We held a neighborhood watch meeting and the police officer told us that they had information that three gangs asked new recruits during initiation to do home invasions with the objective to rob and rape. A few weeks later, with my thirteen-month-old son in his high chair, the door bell rang. I immediately go to open the door thinking it is the college student next door who often babysat. As I am opening the door, it is thrust ajar and a large young man with a shaved head pushes past and comes in. I register that his jeans are hanging loosely down, he has a tattoo on his arm, many earrings, a goatee. I hear him say, “I’m going to make you pay.” It’s all a bit blurry, but in the background, with William giggling and banging a rubber spoon on the highchair, I hear a roar. Libby rushes in through the doggy door and lunges at the kid. He runs out to the porch. As I start to close the door, he grabs his penis gangster style and says, “I’ll be back in twenty minutes and make you take this.” As he ran across the yard, he spat out “Bitch!”
Needless to say, Libby, who is so afraid of aggressive men, overcame all her fears to save me. I am so touched by her love and of course knowing how hard it was for her—I can never express my gratitude. Shortly after this incident, and learning that a Meth lab was three houses down, we decided to sell our house and return to Atlanta. Amazingly, Libby became quite the watch dog and now we can’t stop her from barking at anyone who comes into the house. I know I should be stricter with her, but I can’t find it in me.
Now that we are in London, I love how she strides elegantly down the block as sirens blare past. I’m thrilled that she has friends in our communal garden who she runs up to kiss and receive pats from. I’m always stopped by tourists searching for Portobello Road who want to pat her or to know what type of dog she is. Amazingly, she just sits and lets them pat—even the men with hats. She and I have come a long, long way since those early days the week of Valentine’s Day 1997. Clearly, she is the best Valentine’s present I’ve ever had. My goal now is to ensure her last few years ease by with dignity and comfort.
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