I bought Coco, a Shih Tzu, thirteen years ago from a kid on a ten speed. She was slung over his handlebars in a Wegmans tote bag. She had no papers, no vaccination records, no city license. My family and I suspected she might be stolen. We bought her anyway. The kid insisted on cash. I was forty-eight years old. Coco was my first pet, not counting the school of guppies and mollies my sister and I flushed while growing up. Shih Tzus were bred as lap dogs for Chinese emperors. Since that first day when she was unslung from those handlebars, Coco has lounged around as if my house is her own personal empire.
One thing you should know about Coco is that she only has one eye. She was born with two but lost her left one in a cat fight. It wasnโt much of a fight. A single swipe had her yelping No mas and heading to her corner. I tell people sheโs training for a re-match. But, as Apollo Creed told (and lied to) Rocky Balboa at the end of the original movie, there ainโt going be no re-match. Shih Tzus arenโt fighters. Theyโre much better at napping and rolling over for tummy rubs.
Cocoโs full name was Coco Chanel Rodriguez, the last name of the kid on the ten speed. Supposedly. I was never convinced he gave us his real name. My daughter, twelve at the time, didnโt care for that long, multi-ethnic name. It was a mouthful. She spent an entire weekend trying to rename Coco. Replacement names that were discussed and discarded included Mafia, Meatball, and Ouzo. In the end, she changed her name to Coco Chanel Rodriguez Eoannou. Only โCocoโ fits on her collar tag. As far as we know, sheโs the only Chinese-French-Puerto Rican-Greek Shih Tzu in the neighborhood. I canโt confirm that, however.
Coco has held many jobs since she rolled into our lives dangling from that Schwinn. Besides Empress, Chief Beggar, and Snoozer Extraordinaire, you can also add Editor, First Listener, and now Muse to the list. I write in bed at 5 a.m. with Coco stretched out, usually on her back, somewhere near my feet. I read completed sentences (โNicholas Bishop named the one-eyed dog Jake even though she was female.โ) and critique myself (โOh, thatโs a terrible paragraph, Steve. You shouldโve been a plumber.โ) aloud. I assume her yawns and snores indicate boring, lifeless prose and tail wags and yips as indicators of better writing. The same holds true when I edit in my office. She has a bed (one of three in this house, not counting couches, human beds, and the various cushioned chairs and rugs sheโs claimed as her own) in my office near the space heater. At first, I thought her repeated barking was an expression of approval for a certain plot twist or introduction of a new, nuanced character until I realized she just wanted me to turn on the damn heat.
When I started writing After Pearl, the first in the Nicholas Bishop Mystery Series, Coco added the job title โMuseโ to her resume. That novel opens with my alcoholic detective waking on the floor after a five-day bender to find a one-eyed dog staring at him (โJake seemed like a good name for a pup missing an eyeโ.) She is present throughout After Pearl. In the novel, Bishop drunkenly names her Jake only to realize later sheโs female. He keeps the name anyway. In real life there was never a question about Cocoโs gender, only that continuing question of her legal ownership.
Coco will turn fourteen in January. Sheโs still in relatively good health. Sheโs recently developed a heart murmur and a three-pack-a-day morning cough. Sheโs on meds for both. Iโve noticed sheโs become a bit more demanding, a tad more stubborn in her old age but, quite honestly, so have I. She likes to go to bed earlier now, and I donโt fight her on that. 5 a.m. comes awfully early and these books about an alcoholic detective and his one-eyed female dog name Jake wonโt write themselves.
Stephen G. Eoannou is the author of the award-winning short story collectionย Muscle Carsย and the novelsย After Pearl, Yesteryear, and Rook. He holds an MFA from Queens University of Charlotte and an MA from Miami University. He has been awarded an Honor Certificate from The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and the Best Short Screenplay Award at the 36th Denver Film Festival. His novel,ย Yesteryear,ย was awarded the 2021 International Eyelands Award for Best Historical Novel, The Firebird Book Award for Biographical Fiction, and Shelf Unboundโs Notable Indy Books of 2023. He lives and writes in his hometown of Buffalo, New York, the setting and inspiration for much of his work.
