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The homeless man was a blight on the Capitol district that the authorities could do nothing about. He had been previously arrested for harassment, terroristic threatening, indecent exposure, and vandalism.
In a few, days he was right back on the street. This account is strange and disturbing because this homeless man was constantly followed by a large black dog whose breed was of no discernable makeup. The animal did not seem to be attached to the man per se, as it only followed him at a pace of no less than six feet. It wouldnʻt engage him to be petted or fed. When the homeless man slept, the animal slept. When the man woke to find a place to relieve himself, it too would wake and find a patch of grass or a nearby plant to pass water or fecal matter upon. However, in the capacity of eating or drinking, the homeless man always tossed the large dog a few leftovers, or at the very least, he would put out a makeshift bowl of water. The dog never took food or water from the man, but from strangers, he would. There was a night when the homeless man was sleeping in the corner of a public post office. A random man appeared suddenly and began to beat the homeless man with a baseball as a reprisal for the vagrant's verbal threats against him earlier that evening in full view of the manʻs family. The large black dog did nothing. It lay there on itʻs tummy, quietly observing the unfolding event. A sheriff who happened by the building for his nightly rounds later found the man and called for an ambulance. Again, the animal did nothing but watch intently. When the man was released from the hospital, he found the dog waiting for him outside the emergency room. There happened to be a pair of crutches nearby, which the homeless grabbed and immediately charged the dog, swinging the crutches overhead and screaming wildly. The dog pounced on the homeless and went straight for his neck. Security was successful in chasing the dog away. It sat at the bottom of the parking ramp and waited. Shortly, the humane society appeared as the staff at the emergency room ordered it to be taking away. The dog simply ran off and disappeared behind the department of health across the street."Why would your pet suddenly turn on you like that?" The security guard asked.
"Itʻs not my pet," the homeless man growled. "That dog belonged to my ex-wife, she was the personification of evil."
"Your ex-wife, or the dog?" The security guard asked.
"The ex-wife first, then the dog after she died," the homeless man spat on the ground.
"How did the dog become evil? Did she train it to attack you?" By the tone of the security guardʻs voice, it was obvious that he was making fun of the homeless man.
"No asshole," the homeless man turned his whole body toward the security guard. "Her spirit possessed it. I havenʻt known a moment of peace since then." As if on cue, the dog appeared at the bottom of the ramp leading up to the emergency room. It tread gingerly until it sat six feet away from the homeless man. "Watch," the homeless man held up his finger to the security guard. He walked toward the dog and as soon as the invisible six-foot barrier was broken, the dog sprang up with the hackles raised on the back of itʻs neck. It was the growl that shook the security guard to his core and made him piss his pants. It wasnʻt the growl of an animal, it was the voice of a grown adult woman, growling as if she were a dog. "Another step closer, and sheʻll pounce on me and tear me to bits."
"Wha...what..why..why is she doing that?" The security guard shed tears of fright and horror.
"To do what she did in life, make mine miserable," the homeless man replied as he stared the dog down.
Three shots rang out and the dog yelped and cried in pain but not in itʻs animalʻs voice, but that of the ex-wife. "There! There you see! I shot and killed it! I killed it!" The security screamed in nervous victory with his gun held out in front of him. "I killed that evil bitch!"
The emergency room emptied out and soon the rest of the hospital security was there. There was no exclamation of grief or broken-hearted sadness from the homeless man because he lay dead on the ground not less than a foot away from the dog. Both were bleeding out, the life slowly trickling away. In all the commotion and the excitement, no one noticed the homeless man get up and walk away. No one noticed, the large black dog get up and follow six feet behind its homeless charge. Take note of the homeless in the Capitol district, especially those who have pets.
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