THE DOGS

CW: Contains themes of human trafficking and violence.

As we walked by, I noticed an old man inside. “Probably the guard”, I thought.

In small places like ours, it is usual for an old man, especially for a retiree, to work as a guard in a building with offices. Retirees work not as to earn money, but rather to ignite a feeling of being useful for something in the community. I guess, even a lifetime spent working might not be enough for a man to feel complete so they keep searching for a purpose until the last breath is wasted. It went through my mind that the man inside probably seeks for some meaning in this meaningless surface named “world”. “Don`t we all?”I asked myself walking near the glass door which was the main object for his focus.

I walked slowly, having a gentle smile which was born from philosophical thoughts - my eternal companions. Not having passed the door yet, a loud scream forced me to leave my mind and come back to the present moment.

Now I was standing right in front of the glass door of the high, old but well preserved, simple dark brown building. This was the only high building at the end of the most famous pedestrian street in our town. It was dark because of the lonely black lamppost left there in front of the only building. Both, sharing the same destiny, to be the only witness of a once better plan for progress at this place.

It was late at night and I turned around. Not a living soul, nor a body near us. Only the high building, the lamppost and the empty street in front of us. Surrounded by a dozen scary and big assumably stray dogs. Not only them, but their angry growling was also making her even more afraid and nervous. She closed her little blue eyes, started crying silently and squeezed my hand so tightly like she was trying to transfer herself under my skin. “Shh, be calm and don’t worry. You are safe with me.” I wiped her tears gently with my left hand and took out my phone from the left pocket of my black tracksuit bottoms. The dogs started slowly approaching us when the glass door behind us opened.

“Quickly, get inside!” - The old man was standing at the door and invited us there with a concerned voice.

We were only three footsteps apart from the open door, but we moved with a super slow and calm pace. We took three steps backwards and the door closed, preventing the dogs from planting fear in her thin, 8-year-old, now shivering body. The man went 2 metres away, behind the reception in the other end of the square hall and brought us a small plastic bottle with water.

“Thank you, sir” - I said when I took the bottle and gave it to her. - “I know that you are supposed to keep the door closed. We don’t want to get you into trouble.”

“Oh, please, don’t worry. I may be old, but I still know when I have to do something. Please, come and sit.” - He smiled and showed us with his hand to follow him to the reception.

She looked at me with her sad eyes and then turned around and looked at the black car that parked in front of the door of the building.

“Oh, thank you so much. But that is my husband outside, he was on his way to pick us up. We will go now.” - I refused the invitation politely.

“I am glad you are safe. Do you need me to walk you to the car?” - He asked with a strange voice.

It sounded more like a line said automatically from some machine, rather than words coming out from the mouth of a man who is glad that we are safe. I attributed that strangeness to the loneliness he must feel spending the nights in a hall of an old building in a small town. This might have been the most interesting situation that he has come upon while covering the nights with boredom. We stepped outside and before the door closed, I turned around one more time:

“Ah, sir, excuse me! I didn’t catch your name. I want to pray for you and your family because you saved us. Those dogs could tear us apart.”

“Oh, it’s. . . Tom. . .Tom Robinson.” - He replied with a bit of confusion in his voice.

“Thank you Tom. God bless you! The dogs are not here anymore, but please, be careful when you go home.” - I warned him, waved with my hand and went into the car when he said bye too.

When we left the scene, he asked me in the car “What was all this about?”. I told him about the dogs and about the guard, Tom. Nothing much happens in places like our town so I must say, it was an unusual night, indeed.

The next day was pretty much ordinary. I got up early. To be sincere, the dream was not even an option for me. Despite the dream refusing to come into my bedroom, I felt an urge to work as I haven’t felt for a long time. I spent not only the day, but also half of the night working. There were loads of things that had to be done before I left the office and went straight to bed. It turned out that exhaustion can defeat even me, a 36-year-old woman. The next day bore resemblance with the day before, only the night made a difference.

I went to a musical concert as I do every 2 or 3 days. Needless to say, this was a small town. But, no matter whether it was raining cats and dogs or the sun was burning the ground, people had to make difficult decisions about which of the many cultural events would colour their souls. That was the main reason that I fell in love with this place and why I decided to stay here, probably for the rest of my life.

As I was still enjoying the musical pieces wandering in my mind when I was walking back home, I stopped in front of the old building, again. It was like going back in time when I stepped in front of the glass door. The same dogs surrounded me, growling, again. Tom opened the door and came to the rescue, again. I went inside, again. This time, I was alone. Tom offered me a chair and a bottle of water.

“Wow, this was a close one Tom. It seems like those dogs don’t like me at all. I might not be as good as I think I am. They say that dogs usually can sense bad people. They didn’t growl at you, so I guess I am safe here.”

Tom smiled, asked me if I was okay and sat on a chair next to me in the hall. There were three comfortable chairs tonight.

“Can I call anyone to pick you up so you wouldn’t have any other scary encounters tonight?”

“You are so thoughtful Tom. Thank you. But, I will have to go alone. . . “

“What about your husband? He picked you up the other night.” - Tom asked curiously.

“Oh, I wouldn’t call him. He will soon be my ex husband. . .”

“Sorry to hear that. I didn’t mean to be nosy.” - Tom said.

“Don’t worry. It is better this way. It was a mistake from the beginning. I am not from here. We met in my country. It wasn’t the best time there either. There were some conflicts, political issues, and poverty. He told me about this place and it sounded magical. I fell in love with his stories and I guess, not with him. I came here, we married and then we found out we are not for each other. . . Nevertheless, I don’t want to bother you Tom, I will go. I am sure you don’t want to hear my life story.” - I stood and took my bag.

“Oh, no, please. I am nothing but an old man and would love to hear more about you. Please stay. Unless you have a family, maybe your parents or friends waiting for you.” - Tom insisted.

“Nobody really. My parents died when I was young and I grew up in an orphanage. I married very young and will be divorced while still young. I am an introverted person, not so much a people person so I didn’t quite make some friends here. I work online from home. I was thinking of getting a dog, but I guess it wouldn’t turn out well. I almost got eaten by dogs, twice. If it wasn’t for you Tom, I am not sure what would have happened. Not like anybody would miss me, but still. . . “

“Oh, don’t be so harsh on yourself. Those dogs do that on everyone who walks here, trust me. I have seen even more terrible situations. You are not the only one who came in.” - Tom tried to comfort me.

“That is strange. I wonder why I haven’t noticed them before. Somebody would have reported this somewhere by now. . . When did these dogs come here, have you noticed?” - I asked him.

“Oh, I am not sure that I can tell that. . .” - Tom replied.

“Maybe you haven’t been working here long. How long have you worked here? I thought that this building was closed a long time ago because of the high rent. It used to be so vivid with various offices. When the rent went very high, people left the building as a protest and found more affordable office spaces in the area that is now called the Business center.”

“That is true. But recently some people came and one office on the fifth floor is rented now. Maybe they got it at a lower cost because it is on the last floor. That is why they called me as a guard. Actually, you know what? One young man is still working. He usually goes home at this time. He seems very nice and he is probably your age. I am sure he wouldn’t mind taking you home. I can ask him if you want.”

“Ah, I am not sure whether that is a good idea Tom. I told you, I am a shy person and I wouldn’t want to bother someone. . .”

Despite my hesitation, Tom convinced me that it was not a big deal and called in the office on the last floor.

“Good evening sir. This is Tom, the guard. I am sorry to bother you, but I wanted to check whether you are still upstairs as I noticed that the light is still on.” - Tom talked with the man.

After they finished the call, Tom told me that the man was about to leave and that he wouldn’t mind taking me home. He would be pleased to help a young lady in trouble. Too good to be true, you would think. He came down the stairs and his green eyes and smiling full lips enlightened the hall. The darkness would envy his black and short hair. I stood up and thanked him for doing me this favour. I waved at Tom who seemed like he found his purpose in life, finally.

We went into the underground parking lot and there was only one black, large car without registration plates. He noticed that I saw the empty spaces for plates.

“I just bought the car today. I am so glad that it will be useful from day one. They brought me the car here, but I was working all day and wasn’t able to take care of the documentation so I will do that in the morning. Please, ladies first.” - He opened the door for me.

I told him the address and he started driving. We didn’t have the chance to talk much when he turned right and I told him that it was the wrong direction.

“I am sorry, but I only need to take something first. The people are waiting for me and they might leave. I hope that it is not a problem. If you want, I can take you home first and then try to get there before they leave. . . I didn’t bring my phone to call them, can I borrow yours?”

“Oh, I didn’t bring mine either today. I was at a concert and I don’t take my phone at concerts, sorry. But, please, go to see those people first, I don’t mind.” - And, I really didn’t mind that.

We went high in the mountain near the city and then he drove through some uncharted road. He kept turning his head to check on me with a smile. I was completely calm and waiting to see where we would stop.

The car stopped on the uncharted path in front of another similar car. It was deep in the mountain among many high trees and surrounded by the breath of darkness. He left the lights of the car on and asked me to wait for a minute. I could only see 3 other men standing in front of the other car. They all smiled. I also saw Tom and he threw the cigarette when they shaked their hands. They looked in my direction and two of them came to me and opened the door.

“Hi. Wouldn’t you come out with us? It is not very polite to stay here and not introduce yourself, you know? Trust me, we don’t bite.”

“I trust you all right. I was planning to come out, I was just being polite. . . Waiting for my friends as well.” - I got out of the car and put handcuffs on the man who opened my door.

My colleagues were here and took the rest of them. In a second, the mountain was full of lights and sounds, our favourites - the police sirens of our cars. We put them in the police van.

“Hey boys, why the bad spirit? Aren’t you enjoying the party? Who is being impolite now? I knew that you wouldn't bite. Not all dogs bite. Hey Tom, I think that you might want to call in sick tomorrow, don’t you agree?” - I smiled at them.

“You played us? How. . .?” - Tom asked, completely confused.

“I am great at what I do. I follow the news and I have many international friends, Tom. Don’t tell me that you still think what I told you today is true. We got the news about the human trafficking group named “The Dogs”. It was about a month ago. I kept my eyes wide open and this is a small town as I already mentioned. I already know everyone. That is your first mistake. You chose my town and my job is to keep the streets clean from harmful dogs like you. It wasn’t long ago when I noticed a light in that old building. I checked and nobody was registered there. It was still just a closed, old building waiting for better days, which is not something that you would all see. We were watching you for a few days and we saw the dogs coming from the underground parking at night. You were getting ready for your first catch so I just wanted to be the perfect woman for you. Aren’t I, boys? So I came with that little girl just to test everything. We had already searched the place and put cameras and mics everywhere. Even the plastic bottles had locators and we knew your moves.” - I explained.

“You bitch!” - Shouted the man who was driving me.

“You are not so nice now sweetie, aren’t you? Don’t you worry. You can choose to be a bitch where you are going now. It might even suit you better. You look nothing like a dog. And it wasn’t such a good idea to use dozens of dogs of the same breed, was it? I am sure that those dogs will be better without you. We will take care of them, boys.”

“I will take care of you when I get out bitch!” - Tom shouted furiously.

“I wouldn’t count on that, Tom. You are not so clever. Don’t you get it? You will never get out. You dogs will stay in cages, forever. You fell into the trap. You searched for me, found everything that we put online to confirm my story and make me a perfect prey for you. You chose to chase me like a stupid dog that runs where a clever cat leads it. I guess, it was not such an easy decision after all. But it was an easy decision for me, for a change. I am known as the “philosopher” among my colleagues in the station. I guess, bumping into me, it’s your bad luck or “maler” as we call it here.

You chose the right town for dogs as it is true that stray dogs are allowed to roam freely. But my job is to make sure that they will not be the only creatures left living here, we need the people too. I will not let anyone take my people away.

Have a great time rotting in jail, dogs. Woof you go!”