Chapter 3 – Dash for freedom

IT WASN'T difficult for the department store to sell the puppies.  They were all lively and healthy.  One by one, they disappeared from the cage.
    At first, Jiji believed her brothers and sisters would return, but after awhile, she understood they were never coming back.
She had no trouble getting food now and she didn’t have to worry about being smashed by the other pups.  Almost everybody was gone.  She walked up to the last puppy—a brother—and rubbed against his fur.
    ”You’ll be leaving soon,” she said.
    The puppy licked Jiji’s nose in a friendly fashion.  He was nicer now that there was no competition for food.
    ”It’s going to be cold sleeping alone,” Jiji said, more to herself than to her brother.  She knew he couldn’t understand her.
    A hand reached into the cage.  Jiji lay down in a corner and closed her eyes.  ”Bye-bye, brother,” she whispered, as the hand took the puppy away.
    Jiji was nearly four months old when the pet shop gave up on her.  Two weeks before, a girl working in the shop pleaded with the manager to stop warning customers about the little terrier’s health.
    ”Look how small she is,” he answered.  ”It’s my responsibility.  I have to tell them her health might not be so good.”
    She pointed her finger at him. “Nobody will ever take her home and it’s all your fault!”  She started to cry and walked away.
    The manager shook his head.  He felt bad but what could he do?

    In the secret part of the night, long after the shop girls had gone home, a man waited in the shadows near the store’s delivery entrance.  He was middle-aged and rough looking.  His clothes were dirty; he hadn’t shaved in a week.
    ”Well, it’s about time,” he said, as the pet shop manager stepped into the light.  ”So what ya got for me?”  He held out his hand for the small box.
    The manager hesitated.  If only there was another way.  Maybe he could take it home.  He shook his head.  He’d already adopted two unwanted puppies and one kitten.  His wife would divorce him if he brought another pet home.
    ”What are you waiting for?” the man asked.  ”You feel sorry for the poor puppy?”  He laughed, snatched the box away and reached inside.
Jiji bit the hand as hard as she could.
    ”Ouch!”
    ”Be gentle,” the manager pleaded.
    The man swore and tried again, carefully avoiding the sharp, baby teeth.
”Gotcha,” he growled, pulling Jiji from the box.  He slapped her hard in the head and dumped her in a cloth sack.  Jiji tumbled unconscious into the darkness.
   
    The wide boulevard was lined with colorful booths as people, young and old, celebrated a local festival.  Children pestered parents for sweets; old people relived childhoods long gone, sampling traditional treats.
    At the least attractive booth, kids crowded in for a better look.  Many asked their parents for money.  The adults, some shocked by the cruelty, pulled their children away.
    Jiji lay on the booth’s wooden counter.  A cord was tied around her neck.  It choked her if she moved.  Her right eye was swollen and it hurt.  The man that had hit her stood behind the counter.  ”Puppies for sale!” he bellowed.  ”Good puppies for sale!”
    A housewife in cheap clothes scratched her dirty hair and grabbed a mixed-breed puppy.  She pulled so hard the puppy started to choke.  ”Oh, it’s cute,” the stupid woman said.
    ”You’re hurting the puppy,” a smarter, better-dressed woman said.  She turned to the puppy seller.  ”If this isn’t illegal, it should be.  How can you do this?”
    ”Ahh, I treat them OK,” he answered.  ”Why don’t you mind your own business?”  He took the puppy back and put it on the counter.
    ”You treat them OK?” the woman argued.  ”Look at them you fool, they’re half dead.  I’m going to call the police.”
    A little girl interrupted.  ”Can I hold this one?”
    ”Well, OK,” the puppy seller said, removing the cord from one of the puppies.      He handed over the little dog.  ”That’s my favorite.  I’ll sell it to you for only—”
    Jiji saw her chance and took it.  She jumped out of the child’s hands and landed on the sidewalk, running for her life.  A forest of legs blocked her escape.  She raced between tennis shoes and boots as the puppy seller shouted and tried to climb out of his booth.  ”Stop that dog!” he screamed.
    Jiji leaped into the busy road.  She didn’t look where she was going.  A delivery van charged down the street.  The orange haired teenager behind the wheel didn’t see the tiny puppy until he was nearly on top of it.  He slammed on the brakes, knowing he couldn’t stop in time.