Until My Last Treat

Chapter 6 – The Trick

The first thing I learned about having a home was that mornings were noisy.

Ryan's alarm.

The neighbors' footsteps.

A motorcycle starting somewhere below.

Someone shouting for a delivery.

A baby crying in the next apartment.

The old pipes rattling whenever someone turned on a faucet.

And then there was Ryan.

"Five more minutes."

He said that every morning.

Five minutes later, his alarm rang again.

"Okay. Okay. I'm awake."

I watched him from the floor.

He looked at me.

"You don't have to stare at me like that."

My tail moved.

He laughed.

"You're worse than an alarm clock."

I didn't know what an alarm clock was.

But I knew Ryan.

And I was beginning to understand his mornings.

He never woke up because he wanted to.

He woke up because he had to.

Ryan worked in an office somewhere across the city.

I didn't know what happened there.

I only knew that every morning he put on the same white shirt, fixed his hair, polished his old shoes, packed his lunch, and checked his wallet.

The wallet was always the same.

He would open it.

Count.

Close it.

Open it again.

Count again.

Sometimes he would sigh.

Sometimes he would smile.

That morning, he counted the money three times.

Then he looked at the calendar.

"Eight more days."

He rubbed his face.

"Eight more days until payday."

He opened the refrigerator.

There wasn't much inside.

A few eggs.

Half a bottle of water.

Some leftover rice.

One small container of vegetables.

He stared at everything for a while.

Then he looked at me.

"Don't worry."

"I'll figure it out."

He always said that.

I didn't know what he needed to figure out.

I only knew that whenever Ryan said those words, his voice became quieter.

He cooked rice.

He fried one egg.

Then he divided it.

Half for himself.

A small piece for me.

I ate mine quickly.

Ryan ate his slowly.

Very slowly.

He wasn't trying to enjoy it.

He was trying to make it last.

When he finished, he drank a full glass of water.

Then another.

I watched him.

He smiled.

"What?"

I tilted my head.

"You think I'm weird?"

My tail wagged.

"Yeah."

He laughed.

"I think so too."

That morning, something important happened.

Ryan was getting ready to leave when he suddenly stopped.

He looked at me.

"Rocco."

I looked up.

He held a small treat between his fingers.

My ears immediately stood.

He smiled.

"Remember?"

He lowered his hand.

"Sit."

I sat.

Instantly.

Ryan froze.

Then his face changed.

His tired morning face disappeared.

For a moment, he looked like a completely different person.

"YES!"

He laughed.

"You remembered!"

He gave me the treat.

Then he knelt and hugged me.

"You remembered, buddy."

His arms wrapped tightly around my neck.

I licked his cheek.

He laughed again.

"You really like these treats, huh?"

I wagged my tail.

But I wasn't sure that was true.

I liked the treat.

But I liked making him happy more.

Ryan seemed to understand.

"Okay."

"One more."

He held another treat.

"Sit."

I sat.

"Good boy."

Another treat.

He tried again.

"Sit."

I sat.

Again.

"Sit."

I sat.

Soon he wasn't even giving me treats anymore.

He was just smiling.

He seemed fascinated that I could understand one little word.

"Who taught you that?"

He laughed.

"Nobody, huh?"

He scratched behind my ear.

"Then I guess I'm your teacher."

Teacher.

Another strange human word.

But I liked this one.

Because Ryan said it proudly.

He checked the time.

His smile disappeared.

"Oh no."

He stood quickly.

"I'm late."

He grabbed his backpack.

Then stopped at the door.

He looked back at me.

"Rocco."

I ran toward him.

He crouched.

"Sit."

I sat.

He smiled.

"Good boy."

He opened the door.

Then closed it again.

He sighed.

"Okay..."

"One last time."

He held up his finger.

"Sit."

I sat.

He laughed quietly.

"That's my boy."

Then he left.

I watched him disappear down the hallway.

I could hear his footsteps going down the stairs.

Then the metal gate opened.

Closed.

And finally...

Silence.

I went to the window.

From the small opening, I could see the street below.

Ryan walked quickly toward the main road.

He adjusted his backpack.

Checked his phone.

Then ran toward the approaching bus.

The bus stopped.

People pushed toward the doors.

Ryan squeezed himself inside.

Before the bus disappeared into traffic, he looked back toward the apartment.

He couldn't see me.

But I still watched him.

The bus moved away.

I stayed at the window.

Waiting.

That afternoon, I learned another thing about Ryan.

He came home carrying less food than usual.

He opened the door and smiled when he saw me.

"Hey, Rocco."

I ran toward him.

He laughed as I jumped around his legs.

"Okay, okay!"

He put down his backpack.

"Give me a second."

He took off his shoes.

Then he sat on the floor.

I immediately climbed into his lap.

He didn't push me away.

Instead, he leaned back against the bed and closed his eyes.

"Long day."

I rested my head against his chest.

His heartbeat was fast.

Too fast.

He smelled strongly of sweat and coffee.

His hands were cold.

After a few minutes, he opened his eyes.

"You know what happened today?"

I looked at him.

"My boss yelled at me."

His voice was calm, but his fingers slowly moved through my fur.

"I made a mistake on one report."

He sighed.

"I fixed it."

"But he still yelled."

I didn't understand what a report was.

But I understood yelling.

I pressed my head harder against him.

Ryan stopped talking.

For a moment, he simply looked at me.

Then he smiled.

"Thanks."

His fingers scratched behind my ears.

"You make everything better."

I didn't know how.

I hadn't done anything.

I had just stayed beside him.

But maybe...

Sometimes staying was enough.

That night, Ryan cooked instant noodles.

He cracked one egg into the pot.

Then he looked at me.

"Want some?"

Of course I did.

He laughed.

"I knew it."

He placed a tiny amount in my bowl after it cooled.

We ate beside each other.

When we finished, he washed the dishes.

Then he sat at the small table and opened his notebook.

Numbers.

Lots of numbers.

I watched his finger move down the page.

Rent.

Electricity.

Water.

Transportation.

Food.

He wrote something.

Crossed it out.

Wrote another number.

Then sighed.

He looked at the few remaining bills inside his wallet.

"I can do it."

He whispered it to himself.

"I just have to get through this month."

He closed the notebook.

Then looked at me.

"Right, Rocco?"

I wagged my tail.

He smiled.

"Right."

Later that night, Ryan lay on his bed.

I climbed up beside him.

He didn't tell me to get down.

Instead, he pulled the blanket over both of us.

The room became dark.

His hand rested on my head.

"Rocco?"

I lifted my head.

"You know..."

He paused.

"If someday I have enough money..."

He smiled into the darkness.

"I'm going to buy you the biggest bag of treats."

My tail moved beneath the blanket.

"And a proper bed."

Another pause.

"Maybe even a house."

I didn't know what a house meant.

I already had this room.

I had him.

That was enough.

Ryan's breathing slowly became deeper.

I listened to his heartbeat.

It was steady.

Warm.

Alive.

I closed my eyes.

I didn't know what tomorrow would bring.

I didn't know that Ryan's life would eventually become harder.

I didn't know that one day those numbers in his notebook would become hospital bills.

I didn't know that there would come a morning when his alarm would ring...

And he wouldn't get up.

All I knew that night...

Was that my human was beside me.

His hand was resting on my head.

And I had learned my first trick from him.

"Sit."

It was only one small word.

But years later, when everything else was gone...

That would be the word I would remember most.