Fourteenth Lovely

I had never been inside a veterinary's office before. I mean, I used to drive Kutu and her occasional foster pets here, but I never went past the waiting room. This time, I stepped up and went to the front office myself. It was a chubby lady with fair loose skin and a golden blonde updo, Mrs. Bundt. She recognized me immediately and asked after Kutu. And why it'd taken me so long to return. I gave her a small nod and quickly said Kutu was no longer with us and said nothing else. Mrs. Bundt caught on and her jovial smile dropped. She continued to sign us in in silence.
Speaking to the vet himself, was so difficult. The clearest thing I could remember was when the puppy opened his eyes. It was the first time I'd seen any sort of life in him. Everything else, I took extensive notes on as the doctor spoke--I could sense myself zoning out. In short, he just explained to me all the ways the little guy nearly died in the past few days, how he could die in the next few days and the little things I could do to prevent his death until a permanent home was found. We were only temporary. As much as Couro hated it, we'd only have him in our arms for four, six weeks max. She cried about it on the way to the car, and if it hadn't been for Gora telling her to keep quiet, I really might've caved. On the drive home, my head buzzed thinking of how we'd take care of a whole puppy for that long. Considering he appeared to be a stray, a lot needed to happen to transition him to a domestic home. So much food, meds, doctor visits--if I wasn't careful I could easily blow off more in two months on the dog than I did on Couro or Gora in the past half-year. I wanted the little guy to live, earnestly, I just wasn't the man to do that job.

"Can we take Dot to the park?" Out of nowhere, Couro piped up as I locked the car door behind her. She expectantly looked up at me.
Lucky for me, Gora took over, "Dot?"
"That's the puppy's name."
"Isn't that a girl's name?" he snickered.
"It's a dog."
"No reason to give him a girl's name."
Couro pouted and turned away from him completely. Looking back up at me, she asked, "Can we go to the dog park?"
"That's a little far--is he well enough for that?" I pursed my lips and glanced back at the dog--Dot. He seemed fine, well, better than earlier. But I really didn't know if he was ready for the park now. "I'll be busy today anyway." I opened the door and let us all inside.
"Aw."
"Ask your brother, he should be free today." Without looking, I could feel the stink eye Gora was giving me. "You're still grounded for what you said about Aidan."
"Still?" he sighed. I nodded, somewhat annoyed he thought I'd let it go. "Really thought I'd get leeway for you calling me gay."
"That's not--"
"I'm not going anyways," he shrugged. "To a dog park? Me? Next, you'll ask me to take her to a hair salon."
"You're grounded. You go where I tell you to."
"I have a reputation to keep up."
"No, you don't."
"Caught me." He mockingly put his hands up and laughed, "I'm just lazy."
"Gora," I stressed out his name, pulling at any authority I had. The kid just leaned back and refused to react.
Then, Couro ran up to him. She started pulling on his sleeve and begging, "Please, Gora. Please."
Suddenly, his poker face wavered. He frowned and muttered, "Shit, I need a job."
"What happened to selling stuff online?" Couro asked, still pulling on his sleeves.
"Got lazy. Gathering, improving, and reselling objects wasn't worth barely breaking even."
I scoffed, "You're lucky to have even made money in the first place." For a second, Gora looked at me, sizing me.
Then he looked up, and popped a small, "True." His eyes fell right on me, and this time they didn't move. "Tell you what, lemme get a real job--like a real one--and I'll be out of your hair for good. I'll buy my own clothes. Pay my own bills. And when we move, I won't have to live with you two anymore."
This conversation again. I hung my head and pinched the bridge of my nose. "You're not moving out next year."
"Yes I am."
"You're not." Rage boiled inside me, and I barely managed to steamroll it into a stern "That's final."
"I am. That's final."
"Don't even take Couro out!" I yelled. My eyes were wide and all I wanted was an ounce of control. "You're not leaving this house for anything but school!" For once, I had Gora speechless, staring at me in uncertainty. I saw his phone gripped in his hand and took the opportunity. I stormed up to him and grabbed it, "And kiss that phone goodbye!"
"Hey!" That was enough to bring back Gora. "That's mine!"
"You don't pay for it! It's not yours!"
"Yet!"
I paused, shaking. I wanted to scream, to throw something, to yell my lungs out. I looked at Gora, his cockiness had melted into something that looked like fear. I gritted my teeth, "Go upstairs."

I hated arguing with Gora like that. I hated it more than anything currently in the world. Kutu would've grilled us both for thinking this kind of "communication," if you can call it that does anything. We never had a best-buddies-forever type of relationship, but we used to be comfortable. We'd have guys' nights, team up against Kutu, and even shared a few hobbies. Gora genuinely wanted to spend time with me sometimes and I always thought I welcomed him with warm arms. There was a time when he'd respect me as a father and not everything turned into a screaming match. A part of me had a few guesses as to why he was like this. Another part of me knew I couldn't do anything. And another part just wanted to get back to Little Rock and leave this damned apartment and its damned memories.
I sunk into the couch, exhausted. A small tug on my pant leg. I lift myself up and see Couro, with the puppy under her arm. "Can we go to the park now?"
Shoot.
I sat up all the way, took her free hand and looked her in the eyes. "I'm sorry, sweetie. Next weekend? Daddy's busy today." Her delicate expression completely fell apart and I nearly cried watching her recollect herself.
"Pinkie promise?" She stuck out her stubby pinkie. I gladly wrapped mine around it.
"Pinkie promise."