Inspired by My Best Friend

My stepdad brought Rocky home from work when he and some co-workers spotted him and the rest of his litter running around on the streets of West Baltimore. When he walked through the door with Rocky, my sister and I were started crying like normal eight and 10-year-olds do. Once his paws touched the floor, he ran to me and we became best friends ever since.

About two years later, we were forced to move and where we were moving to didn't allow us to pets so we asked my grandparents to take him in and they agreed. It broke my heart knowing that we couldn't bring him with us. Not a day went by that I didn't wish that he was there with me. I would visit him every chance I had. We eventually ended up moving in with my grandparents because they needed more help around the house and because the place we were living at wasn't as safe for me as my mother thought.

About two years later, my stepdad brought home another dog and we thought that Rocky would have territorial but we were wrong. We found out that both dogs had the same mother. We lived with my grandparents for about four years before I was forced to move in with my other grandparents because "I was getting out of hand." The rest of the family ended up joining me a year later. Eventually we had to give away the other dog because my grandmother had cats and he didn't like cats but Rocky did.

Rocky finally ended living with us for almost two years when something happened to me and my sisters. Someone called CPS on my mother because of the way us kids were taken care of and they took us away. I ended up with my real dad while my sisters were put in the foster system because we had different dads. I used to visit my mom twice a month until I realized she was lying to me about everything I asked her. One day, I was talking to my old neighbor that lived near my mom and he told that the last time I was there, after I left my mom was going to take Rocky for a walk but she decided to take him out without his leash and he dashed across the street and was hit by a car in the process.

My mom wouldn't tell me her self so when I brought it to her attention she asked me "who told you" and then say "only his leg was hurt and he broke a tooth." Something told me that day that something else was wrong but I couldn't figure it out until I noticed him changing mentally every time I would visit after that. The first visit after that, he looked fine. I took him for a walk before I left and he pulled like he normally did. The next visit was different. I walked in the door and he acted like he knew me but when I took him for a walk because my mom wasn't home and my grandparents weren't strong enough to walk him, he wasn't pulling anymore and he wasn't walking straight.

I went home and thought about what I saw and told my dad. He said that something sounds wrong and of course I agreed. The next visit threw up a red flag. I walked in and and noticed that Rocky didn't know who I was and again, I took him for a walk and he still didn't pull. I walked back into the house and I told my grandmother that she needed to tell my mother that he needed to get checked out and she told my mom but my mom said he was fine. The last time I was there, Rocky was no where to be found. I asked my grandmother where he was and she said my mother took him to BARCS because he had brain damage and I nearly cried.

I regret not taking him away from there but it helped me make a plan for my future. I plan on creating a dog rescue in honor of my best friend. That is one goal I don't plan on letting go anytime soon. I miss Rocky to pieces but for every day that goes by is another step towards my goal.