I tried tucking my greasy, ratty hair neatly behind my ears. It immediately popped back out again. ‘Like I said, it’s been a really busy week.’
It had been the most physically and mentally exhausting week of my life. Worse than the week I moved. Worse than the week Mum decided she had suffered a stroke. Yasmin pulled a face to show what she thought about my busy week.
‘I want to cancel this session so that you can go home and sort yourself out, but there are dogs out there who need my help. I’m very conflicted.’
‘I’ve got sessions straight after this, anyway. I promise I’ll wash my hair this evening.’
Yasmin thought about it for a few seconds. ‘And find some clean clothes?’ She smoothed down her patterned tunic.
‘I presume the flyers you want to make are for dog training?’
‘Yes!’ She sank down into the empty chair, dilemma forgotten. ‘I can’t bear it any longer. Every time I take Mr Howard’s dogs out, I see more animals having to put up with owners who don’t know what they are doing. It should be illegal to buy a dog without taking some sort of examination. You aren’t allowed a car without a licence. A car has no feelings, no brain! Yet anyone can take responsibility for another living creature.’ She groaned, shaking her head in despair. ‘I am doing my best, Ollie, to help these stupid people, but they just aren’t interested! Yesterday, when I told a man at the park that it was his fault his dog knocked over a small child, he was very rude. When I explained that even a bad dog owner like him could easily learn to control his dog, he got more angry. I learnt three new swear words.’
‘You told him he was a bad owner?’
‘I wanted to encourage him, that even he could learn how to do it, no problem.’
‘Yasmin, he probably didn’t appreciate being called bad.’
‘Well, his Yorkshire terrier probably doesn’t appreciate being called Big Dog. Or having an owner who cannot be bothered to learn how to look after him. Now, can you look at my flyer ideas because even thinking about this is making me upset.’
After a quick look at the flyers –Let the Dog Mother train you how to stop being a bad dog owner –I decided that having a look at other dog trainers’ websites would be an excellent way to develop Yasmin’s reading comprehension skills. After the fourth website, it finally clicked that a more positive, supportive approach might work better, and I suggested we take a look at professional dog-training courses to see if there were any she could sign up for.
When Trev arrived, ten minutes early, she was just getting started.
‘Don’t mind me.’ He blushed. ‘I’m happy to keep myself busy until it’s time to switch over.’
Yasmin looked up and gave a brief smile, before reabsorbing herself in the computer screen.
‘I’m going to get a drink. Would anybody else like one? Ollie, you look like you could do with a strong coffee. Yasmin?’
‘I wouldlovea coffee but the machine is still broken,’ Yasmin replied.
‘Oh? I might be able to do something about that. I think I’ve got… yes… here it is.’ Trev rummaged around in his rucksack before taking out a screwdriver. He took off his cap and went over to where the coffee machine still bore a sign declaring that it was out of order. He turned it around, pulled open the moveable compartments and poked about inside before picking it up to inspect the underside.
‘Excuse me, what do you think you’re doing?’ Irene huffed, clomping over. ‘Can’t you read?’
Yasmin’s head snapped up as I sprang to my feet. I hoped that Irene had simply made an insensitive mistake, but then – this was Irene.
‘Not very well, no.’
Irene’s lips twisted in horror as Trev pointed the screwdriver at her to emphasise his point, then turned to prise open the back of the machine.
‘You can’t just come in here and start vandalising library property. Stop it at once!’
Ignoring her, Trev carried on prodding about in the machine while Irene huffed and puffed.
‘I said stop it!’ She turned to me, eyes bulging. ‘Are you going to do something, or will I have to call the police?’
Before I could answer, Trev reclicked the back into place. ‘Not unless you want to offer them a cup of coffee.’ He gave a grin that I think he fully intended to be a tiny bit menacing. ‘Stick the power back on, would you, love?’
Irene gaped at him. Shaking his head, Trev bent under the table, flicked on the socket, pressed the machine’s ‘on’ button and then selected a black coffee, deftly slipping a cup under the spout as the hot liquid started spurting out.
‘It’s broken!’ Irene said, bobbing from one foot to the other. ‘It’s going to start spilling everywhere!’
At a perfect centimetre from the top of the paper cup, the machine gurgled to a stop.
‘Any sugar?’ Trev asked, glancing at Yasmin.
