The Kaulitz Twins

"Georg, Stacy, will you please go upstairs and start removing the boxes from the guest room?" Mom asked kindly, but the spark in her eyes said 'Do it now.'

Georg quietly walked up the stairs, taking the unexpected task quite well. Stacy, on the other hand, grumbled the entire way.

Mom turned to look at me and made sure we had eye contact before she instructed, "Take them outside and show them how to take care of the dogs. When they get the hang of it assign each of them a row."

I nodded, "Yes ma'am." I replied before I led Bill and Tom to the sliding back door.

"Blake, no lifers and no special needs!" Mom called after us.

"Got it!" I called back quietly as we walked out the back door and I slid it closed behind us.

"What's a lifer?" Tom asked.

"Lifers are dogs we keep because it would be irresponsible to adopt them out to families. They're unpredictable which can be considered dangerous." I explained.

"If they're dangerous why not just put them to sleep?" Tom asked.

"Would you want to be put to sleep just because people didn't understand your outbursts?" I asked back.

Tom opened his mouth to say something back, but closed him mouth again without saying anything at all.

So I continued, "We keep the lifers here so they can live a happy life. If they start showing good signs then we find an activity that makes them happy. But if they turn on the family or any of our employees then we consider putting the animal to sleep for the safety of everyone."

"What are special needs?" Bill asked, curious about the other category of dog my Mother asked us to stay away from.

"We have a few blind dogs, one is deaf, some have athsma, the list goes on." I listed off.

"What? So your mom thinks we can't handle the lifers or the special needs dogs?!" Tom snapped.

"It's not that." I replied, "It's just some of the dogs need extra care."

Tom opened his mouth to say something rude, but Bill cleared his throat and stopped him.

"So how do we take care of the dogs?" Bill asked, changing the subject.

I smiled, "Let me show you."

I led Bill and Tom to a row of dog pins and stopped at the corner pin. Inside was a white with brown patches pit bull who was running back and forth the length of the chain linked fence as soon as we approached it.

"This is Trevor." I introduced, "He's a bit hyper and sometimes he likes to bum-rush the gate."

"How'd you get him?" Tom asked calmly.

"Someone didn't want him because he was too hyper for them so they dumped him on our doorstep." I answered.

"That's so sad." Bill said quietly.

I nodded, "It was. But he's been with us for over 8 months and he couldn't be happier."

It was quiet for a moment as Tom, Bill, and I stood around in an awkward silence.

"So...how do you two learn?" I asked, cutting the silence.

"Seeing." Bill said while Tom replied with, "Doing."

"Great." I said as I showed Bill how to correctly enter the pin's gate and instructed Tom to follow me in.

Step by step, I began with how to properly clean the pin the way I had been taught. It included taking a pooper scooper in and picking up the...well, y'know.

After that, I told Tom to take the blanket out of the igloo kennel and shake it out. If it was wet then it needed to be replaced. Followed by cleaning out the kennel and putting the blanket back in.

Most importantly, replace the bucket of water. Even if its not empty, even if it's not dirty. Replace is.

When I finished explaining everything I asked, "You got that?"

Bill nodded while Tom said, "Yes."

I smiled and stepped out of Trevor's cage and Tom followed behind me. "So, Tom, you can finish this row and Bill, you can do the row next to his."

"Okay." Bill said quietly with a look on his face that said he wasn't exactly sure if he was ready for the task before him.

"Don't forget to be nice to the dogs. Don't yell at 'em, don't talk down to them. Cuz, trust me, they're going to love you unconditionally." I added.

"Do they all have names?" Bill asked curiously.

I nodded, "Yes."

"How are we supposed to know what they're named?" Tom questioned.

"There are name plaques next to each gate." I said as I pointed to a name plate on Trevor's pin.

"Oh." Bill said as he slightly smiled.

"Now, this is not a race or a competition. Don't try to go faster than the other or finish first. When you rush you forget to do something. When you forget to do something it doesn't hurt you but instead the dogs you're taking care of." I warned.

"Don't worry, we won't rush." Bill said quietly.

"Okay... Well I'm going to go work on my own rows. If you need me for help with something or if you finish, come find me." I said. I watched as Bill and Tom glanced around at the rows upon rows of dog pins we had in the backyard. Our house was on five acers of land and we were at maximum capacity of how many kennels we could fit on the property which was a little over 160.

"Where will you be?" Tom asked.

"Three rows to Bill's left." I replied.

"Alright." both Bill and Tom said in unison.

With that, I walked off to take care of my own dogs. I had ten charges; two rows of dogs that were my responsibility.

Unfortunatly, because of that little unexpected trip back into tow, I was two hours behind schedule and my dogs were begging for attention.

X---X---X---X---X---X---X---X---X---X---X---X---X

I was taking care of my dogs. Out of the ten I had to take care of, I was on my ninth.

A shadow appeared in my line of vision and I looked up to see Tom standing on the other side of the chain linked fence.

"Do you need help with something?" I asked. He was most likely standing before me to ask how to do something or to tell me he couldn't do something.

"I'm done." Tom said quietly.

"What?" I asked, his statement taking me off guard.

"I'm done." he repeated, a little louder.

I raised an eyebrow, "Already?"

"Yeah. Is that so hard to believe?" Tom asked.

I shrugged my shoulders, "Normally newbies take a while their first few times until they get used to the routine."

"I'm no stranger to hard work." Tom said.

I smiled lightly, "I don't doubt you are."

After that there was a small awkward silence between us.

I decided to change the subject and asked, "So how is Bill doing on his row?"

"He was on his third pin when I finished." Tom answered.

I cracked a smile and slightly giggled because I knew Bill's work ethic wasn't as high as Tom's.

Tom slightly smiled as well, "I know why you're laughing, but he is very persistent."

"Looks like Bill and I have something in common." I muttered under my breath.

"What was that?" Tom asked.

I shook my head, "Don't worry about it."

I heard a gate creek open and I looked up to see Tom entering the pin I hadn't done yet.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Helping you finish so you can go check how I did on my row because you're just itchin' to do that." Tom said as he smirked.

I raised an eyebrow, "Why do you think that?"

Tom's smirk changed into a smile as he said, "I just know these things."

I slightly rolled my eyes at him when he wasn't looking, "I bet you do." I said silently.

"I did everything you told me to do for each dog." Tom said.

"I guess I'll have to see for myself." I replied.

I finished the dog kennel I was working on and exited the pin. A few minutes later, Tom finished as well.

I inspected the kennel Tom did for me, trying to see if I would have to redo it myself or not. In the end, I nodded and said, "Not bad."

Tom smiled, "I told ya I was good."

I continued, "It's not excellent work, but its not bad either."

His smile faltered when I finished.

"Well, let's go see your finished row and how Bill's doing." I said as I wiped the dirt off of my hands and onto my jeans.

Tom nodded, "Fine."

We walked away from my rows and some of the dogs started to bark, bidding us goodbye for the night.

Tom, who had been trailing behind me, caught up and said, "It seems like the dogs really care about you."

I smiled, "I really care about them too."

Tom shrugged and added, "Or they just cozy up to anyone who brings them food, changes their water, and picks up their poo."

My smile faltered before I said, "Just give it time. Soon you'll start to care about your charges too."

Tom shook his head, "Yeah, I don't think so. We'll be long gone before that." he said as we arrived to the row he had done and the one Bill was still working on.

I found Bill in the same pin Tom said he was in when he walked away.

I walked up to the pin Bill was in and leaned against the chain link fence and asked, "How's it going Bill?"

"Well, the last dog nipped at me a couple of times..." Bill started.

"Oh yeah, that's Bitey. I should have warned you about him." I interrupted.

"But other than that I'm fine." he finished.

"That's great." I said as I smiled, "I'm just going to check your progress."

"Alright." Bill said and then he got back to work on his kennel.

"Hey wait, what about checking mine first?" Tom asked.

"I'll get to yours soon enough." I said as I couldn't help but smile a bit. Seeing an antsy side of him was kind of fun.