Three Pete

Chapter 6: Enduring the assault Several days passed and they had seen no sign of Officer Donavon yet. Bill began to wonder if maybe his brother’s family had possibly gotten rid of the list of item’s he had given to Bill that day. He wasn’t worried as soon his check would show up ad he could purchase all that Pete needed to complete his dog world of necessities. Bill had only left him alone one time to go to the Post Office and Pete had clearly voiced his displeasure in Bill’s audacity to have had the nerve to leave him alone. He barked at him loudly when he was told no and couldn’t go with the old man. Bill assured him he would be back and upon his return the dog acted like he hadn’t seen him in weeks with his show of affection. On the fourth morning it was barely 9 am when Bill opened the door to let Pete out. He assisted his friend down the steps although this time Pete seemed to be Hell bent on ascending them on his own. Bill still helped him down, but he knew the dog was about ready to accomplish this on his own and it made the old man happy to see yet another step in his improvement. They walked together through the yard as Pete performed his daily ritual. Bell had removed the last bandage from Pete’s leg that morning as the healing was coming along beautifully and Pete had begun to pull on them after Bill had redressed the stub on his leg. Things were getting better and the weather had turned off really warn to make it a gorgeous day. Bill and Pete were walking back to the porch when the old man spotted a large man dressed in bib overalls coming up the street with a strange look on his face. Bill watched him as he stopped at the gate and looked in at the old man and the dog standing there. He was a hulk of a man and his face was like a tale of pain and anguish. His face was unshaven and his hair greasy from the scalp to the ends of his somewhat curly brown locks. He was breathing out of his mouth as if his crooked nose would not work. Between his lips were the remnants of snags where once a full mouth full of teeth had sat. All at once, as if he knew the stranger, Pete began to growl and snarling loudly exposed his teeth as he stood directly in front of Bill as if to shield him. Bill was trying to quiet him down as the man pushed open the gate and began walking towards Bill. The old man was frozen with fear when he looked into the man’s eyes. “Hey old man, that’s my God damned dog. What the Hell do you think you’re doing stealing my dog? I was going to shoot that mutt and put him out of his misery. Damn dog was always running off and then he got hit. I left him to die there and what did you do? Apparently you came along and picked him up. He wasn’t your dog to pick up old man. I’ll just take the worthless mutt with me now so I can finish the job.” As the stranger reached down to grab Pete by the neck the dog snapped at him catching the tips of three finger’s and drawing some blood. Before the old man could move the stranger’s right leg went back. Rocketing forward his heavy booted foot caught Pete right in the muzzle knocking him backwards and down onto the sidewalk. The dog cried out loudly and blood started trickling from his tongue and mouth where the boot of this man had connected. Bill couldn’t believe his eyes as his friend yelped and whined in pain. Bill suddenly turned towards the man and grabbed him. “You get the Hell off of my property now. You don’t come onto my place and abuse my dog you son of a bitch. Get out of here now?” The man was clearly not one bit frightened of the old man and with one swift uppercut rocked the old man’s jaw and knocked him down onto the sidewalk edge where he struck his lower back. The old man cried out in pain as the feeling of fire raced up his spine rendering him nearly paralyzed. He could not even move and now the man was coming back towards him and Pete again. The dog was still crying out in pain, but was now trying to make it to Bill to protect him. Before he could get to him the stranger once again kicked Pete even harder than the first time again knocking him backwards and down. The injured dog was now reeling in pain in his side where the bruiser had kicked him again. He began to limp away crying and limping even more from the brutal assault. As he walked past where Bill was now lying he kicked him in the stomach and continued towards Pete. “I’ll teach you not to bite me you worthless mutt. I’ll kill you for biting me!” By now Bill’s back was hurting so badly he could not even get rolled over to try to get up. He was now in tears as the pain raced up his spine again. Bill was trying to look for Pete when out of the corner of his eye like lightening he caught the site of a blue uniform running up the sidewalk and then he heard a shout. “Stop right there! Get away from that old man and that dog! You’re under arrest.” It was Officer Donavon and he was moving towards the stranger with his right hand holding a night stick. The stranger seemed hardly phased by the warning and again headed for Pete who was now moving away with his tail down limping from the kicking while the blood still ran from the corner of his mouth. The officer had now lost his cool and lurched forward grabbing the stranger by the back of his bib overalls and jerked him completely off his feet backwards. It barely slowed the man for a brief second as he jumped up and turned with his fists raised towards Officer Donavon. “Take your God damned hands off of me. I came here to that dog and by God I’ll get him even if I have to go through your ass to do that.” By now Officer Donavon had completely lost his once cool demeanor. His face turned to stone. As the veins rose the muscles in his neck protruded outwardly and his face reddened. He was now livid. His muscles tensed up as he now felt a rage inside of him that he had never felt before. He switched the night stick from his right to his left and unbuckling the strap which held his service piece he drew the Glock 17 handgun from its holster. With a stare that would have burned right through a steel vault door he raised the gun and took a stance. “I sure wish you would try that.” His years of service had trained him to remain cool in every situation, but at that moment his fury had surpassed any sort of restraint he have displayed. The man only had to look at him for a brief second and his blood began to run cold and finally over ruled his stupidity. He suddenly froze. “Now get down on the ground and put your hands behind you or I swear I’ll shoot you right where you stand. You have three seconds to get down and by God if you don’t, I’ll drop you cold. Now get down asshole.” The man slammed into the ground as the officer placed a well driven knee right into the center of his back. At the same time his hand’s moved like lightening snapping the cuff’s on one wrist and then the second. As he ground his knee into the man’s back the mauler heard his word’s in a low but decisive voice giving him fair warning. “Now you just better hope that old man isn’t hurt or I’ll personally see to it that the next time you see daylight will be when the light at the end of the tunnel leads you through Hell’s gate you son of a bitch.”