A DOG'S TALE

is it possible to be jealous of a dog? . . . u bet it is . . . David had a single condition before he agreed to leave the SRO hotel where he was staying and move in with me: that he be allowed to retrieve Smokey, a mostly labrador mixed breed he had left behind in Newton Falls with his parents . . . i love dogs as much as the next guy, but the two of us and a big dog in a Manhattan studio? . . . not practical, i argued, an argument that carried absolutely no weight with David whose stubbornness inevitably trumped my rational objections throughout our relationship . . . when he brought her back, i can't say she impressed me much . . . and when he called out to her, lengthening the "o" in Smoooooooooookey, i cringed in embarrassment . . . i loved New York City for its sophistication and here i was strolling through Riverside Park with some midwestern hick sporting a bad haircut who had named his mutt after some goody two-shoes bear . . . worse yet, the two of them seemed to cuddle more than we did . . . u would fuck her if u could, i said when i was feeling neglected . . . u don't understand our bondDavid explained, always patiently . . . i first saw Smokey tied up in the snow on my way to work . . . i said to myself if she's there on my way home i'm taking her . . . and i did . . . David's past fascinated me . . . he had moved to Denver to get away from his family after the older brother he idolized had hung himself . . . he occassionally sold his body at the bus station to get food for him and Smokey (meanwhile i was studying for tests or writing papers that explained the difference between philosophers who had been dead for centuries in a contemporary civilization class) . . . Smokey predated me in David's affections and she didn't give him nearly as much attitude . . . plus i couldn't deny she had a far sweeter disposition than either of my childhood pets . . . David's erratic schedule meant that i had to walk and feed her more and more . . . she also served another critical function in our relationship, one which David took advantage of long before i ever did.