A List of Best Intentions

I wasn’t stupid. I knew that getting a girl famous would take time.

That didn’t mean I didn’t start right away.

The next day, I called Keisha and talked to her more about the whole issue, and she said she’d be willing to go through with it.

“What have you got to lose?” I had said.

“You’re right,” she had replied.

So that was my first gig bein’ a manager. Well, as loosely as you could make the term “manager.” I wasn’t all dressed up in a tux and I didn’t find gigs in ridiculous places, and I didn’t have one of those fancy-schmancy cell phones. (I could hardly afford a beeper.)

I seriously had faith in that girl, and so did Cody. I don’t know if he called her like he said he was gonna, but I knew he thought pretty highly of Keisha.

This was a complete wallflower we were dealin’ with – a girl who nobody knew before History of the Decades. We’d never heard her name before, even though she told us she was in the school chorus. I dunno what drove her to perform that night, of all nights, but I was hella thankful she did.

In the meantime, I had other fish to fry. Well…not quite a “fish,” to be honest.

Even though I was a fifteen-year-old boy living in a normal town, one of the abnormal things about me was that I never had a pet.

Hence, on my to-do list was number nineteen: Adopt a Dog.

If I watched enough cartoons and TV in my life – and I definitely did – I learned that parents hardly budged when asked for a pet. So I knew this. And I had a prepackaged argument for when I knew my dad would argue with me about it.

My dad was watching football one fine Sunday (the Sunday after I met Keisha, actually), chilling on the couch. I sat down next to him and he hardly acknowledged my existence.

I shyly asked him, “Dad, can I get a puppy?”

He slowly turned his head over in my direction. “What…?”

“A dog.”

“You want…a dog?”

“Yeah,” I bargained. “I mean, why not?”

“Why, period?” He squinted at me. Somehow I knew my mom would have the same answer.

“’Cause dogs are cool.”

Dad looked back at the TV and crossed his arms. “Kevin…I don’t know.”

“What’s not to know? I’m a good kid!” Okay, you can call that desperate, but I called it valid.

“Don’t think your mother and I have forgotten about your ISS,” he countered in a grunt. “When is that, anyways?”

“It’s a few Tuesdays from now,” I told him. “The office got backed up.”

“We’re still not happy about that,” he warned.

“But a dog…!” I know begging probably wouldn’t help me out, and yet I still tried. “I just wanna adopt one from the shelter, not buy a whole new one,” I explained. “All those dogs, they’re all lonely and stuff. And I never got to have a pet.”

Dad didn’t look swayed yet. So I resorted to major desperate measures.

“And I’ll take really, really good care of it! I promise! I’ll feed it, and walk it, and take it out, and -”

“Kevin!” Dad yelled. “You’re not a toddler anymore.”

I was silenced.

“Sure, I question some of the decisions you make,” Dad sighed. “In the end, I know you’re more responsible than that…”

My heart lurched and a smile spread across my face. I grabbed the nearest pillow, gripping it tightly. “Does that mean I can get a doggy?!”

Dad rolled his eyes. “I suppose…”

I leaped up off the couch and jumped over to him, throwing my arms around his neck and giving him kisses all over his face. I didn’t say anything – the joy surging through my body was enough.

“I’m getting a dog!” I cheered, bolting over to the phone to call everyone I knew.

I probably could’ve heard Dad groaning from across the state.

~~~~~

“Cody, guess what?!” I yelled into the receiver.

“What?” he said back unenthusiastically, almost muffled, even.

I twisted my hands all up in the phone cord. “I’m getting a dog!”

He snorted. “Okay, and?”

“You wanna go to the shelter with me?” I asked, unable to keep my excitement in. “I don’t know what dog I wanna get, though. You can help me pick one out.”

Cody made a noise that sounded a bit unsure. “Eh, I guess…what’s the worst that could happen?”

“Alright! My mom’ll pick you up and we’ll go to the animal shelter in town,” I told him.

~~~~

About ten minutes later, with my mom waiting outside, Cody and I were smack-dab in the middle of the shelter and staring at all of the furballs in front of us.

“This one’s name is Peach,” our ‘tour-guide’ informed us. Her name was Sunshine; I remember her smelling like pot. She also had really long hair that looked less healthy than some of the dogs’. “He likes to play with Frisbees.”

Cody and I shared a look of blah.

Sunshine led us over to some more canines. I really wasn’t feelin’ it too much until I saw one particular puppy who caught my eye.

It was a little husky dog; she was so tiny and fuzzy that she immediately got my attention. Her coat was black and white and looked as though she was only a tiny little hairball rather than a living animal. She was adorable.

“Hey, what’s this one’s name?” I asked, motioning for Sunshine and Cody to come over.

Sunshine leaned forward, but her face was emotionless. “Oh, that’s…um…she doesn’t…have a name.”

“Why not?” Cody asked.

“We found her outside the other day. No one’s named her yet, as far as I know,” she explained.

“She’s so cute…” I chuckled. “Aw…”

Cody smirked. “Are you gonna get her?”

Not a doubt flashed through my head. Like with Keisha and the nameless girl on Free Hugs Day, I acted on one of my rare smart impulses. “You know, I think…I will.”

“Oh, she’s gonna grow to be pretty big. She’s a husky. You know how big those dogs get?” Cody warned.

“Who cares?” I smirked.

“Your parents are gonna care when she rips up the couch,” he rolled his eyes.

I ignored him and stuck my fingers through the cage. The dog trotted over and sniffed my hand; her tongue slipped over my finger. And one thing about her that stood out to me was how flippin’ huge her tongue was compared to the rest of her body.

“Holy crap!” I gasped.

Sunshine walked over and smiled at the puppy. “Oh, yeah. Her tongue’s a bit big. Are you going to keep her?”

I looked at the husky one last time and my heart kinda melted. “Totally.”

Within a few minutes I had a puppy in my arms, a leash tied around my hand, and a food and water bowl jammed in my pocket. And I was about ten bucks poorer, but it was a small price to pay for joy, considering the fact that a dog that went untouched might’ve even been put down. Who knows?

The puppy was whining a bit and squirming, though I kept her still, hugging her tightly. When we got back to the car to go home with Mom, though, she kept trying to escape, most likely a little scared of going in a car.

I swung the passenger door open and Mom broke out into a huge smile. “Dios mio, she’s so tiny! What’s her name?”

Cody and I exchanged a look of confusion. “Um…we haven’t thought of one yet,” I said.

Mom tilted her head. “Well, you have to think of one soon…” She petted the puppy as we buckled in to the car. “She’s a cutie.”

About three minutes into the drive, though, Cody started laughing.

I peered back at him; the dog yipped. “What’s so funny?”

He held a hand up. “Um…nothing. It’s….it’s stupid.”

“No, c’mon,” I urged.

“Well,” he sighed, biting his lip and blushing. “You know how she’s got a big tongue and stuff?”

I nodded. The puppy yawned.

“Maybe you could name her…Tungsten.”

I looked at him funny. “Tung-what?”

“The element Tungsten,” he said sheepishly. “See, I told you it was stupid…”

“It’s just nerdy. Isn’t it, puppy-wuppy?” I cooed, squeezing my new dog in a hug.

Cody grunted. “You haven’t come up with a name yet. Tell me when you do, Kev.”

So I thought about it. And I kept looking down at the puppy, trying desperately to come up with a name that was worthwhile, but I kept drawing blanks – nothing would come to me. I was stumped.

Before I knew it, we were almost at Cody’s home. “You haven’t thought of anything yet?” he prodded.

I sighed heavily. Then I looked down at the dog yet again. Her tongue drooped out the side of her mouth and hung way down past her chin. And I thought to myself…you know, even if it was corny as hell…

“Maybe Tungsten would be a good name,” I shrugged.

Cody hooted. “Glad you took my idea, man.”

~~~~

Okay, yes. Tungsten was a mad lame name for a dog, but I swear on all that’s holy that I could not come up with anything better.

The first few days we had her, all she did was sniff around and paw at the door every couple hours. She was actually real well-behaved for a little puppy; I guessed it was the husky blood in her that made her like that. A snow dog, right? Woof.

We got her house trained real quick. The only time she pooped inside was about an hour after we brought her home, then she got all whiny and then a couple of turds popped out of her rear.

Mom said, “That thing’s gonna be an outside dog!”

I countered with, “But mamá, she’s so tiny! Something’ll eat her!”

She looked like an oompa loompa, all frazzled and red like that. “Fine! But when she gets too big, she’s staying outside!”

Fair enough, I thought.

I grew to love Tungsten like a little sister, like I always knew I would with an animal – I guess all those years of not having a puppy or kitten or other small animal had paid off and hit me all at once. I only took it as proof that my list could only end up in good. I mean, everyone knows dogs are a man’s best friend. I knew Tungsten was special from the second I laid eyes on the helpless little bundle of fur, the way she just melted the icecaps of my heart.

So getting Tungsten was a good decision. My parents didn’t have the heart to take her away, either, so I really couldn’t have gone wrong.

I had other stuff on my plate, too, though.

Keisha was counting on me to get her coverage. I mean, she wasn’t beggin’ for me to get her a record deal or nothing, but I still had a promise to take care of.

I called her a couple of times over the next few days and she told me about stuff she wanted to do to maybe get a bit famous. I suggested a gig somewhere.

“Oh, funny thing,” she had chirped. “Cody and me were just talkin’ about that the other day. He said he couldn’t find any place that was open.”

“Cody called you?” I gaped in disbelief. He never called me.

“Yeah, the day before yesterday we were talkin’ for a while,” she answered.

I remembered that I gave him her number, though. “Ah. Makes sense. But…what is there to do?”

Keisha sighed and my heart sank. “I…I dunno, Kevin.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I eyed a stack of papers next to me; a lightbulb went off in my brain. “Oh, hey, how about we put up flyers?”

“Huh?”

“Like, we can say, um…‘Keisha Simpson – the best soul singer in all of Georgia!’” I held my arm up to visualize it in front of me, even though she couldn’t see.

She giggled. “Maybe…”

“Or, ‘Hire her at your next party to sing and your mind will be blown by her pipes!’”

Keisha sighed again after having a big laugh. “You know, that might work.”

“I can go into town and put ‘em up everywhere, too,” I suggested. “And I can put your number on them. And mine. ‘Cause I’m your manager.”

“You and Cody both are,” she corrected. “But that sounds good, anyway.”

“Awesome,” I smiled.

“But I need a hook.”

“A what?”

“A hook. Like, something that’ll grab everyone’s attention,” she said.

“How about…‘FREE POT?’”

She laughed loudly, but choked out, “No, no, that’s…no!”

I shrugged my hand and ran a hand through my hair. “Well…what else can we do?”

“Um…‘The Next Big Thing,’ I dunno…”

“Well, I’ll think of something. I could do something on the computer and print it out in our new printer,” I told her.

She responded with, “You guys got a computer?”

“I’m not too hot with it, but we got one. I can figure a little something out.”

Actually, that was a big fat lie. We had a computer, but I sucked goose eggs at it.

“So you can come up with something?” Keisha asked hopefully.

“Totally. I’ll work on it tonight and go around town after school tomorrow and put ‘em all up,” I promised.

“Thanks, Kevin,” she told me. “Just, really…thank you. I can’t tell you how much all this means to me.”

A smile spread across my face. “No problemo, Keisha.”