When I was a young child, all I ever wanted was a puppy. I was an only child living in a neighborhood without any other children. My parents sucked as far as playing went, so I needed a companion. My parents also sucked as far as tricking my innocent ass. My dad really wanted me to be a sports superstar, baseball in particular. No wonder I hate baseball today. Anyway, to get me motivated to practice, he would resort to bribery. On one particular day, he told me that if I practiced catching, he would give me a "wonderful surprise." I jumped up and down yelling, "Is it a puppy, is it a puppy? Tee hee hee." (I was a little gay back then) Dad was like, "It could be," and winked. "Oh boy, a puppy!!!" I gaily screamed. However, practicing was never good enough to get the surprise, I actually had to complete a difficult task. This task was to catch three "pepper" balls (aka: really hard thrown fast balls) in a row. I was six fucking years old here, mind you and tying my shoes was too complex for me at this point. To say that my hand-eye coordination was awful, would've been a compliment.
He threw the first few and of course, they painfully bounced off of my chest or stomach. Luckily, he didn't aim at my head. Normally, any little discomfort would've made me scream, cry and run away, but I wanted a goddamn puppy. I dealt with the pain. Then, I actually caught one. And another, and finally, I caught three in a row. "Huzzah!" I yelled. "Lets go get my puppy! Skipadee do-dah, poodie doo!" However, the prize was not a puppy. It was a fucking bag of sunflower seeds. "Just like the pro's chew, son," my mean ass father said. I was not very happy with this turn of events. I yelled and screamed, "Gimme my puppy! I want my puppy, now!" To which, he laughed and went inside to share the joke with my mother. I decided to run away, but only made it to the back yard before I had to pee. Again, I was a little bitch and couldn't pee outside.
A few weeks later, Dad wanted me to practice my hitting. But I was still pissed off and didn't want to have anything to do with a damn baseball. Then, my conniving mother got involved. She said, "If you hit a homerun, we'll get you a puppy." "A PUPPY! I wanna puppy, now!" I screamed in my high pitched voice I still have today. I was gullible and innocent, so I did not see the horrible plan at work. They both knew my 35 pound body couldn't hit a fucking homerun if my life depended on it. It was physically impossible. However, trying to do it would improve my hitting and therefore please my father who would then buy my mother things and thus pleasing everyone - except me.
I got up to the plate and after several pop ups to the pitcher, I caught hold of one and hit it over the fence. I screamed like a nun having her first orgasm and skipped around the bases yelling, "Ima gettin' a puppy! I can hit homeruns for puppies!" I ceremoniously stomped on home plate and demanded said puppy. My mother bent down on one knee, put her hand on my shoulder and said, "Oh, honey, you had to hit two homeruns to get a puppy and it's getting too late for you to try another one." My heart broke and my brain exploded. If I knew any curse words, they would've flown. All I could say was, "That's the biggest load of poop I've ever dangin' heard. Darn it to heck!" Then, I cried for a long while. To shut me up, they said I could have a hamster. Joy, a hamster. BUT, if I showed that I could take care of the hamster, then maybe I'd get a puppy. I took the fucking hamster and named him TJ after my favorite police drama at the time.
One day on the way to school, we were driving through the woods and I saw a bag of puppies on the side of the road. I swear to God, I'm not making this up. Some redneck assbag took his dog's puppies and threw them in a sack and dumped them. I pleaded with Mom to stop and save them and then maybe we could even keep one. She said that we were running late, but if they were still there on our way home that afternoon, we could stop and get them. Of course, they weren't. I'm sure she drove back, tied the sack up, and threw it in the lake.
Fortunately for me, my parents divorced soon after that. Together they were formidable at psychological warfare, but separated, they were no match for a spoiled, whiney, guilt tripping son of a bitch like me. A few months after the divorce, I went up to Mom and said, "It's all my fault you got divorced. I shoulda never been born." My mother was horrified and felt terrible. She asked what she could do to prove that I deserved life. I stared up at her with my best Hazel Guiltiness stare and said, "Gimme a puppy. I wanna puppy, NOW!" Checkmate, Ma.
The next day I got a cocker spaniel. I cleverly named him Cinnamon and we had a wonderful time together - until I got bored with him. One day I came home from school and Cinnamon wasn't there to greet me. I searched the house calling his name, but no dog anywhere. My mom got home and I asked where the sam hill Cinnamon was. "Oh, he's visiting some friends for a couple of days. He'll be back soon," she lied. I was dumb and believed her and then a couple of weeks passed. I asked when he was coming home and she said, "He really likes it at his friend's house and wants to stay there. You can visit anytime you want though." "Let's go NOW!" I yelled. "Um, not right now. Maybe later," my mean ass mother said. I did get to visit him once. He lived in the ghetto with a bunch of white trash kids. I hated them and how they loved Judge Wapner. Later on, during high school, I date-raped one of them. "Gimme some pussy. I want some pussy, NOW!" I screamed in my high pitched voice I still have today. Ironically, she became a stripper and her stage name was Cinnamon. We remain close.
Well, Cinnamon was gone, but at least I still had TJ. Although he bit you every time you touched him, he was better than nothing. TJ lived with my father, probably so I'd still go over there. I was a Mamma's boy. Anyway, I went over for the weekend and Dad told me that TJ died. This was just too much. First Cinnamon went to live in a trailer park and now TJ is dead. Plus, I guess the divorce sucked too. I went to the backyard to say a prayer for the little bastard and I saw his cage sitting on the wall adjacent to the snake infested woods. The door was open. Later on in life, my father admitted, he sat the cage on the wall and opened the door. He hated the rat and wanted it gone. There is a 90 percent chance TJ was eaten by a snake within three minutes of his freedom.
I had forgotten all of this until the other night. Ms. Jackson asked me, "What's the most fucked up lie your parents told you?" After I told her the tale of the puppy, her mouth was gaped. She said that my personality totally makes sense to her now and knows where my manipulation comes from. To be fair to my parents, I did get two puppies when I was eight and they just recently died last year. Add all the dogs my stepdad went through and I had a pretty dog filled childhood. That's why I don't own one now. Dogs are stupid and a lot of fucking trouble; Now, I'd take a hamster over a puppy without hesitation.