Page 95 of Drawn Together

“Before… I hated Tami for a few seconds. I hated her because I thought that…”

I nodded silently.

“I know there’s nothing between you, but just imagining it…”

“You’re human, Marfil, and you’re still young. But the fact that we sometimes have dark feelings doesn’t make us bad people.”

“What we’re doing here tonight… we do it to feel better about ourselves, at least partly. Isn’t that horrible?”

I shook my head. “Nothing is purely selfless, Elephant,” I said, rubbing her cheeks, which were bright red from the cold. “But small actions can make a difference. There are a bunch of people out here who will have you in their prayers tonight, and that’s never a bad thing.”

Marfil sighed. “I’d bring her home with me if I could, you know?”

I frowned. “Who?”

“The little old lady.”

Oh God, I could just picture it…

“I know, I know. But please, promise me you’re not going to let any strangers into your apartment, no matter how sorry you feel for them.”

She rolled her eyes, but she promised she wouldn’t.

CHAPTER 26MARFIL

We walked the streets, handing out donations for a couple of hours. Sebastian had wanted to keep it shorter, but I begged him to let me stay longer. When he saw that my teeth were chattering and my lips were blue from the cold, he forced me to get in a taxi that was thankfully still in service. By the time it dropped us off at the place we’d parked, I was truly freezing.

That’s when I saw him.

A medium-sized puppy was curled up on the curb beside our car, his fur covered in snow and frost.

My heart shattered.

“Sebastian,” I said, pulling at his coat to get his attention.

He followed the direction of my gaze and stopped. “Marfil. No.”

I ignored him and approached the dog with caution. He was shaking so hard that he hardly noticed when I walked up and crouched beside him. “Hey, buddy,” I said. He looked at me with big, sad eyes.

“Marfil,” Sebastian said, bending down, “dogs can handle the cold. Don’t you see all that fur? It’s like he’s wearing a warm coat. He is, in fact.”

“We can’t leave him here,” I said, petting his head. His tail began to wag slowly, and he stuck out his tongue to lick my hand. “Poor thing!”

Sebastian cursed aloud, and when I stood up, the dog did as well. The creature was filthy, frozen, and malnourished.

“Please, Sebastian,” I said, turning to him. “Don’t be cruel. I can’t leave him here. You said I couldn’t bring people back to the apartment, and I didn’t even object! But this little dog needs me.”

“Dammit, Marfil,” he said, but then he held open the car door.

I got in the back seat, and the dog clumsily climbed in beside me. Sebastian turned on the heat, and the dog started licking me.

“Don’t let him do that. He might have some disease,” Sebastian warned, but I ignored him.

The dog was adorable, gray with black legs. One of his floppy ears was also dark. I felt sorry for him, with his matted coat and skinny body.

“I’m going to feed you until you can’t eat another bite,” I said, feeling a warmth in my heart that I hadn’t noticed had been missing. Seeing all those people on the streets and knowing that there was so little I could do had affected me deeply. Sebastian was right: I couldn’t save the world, and I couldn’t bring every stranger home with me, but I could save this little dog from freezing to death on the street.

My father had always forbidden us from bringing home stray animals and became furious if we disobeyed. We’d once found a little piglet with an injured foot; he’d escaped from the neighboring farm. My sister and I brought him in and wanted to keep him as a pet. Our father had him slaughtered and butchered, and then forced us to sit at the table while he ate it for dinner, to teach us a lesson. I still remember my nausea, which lasted the rest of the night.