Jerome Savon ran his hand over the smooth crimson skin of the apple, as though to pick it up as he passed, but then stopped. He held for a moment, felt the coolness of the fruit, a calm washed over him, and he watched intently as he drew a circle on the membrane with his forefinger. He sighed with emotion and finally drew the apple up and wiped it gently on the sleeve of his shirt.

Taking a bite of the apple, Jerome heard every sound. He heard the crunch and snap of the skin being broken and the slosh of the flesh moving about in his mouth, strangely like the calming sounds of waves breaking along the shoreline. The sound of his teeth coming together, breaking apart, up, down, up, down. He could hear the sound of his own heartbeat, thump… thump… thump… It was soothing, like drums in the distance, calling home. He smiled softly.

Beside him, the thin curtain to the kitchen window fluttered in the breeze. Jerome caught hold of it and held it in his hand for a moment. He felt all the smoothness and imperfections that, up to now, he had been blissfully blind to. It was all so familiar, the same things he had seen day after tiring day, yet all so newly exciting. It thrilled him. Finally he released the drape which continued to dance about like a feather on the incoming breeze; it smelt of honeysuckle and lavender and carried with it the sounds of the birds outside, of the trees rustling in the winds, swaying back and forth, back and forth. Jerome closed his eyes.

Suddenly a noise from behind distracted Jerome from his thoughts. He turned disjointedly to see his dog sniffing at the liquid pool on the kitchen floor. Jerome looked at the dog with a mock anger, smiling, and said, “Now, now Pip, don’t eat that.” He wagged his finger at the little tan Pomeranian, who came away from the spot and sat at Jerome’s feet, looking up at him with curiosity.

Jerome excitedly squatted to the dog’s level as he took another bite of the apple, savoring the bittersweet flavor. He patted the dog on the head with his free hand, then ran his fingers through the long fur. It seemed softer than ever, and Jerome propped his apple between his teeth so as to run both his hands along the dog’s body. Pip stood up excitedly and wagged his tail, happy for the attention. He began to lick at Jerome’s hands, however, he found that they didn’t taste very good, and so sat down and was content with simply wagging his tail and panting eagerly. Finally Jerome removed the apple from between his teeth and kissed Pip on the nose before rising again.

He rested his hands on his hips stiffly and looked out across the kitchen.

“Now just look at this mess.” He said to himself. “Look at the mess daddy made.” Jerome smiled to Pip. “Daddy will just have to clean this all up, won’t he?”

At the familiar tones, Pip stood again and barked excitedly.

“Does Pip wanna help daddy clean up?” The dog barked again. “Does he wanna help? Does he wanna help daddy?” Pip began to jump up and down with excitement and Jerome smiled. Pip had always been such a good dog, such a good, gentle dog.

At Jerome’s command, the small dog went off to the other side of the kitchen, careful not to step in the large mess. Jerome watched on, hearing the pitter patter of Pip’s little paws across the floor, and the scritch scratch of his claws slipping on the tile here and there.

The dog pawed open the cabinet door and grabbed the handle of a large pail with his teeth. He dragged it out of the cabinet and it landed on the floor with a loud clang.

“Good boy! Good boy! Now bring it over here! Bring the pail to daddy!” Jerome squatted again to the dog’s level and clapped his hands together between his knees to call Pip.

It took a minute or two, but finally Pip came to Jerome, laboriously dragging the pail around the mess with him. “Good boy!” Jerome ruffled the dog’s fur, realized the apple was still in his hand and said, “Here you go, boy, eat up.” The little dog barked excitedly and Jerome dropped the apple to the floor. It landed long enough to thud on the tile floor before Pip snatched it up with a crunch. The dog ran off to a corner to consume his spoils and Jerome took up the bucket and filled it with water from the sink behind him.

Next, Jerome picked out a large sponge from under the sink, a new one. The mess was all over the kitchen, though mostly on the floors.

It was a very large mess.

Jerome began with the higher cabinets, he plunged the sponge into the bucket and filled it with water, then, dripping, he brought it to the stained wooden cabinets. Scrub, scrub, scrub, it came right off. Jerome smiled, he knew the mess would clean up easily if he got to it quickly enough. With a splash the sponge went back into the water and he squeezed out all the filth. Before he knew it, the cabinets were cleaner than ever, now for the floor.

Jerome began scrubbing, but soon found that the sponge just wasn’t big enough, it filled up too quickly with all that mess. He looked over at Pip who was still gnawing at the few remains on the apple core. “Daddy had better get the mop for this mess.”

So he rose and retrieved the mop from the closet. Into the soiled water it went, and then round and round on the kitchen tile, and then back into the water. Suddenly Jerome caught sight of his watch.

“Oh my!” He exclaimed, “I’ll be late for work soon!”

He looked around at the mess, it was starting to turn dark and rust-colored around the edges and he knew he had to get it cleaned up before the rest of it dried.

“Oh well,” He said to Pip, “Daddy will just have to call in sick.” And so he did.

As soon as he hung up the phone he went back to his task. Pip looked on dully from the corner. Jerome felt his gaze and looked over at him. “Well of course daddy feels guilty for staying home when he isn’t really sick, but this mess has just got to be cleaned up.” The dog tilted his head. “Don’t look at daddy like that, it isn’t nice.” Pip laid his head down on his paws. “Oh alright, come help.”

The dog’s ears pricked up and he hurried over to Jerome’s feet. Jerome moved to the other side of the mess and began swirling the mop around to gather up the sticky crimson liquid. “Well come on.” He called over to the dog. “Bring it here.”

Pip, with much difficulty, nosed the bucket of water across the floor to Jerome, who thanked him and continued mopping.

It took nearly an hour, but finally the mess was all gone, and the kitchen was spotless once again.

“There we go, nice and clean.” Jerome smiled down at Pip, who was peeking over the edge of the bucket to see its contents. “Oh just look at you, Pip, I’ve gone and gotten you all dirty.” Pip’s fur was matted down and stained from where Jerome had petted him.

Jerome took Pip and the bucket of dirty water outside to the hose. He dumped out the water at the side of the house and sprayed the hose on the ground there to cover the substance with mud. Pip was happy to sit still while Jerome got him wet with the hose and then scrubbed him down to get him clean. After toweling Pip dry, Jerome smiled at him.

“You know, we did such a good job cleaning up, I think we deserve to go to the park, don’t you?” Pip barked happily and wagged his tail in agreement. Jerome nodded, “Yep, we’ll go right now, I’ll just go get your leash.”

Jerome entered the house again and went to the pantry. He opened the door to see his partner Corey propped up against the shelves. His head was bent back at a grotesque angle, showing openly the large gash across his throat. Corey’s shirt was also stained for the most part from a great hole in his gut; or perhaps many great holes, it was hard to tell.

Jerome reached across him and took Pip’s collar and leash from their respective hooks. He looked at Corey with apathy, but then kissed him lightly on the cheek.

“I’m taking Pip to the park, I’ll be back later this evening.” Corey just stared blankly. “Don’t give me that look.” Jerome backed out of the pantry and took up the cold metal handle of the door, the smoothness of it gave him a chill and he paused. He looked down at his clothes and realized they had been ruined by the mess as well.

Jerome peeked out the back door and called to Pip.

“Daddy has to change quickly, don’t go anywhere.” Pip laid down in the grass and heaved a sigh of impatience.

Jerome jogged up the stairs, Pip’s leash jingling in his hand. Opening the door to his room, he sighed. He had liked those pants. Nevertheless, he had to throw them out, they were unsalvageable. So he took them off, threw them in the garbage bin, and rifled through his dresser for a new pair of trousers. When he found some, he put them on and removed his shirt, which had soaked through. Jerome realized there was mess on his chest. He went to the bathroom and splashed some water there to wash it off. He dared not scrub at it for fear of irritating the bruises. It had been days since he’d earned them, yet they remained, one particularly painful one lay over his heart. “How appropriate.” He muttered to himself at the thought.

He carefully patted himself dry and searched for a clean long-sleeved shirt. Finally he found a light sweater and carefully put it on. Jerome had many short-sleeved shirts, but he had not been able to wear them for quite some time because of the bruises and cuts he often acquired on his forearms and wrists. But soon, soon they would heal forever, and he would wear them again.

Jerome finished carefully pulling his sleeves down over the bruises and looked in the mirror. His black eye, though still tender, was almost healed. He smiled to himself and whispered.

“No more make-up…”

Then he picked up Pip’s collar and leash from the dresser and headed downstairs once again. As he passed the pantry, he saw that he had left the door open. Jerome gazed in one last time and looked Corey up and down. He sucked his teeth.

“Dear, you’re dripping on the peas.”

And with that he shut the door harshly and jogged lightly out back to pick up the dog for their walk in the park.