Unlikely Pairings

Originally Written 5/16/2020

Maybelle had been alone most of her life. Orphaned in the 1920s at an early age, not much opportunity was opened to the poor girl. Her parents had died of scarlet fever when she was only 6 and no relatives came forth to claim her. She ran away and avoided the orphanage but didn’t avoid the downtrodden life she’d be forced to live from that point on. She spent her early childhood years begging for scraps on the streets of the rural town, just outside New York proper. Few saw her and even less stopped to provide anything for the gangly, wire-haired girl with dirt smudges on her face and no shoes. Young enough at that time to be in the care of an au pair, not in the care of the cold streets and scolding of strangers who lived in ivory towers and ignored wretches like her as they passed. 

But she grew on her own. She learned the back ally ways and which streets to avoid. She memorized which houses had the best trash and scraps and which families were willing to give her what little they did. So, for many years young Maybelle lived in near silence. Her voice ached from begging and so she did so with her large brown almond eyes. Her lips grew dry from thirst, so instead, she would bite her lower lip to give the appearance of vulnerability her smile could no longer maintain. The years hardened her. By the time she entered her late 30s, she was a toughened woman with no time for nonsense or people in general. Her heart became jaded by seeing, for years, those with silver spoons in their mouths giving nothing but the drippings from the soup within them to those in need. She had given up on all forms of personal communication or ties long before. But when she met Ralph, things changed.

Ralph was a dog. A rare brown spotted dalmatian to be exact. He had a small case of mange and was skinny as a rail. When he first came upon Maybelle, she ignored him and shooed him away and said with cold reserve,

“If they,” she pointed to the masses of well-dressed people swarming around them “Can ignore me, then I damn sure can ignore a stray.” Before she turned away and looked for her next mark. For the next well-dressed, bleeding heart to stop and stare into her caramel-colored eyes and take pity.

Ralph was not to be ignored, however. He seemed to find her everywhere she went. And though she shooed him every time, he never relented. One day, Maybelle had had enough. She was about to kick him right in his exposed ribs to get the mangy animal away from her for good. As she was about to whip back her leg and force her foot into the animal’s side she caught his eyes with hers. Something softened, seeing those big brown eyes, so much like hers, staring up at her and she just sighed in frustration and closed her eyes. 

Annoyance but pity in her voice, she crouched down beside Ralph and said “Okay… Fine, come here then.” And offered him what little dried meat she scavenged that day.

Ralph wagged his tail and trotted closer without the fear and anger Maybelle carried with her everywhere. Licking the meat from her hand he looked up at her and with an astonished look on her face, he simply said;

“Thank you. Dinners on me next time, doll.” Before he winked and trodded off. Leaving the stunned Maybelle with more questions than anything.