Serenity: coexistence of dog, man and woman.

An original story by Lebogang K. Tlou

It was a Saturday morning. Tammy sat by the window, staring as the rain as it pattered down against the world, dampening the whole area surrounding her flat. From her bedroom window, she could see all activity at the front of her apartment, and so she watched as her Scottish terrier scuttled through the fence and waddled on home.

“Mr Cherubs is home,” Tammy said out loud. The only response was a short grunt coming from the heap of linen and blanket with feet sticking out of one end, and a mop of locks strewn in every direction at the head. Tammy couldn’t help but laugh at Thabiso in that moment.

“You were meant to be up hours ago, baby,” Tammy said. His response was another short grunt, this time as he turned to face the other direction, rolling himself deeper into a web of linen.

“Get up, Thabiso!” Tammy launches herself onto the bed, it bounces as though made out of jello, and she plants butterfly kisses all over the little of his face that’s exposed.

“Stop,” Thabiso giggles suddenly. He wrestles her down and she rests facing up at his bearded face with long locks dangling down the side of his head. He pins her down and gently presses a kiss on her forehead. “You’re beautiful,” he whispers. They kiss passionately, until the ferocity of their affection is put out by Mr Cherubs as he dashed in through the open bedroom door with muddied paws, and bounded onto the bed – woofing excitedly.

Tammy and Thabiso laughed as they allowed their space to be painted by Mr Cherubs, who had clearly just come back from an exciting adventure.

“Woof,” he said. Tammy knew what he meant from the look in his eyes.
“We were just about to do the same before you came in, Mr Cherubs!” she laughed.
“Woof, Woof!” Mr Cherubs sang.
“It’s really intense how you and your dog seem to speak the same language,” Thabiso observed.
“I’ve always understood Woof,” Tammy said. “It’s not at all in the sound made, but exists between the wuh and the oof, and it shows in the eyes. Dogs are marvellous.”
“I don’t doubt that,” Thabiso said as Mr Cherubs dashed into his arms, leaving paw stains on his chest hair, and began licking his face.
“You do look yummy,” Tammy said.
“I know,” said Thabiso as he exited the situation of having to deal with the bed and made his way to the bathroom. “Join me for a shower?” he called back, not stopping to wait or look back at Tammy, who had been gawping at Thabiso’s body as he moved. She sat for a moment, wondering if this were all truly happening. Three years earlier, she had been convinced that life would be entirely different by now, and it surely was – however this was hardly expected, let alone fathomed.

“Woof,” Mr Cherubs commanded her, and Tammy snapped back to reality. She stood an began undressing as she followed Thabiso to the shower. At that precise moment, the doorbell rang. Annoyed, she considered ignoring it until it rang frantically six more times. She threw on a night gown, walked over to the door mumbling something furious and snapped open the front door.

“Yes?” Tammy barked. There was a timid and frail old woman standing at the door, leaning gently on a walking stick, holding a dead parrot.

“Your dog killed my parrot,” she accused. Old Miss Tunafolk lived alone with a parrot for many years, Tammy understood. She knew this from the local gossipers who spent their days collecting titbits of information about everyone in the town and disseminating it. One look at Mr Cherubs’ mouth gave him away. Tammy hadn’t noticed the bloodstains on her terrier’s face. She shot him a fierce glance and he bounded away.

“I am so sorry, Miss Tunafolk,” Tammy started saying, when she was suddenly jabbed hard with a walking stick in her lower abdomen. “What the fuck, woman?” she screamed.

“You’re sorry won’t bring back my friend,” Old Miss Tunafolk was taking aim to strike again, when Tammy pulled the walking stick from her, not affecting the old woman’s sturdy stance. “You’re going to jail, Missie!”
“You should go home, ma’am, before things get out of control,” Tammy said. She threw the stick above the old woman’s head and it landed in the street.
“You’ll be hearing from my lawyers, killer raiser!” Old Miss Tunafolk spat. Tammy closed the door, locked it behind her, and made her way to the bathroom. She arrived as Thabiso had just turned the taps off.
“Please make it rain, baby?” she said. The taps went right back on and the waters came crashing. Tammy undressed once more and got into the shower to find Thabiso just standing there, lathered in water droplets, staring intently at her.
“Rough morning?” he chuckled.
“And you’re the one who’s late,” said she. Tammy wrapped an arm around Thabiso’s waist and kissed him. “Mr Cherubs killed that old woman’s parrot, which is why he was so happy. That was Old Miss Tunafolk at the door. Can you believe it, that old bat took a jab at me with her staff!” Tammy showed him the spot, which had already bruised brown and blue on her pale, tanned skin. Thabiso knelt down low and kissed the spot, and Tammy giggled. They stood playing in the shower for a while, allowing the waters to sooth their bodies as their temperatures rose and steadied while they rode the waves of pleasure in each other.

Thabiso was late. He knew he was late from the second he opened his eyes and saw where he was. He no longer wished to even feature at the event which was planned for him. It was all so surreal. He knew he had earned to be where he was, however he couldn’t believe that his dream had actually manifested, and it felt insane that he was living it. He now sat at a small table set for two having breakfast with Tammy. They ate in silence, mostly, with short conversations happening in between.
“I’ve been waking up next to you for nearly three years now,” he said as he swallowed.
“I’ve been waking up next to you for Two years and ten months next week,” said she. Thabiso laughed. He had been counting too.

“Tammy, I’m happy we moved here.” He said.
“I’m happy you stayed here,” said Tammy, gesturing at her heart. Thabiso cleared their plates while she grabbed the car keys and got their coats.
“This works,” she said.
“Woof,” said Mr Cherubs.
“What did he say?” Thabiso asked.
“That you should get a female dog so he doesn’t have to go out and do dumb things impressing street bitches,” Tammy laughed.

They set off, and arrived at the screening of Thabiso’s feature length film, Serenity. As they pulled up alongside the red carpet, a valet was waiting to greet them and park their car. One moment, Thabiso and Tammy were laughing and hugging; the next moment, they were swarmed by a mob of photographers and journalists screaming questions at their faces. Suddenly there were bouncers with Tasers, and Tammy was pulling Thabiso by the hand through a throng of people, until they entered a venue filled with posters of his film everywhere and more screaming people.

[To be continued on demand]