A Corgi from Nancy

"I swear, this world is out to get me!" groaned Pamela as she hoisted herself out of her car in front of her house.

The credit control office where she worked had sent everyone home to continue their work due to a 'terrible plumbing disaster' caused by her coworker James blocking the one shared toilet all 40 workers in the building used. James was not confronted by the managers about it, but they all knew it was him. The office smelled disgusting so they were all sent home.

On the way home, she had been pulled over by a young policeman for speeding and fined $60. She had tried flashing her eyes, playing coy and insisting that she had not noticed the speed dial because she had new contacts in that blurred her eyes and she was heading home to get better ones.

"Get really close and have a look if you want," she cooed, swishing her hair.

But at 46, she had lost that weapon in her artillery.

Cursing James's name and fantasising about all the different ways she would like to harm him... and her neighbour 2 doors down playing his trumpet which would surely distract her work. Better keep the windows shut. Pamela fumbled for her keys, opened her door, and was greeted by an odour that almost matched the one in the office. There, on her faded beige carpet, was the source of the smell.

With a roar of rage, she stomped through the hallway into her bedroom. There, cowered by her desk with a look of terror in its small canine eyes, was the culprit.

Pamela pointed one tubby finger in the little dog's face, "You absolute little BEAST! I don't care what Nancy says, you are GONE! FINISHED! FILTHY, FILTHY, FILTHY!"

Nancy was Pamela's recently widowed daughter-in-law. She was very wary of her mother in law, they did not have a good relationship, and in an effort to reach out and show love on Pamela's birthday the previous week, she had bought her a corgi puppy to keep her company. Pamela hated him on sight. Partly due to her late husband had had a dog that he loved and it reminded her of him, and the other part was she was on her own, miserable, enjoyed wallowing in it, and wanted to be left alone by everyone, most of all her doe eyed, whimsical daughter in law. There weren't even any grandchildren involved. Ben, her only child, had died of cancer 6 months after he married Nancy. The same cancer that had taken the life of his father, Nathaniel, 8 years earlier. One would have thought Pamela would understand and sympathise with Nancy, but all that she said about it was, "My husband died of cancer and I got over it. You will too. Please don't call me for anything, I just want to be left alone now, understand?"

The last person in the world she cared about was gone, she decided she had no more love to give. She got a new job at a credit control office on the outskirts of town, she enjoyed calling people up to tell them they needed to pay up or that they were being evicted. It made her feel powerful. Somehow justified. Life had ruined her, why not be a part of helping it ruin others?

The mess now cleaned up, Pamela plonked herself down on her chair and opened her tattered handbag to pull out the list of spreadsheets and phone numbers detailing her work for the next 3 hours. If only that trumpet would stop.

Jenny Simmons. This one would be good. The single alcoholic mother of 2 was being given her last chance to pay $2,340 towards rent for her house or face eviction. There was no way the payment would be met. Pamela chuckled as she dialed the number.

“Hello, is this Miss Simmons? Hi, this is Pamela, calling fro- OUCH!”

The pathetic little fleabag had leapt onto her lap, digging its small claws into her legs.

“Hold up, just a second.”

Pamela escorted the puppy outside on a leash she had made from a clothesline. She tied him, or was it a her? She didn’t care, outside her front door. With any luck, some snot nosed child might come along and take it home. She remembered how much her own Ben had loved puppies when he was younger and had begged her to let him have one of his friends’ Labrador puppies. She had said no. At that moment, she wished she had said yes. She wished she had said yes to many of the other things he had asked for as a child, and even as an adult, but she had not wanted to be bothered or put out of her comfort zone in any way. Now that he was gone, there was no way to change things.

After another half hour, there was a furious knocking on her front door. She quickly wrapped up the call and made her way down the hallway. This had better not be some insurance salesman or some sort of young religious enthusiast from Utah again.

The opened door revealed a wiry, cross looking young man clad in branded tracksuit gear with a shaved head. She recognised him as Nikita, her neighbour 2 doors down from somewhere like Belarus. The one who played the trumpet at all hours of the day, irritating the whole neighbourhood. She met his glare and determined that whatever it was, she was going to stand her ground.

“And what,” she said trying to sound as bored and condescending as she could, “can I do for you?”

“This,” he said pointing at the corgi, “this leetle dog has made a pee on my car. He has made my house door of the poo.” (though he used a stronger word) “Is he yours?”

“No, he is my daughter in law’s. He shan’t be staying around long.”

Nikita, wanting to just stick to his agenda, “Can you please put him inside. I don’t want him out here. He make mess. Can you see that is just wrong?”

“I don’t know. You are right, he is a nuisance, but at least he doesn’t make loud noise at 11:00 at night and all other hours of the day, unlike other people I could mention. You never know, he might actually like trumpet music. Don’t you think it nice that your 1 potential fan can enjoy it right in front of your door where the racket is being made? Maybe the mess is his way of saying thank you. I for one don’t see any difference between the mess he has made on your property and the mess you make in our ears 24/7.”

The look on his face showed her rebuke had struck home. Beforehand, he had told all the neighbours that he did not care what they thought, why should he? Now that he was faced with someone compromising his standards of decency and neighbourly respect, he found he didn’t really have a leg to stand on.

“OK, we make deal. You take leetle dog inside and I don’t play trumpet for more than 2 hours a day?”

“Those 2 hours would have to be in the afternoon.”

“Deal.”

Well, that was one positive thing that had come from this puppy. She was now a neighbourhood hero, provided Nikita kept to his side of the bargain. She couldn’t help smiling as she led him into her kitchen/living room and shut the door. It was tiled floor, so whatever he did, she could clean it easily. He may have helped her get her way with Nikita, but he was still going back to Nancy. She was not doing a dog. She was not doing Nancy thinking she could weasel her way back into her life with a gift.

She sat back down to work and noticed that she had a text. It was from Nancy. It read,

“Hi Pam, I hope you are enjoying Winston...

Since when had they come up with a name? Must be in the birthday card she never opened that still sat on her table. Silly girl, Winston was a name for a BULLDOG, not a corgi.

“... I feel really bad having to bother you like this, I know what your feelings are about me and I respect that. But I had a favour I needed to ask, I am desperate. Something came up yesterday that I really need help with. Could you please call me? You are the closest thing I have to a parent....

Nancy’s parents had died 3 years ago. She was probably after some sort of dating advice. Or money. That was a classic one. A bit of money to buy some new clothes of the sort a desperate woman goes out in to seduce a new husband. Maybe some wine as well.

“...please.”

Pamela groaned. She had to call her about ‘Winston’, and sort all that out, this extra complication was not expected. Maybe later. She had to get cracking with her work, she had been given a few extra people to call that her colleague Diane usually dealt with. Diane was on holiday in Ibiza.

A couple hours later, she had 2 more to go when there was an almighty crash from the other room. Pamela hurried in to find her chest of Ben’s belongings having been knocked off the table in the corner, papers, books, and toys sprayed everywhere. Winston was scolded and put in the bathroom. Pamela started to clean up the mess. The first thing she picked up was a little note Ben had written her when he was 6. It was written in very messy orange crayon.

“Dear Mommy,

I luv u I luv wen u make mi cookes wen u reed mi stores and wen u giv mi hugs I luv daddy two I luv wen we ???? as a family.”

Underneath was a stick men drawing of her, Nathaniel recognisable by his beard, and Ben. So small. Holding both of their hands with a big smile on his face. Pamela swallowed and picked up the next note. The handwriting and punctuation was much better on this one. It was a Mother’s Day note.

“Dear Mom,

I want to tell you Happy Mother’s Day, and that I love you. Thank you for all that you do for me. No matter where I am, I want you to know that I will always love you and that that will last forever.

Love,

Ben.”

“Oh I love you too,” she tried not to sob.

The next one was a thank you note, probably written when he was 8, expressing the sheer glee and excitement at her buying him a toy pedal power tractor. It was hard to read because the note was plastered with loads of little smiley faces, scribbled out quickly and rather messy due to his excitement as he wrote it. Her earlier regrets of not getting him more things was eased a little bit. She remembered other things she had said yes to, trips to the pool, Batman pyjamas, sleepovers, etc. She wished he were still here now so she could do more.

Trying to snap out of it because she still had work to do, she started picking up faster. Other sweet notes filled with adoration, drawings. He definitely had Nathaniel’s artistic capability. She gasped slightly as she saw a picture of him, fairly recently taken, sticking out from underneath a drawing of a robot. It was his wedding announcement photo. Oh how happy he looked! He had his arms tightly around Nancy, both of them with shining faces that said that they had found the love and bliss they had always wanted. That the well-being of the other was the most important thing to them. That is when it hit Pamela.

“What have I done?” she grovelled, bursting into tears. They would always love each other forever, no matter what. Wherever he was right now, he was still keeping his promise to her that he would love her still. What was she doing for him? Shunning the person who meant the most to him, right when she needed help and comfort.

In a sort of effort to begin washing her hands of her previous attitude, Pamela reached for the unopened birthday card and slit the envelope open. The card was pink and had two teddy bears hugging on the front of it.

“Dear Pam,

Happy Birthday!

I really hope you enjoy Winston! I thought a new friend would brighten your days. I know that you may not wish to see me anymore, but before he died, Ben asked me to do everything in my power to cheer you up and comfort you when he was gone. Since you don’t wish me to be there, I thought a companion to hug and love might help. He is so cute and fluffy...”

Pamela tried to suppress the thought, “Fluffy is what your brain is.” She would try to work with Nancy. She would try to overlook her little girlish ways.

The card finished with more sentimental stuff and Pamela decided that she would get back to work then call Nancy to find out what she wanted. Her next one was an eviction that Diane had been supposed to deal with. Pamela froze when she saw the name.

Nancy Oxbridge.

It had to be another Nancy Oxbridge, no, that was the address and phone number. She was going to have to talk to her sooner than she thought. The record showed that the eviction was a snap decision made by the housing company. Nancy had no idea what was coming. Pamela had no idea what Nancy did for a job, but whatever it was, it was not paying her rent. She dialed the number, her heart beating very fast. All of a sudden her job made her feel sick inside. Why had she chosen it anyway? The call was answered with a soft warbling voice.

“Hello?”

“Hello, this is Pamela-”

“Oh hi! Did you get my text message? I really needed to speak to you. Thank you so much for calling, I-”

“I am calling about your outstanding rent. Your landlord and we have decided that your debt has grown too high and we are now evicting you. Bailiffs will be sent around tomorrow to ensure you are packing and to seize anything you own that may pay some of your debt off.”

There was an anguished moan from the other end. The sound of a broken woman who had been dealt one too many blows by life. There was a rhythmic thudding, probably her banging her head on her desk.

“And I also wanted to tell you that tomorrow, I am coming around in my car, picking you and your belongings up, and you are coming to live with me for as long as you want. I also want to apologise for the way I have shunned you. We are both grieving for the loss of a man who meant the world to us. And we are family, we need to stick together.”

“Do- do you really mean it?”

“Yes, I mean it. Do you think I would waste my time saying it if I didn’t?”

More sobbing, this time tears of relief.

“Oh thank you! Thank you. This means so much to me. I don’t know what to say. Thank you! You see, I wanted to speak to you to ask-”

“For money, no doubt.”

“Yes, to-”

“To pay for your rent, well no need now, I am not rich and you are just better off coming here.”

“I am so grateful for that, but no, but yes, it was money, but only a little bit. You see, I found out yesterday that I am pregnant and can not afford baby clothes and supplies for when he or she is born. You are going to be a grandmother.”

Now both women were crying tears of joy. Ben had left a comfort behind, a grandbaby. And perhaps a daughter as well. If Ben loved her so much, Pamela was determined to find out why and love her too.

More words of love were shared, arrangements made. Pamela lost track of time as she really got to know her daughter. She discovered that they had a lot in common and that for her ways, Nancy was quite a deep, well reasoning person. They parted with the words, “I love you.” and “Looking forward to tomorrow.”

Pamela sat back in her chair and noticed it was dark outside. That is when the trumpet music started again. Nikita had broken his side of the bargain. Well, Winston was here to stay a lot longer than expected. He probably really liked sitting outside where he could watch all the people going by and feel the breeze in his fur. She smiled.

She found Winston curled up on one of her mauve jumpers at the foot of her bed. He looked so tiny and vulnerable. She scooped him up, kicked off her shoes, and laid down in her bed with him nestled between her arms. He seemed to like the warmth and snuggled closer with a sigh of bliss. He stunk a little bit but Pamela was not worried about that anymore.

Both woman and dog slept soundly with dreams about elephants playing blues and jazz.