“Exactly.”
“So, is that what you’re looking for?” I ask, referring to the golden retriever.
“A chick to dig me? Aren’t we all.”
“He meant a golden, dumbass.” It’s Fields’ turn to roll his eyes. The more I hang out with the two of them, the more I understand their dynamic. Miller’s a constant jokester and Fields is all serious. The only ones who can pull him out of his shell are Miller and the girls. When he gets going, he’s pretty funny too.
“No need for name calling,” Miller responds to Fields. “I haven’t decided yet.”
“What did you think of the place?” Fields changes the subject.
“I’m not sure, man. What do you think?”
Fields shakes his head. “It’s not my charity, Chase. You have to decide.”
“It just feels like they have enough support. Is that bad to say?” I feel bad admitting it out loud, but it’s true.
“Nope. I get it. A lot of people pick the humane society as an easy place to write a check. They’re the low hanging fruit,” Miller agrees with me.
“That’s what I was thinking. Don’t get me wrong, I loved what they said and all they have going on, but it feels like the easy way out.”
Fields gives a sage nod. “And you want to choose somethingthat makes it seem like you really considered your options and how to make a meaningful impact.”
“Yeah.” I scrub my hand down my face, trying to collect my thoughts. “This feels like a big test, ya know? Like I need to pick the right thing to make up for all the wrongs I committed.”
“Rook, you’ve been making up for it. You’ve hit up the children’s hospital in every city we’ve visited. You stop by the community center whenever we’re in town.”
“You freaking trained with the horse po-po,” Miller offers.
“That was actually fun.” I smile, remembering the training exercises I did with the unit.
“I’ll bet. Take me next time. I wanna play cops and robbers.” We shake our head at Miller as the server drops off our food and we thank them.
“Let me ask you this, does your charity have to be with animals?” Fields asks the question I’ve wondered myself.
“I guess not. Taylor just suggested it because of the nature of my crime.”
“What about a horse rescue?” Miller suggests.
“Honestly, that’s not a bad idea. I haven’t looked into whether or not there’s one around.”
“Could be a good idea.” Fields shrugs as he picks up his sandwich.
“Like, where do police horses retire to?” Miller pops a fry into his mouth.
“Dude, where do you come up with this stuff? What is going on in your brain?” I laugh because I would’ve never thought about that.
“You don’t really want to know that,” Fields grumbles, taking another bite.
“I’m just full of great ideas. Don’t shoot the messenger.”
“I guess I can ask my arresting officer what they do.” They laugh at me. “I already made a donation to the unit. Shouldn’t I choose something different?”
“Like what?” Fields asks.
“Maybe a smaller local rescue that isn’t as supported as the humane society?” I do like the idea of supporting the animals, I’m just not sure how to go about it.
“Or what about a massive pet adoption drive? Bring all the local rescues together, including the humane society, for one event,” Miller says.
