Back Stop Blue

       Blue was running flat out, legs pumping, tongue flapping, his nose delighting in the myriad smells he was charging through. His human, Willy, had said, “Go run!” and that’s what he was doing. As he ran, his muscles loosened and he picked up speed, making a huge circle in the large park he and Willy often walked to. He passed a jumbled rock formation and sped under a canopy of trees, scattering pigeons into erratic flight. He wheeled onto the baseball field, now empty after the little league games had finished and was about to race through the infield when he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. He slowed, panting, to look toward home plate, where he saw to his delight, a young boy standing there, wide eyed, watching him speed through the park. Blue loved children, loved to play with them, loved being around them and they loved him because he was such a ham. He cast a glance at Willy, who stood up from the bench he was sitting on and started towards where Blue was now standing still. He saw Willy’s hand flash a signal to him, a signal that meant stay, so he continued to sit.

       Willy had noticed the boy staring at Blue as he ran big circles in the park with the pure joy of life spurring him on. The boy looked to be about eight or nine years old, dressed in a clean but worn striped shirt and jeans that were thin and shiny at the knees from use. He had a baseball in his hand but no glove or bat.

       Willy walked toward Blue, a leash dangling from one hand and smiled at the boy, who took a step back from the backstop, eyes still wide. That’s when Blue picked up a peculiar scent, and confused, he looked to Willy, not totally understanding why the boy should be afraid. He smelled fear on the boy and knew he should go lick his face, but Willy said stay, so he sat.

      “Danny!” The voice came from behind the boy and he turned to look at the black haired woman calling him.

       “Danny, what are you doing?” she said, eyeing Blue and Willy nervously. She reached out and drew the boy to her side protectively, still looking warily at the big dog and the older man with a leash in his hand.

        “I was just watching that dog run, mom. He’s really fast,” said the boy, pointing at Blue. 

        “Don’t worry ma’am, this dog loves children. He’s no danger to your son. I think he thought your boy wanted to throw the ball for him. He can play fetch all day,” said Willy to the woman. “Go ahead…Danny, is it? Throw your ball and watch him fetch it for you.”

          The boy looked at his mom, who nodded, and then threw the ball towards the outfield. It wasn’t a very good throw, even for a kid and Willy knew right away there was something not quite right with the boy’s throwing arm. Blue didn’t care, though, and after a release from Willy, he raced after the ball so fast, that he tumbled over his own big butt to retrieve it. The woman and the boy both laughed as Blue trotted happily back to drop the slobbery ball at the boy’s feet.

         “See,” said Willy, approaching the boy and the woman slowly, “he likes nothing better than playing out here with the kids.” Blue waited patiently as the boy picked up the ball for another awkward throw.

        “My name is Willy, and that’s Blue,” said Willy, pointing at his canine companion.

        “Blue!” said the woman. “The dog that’s been in all of the papers? That Blue?”

        “That’s the one, but we try to ignore all of that. He just wants to be a dog.”

        “Quite a dog,” said the woman, the tension in her body lessening. “He sure is beautiful.”

        “Don’t say that too loudly; his head is getting bigger than his butt.” The woman laughed again and said, “I’m Mara, Danny’s mom, of course.”

        “Nice to meet you,” said Willy, staying where he was, about six feet from her. He could still sense a reluctance about her and had no need to press the encounter. They both had the air of a frightened deer about them, which was probably what had stopped Blue in the first place. You could put Blue in a room with twenty children and he would go right to the one that had the most need. It was uncanny, his ability to do that, but Willy had seen it time after time. He paused in his thoughts to watch Danny say, “Oh, yuck!” as he took the ball again from where Blue had dropped it. Willy smiled, thinking that Blue was being extra slobbery today. Probably part of his plan to keep the boy fully engaged. Could he be that smart? Blue? Oh, yeah.

       “So Danny likes baseball, eh?”

       “Yes…he does,” replied Mara in a way that left something unsaid. Willy had an idea about that, but kept it to himself.

        “But, he’s not on a team?” asked Willy. Mara looked at him for a few moments before answering, “No, you’ve seen him throw. He had…an accident.” She looked away before continuing. “Besides, we don’t have the extra money anyway. I’m a single mom, I work two jobs and it takes everything I make to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table.”

        She paused, looking at Willy, almost in resignation and sat down on a bench at the side of the field.

       “No help from the dad?” asked Willy quietly. Mara snorted and said, “Yeah, he helped. He helped himself to all of our money and everything we owned. He helped us become homeless for almost a year before I could get Danny and me out of the shelter and finally into an apartment. He helped Danny…become like…he is.”

        Willy sat down on the bench and said, “I’m sorry. It was rude of me to ask that. It’s none of my business, please forgive me.” Inside though, his blood was boiling, enraged that she and her little boy had suffered from that kind of abuse.

        Their attention was momentarily drawn away by a shout from Danny. “Hey! He’s got my shoe!” Blue was in his puppy play stance with one of Danny’s sneakers hanging out of his mouth. He was dancing just out of Danny’s reach as the laughing boy tried to grab his shoe.

        “God, he hasn’t laughed like that since we moved here,” said Mara, smiling.

        “Well, he won’t be laughing when he puts his foot in that shoe.” Mara laughed at that thought. 

         They sat quietly watching Blue and Danny chase each other in circles. Finally, Danny tired and sat down to shake the dirt out of his sock. Blue walked up to the boy and dropped the now slobber coated shoe in his lap.

        “Gross! Blue…that’s…really gross! Uck!” said Danny, sitting in the grass, trying to wipe Blue’s dog slobber from his shoe. Blue responded by licking his face and lying down next to him. Mara and Willy both laughed out loud.

         “Look, Mara…my friends, J.D. and Jenny and I are going to have a little cookout here in the park tomorrow. We’ll have some barbeque, some dogs and burgers, the rest of the fixings and plenty of it.” Blues ears pricked up when he heard Willy say “barbeque.”

         “Why don’t you bring Danny and join us. You can meet some new people and Danny can play with Blue and Jenny’s dogs, too. The owners of the park we live in is coming with their visiting grandkids, also, so there will be other kids for Danny to meet. Should be fun and won’t cost you a thing. And…we’ll have the best damn barbeque around. From Phil’s Pig Out.”

          Blue heard the word “barbeque” again, and couldn’t resist getting up to walk over to Willy and make sure that no pesky barbeque chickens were making trouble. Danny followed, still trying to shake the slobber from his shoe.

       “That’s very nice of you,” said Mara. She pulled Danny to her and tried to help him with his shoe. “I don’t know…” she said hesitantly.

        “Let me sweeten the deal for you,” said Willy smiling. “After the cookout, we have a bunch of free tickets to the Sky Sox game. You and Danny are welcome to join us. They’re a pretty good farm team and fun to watch.” Danny’s eyes got big as he turned to his mom. He didn’t say anything but, the message was clear. Blue stood beside Danny staring up at Mara. She patted his head, asking Willy, “You teach him this, too?” Willy laughed, “No, he just wants to be Danny’s friend.”

        Willy could sense her hesitation and, after a pause he said softly, “Mara…we don’t want anything from you. It’s just a cookout and a baseball game. We’ll be firing up the grill about noon and the game is at four. We’d be happy to have you two join us. Think it over and maybe we’ll see you guys tomorrow.” With that Willy nodded goodbye and walked back the way he had come, with Blue walking beside him. Blue, sniffing their path, kept an eye out for any barbeque chickens looking to cause trouble. He was glad the boy had less of the fear smell on him. He’d just needed someone to play with, and Blue was good at that.

       The grill was almost perfect, the coals raked and ready and J.D. had manned the stack of meats piled high on a platter, ready for fire. Jenny had brought her dogs, Sugar and Spice, who were romping happily in the grass nearby. Blue was laying in the shade, under the picnic table, where Willy stood pulling condiments and salad stuff from the cooler.

        Mike and Terry, the owners of the trailer park where they all lived, had brought their visiting grandchildren, Charlie and Dee, both fourth graders. The kids were setting up some folding lawn chairs while the adults chatted amiably about everything and nothing.

         When Blue raised his head up alertly, Willy turned to see Mara and Danny walking across the field towards them. J.D. noticing them glanced at Willy, who nodded, answering his unasked question. Blue trotted out from under the table to greet them with his big wagging rump, followed by Sugar and Spice, who were mainly interested in chasing each other.

        Willy introduced everybody, with Danny standing shyly by his mother until J.D. handed out popsicles to the kids, who promptly sat under a nearby tree and banded together to fend off Sugar and Spice from licking their frozen treats right out of their hands.

        J.D. proved to be a true grill master and hamburgers, hot dogs and barbeque chicken simply disappeared off of the platter. Mike, who was a retired Air Force pilot, chatted with J.D. about their service experiences while they cleaned the grill. Terry had been a pediatric surgeon and talked privately with Mara about Danny’s arm. From the snippets of conversation that Willy overheard, it seemed that it might be possible to help Danny regain proper movement. The kids and the dogs were in a big group of laughter and confusion with Blue in the middle. Willy continued to pack up the cooler, thinking how amazing Blue was, how he always knew what was needed, especially where children were concerned.

        “This was really nice, Willy. Thank you for inviting us.” Mara had snuck up on him while he was lost in thought. She was standing beside him watching Danny, laughing at play with the dogs, Charlie and Dee.

        “Well, there’s more fun to come. You’re coming with us to the game, right?”

        “That’s all Danny talked about last night, that and Blue,” said Mara still watching her son. “He’s so excited, so happy about something. I haven’t seen that in a long time. Thank you for this.”

         “Hey, thank Blue. It was all his idea.”

         J.D. came up, hauling on the handle of the big cooler. “You guys ready to go? Want to get a good seat for the kids. They might catch a foul ball or something,” he grinned. Danny came up and clutched Mara’s hand, a worried look on his face. She bent down as he whispered in her ear. Straightening up, she caressed his face and said, “He’s worried he won’t be able to catch a ball if it comes his way.”

        “Not without one of these,” said Willy handing Danny a plastic sack. A look of pure joy covered the boys’ face as he pulled a baseball glove from the bag. “Blue found it in the garage last night,” said Willy, grinning at the boys’ delight. J.D. glanced at Willy, knowing of course, they didn’t have garages. The glove was obviously used, but to Danny it could’ve been made of gold.

        “It’s too small for me anymore, so if it’s okay with your mom, you can have it if you want it.”

        Danny jerked his head up to look questioningly at Mara, who smiled at him with a small nod.

       “Thanks Willy!” he shouted and raced off to find Charlie and Dee. Mara was looking at Willy oddly.

        “What? It’s just an old, unused glove, Mara. No big deal. Why don’t Blue and I walk you and Danny back to your apartment so you can get your jackets. It’ll be cool by the end of the game.”

         J.D. said to Willy, “Yeah, then you can call me and let me know where in the complex to pick you guys up at.”

        With that, Danny and Blue started towards the apartments until Mara said, “Danny, you go ahead with Blue and give him some water. Change your shirt, too. We’ll be right behind you.” Danny and Blue rounded the corner and were gone from sight. Willy and Mara talked as they walked, Willy trying to deflect all of her “thank yous”, hoping she would just relax. Willy and Blue felt the same about a lot of things, especially children. When you came across one in need, you help. Simple as that.

        Their talking stopped as they rounded the corner to the sounds of shouting and people crowding around the door of Mara’s apartment. Then they heard Danny yelling, fear in his voice and Mara broke into a run. Willy, trailing Mara, stopped at the bottom of a short flight of stairs to see a shirtless man of medium height, being pushed away from the apartment door by a small, gray-haired woman who was shouting, “You get out of here! Get out of here! I’ve already called the cops! Mara! He’s trying to take Danny and he’s drunk again!” We could hear Danny inside screaming “Mom!” at the top of his lungs. The man was shouting, “He’s my son and I’m taking him with me! Danny! Danny, come with me!” He was obviously intoxicated and was having a hard time getting around the little gray-haired woman, but finally pushed his way into the apartment. Mara was going crazy trying to get through the throng of people crowding around the stairs, watching. Willy followed and just as they reached the top of the stairs, the shirtless man came racing out of the apartment door, a terrified look on his face, as he looked over his shoulder. His drinking had made him unsteady though, and while looking back, he smacked head first into one of the porch supports and knocked himself out. As he fell, he went over the railing and landed in the cactus garden below. “That hurt,” cackled the old woman. Everyone turned from the garden to look at the door of Maras’ apartment. There, just inside the door, still as a rock, stood Blue. He was on full alert, staring at the spot the shirtless man had gone over the railing. He stood in front of Danny, whose tear stained face peered over Blue’s head, looking for his mother. 

        Willy and Mara finally broke through the crowd and went to Danny. Blue’s tail started wagging when he saw Willy and his body relaxed. Willy patted Blue’s head, saying, “Good boy, Blue, good boy.” Mara scooped Danny to her as a police cruiser pulled into the lot. But Blue wasn’t done, and Willy watched curiously as Blue stalked over to the railing. The crowd parted like the Red Sea, as Blue stood looking down at the shirtless man. Everyone watched silently, curiously, waiting for the big dog to do something. Suddenly, Blue lifted his leg and urinated through the railing, down into the garden, with the shirtless man receiving a steady stream of the watery waste. The crowd on the steps started laughing as the officer walked to where the man lay in the small garden. “What the hell happened here?” he said, carefully stepping in the cactus garden. He placed two fingers on the man’s neck, checking for a pulse.

       “He ain’t dead, officer,” said the little gray-haired woman. “He knocked his stupid self out when he smacked into this support column, running from that dog.” She cackled another laugh before adding, “He’s drunk though…probably why he didn’t break his damn fool neck!”

       “What dog?” asked the officer.

       “That one,” pointed the little woman. Blue sat next to Willy, looking calmly through the railing. The officer’s eyes got wide as he stared up at the pair standing on the steps.

       “Hey! That’s…Blue!” exclaimed the officer. His gaze shifted to Willy. “Willy! Didn’t see you there. What’s the story here?”

       “You know that dog?” asked the old woman.

       “Who doesn’t. That dog is famous all over the country, but especially here in Colorado. He’s a damn honorary federal agent. Don’t you read the newspapers?”

       “Hey, John,” said Willy, greeting the cop. “Looks like he was trying to take the kid over there. He’s the father, but the mom has full custody.”

       “He has no right to be here!” said Mara, who had walked up with Danny.

        As the story came out, they learned that Danny’s father had a restraining order, no visitation rights and no custody rights at all. John took all of the information down and statements from the witnesses. He had called the paramedics, who were shaking their heads as they pulled cactus needles from the moaning man’s body. They put him handcuffed in the ambulance, waiting for the officer, who was reassuring Mara that he wouldn’t be bothering her again any time soon.

       “Oh, yeah,” said John, “let’s see; attempted kidnapping, attempted assault, breaking and entering, criminal mischief, public intoxication, violating the restraining order…yeah, he’ll have a nice long vacation. Danny will be grown before he causes any more trouble.”

       “Don’t forget destruction of private property,” said a grinning Willy, pointing at the broken cactus plants.

       “Hell, yeah!” said John, slapping his knee. “We’ll get an order for him to pay for them, too,” said the officer gleefully.

        The crowd dispersed, voicing their concern and support to Mara and Danny and casting admiring glances at Blue. J.D. showed up with the van, followed by Mike, Terry, Jenny, Charlie and Dee. They waited while Mara and Danny got their jackets and made it to the game just in time for the first pitch. Mara and Danny relaxed as the excitement and fun of the game refocused their attention. Blue made friends with the hot dog vendor and Willy agreed to let him sample a real ball park frank. J.D. helped Danny catch a foul ball and the kids, deciding that they still had room left for food, raced off to find the nacho guy. Willy, with Blue’s head on his lap, listened to the sounds of the game and watched the sun slowly drop behind the mountains. He might have dozed off for a few minutes, thinking what a great story Danny would have if he had to do the “What I did on my summer vacation” assignment. 

         Mara looked at the seat next to her. Willy’s head lolled to the side, obviously asleep, with Blue’s head in his lap. She smiled as they both snored softly.

                                                                                 The End