, girl," she said, running the brush gently over the dog's flank.
Seneca shrugged. "Well, I like it."
"That's good, cause I'm stuck with it." Kennedy snorted at herself. "Always bitch-face. Just keeps people on their toes around me." She snorted again.
A few moments of silence, other than the whining of the trembling dog, passed as Kennedy worked and Seneca held the dog and comforted her.
"You know you can always come to me, right? When you have stuff going on, or just to talk." Kennedy frowned at a particularly embedded burr, working it hard with the brush.
"Huh?"
Kennedy snorted. "Like, if you have stuff, with a boyfriend, for example."
She narrowed her eyes, but Kennedy stayed focused on the dog's short fur. "What's Liv told you?"
"Don't be so surprised, you know she calls me at least once a week. But, it wasn't her this time. Chip called me." Kennedy grunted with effort as she raked the brush over some more burrs lodged on the dog's back.
"Wait, what? Chip called you?!" Freya jumped and she immediately regretted her outburst. She shushed soothingly before she continued, scratching behind the dog's ear as she hugged around her neck. The dog trembled. "Shh, you poor girl. Shh. I'm sorry. It's okay, let mama brush those nasty burs from your fur." She addressed Kennedy, softening her voice. "When? How'd he get your number?"
"He called me, more than a few times in the last week, actually. He tricked my number out of Liv. I already made her feel bad about it, and she apologized, like, a lot, and she begged me never to tell you, so you didn't hear it from me."
"What'd he say?"
Kennedy snorted. "What did he say? Can you imagine my surprise that my daughter was getting married and I didn't know about it?"
"I didn't, I mean, no! I'm sorry, I would've told you, but that's not... I'd never marry him, Kennedy! No, no, no!" she insisted, feeling terrible. "He decided that all on his own! I didn't say yes!"
Freya shivered violently in her arms and she forced herself to calm down. "I'm teasing," Kennedy soothed. "About the marriage part. Seriously, he went on and on about that and I instantly knew what happened. But, he sounded... off. Like, I dunno. Just weird."
"Ugh, Kennedy! I couldn't marry that man-baby! He's... god, he's so... I can't breathe, this whole thing. He was just supposed to be fun, and an easy bite!" She hugged her face to the wet, upset dog. Freya trembled, but didn't shy from the affection and she felt an instant kindred with the wet canine.
Kennedy chuckled, placing the wire brush on a bench behind her. She pumped some of the dog shampoo into her hands and then lathered it soothingly over Freya's flank. "I know, I know, and he was just a Norm anyway. But... I dunno. I sorta liked him. He seemed nice. Dumb, but nice. But, god, he's dumb." Seneca narrowed her eyes and Kennedy snorted. "Okay, after all those calls? He's an idiot. Why'd you stick around with him so long?"
"Honestly?" She sighed. "He, tasted good and, ah, has a nice body..."
"Oh, you dog!" Kennedy laughed, full and rich, scaring Freya. Seneca hugged Freya tighter, being mindful of the scabs around the dog's neck, particularly around her throat. She looked into Freya's big, scared eyes and wondered if this was how she looked when Kennedy had rescued her.
"Anyway," she continued as she stood. She moved slowly so she didn't spook the frightened pup as she reached for the shower hose. "Can you turn that water on for me? Thought I had it on already..."
Seneca released the dog once Kennedy held her, then took the nozzle and turned the water on. She tested and adjusted it until it was the perfect temperature, then held it close to Freya's fur, starting just behind her head.
Kennedy held Freya close as Seneca finished the dog's bath. "It's for the best, but he's still sweet on you, like really, really into you. Be careful, Seneca. Something's just not right with him, he was really weird on the phone. Creepy, almost. He's... I don't know. He's not right, so just be careful of him's all I'm saying. He's dumb, and weirdly obsessed. A bad combination."
Seneca kicked the release on the bottom of the tub and the water began to drain. Freya, perhaps sensing her bath was over scrambled against the metal basin and Kennedy struggled to hold her still.
"I know," she agreed as Freya tried to slip from Kennedy's arms, then reared back, almost headbutting her. Seneca handed her mother a large, well-worn towel. "Shh, pup. Calm down." She sighed. "He's been following me this week. He was waiting for me in the lobby at work the other day." She reached out again to hold the dog, then grunted as the dog pushed hard against her, almost knocking her down. "I hadta sneak out the back."
"Oh my," Kennedy muttered as she wrapped the dog in the towel, pressing the water from her body. "You can let her go now."
As she did Kennedy picked the shivering dog up and placed her on the tile. Freya fled to the sound of claws on tile, and Seneca instinctively moved to catch her. "Freya!"
"No, no, let her go. She's going back to Freki is all. They're all they have, those two. Gonna be a lot of work getting them comfortable around people again. Shame, they're both such sweet souls." She flinched when she heard the distinctive sound of the dog shaking water from her fur and knew there would be some additional clean up.
Neither of them said anything for a moment as they stared off in the direction the scared greyhound had fled. Then Kennedy handed her a dry towel. "Ready for Freki?"
Seneca nodded, then followed behind her mother. Freya was dancing around Freki's kennel. She looked up, then skittered to her own kennel when they entered the room. Freki growled low in his belly as Freya danced nervously, whining from her kennel next to his. Seneca could see he was bigger than the female dog, wider in the chest and hips, but still way too skinny.
His aggression didn't bother Kennedy. She unlocked the kennel and slowly backed away. Freya rushed out of her kennel and into Freki's, frantically licking his face and ruff. The action pushed Freki out of the kennel and she followed him, licking and nuzzling him with the energy of a toddler. He rubbed his head against hers before he returned his glare to Kennedy, hackles raised.
"Come on, baby," she soothed, kneeling down a good ten feet from his kennel. She held out one gentle hand palm down, and spoke softly to coax him forward. "See how much better your sister feels? Come here, baby, and we'll get you cleaned up. You'll feel better, little pup." She stayed still, watching carefully for signs of aggression.
He growled louder, a low, menacing sound, his tail between his legs. Freya danced around him, rubbing her muzzle against his flank. When he began shaking Seneca knew they wouldn't be washing him just yet.
Kennedy confirmed this with a sigh. "Let's let him get calmed down before we try. Freya being gone made him skittish, and I don't want him biting you. No good, what vampire blood does to scared dogs." She turned slowly without turning her back to Freki. "Why don't we wash up and have some tea while he calms down?"
Ten minutes later they dry and mostly cleaned up, sitting at the well-used kitchen table with two steaming mugs of black tea. Kennedy didn't appreciate loose leaf tea in the same way that Seneca did, she stuck to traditional tea bags from the grocery store. The warm mug was comforting, but it was too hot to drink just yet.
"So, Chip aside, Liv tells me you might have a new dark horse in the running?" Kennedy smirked.
"OMJesus, Kennedy! She's such a big-mouth!" She bit the inside of her lip, debating how to tell Kennedy about Godwin.
Kennedy chuckled. "She loves me, so of course she tells me. But, it's all good right? You've found someone new? Someone you like enough to leave behind nice abs and a decent bite?"
"Ah, yeah, I guess... maybe..." she replied, hesitating. "I mean, the whole marriage thing didn't help Chip's case, but it had been over long before that. I'm just lazy."
Kennedy leaned back, relaxing in her chair, calmness and patience radiating from her. The ability to be so calm and collected was one of Kennedy's gifts, and why she was so good at rescuing animals. "Does he have a name?" she asked, picking up her tea and blowing across the top of the steaming cup. "Your dark horse?"
"Godwin," she admitted, staring into the depths of her mug.
"Just Godwin?" Kennedy asked. "No last name?"
Seneca blushed. "He has a last name. I, we just aren't that... we haven't been together that long. I'm sorry, Kennedy. I wasn't trying to keep secrets or anything, I, ah, just wanted to test the water first."
"I'm not upset." Kennedy shrugged it off. "I was just wondering. Liv thinks you're really into this one, this Godwin No-last-name." Kennedy spoke softly and avoided eye contact as she sipped carefully at her too-hot tea. Seneca recognized Kennedy's body language, she was treating her like she treated scared dogs. She wondered how often her mother had to handle her like a skittish pup.
Probably a lot. She flushed, then picked up her mug to have something to do with her hands. The warmth reminded her of Godwin and her fingers drifted to his collar. "I guess I might be..." she admitted.
"That's from him? That necklace?" Kennedy asked.
Seneca blushed harder, forcing her hand back to her mug. "Um, yeah," she confessed.
