Two

I'm not going to lie, I'm thinking about just going home.

My offer to help Karen was more rhetorical than genuine. It's not that I don't want to help her. I worked my ass off trying to defend her, but that's basically all I really have to offer. I'm a criminal defense attorney, and a kind of shitty one at that. I don't have any experience negotiating with government bureaucracy outside of the courtroom.

Besides, it's getting late and I still have a night job I have to get to if I want to keep the lights on at my office. Working these nickel and dime drug cases for clients who have to sell their own medication to pay their rent doesn't exactly bring in the big bucks. The economy is for shit and I have over two-hundred thousand dollars in student loans to pay off. I need to be focusing on my own problems.

But she looked so sad, so afraid. She had, basically, nothing to begin with and now they've taken away what was left. I'm in bad shape, sure, but compared to Karen I may as well have it all. The one thing I can give her is to make sure Kelsie ends up somewhere safe. How hard could that really be? Stop in, have a chat with the person in charge of her case, throw around some legal jargon and ask to be kept in the loop. Twenty minutes tops. I can afford twenty minutes.

I pull into the parking lot and my stomach churns. This does not look like a pleasant place to be. I consider for a moment how long Kelsie has been living here. The arrest was almost three months ago, sympathetic anxiety crawls up my neck and squeezes at my throat. Any home has got to be better than living here.

Inside, the lights flicker on the dirty linoleum tile. The air is warm and thick with a heavy body oder that burns deep inside my nose. There are a few sad looking people sitting in metal folding chairs along the back wall staring at their phones and working hard not to look at each other. I feel that grip on my throat tighten and straighten my posture to hide my discomfort.

"Excuse me," I knock on the thick plexiglass wall over the counter at reception.

A worn-out looking man with a receding hairline looks up from a desk and drops his shoulders with irritation.

"What?" He asks, without standing up.

"Can I speak with you?" I ask, aggressively.

He widens his eyes and leans forward, but doesn't stand up.

"I'm Viral Youngblood. I'm the lawyer representing Karen Schuldig. I'd like to speak to the person in charge of Kelsie Schuldig.

He looks confused.

"Now," I say.

He looks around the empty room and finally stands up and walks up to the counter.

"I'm sorry, what do you want?"

I roll my eyes.

"I want to talk to the person in charge of placement for Kelsie Schuldig.”

"Lady, I don't know how you think this works. We don't have, like, caseworkers or whatever. If Schudig isn't coming back, then Cassie--"

"Kelsie," I interrupt.

"Whatever," he dismisses. "Then she'll go with whoever wants her."

"I'd like to set some conditions for her adoption."

"What? No."

Anger crawls up my esophagus and pries the fingers of anxiety off of my throat. I lean in and glare at the sad little man. I can feel fire behind my ears.

"I'm trying to be polite," I say, through clenched teeth. "But I'm losing patience. Ms. Schuldig is very concerned about where Kelsie is going to end up. I'm not asking, I'm telling you. There are conditions as to the kind of home she is willing to accept."

"Look lady," he's walking back to his desk now. "This isn't e-harmony. If your client is going away her mutt has fourteen days to find a home, then she gets put down. You wanna have a say in where she goes, then you take her."

"I--"

"Oh, and if it's the one I think it is, she's a major pain in the ass. So, ya know, your call."

I bite my lower lip and seethe silently. The guy drops himself back in his chair and goes back to his crossword puzzle.

Kelsie and I walk back across the parking lot in silence. I can already tell he was right. She's small, but she's tugging at the leash like she's a sled dog. I absolutely cannot figure out how I let this happen. I swear to God I'm not usually a sucker.

I can't keep her. I know this, but at least I can make sure I find a good home. At least I can tell Karen that much. At least... at least I can try.

I open the driver's door to my car and Kelsie jumps in and starts running in circles between the backseat and the passenger seat. Her little black and white head bouncing like a Funko Pop on her slender neck. I'm begging her to sit still while I pull out onto the street, but she's pushing herself into my lap and trying to lick my face. Finally, I push her into the passenger side and swerve the wheel, almost smashing into a white F-150.

"Goddamnit!" I scream at her.

She jumps into the footwell and cowers.

"Sorry," I say. "Sorry. I-- I don't really-- I've never had a dog before."

She's still looking at me like I'm pointing a gun at her. I take my foot off the break and we ease out into traffic.

I stop at the store on the way home and get a bag of dog food, a plastic bowl and some of those blue plastic pee pads. I'm going to be gone most of the night and I don't need her peeing on the carpet where I live and work.

"Come on girl, let's find you a place to lay down."

I unlock the door to the shop and walk her through reception and my office to the back room where I sleep. Like I said, the economy is shit and I can either afford a storefront for my law firm, or an apartment, but not both. Kelsie immediately jumps on the bed and starts digging in the blankets.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

She looks at me with her sad brown eyes and drops into the little nest she's created with my duvet.

"Fine," I laugh. "You're a weirdo. Make yourself comfortable. I have to get ready for work.