It wasn't all bad, living in that run-down apartment in Philadelphia. Mia would head off to school in the morning and her momma would go to work, so Booger and I had the place to ourselves. We would roughhouse and play so hard some times that things would get knocked over. Poor Booger took the blame for those accidents because he was so big. Although, truth be told, a lot of times it was my fault. Momma would yell and throw things, often sending him outside for the night to fend for himself. Sometimes it was really cold, and Booger would drag himself back in the next morning with icicles on his fur. After a night like that, he shivered for hours. I would curl up next to my friend and try to warm him up. I was so much smaller that I don't know how much warmth he got from me, but at least I kept him company and he let me know how much that was appreciated by licking my face.
My life changed one night, though. Rocco had come over with a pizza and beer, and was hanging out with Momma. Mia had forgotten to feed me again, and boy was I hungry! So when Rocco sat down in the living room with his beer, I hopped up on the table to see what they had left us. And, SCORE! There was almost half of a pizza on the table. I grabbed a slice before Booger stood up on his hind feet and took one for himself. Maybe I got a little greedy, because I was so hungry that I didn't want to share. I lifted my leg on the rest of the pizza to show him that it was all mine.
"What the f*ck!!!" I heard from the doorway. Rocco came in, just in time to see me marking my territory. "I'm gonna kill that f*ucking rat!!" Rocco grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and slammed me against the wall. Mia heard the commotion and ran into the room. "Don't hurt him! Don't hurt my Baby!" she shouted as she tried to get around Rocco to pick me up. Rocco gave her a shove and her body hit the floor hard. I cowered in the corner, wishing I could do something to keep Mia safe. "Rocco, get the h*ll out of here NOW!" I heard Momma say, but Rocco ignored her. He kicked me, over and over, until everything went dark, the shouting faded, and I stopped hurting.
When I finally came to, I was in a cardboard box and as riding in a car. The car pulled to a stop and I heard Rocco talking. I also heard a lot of barking in the background. I stuck my head up over the top of the box to look around. There were large dogs, covered with scars, barking at Rocco and at each other. These were scary dogs and I could tell I was in trouble. Rocco was telling his friend that he had a "bait dog" for him. This was not good.
I climbed stiffly out of the box and waited by the door of the car, and when the door opened I shot out of there like a flash. I was free! I could hear Rocco swearing and yelling at me, but I was not going to let him catch me, oh no! I rounded the corner and kept running.
Next time: alone on the streets of Philly.
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