by Jerold Last
Suzanne's opponent was still standing up, but just barely. He was doubled over and struggling to breathe as a result of Suzanne's kick to his solar plexus. He had dropped his knife, but that didn't stop Suzanne from following through with a roundhouse kick to his head that took him down and out. Fortunately, Suzanne at 5'8" tended to avoid wearing high heels in social outings with strangers, to avoid seeming taller than the men. She had learned this little trick in South America, where the male ego could sometimes be taller than the male. Her flat-heeled shoes were not only comfortable, but were functional for street karate. I kicked both knives into the gutter before suggesting we get back to our hotel before the police arrived to arrest us for a brutal assault on the two defenseless gangbangers.
"This is New York City where the local motto is 'Don't get involved'. There's a real good reason for this motto. If we let ourselves get involved, it could morph into an attack by two martial-arts trained hooligans on two locals who were just walking by and can't be held responsible for their actions because they come from poor socioeconomic backgrounds in the city's projects."
Suzanne looked at me, a bit shocked as she exclaimed, "We can't just leave them lying here, Roger."
I took her hand and gave her a slight tug towards our hotel. "It's OK. This is one of the busiest avenues in New York City, only a few blocks from Grand Central Station, with plenty of taxis and buses passing by. We just hit a minute of comparatively light traffic because of the cycle of traffic signals. Don't worry; someone will call 911 in the next couple of minutes. Let's move."
The two of us walked as quickly as we could the rest of the way to the corner. Before going into the hotel, we turned onto the cross street, just in case anyone was trying to watch where we went. We got back into the hotel with no additional noteworthy incidents. Suzanne had only one further concern to share as we stood in the functional lobby, waiting for one of the self-service elevators. "You realize that since I met you, Roger, this kind of nasty street fight has become so ordinary, all I can think about now is how I broke a fingernail during the fight, and that’s a major annoyance. I think I'm being desensitized to the violence as I do more and more of this kind of fighting. But I have to admit, I not only feel OK about all of the fighting, but I love the feeling that I don't have to be afraid to walk around on a city street at night. And, it's hard for me to develop any empathy for those two muggers with the knives. They would have cut us for the sheer fun of it if they could have, and they got exactly what they deserved. But my broken fingernail still needs to be fixed as soon as we get back to the room."
As we rode up to our room in the elevator, surrounded by gilt mirrors and ornate brass work, I shared my thoughts about the street fight. They were a lot more analytical than Suzanne's. "It's possible those two clowns with the knives spotted us earlier and followed us to the restaurant, then back here. Do you think they could have been responsible for your feeling that you were being watched?"
Several Suzannes seen in sequence in the mirrors replied, "Anything's possible, Roger. But I'd say no. It's hard to describe exactly what I felt, but it had a much more personal feeling than I'd have gotten from two random muggers. I sensed that the watcher was truly evil, not two opportunists with knives they really don't know how to use. I felt like there was an intelligence behind whoever was watching me, not like a random street mugging. Does that make any sense?"
I squeezed her hand reassuringly, "Unfortunately, yes. I think we're both going to be very glad to get home tomorrow."
We made an early night of it and were in a taxi to the airport very early the next morning. This taxi had an honest driver and we got to the airport without any problems, except fighting traffic. The cab driver had us to the airport with plenty of time to be vetted by TSA and on board our flight home to LAX. The time difference got us home for an early lunch and an afternoon to catch up at work. Bruce took the news that he was now not only a nanny but also a dog handler, dog trainer, and detective with no particular show of emotion. However, there was an obvious small smile playing on his face when I left the house.
That afternoon, I spent some time with Vincent over a couple of cups of coffee to share what was discussed, what we decided, and the financial details of my new arrangement with the AKC. I sat at my desk in my regular chair with my feet on an open desk drawer, while Vincent sprawled comfortably on the client chair across the desk from me. Sunlight streamed in through the window, reminding us it was another beautiful day in Southern California. I didn’t want to mar that fine old wood on the desktop, probably indicating that a little bit of the old yuppie lawyer was still left in me. The tone was casual, two friends discussing what was going to happen next. No matter what occurred at the dog shows, this case was sure to be a financial winner for both Vincent and me. I could envision a time in the not too distant future when I'd want to take advantage of Suzanne's and my financial independence. I’d cut back on my workload to spend more time with Suzanne, Robert, and another Bowman kid or two. If that was going to be a realistic dream, I had to start the process of making Vincent feel he was a real partner, not just a glorified office manager.
He had an interesting expression as he mouthed "WOW!"
Vincent looked a bit shocked as he continued, with just a nuance or two of sarcasm in his tone, "It seems like you're going to be spending most of your time on this new case starting almost immediately, Roger. It sounds like it could be a real tough job, too. You have to go to a bunch of dog shows with and without the family and pretend to be enjoying yourself, while you're being paid tons of money to play. What exactly do you see me doing while you're out playing?"
It was time to get a bit more serious. "The way I envision it, you'll be doing pretty much the same things you’re already doing while I'm out playing, Vincent. The only obvious change in our modus operandi as a detective agency will be you moving up to become a partner and taking charge of the physical office in my place. I'll still do most of the agency work I've been doing from my laptop computer and you'd still take care of the bodyguard side of the business. With the AKC billings for my time, our agency income will just about triple, as long as we continue to bring in the same amount of work. As partners we'll share equally in the profits from all the agency work either of us do. That should increase your income dramatically in the coming year. And, if I play this right, we may have a permanent wealthy corporate client paying us an annual retainer fee, guaranteeing we'll be in the black every year before our first client walks in off the street. We might want to think about hiring another experienced detective to do a lot of the routine work, and maybe bring in some of their own clients too."
Vincent was a very happy partner after we ran the numbers. So was I; my routine workload would decrease by quite a bit and I'd be doing what I liked most, working undercover on a case.
Chapter8.Juliet joins the family
Thursday was another beautiful sunny day in Southern California. I called Sherry Wyne in Sacramento to tell her about my interview with the AKC, that I’d accepted their offer, and that we'd be working together. Now it was time to ask about making arrangements for Juliet moving to our house and becoming part of our family.
After a momentary pause Sherry replied, "I heard about the AKC hiring you. They called me the same day you were there. I also understand you followed my advice about asking them to underwrite your sponsorship of Juliet over this next season. Would the weekend be soon enough for you to get your hands on her?"
That was easy. "This weekend would be perfect. What did you have in mind?"
There was another short pause as she worked through the logistics in her mind. "I have to be at a dog show in the San Diego area over the weekend. Juliet is entered in two shows on Friday and Saturday. I could bring her to your house on my way back to Sacramento late Saturday afternoon or Saturday evening, depending on whether she wins the breed and we have to hang around for the group competition. I'll call you with a better estimate of the exact time after the breed competition o
n Saturday. Ring time is scheduled for about 10 AM. I should know before noon what time we could be on the road to L.A. Give me your street address, please, and I’ll program it into my car's GPS system."
I told her where we lived and which exit to take from the 405 freeway. "What do we have to buy to be dog-ready between now and then?"
This time the answer came immediately. "Nothing. I'll bring Juliet's toys and her crate with me, as well as a couple of sacks of the food she eats these days. You shouldn't have to buy anything for at least a month or two, and you'll know exactly what she eats from the label on the bag of kibble. I'll also leave you the contact information for a UC Davis-trained veterinarian I trust, whose clinic is maybe a mile or two from your office. Just in case you need a Vet, Todd's not only a great veterinarian he's also a really nice guy. You and Suzanne should really like him. I'll see you guys some time Saturday and I’ll leave enough time in my schedule to answer any questions either of you have. I suspect that Bruce is knowledgeable enough to handle anything else that might come up."
The two days passed quickly for me, but way too slowly for Suzanne. At about 11:30 Saturday, Sherry called to tell us she would be in Los Angeles in a few hours. At 2:30 she was ringing our doorbell. Suzanne opened the door to greet Sherry and Juliet, who demonstrated her very good manners as she stood in our front doorway waiting for an invitation to come into the house. Sherry gently tapped Juliet on the back of her head, which, as we learned in a few moments, was her release signal. Suddenly a 55-pound ball of energy exploded into the house, with an amused Sherry following close behind and Suzanne bringing up the rear of the small procession. Juliet headed directly for Robert and Bruce, who were playing together on the floor of the living room. Equally suddenly Bruce gave a sharp sit command, and order was restored. Juliet looked quizzically at Sherry as if to ask, "Do I have to sit when he tells me to?" She obviously was most curious about Robert, who was the only human around built to her scale, and wanted to get closer to him.
Sherry walked over to her dog and gently patted Juliet’s head. Her body language was speaking directly to Juliet, answering the question with a loud yes. So was Sherry’s low and calming voice, saying "Good girl, good Juliet." And so saying, she handed Juliet's leash to Bruce. Kneeling in front of the dog to say good-bye, Sherry was rewarded with a slurpy full-tongued kiss on her nose and a thorough face wash.
Sherry looked at us as she backed away from her dog. "Don't worry about Juliet wanting to follow me home. She's been left with handlers before, when they’re taking her to a show. I can't always show her myself either because it’s a conflict of interest when I’m the AKC representative for the same show, or if I want her in one show while I'm at another. For an experienced show dog like Juliet, home is where the crate and toys are."
Just that easily Juliet became Bruce's dog, looking to him for directions on what to do and how to behave. Bruce quietly and gently released Juliet with a soft tap on her head. We all watched to see what would happen next, as she focused her attention on Robert. She very slowly walked a few steps towards Robert, who squealed with delight and crawled toward the dog. Juliet lay down on the floor directly in front of Robert, careful not to allow her body weight to bang into him. He proceeded to grab her nose, poke her eye, yank her ears, and to pat her on her head, plus everywhere else he could reach. Juliet’s expression clearly said, "Why not? It's attention." Robert climbed all over her and fell in love. Juliet looked very maternal, gently recognizing Robert’s “puppyhood”. Clearly dog and baby had bonded and their relationship was not destined to be a problem.
Suzanne hurried over, gently took Robert’s hand, and guided him into giving Juliet gentle pat-pats. “We don’t want to hurt Juliet, Robert. This is the right way to pat her.”
Sherry applied a gentle correction of her own. “Don’t worry, Suzanne. He can learn how to be gentle with her when the novelty wears off. Juliet’s been around babies most of her life and knows they don’t mean her any harm. Thanks for thinking of protecting her, but if he gets too rough she’ll just get up and walk away.”
Juliet voted with her feet. She leaned towards Robert, giving him free total access to her face, ears, and head, and got her body even lower on the floor. She clearly invited him to do whatever he wanted with her.
Bruce called Juliet in a calm voice. She extricated herself from Robert with great care not to step on him or flip him over, and walked across the room to sit by Bruce. Robert began to scoot over to his new friend as fast as he could crawl, but didn’t get very far. Rather than pushing her luck with Juliet’s benign acceptance of being mugged by Robert, Suzanne scooped the infant up and carried him over to her favorite wing chair. We all sat down in the living room and listened to the basics from Sherry, who had already found herself a comfortable chair.
Sherry began the complicated process of bringing us all up to speed as AKC show dog owners. “As you already know, a dog show is basically a single elimination format, starting with each individual breed competing among themselves for points based upon conformation, movement, and the intangibles of how they show. At this point, the dogs and bitches compete separately. There are several different categories to enter a dog or a bitch, including a whole bunch of different puppy classes by age group, and adult dogs 'Bred by Exhibitor', 'American Bred', or 'Open'. Sometimes there are other additional classes. The winners in each of these classes then compete for either 'Winners dog' or 'Winners bitch'. If your dog is one of these ‘Winners’, they earn points towards becoming champions.
“Next, these two 'Winners' will compete with all of the dogs in their breed that are already finished champions, to be named either the 'Best Opposite Sex' or the 'Best of Breed'. The 'Best of Breed' will go on to the Group competition and possibly the 'Best in Show' competition.”
Sherry took a few moments to scratch Juliet behind her ears. “The number of points you get for winning depends on the number of competitors who were shown in your breed that day. You need a minimum of 15 points to become a champion, which will require several shows. If enough dogs come to a particular show and you beat them, you can win a ‘major’. For the required 15 point total, two of the shows have to be 'majors', for your dog to qualify as a champion. In other words, you can't just compete in 15 small local shows, earning 1 point from each show, to finish a championship. The requirement for winning at least two majors maintains quality control in the overall process. It means that a finished champion has beaten a fair number of other competitors.”
Sherry paused for another moment to catch her breath. "The last level of individual breed competition, where the finished champions compete with the day's winners for "Best of Breed", is where Juliet begins her day of competition. If she doesn't win "Best of Breed", the judge still has the option of giving her "select points" towards her Grand Championship. That’s enough for now. When you go to your first dog show, an AKC representative will give you a presentation explaining all of this stuff. I strongly recommend you go to a few of these presentations. They’ll really help you get oriented to the rules and the whole layout of a major dog show, plus you can meet a few of the different representatives. Is everything clear so far?"
Three human heads nodded. One canine also listened, but she looked bored and seemed to be struggling to keep her eyes open.
Sherry got up from her chair and walked over to Juliet, who had moved over to lie down beside Bruce. Sherry scratched behind her ears as she continued telling us what she thought we needed to know before our first dog show. “The dog shows used to be all over the place and people spent a lot of time travelling from show to show. After the oil embargo of the 1970s, the AKC developed “show circuits”. They changed some rules to allow different clubs to co-sponsor shows in the same location. This encouraged larger numbers of people and dogs to participate in several key shows each year, creating a reasonable number of majors in key areas geographically. It also cut down the duplication of shows and the travel required to find majors.
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�For the “Grand Champion” competitions that Juliet will be participating in, we prefer majors, to earn more points per show. You’ll want to hit as many of the larger shows on the circuit as you can. Given the dates, you should be able to get to the shows in the Turkey Circuit in Stockton, just before Thanksgiving, and the shows in Woodland, near Sacramento, a couple of weeks later. These will be a good tune-up for Bruce. Then there’s a break until the new season starts in late January, with the Golden Gate Kennel Club show at the Cow Palace in San Francisco.”
