Go Away Ghost

““You are not a man” she said. “You’re an anxious fish caught on sacred land and I won’t let you off the hook. Your sadness is grossing me out of this house like a spirit who thinks I’m an heir of his spouse. Go away ghost.”

Perhaps they didn’t want to keep him because of his weird buck teeth. Perhaps it was because it was taking him a while to potty train. But this was Ghost’s fourth home since May and he was beginning to believe he was unloveable.

Ghost was an all-white pitbull, jack russell mix. His size and muscles came from his mother. She was a darling pit with what seemed like infinite love in her heart. His energy level and attention span came from his father.

This time, when Ghost landed in the pound, he was less hopeful than usual. His standard buzzing energy softened. He slept curled up on the concrete floor at the back of the pen. The sound of clanging metal gates reverberated throughout the kennel.

He awoke to the sound of a man’s voice, saying softly, “Hey, boy! Come here, boy.” Ghost lifted his head. He instinctively approached the gate. The man had large hands, with dark hairs over his knuckles. He wore two, chunky golden rings. He reached over the gate and gave Ghost a heavy, loose pat on the head.

“Good, dog.” Before Ghost knew it, the man was clipping him onto a leash. He lead Ghost out of the kennel and into the passenger seat of a Town Car. As they rode along, the man opened the window for Ghost. The wind flamboyantly flapped his tongue as they drove.

Finally, the car stopped. Far off lawnmowers hummed. The man lead Ghost across the concrete driveway, past the trimmed hedges, and through the front door. The house may as well have been a mansion. Ghost hesitated, unsure what the man wanted him to do.

“Go on, Ghost. Go explore.” He unclipped the leash and waved him onward to wander the house.

The first few months with the man were so delightful, that Ghost’s spunk was resurrected. Every morning, the man would fill Ghost’s bowl to the brim with chunks of gravy-soaked beef. He’d toss a ball for him in the backyard before he left for work. And every evening, before dinner, the man would play a rough game of tug of war with Ghost until he was thoroughly exhausted. Ghost began to feel a sense of home in this routine.

One Saturday afternoon, though, the doorbell rang. The man answered the door zealously. He welcomed in another man and dog. The two men sat in the study, drinking bourbon and smoking cigars. The new dog strutted confidently down the hall and promptly found a place to relax at the top of the basement steps. Ghost wasn’t sure how to handle the presence of this other creature. He was curious, and approached the dog cautiously.

This other dog, Jack, was larger than Ghost. He was a German Shepherd-pit mix. He had wiry black and brown fur. Through the kitchen window, the autumn sunshine reflected off of his coat, making it seem slick and polished.

Ghost sniffed the air quietly. Soon, though, he began sniffing with more intensity. There was a hint of familiarity in Jack’s scent, and Ghost couldn’t quite figure out why. Unable to shake the obsessiveness, he walked right up to Jack and sniffed him all over.

Jack breathed quietly and deeply, asleep. When Ghost’s nose touched him, he flinched awake. Jack responded by sniffing Ghost. He too recognized a familiarity in Ghost’s scent.

Then, Jack paused. The two dogs stood staring at each other with curiosity. Just then, they were distracted by the sound of the man and Jack’s man leaving the study.

“It is remarkable how different they look, though.” The man said.

“I know. They both have the mother’s strength, though. That’s what’s important.”

“Your guy might be larger, but mine is quicker. I’ve been training him too. I run him every morning and I test his strength every night.”

“Well, we’ll just have to see about that, won’t we. Your guy might be quick, but it won’t change where I put my money.”

The two dogs overhearing, realized the familiar smell was the smell of their mother. And although they both looked so different, the pit bull side of them came from the same blood. They were born of the same womb.

“Alright, Ghost! Come here, boy.” Ghost instinctively trotted to the man excitedly.

“Jack! Come!” Jack ran up and sat stolidly beside his owner.

Ghost’s man opened the basement door. It led to a dark, steep, and narrow staircase. He flipped a light switch which turned on a single fluorescent bar at the bottom of the steps. The man walked down the steps and waved Ghost to follow.

Ghost had never been in the basement before. He followed the man with hesitance. When he reached the bottom of the steps, the smell of dampness was overpowering. The concrete floor was dirty and marked with scratches and scuffs. In the middle of the room was a large, rectangular chain link fence.

Ghost, surprised at the contrast between this room and the rest of the house began to feel anxious. He looked longingly back up the stairs. Jack and his man were coming down the steps too. Jack seemed distant and stoic.

The men walked both dogs into the confines of separate chain link fences in the corners of the room. They both trotted excitedly back up the stairs to the main part of the house. They flipped the light switch, leaving the dogs in darkness.

Ghost, feeling confused and frightened, whimpered. Jack was silent.

Jack had been in this basement six months prior. His man and Ghost’s man had gambled on a fighting match to the death between Jack and another lowly dog named Rocko. The men had left the two in the basement for three days in the darkness without attention or food. Then when the men returned, they let the dogs loose in the larger pen in the middle of the room.

Jack’s previous brutality was easy to unleash. Rocko was a meek pit and Jack was starving and agitated. But now, as Jack sat in the darkness across the room from his younger brother, he felt no anger for Ghost. He felt rage toward his man.

Jack made a low sound, a consoling hum toward Ghost. This comforted Ghost, and his whimpers recessed.

The next three days were painful for the two dogs. However, whenever one of them was in pain and couldn’t contain it, the other would comfort him, sending him love and support across the concrete room.

When the lights finally turned on, Ghost awakened, startled. He looked at Jack who sat upright, his hair on end. Ghost watched him as the men came down the stairs. Jack glanced toward Ghost, whose returned look signaled that he would follow Jack’s lead.

Jack’s man opened his crate, and Ghost’s man opened his. The two men walked toward the opening in the pen in the middle of the room. And just as they were about to put the dogs in, Jack whipped his head backward, biting his man with ferocity. Ghost, following Jack’s example, did the same to his man.

The brawl was over as quickly as it began. The two men laid bleeding from their necks. Jack, having calmed down, looked over toward Ghost. Ghost was sitting next to his man’s body in silent grief. He didn’t whimper, but his head bowed downward.

Jack then walked over to him. Ghost lifted his head toward Jack. Jack shifted his weight toward the stairs, pointing his head upward. He started walking and looked back toward Ghost as if to say, “Go away, ghost. Let’s go away.”