What did I ever do to you?

I walked in through the door and ducked just in time for a beer bottle to fly over my head and shatter on the street.
“Nice try, dad,” I sneered the title, “but I’m too quick.” I quickly ran past the living room and out the back door to see Ace, my dog, humping the neighborhood stray, Scooter.
“Hey Scoot! Ace!” I yell a greeting to the two dogs. “I knew you bottomed, Scoot!” He just grumbled while my dog went into hyper drive hump mode. “My god, Ace! Think about poor Scoot!” I yell. “So, is this what you do while I’m at school?” I ask Ace, giggling. He whines. Yeah, I talk to dogs. So what? They are the only ones I trust. I don’t even trust myself.
“Okay, I’m going upstairs now, Scoot, and Ace is most likely coming with me, and so the fun’s over!” I shout.
I look over and catch my elderly neighbor peering at me over the fence. “Hi, Mrs. Daisy!” I wave.
“Are you okay, dear?” she asks.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?” I ask.
Well, I think so anyways. With my boys, I forget everything. What’s sad is that my dog has a better dating life than me, and he’s only a year old! Sooo… anyways. Ahem.
“Well, normally people don’t talk to animals.” She eyes me warily.
“Well,” I explain,” animals keep secrets way better than people can, so that’s why I talk to them.”
“Ok, well, I’ll leave you to your dog whispering,” she chuckles.
“Ok, Mrs. Daisy, have a nice day!” I yell.
“You too, dearie, you too.”
As she continues whatever it was she was doing, I walk inside, Ace at my heels. “Bye, Scoot!” I yell over my shoulder. “Don’t worry; you’ll have Ace back tomorrow!” I wiggle my eyebrows, and then continue inside.
I duck past the living room and run upstairs. I sit on my bed and gaze at the picture of me and my mom, taken just days before she… passed. I sigh and bite my lip. Each time I thought about what happened to her, a new wave of pain washes over me, tearing open the scar where my mom was placed in my heart.
I look down at Ace and smile softly. “I’m not all alone, you know. I have you,” I whisper to Ace.
I force back tears and curl up in a ball. I’ll do the homework later.
As I drift off to sleep, I feel Ace curl up next to me. Good night Ace. Sleep well.