Catastrophe in Pittsburgh
Author: Elsa Rose Bryant
Plot bunny: Judy
Justin lay on the sofa in his house, his arm over his face; he was exhausted. He’d been up all night dealing with a prize Burmese who was having difficulty in childbirth. He’d no sooner seen six kittens into the world when he was called into his clinic early for another emergency. Thank gawd, he was moving his practice in with his father’s in a month. It would give him some time to relax, or at least that’s what he was hoping. Meanwhile, the day had been filled with one crisis after another. Justin relaxed and his eyes gradually closed as he slowly drifted off to sleep.
“He’s sleeping,” Mais whispered to his sister. Piercing blue eyes stared intently down at Justin as he crouched on the top of the bookcase.
“I don’t think so, see his arm is moving.” Ese jumped down from her perch on the second shelf from the top landing silently on the thick Persian carpet. Her body was long and sleek, her fur the color of vanilla crème brûlèe, slightly caramelized on the edges. Another silent leap and she teetered on the back of the sofa leaning dangerously low as she peered at Justin. It wasn’t easy for Ese to see the man she and her brother lived with, for her eyes were badly crossed and had a tendency to look onto her nose, rather than straight ahead.
“That arm always twitches,” Mais snorted. “It’s the bad one.” He jumped down from his favorite vantage point and joined his sister in looking at the man who was soundly asleep. “I don’t like all these boxes. What’s he doing putting all of our things in boxes?” He stalked up and down the length of the sofa back, his unusually long tail twitching to show his displeasure.
“I don’t know.” Ese turned and looked at an especially intriguing box that was still open. She launched herself off of the sofa and landed in the box. “Ohhhhh, Mais, this is soft, I’m going to sleep now.”
Mais couldn’t see his sister, but he knew that she was probably curled up into a soft vanilla ball. He sat down and looked from the box to Justin trying to decide if he should abandon his watch over the tired man, or join his sister. Her contented purr decided for him and in one effortless leap, he landed in the box beside her. Ese was right, it was nice and soft, and better yet, it was warm. Mais curled himself around his sister, his body bulkier but still long and lithe. He looked at one chocolate paw and gave it a half-hearted lick before closing his eyes and falling asleep.
Justin had been sleeping fitfully these days. He tossed and turned trying to get comfortable, but the sofa wasn’t meant for comfortable sleep and he continued to be restless until finally he gave up attempting to sleep. He sat up and grimaced. Stretching and rubbing his right arm from the constant ache that never seemed to go away he swore in frustration, “Fucking homophobic assholes,” he muttered the mantra he used often whenever his hand wasn’t acting the way he thought it should.
“Merrrrow,” came a contented sound from the box that held the down-filled duvet from his bed. Justin shook his head and smiled. It figured, he hadn’t closed the box and E and M had discovered a soft bed.
“Don’t worry, you guys can sleep,” Justin said as he stood up.
He look around and saw there wasn’t much in the way of packing left. His life as he knew it was about to change. He wasn’t sure if it was a good idea going back to Pittsburgh to take over his dad’s practice but it was the only thing he could do. His father was getting past running the practice and his mother was driving him nuts wanting him to take over. You’d think he was the only damn vet in the country that specialized in cats. Feline medicine was his life as he’d been raised with a houseful of cats. They came and went as their health improved, and as always one or two would stay until old age took over. Siamese were favorites of Justin’s and the two he rescued from an unscrupulous kitten mill kept him occupied and amused ever since.
It was only natural that after graduating at the top of his class from Cornell University with a degree in veterinary medicine, that Justin would specialize in feline medicine. He glanced over at the box that rumbled with the strong purrs of his two furry companions and wondered what they would do when they arrived at the new house. Siamese didn’t take to change well, they were firm in their beliefs that life should be as they wanted; without change as long as it was a comfortable one. When crossed they could make their displeasure well known in ways that made him want to strangle them. That is until they curled up next to him eyes filled with love and wiggled their way back into his good graces.
Justin was sucker for the two cats and they knew it.
“Brian it’s for Gus; you’d be doing it for Gus.” Lindsay tried her best to look sad and pathetic, two things that Brian couldn’t resist. “He really wants a kitten.”
“Linds, I’ve told you before, cats and I don’t work. We’ve never worked.”
“How do you know, you’ve never owned a cat;” Lindsay replied, sure of this for she’d known Brian a long time.
“I did own a cat, I’ve owned three cats. Every one of them died. I’m bad luck as far as cats are concerned.” Brian turned to his friend; he’d been looking out of the window and watching his son sitting alone on a swing. The boy looked friendless and completely miserable. Mel had been gone for almost six months and he didn’t seem to be snapping out of the depression he’d gone into. “What about a dog; dogs are good.”
“He doesn’t want a dog. He wants a cat and not just any cat; he wants one like the Disney movie cats.”
“And this cat is?” Brian asked.
“He wants a Siamese.”
“NO FUCKING WAY.” Brian looked around helpless as if suddenly a Siamese cat would appear out of no where to jump on him. “They fucking scare me to death. I saw that movie, I had nightmares for weeks.”
“What movie?” Lindsay asked.
“You know the one, it was a Disney movie with these two Siamese cats – they kept singing We are Siamese if you please, We are Siamese if you don’t please. It was fucking unnerving,” Brian shuddered.
Lindsay laughed out loud, “That’s Gus’ favorite part. He loves it. He wants a Siamese like that. I don’t think he understands that they won’t be doing any singing.”
“What about a small dog that looks like a Siamese cat,” Brian suggested. “There must be some kind of dog like that.”
“No dog.” Lindsay walked over to join Brian watching Gus. “I only want to see him smile again Brian. That’s all I want. If he wants a damn Siamese cat or ten Siamese cats that’s what he’s going to get,” Lindsay said ending up sounding slightly hysterical and that’s when Brian knew she was serious.
“I’ll get him a cat.”
“It has to be a Siamese.”
“Fine a Siamese. Where do I buy one?” Brian sighed. He couldn’t believe he was doing this.
“That’s one of the problems. They aren’t easy to come by. You can’t just order one up. You need to find a breeder.”
“How about I take him to the SPCA and we look at cats. If he decides to get one, great, and if not we’ll be looking for a breeder.” He grinned at Lindsay, “Never thought I’d be saying that.” He turned and walked out to the back and sat on the swing on the other side of Gus. “Hey, Sonny Boy,” he said and pushed off so he was swinging gently.
“Hey, Daddy,” Gus looked up at him. “I got a sore throat.”
“Mommy was telling me that,” Brian told him. “What can I do to help make it better?”
“I gots medicine from the doctor. It tastes like ass.” He looked over his shoulder to see if his mother was listening. “That’s not a good taste,” he whispered.
“It depends on whose,” Brian murmured. “Oh, I suppose,” he said out loud. “I was thinking of getting me a cat or two to keep around the loft. I wasn’t really sure if I should pick one out by myself. I’ve never had a cat since I was about your age,” he sighed. “I wish I knew someone who kind of could help me. Maybe I could ask your Uncle Mikey.”
“Uncle Mikey doesn’t know about cats,” Gus said. “I know lots about cats. I know the best kinds.” He hopped off of his swing, urging his father to follow him. “Come on Daddy, I can help you.”
“If you’re sure Gus, then I’ll tell your mommy that we’re going to the SPCA.”
“What’s the SPCA?” Gus asked as he slipped his hand into Brian’s. “Is it a cat store?”
“It’s kind of a cat store I suppose. It’s where cats are taken that nobody wants.”
“Are they bad cats?” Gus asked. “Is it like a cat jail?”
Brian sighed, how did he get into these situations with his son. He should never start conversations that involved anything other than ‘how’s the weather?’. “Why don’t you see for yourself? We’ll let your mom know we’re leaving.” Brian opened the back door to the house and called out, “Hey Linds, Gus and I are going out. Is that okay? We might be about an hour or so.”
“Make sure you take a coat Gus.” Lindsay gave her son a hug. “Brian, be careful with him.”
“I thought I’d let him drive, I suppose that’s out,” Brian laughed. “Time to go, Sonny Boy.” Brian noticed he’d almost got a smile out of Gus with his last quip to Lindsay; things were looking up. Maybe he could get away without having to buy a Siamese cat.
As he searched for the SPCA Brian had to consult his onboard GPS twice much to Gus’ amusement but since he loved the system in his father’s car he wasn’t complaining. Apparently, the SPCA wasn’t located anywhere easily accessible.
Finally, they arrived and Gus held on tightly to Brian’s hand as he stood quietly beside his father while he explained to the man behind the counter what he was looking for. “I’m looking to adopt a kitten.” He turned to Gus. “Isn’t that right Sonny Boy?” he asked.
“Daddy wants two kitties,” Gus declared. “You have to have two Daddy or the kitty would be lonely when you’re at work. Hey, you could get two for Kinnetik.”
“Let’s just check out what they have before we adopt the world,” Brian drawled. Right, like he’d have a bunch of cats around Kinnetik’s high tech furniture, not in his lifetime.
“Daddy, kitty’s can catch mice you know, and rats. Mommy says there are rats at Kinnetik.”
“All the rats are too smart for the average cat,” Brian smirked. He’d have to have a chat with Lindsay.
“The cats are through here.” The young man pointed the way and as he did so he eyed Brian up and down his gaydar pinging away. “We don’t have a lot today. It’s not really the time of year for kittens, of course any time of year is kitten time,” he laughed.
“Just show me the kittens,” Brian glared at him.
“No problem. My name’s Eric by the way.”
“Great.”
“Daddy, look there’s lots and lots of kitties and they’re in jail. Are they bad kitties?” he looked at the man.
“No, we just keep them in cages so they don’t fight and so we can look after them better,” Eric answered.
Gus walked slowly down the aisle, his eyes big and round as he looked at the cats in the cages. He reached the end and then walked back stopping in front of some, sticking his finger in others and stroking the cat inside. Brian watched quietly, letting Gus decide what he was going to do. Finally, he came and stood in front of Brian. “Daddy, I know we were only going to get you two kitties, but I think my mommy needs some kitties too.”
“Really,” Brian replied. “Did you decide on any particular ones?”
“Kind of.” Gus took Brian’s hand pulling him toward two of the cages. “The thing is Daddy; it has to be this way. There’s a little boy kitty and his mommy over here. And another little boy kitty and his mommy right here.” Gus stood in between the two cages. “Little boys are sad when their mommy goes away and never comes back, so you see, we have to take the mommy too.”
“Well, maybe we should just get one family for you and your mommy.” Brian didn’t want a cat and he sure didn’t want two cats. He’d been hoping that Gus would forget about getting one for him and just settle on one for himself. “We could let some other little boy have the other family.”
“Daddy, the little boy kitties are scared in jail. We have to take them home and love them for ever and ever.” He peered into the cage, “Look, he’s smiling.” Brian looked in and was startled to see two pair of very blue eyes looking back at him. “He likes you Daddy and so does his mommy. She has her ears back and she’s laughing.” The mother cat glared at Brian and hissed.
“That’s a Siamese cross that was turned in yesterday. The cat was found with two dead kittens and this one. The kitten is only about three weeks old, so you’d have to take both of them. It’s too young to be separated from the mother.” Eric stood by ever helpful and explained. “The other family you’re looking at...” he paused and bent down to read the tag attached to the cage, “is a little lady that was brought in when her owner died. There wasn’t anyone to take her cat. The kitten was born in here. Kind of unusual though, a cat only having one kitten, they usually have more than one. This one’s a Manx cross, see mom only has tiny bit of a tail, her baby doesn’t even have that. He’s kind of a cute little guy.” Eric opened the cage and handed Gus the little Manx kitten. “See, his eyes aren’t open yet. He’s very, very new.”
The kitten snuggled close to Gus’s neck, nuzzling, its tiny voice soft.
“My mom cat is called Miss Kitty, and my baby kitty is called Zero,” Gus declared. “What are you going to call your kitties Daddy?” The two cats Gus had decided were his were cute, fluffy, and cuddly. The two he’d decided were Brian’s were thin as rails, had tails like whips, pointy chins, and loud yowls, even the young one.
“Uh, I haven’t given it any thought.” Brian looked around helpless. Searching for a way out of this jam.
“I think the mom cat should be called Sophie and her little boy kitty should be Ralph.”
“Why in hell would I want a cat called Sophie and whoever heard of a cat called Ralph?” Brian asked, his voice squeaking in fear that this might actually become a reality.
“Sophie kind of looks like my teacher and that’s her name. And I like Ralph for a name, he looks like a Ralph.” Gus stroked the small head of the cream colored kitten with a smudge of dark color on his nose.
Brian thought of the mean dyke bitch that taught grade one in Gus’ school. He couldn’t stand the bitch. He glared at ‘Sophie’, the cat did kind of look like her; especially her large nose. He looked again, “This cat has a hell of a big nose.”
“Daddy don’t swear, Sophie has a pretty nose, you’ll hurt her feelings.” Gus looked at his father, his eyes filled with concern for the cat that was now squinting her eyes at Brian sizing him up. “Ralphy is reaching to shake a paw.” He grinned at Brian and his father realized he hadn’t seen that look on his son’s face for a long, long time. It was the grin that did it. Brian would put up with a thousand cats if Gus would grin like that every day. He turned away to blink away a tear that threatened to fall.
“Wrap them up Eric; we’re taking the whole bunch.”
Of course, things didn’t go quite that easily. Brian had to fill out endless forms and agree to have the cats and kittens neutered. He also had to fork out a shit load of money. Apparently, that was the easy part. Of course, Gus wanted to go to the pet store. Sophie and Ralphy were in a cardboard carrier on his front seat, and Miss Kitty and Zero in their container in the back seat with Gus.
Reaching the pet store Brian had to find a cart to load the two carriers in and bring everyone inside for Gus to pick out the cat supplies. Twice he had to duck behind things when he saw people he knew. His son was so excited, his eyes danced and he couldn’t stop smiling. As long as Gus smiled, Brian agreed to everything that went into the cart that one of the store employee’s pushed.
First, each cat family had to have a carrier that was much nicer than the one they were in. Gus liked the ones that looked like luggage with wheels and when he saw those, each cat family was immediately put into their new carrier. While Gus wheeled Miss Kitty and Zero behind him, Brian wheeled a snarling and spitting Sophie, and her son Ralphy that wouldn’t stop yowling and sounded remarkably like a human baby with colic. Brian peered into the carrier every now and then sure something was strangling the kitten, but he just stared back and yowled.
“Shut the fuck up Ralphy,” Brian hissed the last time he checked.
“Daddy, look, we need to get this.” Brian stood up straight and looked at where Gus was standing. “It’s the way neatest thing in the whole world.” He was standing in front of a multistoried series of cat platforms and small houses that had to reach more than twelve feet in the air. If that wasn’t bad enough, the monster cat tower was covered in lime green shag carpet.
“It’s kind of big Gus. I don’t think it would fit in your house. You only have eight foot ceilings and this thing has to be twelve feet tall.” Brian wondered who in their right mind would build something like this.
“No, Daddy that’s for your house. This one is for me and mommy’s house.” Gus pointed out to a rather nice looking cat tower, six feet high and covered in a tasteful beige carpet with its post wrapped in rope. “You get the pretty one. It’s the only one like it and the man said we could get it for half-price ‘cause it’s a monst, monst, trocity or something. Isn’t that cool?” he beamed at his father.
“Uh, it’s too big to get in the car.” Brian winced when he looked at it. “I want to have room for yours.”
“That’s okay; the man said he’d deliver it. He said he’d deliver it tonight. That’s so awesome.” Gus bent down to talk to his cat family. “Do you like it Miss Kitty?”
Brian’s mind raced as he tried to come up with a reason why he couldn’t have the fugly, giant, green thing in his loft. Damned if he could come up with a reason that would pass Gus’ scrutiny. He sighed, resigning himself to finding someone to install the thing so it wouldn’t fall over and kill someone. “How long does the average cat live?” he asked the kid who was helping them gather up the amazing amount of crap that apparently a cat needed to survive.
“Oh, some cats can live twenty years. It helps if they’re indoor cats and treated well. I mean it’s not like anything can happen to them in a house. All they do is eat and sleep. Think of it as having a mobile decoration that purrs,” the kid grinned at Brian. He’d seen the two that were going to live with this guy. Good luck to him, the big one was damn mean, the kid laughed to himself.
Two thousand dollars later, everyone was once again in Brian’s BMW. Gus’ cat tree was sticking out of the open sunroof much to his son’s delight. The thing was amazingly heavy and had taken two of the store clerk’s to put it in the car. Brian had no idea how he was going to get it out and into Lindsay’s house. Gus sat in the back once again crooning to his two new friends. Brian looked over at his over priced cat carrier only to have Sophie hiss at him. Brian hissed back. It was going to be a long twenty years.
Justin sat back and observed his new space. Ese and Mais prowled around sniffing and investigating every inch of the open loft. It was unusual and it had taken a lot of argument, but Justin had convinced his parents that he’d be perfectly fine living in the commercial space over the veterinary clinic.
As soon as he’d seen it, he’d known it was for him. For not only was he close to work, but the whole upper floor was wall-to-wall windows. The light was amazing and he would be able to paint everywhere. It was three thousand square feet of empty space when Justin had first seen it. But now, with the help of a number of friends of his father’s and by dipping into his money that he made from the sale of his paintings, Justin now had a loft space that would be the envy of many.
He had three bedrooms, one of which he was going to use as an office and den. Two full bathrooms, a modern and efficient kitchen, a studio, and of course, a large living room area completed his home. The bonus and what had convinced Justin that the place was perfect was the wrap around garden patio. The entire building had been built in the day when someone had decided it would be beneficial for those working in enclosed offices to have somewhere green and airy to go on their breaks. It looked great and was even better for Justin and the cats. It had taken some planning on the architect’s part but the woman had managed to enclose the area and yet still make it seem like it was open to the world and still not lose the light inside that Justin craved.
Justin was pleased with his investment. He’d purchased the building two years before. His father had rented the space for almost twenty years but had never thought of buying it himself. When the tenants on the upper floor had moved one-by-one, Justin had never replaced them. It was great and it was his. He grinned to himself; life was good.
Why is he sitting on the floor?” Ese asked Mais. “It’s hard and smells funny.”
“I don’t know but he does stuff like that.” Mais ran after a beam of light that showed specks of dust floating in the air. “Look I’m dancing.” The cat pirouetted swatting at the dust.
“You’re going to get dirty.” Ese stalked off ignoring her friend. “I don’t like this place. It smells like daddy’s work. I can smell bad things.”
“But not up here. I can smell wood, and lots of men, and two ladies, and I can see lots of birds, and the sun is warm and I’m happy, happy, happy.” Mais continued to play in the warm sun.
“Fool,” Ese said. She pounced on her friend biting his ear so hard that the crunch could be heard by Justin, followed by an outraged howl. The chase was on and the two cats streaked around and around the open space, in and out of rooms.
Justin watched his cats have an attack of the cat crazies. He loved watching the two of them because they relaxed him and amused him. He sighed, maybe now that life was somewhat settling down he’d find himself someone to share his life with. Between school and later on his practice, he’d barely had time to paint let alone go out and do anything remotely interesting.
Standing up, Justin looked at his two friends. “I’m going down to the clinic. I’m sure you won’t want to go, but if you do, you know how to get there.” He always talked to the two cats as if they understood him. There were times when he was sure that they could. The two cats looked at him as if he was crazy to even suggest that they go to the clinic. The jumped up on the kitchen counter and then to the top of the cabinets. Ese yowled and Mais began washing the base of his tail. Justin laughed, he could read cat language; they didn’t want to go.
He laughed and headed out the door that led directly down to his clinic. Inside access was good, but he liked the fact that in the lobby of his little building there was an elevator that could take him to the second floor. He’d had it changed to a keyed elevator that only he could use it and he made sure he could release the mechanism from upstairs if he ever had any visitors. Since that was unlikely to happen, Justin wasn’t worried.
In the lobby of the building besides the elevator door, there were double glass doors to the clinic where all animals were received and treated as well as another set on the other side to the feline treatment center. It was the second set of doors where Justin was headed.
His father had decided to stay and continue to head the Taylor Veterinary Clinic with the help of two other vets and Justin would oversee that operation as well as the TVC Feline division. He wanted to look in on the cats and kittens that were for one reason or another staying overnight.
“Hey, Molly how are my kitties doing?” Justin asked his sister. She was working a shift on his side today, even though she usually worked as the receptionist for his father’s side of the building.
“Not bad, Aaron is staying away from the others, but I think he’s just sulking. His owner will be picking him up later today.”
Cats in recovery were the only ones Justin had in individual cages. Once they were up and able to get around on their own, they were put into the general population cage, which wasn’t a cage at all, but rather a large room filled with perches and runs, cat toys of every description, lots of soft fleece covered pillows and window ledges to sit on and trees to climb. The potted plants were actually grasses and catnip and a large screen TV played a video of birds and fishes depending on the time of day. Occasionally, there would be a bad tempered cat who resented the presence of others, but they soon got with the program and enjoyed their home away from home.
“Mrs. Birch watched her Tommy play for almost an hour before she took him home. I think she wanted to get her monies worth,” Molly laughed as she noticed her brother getting ready to check out the cats. Justin’s vet fees were considerable but he also did volunteer work at the SPCA so he felt justified in having his wealthier patients pay to offset that.
“Great, I want to check on my post-ops, then I’ll play with the kitties for a few minutes.”
“Isn’t this supposed to be your day off?” Molly asked. “I mean you’re moving in officially today.” Her brother was worse than her father for never taking time off.
“Yes, it’s my day off, but a day off means you can do some of the things you want to do and never have time for. I want to play with the kitties.” Justin grinned at her and held out his sketchbook. “Besides, I’m going to do some sketching.”
“Like we need another damn cat picture,” Molly’s voice was droll. She looked around at the walls of the clinic; Justin’s pictures were everywhere. She had to admit that they were pretty amazing pictures and they did change as they were sold and replaced by yet another cat picture, but still, he needed to find himself another subject to sketch.
“To change the subject, how are the appointments doing today? Is Doctor Evans working out okay?” he asked referring to his newest resident.
“She’s doing fine Justin, give her a chance.” Molly shook her head. It had been all she could do just to make Justin hire a resident vet. He liked to do everything himself. “We have one more appointment, but it’s for four cats; two adults and two kittens. A Mr. Kinney and his son adopted the Siamese cross and the Manx from the shelter. Eric called and made the appointment for them. Seems Mr. Kinney doesn’t trust the vet certificate he got at the shelter and wants them all checked out before he and the kid take them home.”
“At least he cares, that’s more than some,” Justin shrugged. “Maybe I should stay and help after all, four examinations is going to take time.”
“Day off remember?” Molly laughed. “Go play with your kitties. If the good Dr. Evans can’t handle Mr. Kinney and his new kitties then I’ll call you.”
“Later, Molly,” Justin said and headed for the recovery area. He had operated on three cats the day before and while his staff was certainly more than competent, he liked to keep his eye on them too. A half-hour later, Justin washed his hands and headed to the playroom. This was the nicest part of his day and no matter how busy he was, he always took time to visit his kitties as he liked to call the every changing population of the playroom. A quick glance at the clock told him that he had an hour to spend with them before the moving truck was due to arrive.
Brian and Gus entered the clinic, each pulling their own cat carrier followed the receptionist down the hall to an examining room. A full-length window in the hallway wall showed a room filled with strangely shaped cat trees in bright colors. “What’s that?” Brian asked the blond haired receptionist.
“That’s our kitty playroom.”
“Look, Daddy there’s lots and lots of trees like we have.” Gus pointed out the obvious. “That’s a funny man; he’s gots cats on him.”
Brian turned to look in the direction his son indicated and lying on the floor, his blond head on a rainbow hued fleece pillow, was a strikingly handsome young man. He had two cats on his belly, one cat on his leg and another with its chin resting on his shoulder. They appeared to be all sleeping. “Interesting,” he said and smiled.
“That’s Justin, my brother; he’s kind of crazy about cats,” Molly said and shrugged. “Dr. Evans will be with shortly.” She opened a door across from the window. “If you don’t mind, keep your cats in their carriers until Dr. Evans gets them out. It’ll make things easier for her. There’s kind of a lot of them for her to see all at once.”
“No kidding.” Brian looked at the carriers slightly mystified as to how this had happened to him. Gus trundled his charges inside and sat down on the floor so that he could talk to the cats. Brian placed his carrier beside Gus’ and then turned back to the door. The blond on the floor was far more interesting than the sterile environment of a veterinary examination room. He couldn’t help but notice how the young man inside looked serenely peaceful as he stroked each cat in turn, his eyes closed, communing silently with the sleeping felines.
“Brian I can’t believe you did this.” Lindsay stood in the middle of her living room looking at the disarray. There were bags and boxes everywhere not to mention a six foot cat tree. “Two cats, well a mother and her baby, and enough stuff for ten cats,” she shook her head and laughed. “I can’t say I’m too surprised but really...”Lindsay started to cry as the sound of Gus’ laughter filled the air. He was stroking the mother cat in her bed and the kitten was climbing on his hand. “Thank you Brian,” she said as she wiped her eyes. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“Look, I’ve got to go.” Brian looked toward his car that still held his own pile of cats and things. “Something’s come up.” He didn’t want Lindsay to know about Sophie and Ralph until she had to; it was far too embarrassing.
“Stay for awhile Brian.” Lindsay looked at her happy son. “Please.”
“Sorry, I’m expecting a delivery in an hour.” The fucking monstrosity cat tree was due to arrive.
“Then come to dinner on Saturday.”
“I’ll see.” Brian leaned down and kissed Lindsay’s cheek. “I’m going home now Sonny Boy.”
Gus ran over to his father. “Kiss, Daddy,” he said and Brian bent down to give his son a kiss and get one in return. “Thank you, Daddy for my kitties. Can they come and play with yours some day.”
“Maybe when Zero is a bit bigger. I don’t think he’s up to traveling around the city right now. He’s just a little baby.” Brian kissed his son again. “Later.”
“Later, Daddy.” Gus ran back to his station beside his new best friends as Brian watched his son settle back with the two cats. He had to admit the cats were a good choice and the fact that they made Gus happy was even better. On the other hand what he was going to do with the ones waiting in his BMW was a whole other thing.
His cell phone rang as he climbed into the car. “Hey Mikey.”
“Brian, I need to come over and talk to you about something.”
“Not today Mikey, I’m busy.”
“It won’t take too long,” Michael sighed. “It’s about Hunter. I need some advice.”
“Ask the good professor, not me.”
“I can’t, he wouldn’t understand, but you would.” Michael was being cryptic as usual.
“Fine, I’m on my way to the loft. You can help me carry some stuff up from my car.”
“What stuff?”
“Just meet me in front of my building,” Brian ordered and snapped his phone shut.
“Merrrrrrrrrowwwwwwww,” came the plaintive cry from inside the leather carrier on the seat beside him.
“I completely agree Mrs. Sophie Cat. But it seems we’re stuck with each other until Gus’ penchant for cats disappears. I suppose we might as well make the best of it.” Brian’s hand patted his jacket for a cigarette and then he remembered that Gus had insisted he stop smoking. It was amazing what he found himself doing for his son.
Brian pulled up in front of his building and his friend Michael Novotny pulled into the parking space behind him followed by the delivery truck from the pet store. “This day just keeps getting better and better,” Brian mumbled. “Hey Mikey, want to give me a hand here?”
“Sure Bri, what’s that?” Michael jumped back when the carrier on Brian’s passenger seat yowled.
“My new roomies. Here take this shit. I have to talk to the guys in the truck. I’ll bring the carrier.” He handed Michael two giant bags filled with cat supplies. By the time they had the contents of the car loaded in the elevator and up to Brian’s loft, they could hear the movers struggling up the stairs. Brian unlocked the door to the loft. He and Michael hefted the bags inside as he pulled the carrier. “We need to get some stuff set up before I let the cat out of the bag.”
Michael giggled, “I still can’t believe you got a cat. Especially, since you had such rotten luck with the last one you had.”
“That was years ago and this is now. Who knows, maybe my luck has changed,” Brian shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Gus wanted me to have these guys, so I have them. I’ll deal with it.”
Michael was about to reply when the delivery men rounded the corner with the green shag carpeted cat tree. “Holy fuck, what’s that?” Michael asked his eyes bugging out. “Did ma pick it out for you?” he asked before collapsing in giggles.
The delivery men set it on the floor just inside the door and then turned to leave. “Hey, it can’t stay there,” Brian called.
“Sorry buddy, our job is to deliver it, not to move it around until it suits your ‘décor’,” the last word was said with the guy limply waving his wrist. “I’m sure you and your little friend here can deal with it,” He shut the door as he and his helper started to laugh.
Brian glared at the door and then at the giant cat tree. “Help me move this thing Mikey.” They tried to pick it up but it wouldn’t move. “Fuck, this thing must weigh a thousand pounds.”
“I doubt it, but it’s damn heavy.” Michael struggled to lift his end and only succeeded in getting it half an inch off of the floor. “Let’s just slide it in place.” He shoved and immediately they could hear the tell tale sound of the hardwood being scratched. “Oops, I guess we shouldn’t do that.”
“No Mikey, we shouldn’t. Leave it where it is. I’ll get the super to move it.” He looked around his loft. “Where in hell should I put these cats?”
“I don’t know.” Michael looked around, “I guess you could set up the litter box in the bathroom. I mean you don’t want it out here.”
“I don’t want it in the bathroom either.” Brian looked again, “Okay, set it up in the bathroom, but put it in the corner.”
“Why do I have to do it?” Michael whined.
“Because I’m setting up the bed.” He put together the soft fleece covered bed and slid it into a dark corner of his bedroom. It wasn’t the best choice, but he knew that a mother cat with a kitten wouldn’t want to be out in the open.
“Well, when can we have the grand unveiling.” Michael came into the living room and threw himself down on the sofa. “I can’t wait to see what kind of pedigreed cat you bought. I bet it‘s something exotic; something expensive and exotic.”
“Well the expensive part is right. And I guarantee there won’t be another cat quite like Mrs. Sophie Cat and her son Ralph.”
“That’s their names?” Michael giggled. “Gus must have named them.”
“That he did.” Brian put the cat carrier on the sofa and opened the lid and unzipped the sides. “There you go Mrs. Sophie Cat, check out your new home; you too Ralph.”
Two pairs of blue eyes regarded Brian. The smaller cat, Ralph, tottered on uncertain kitten paws toward Brian and curled up beside his thigh, his purr loud in the loft. The mother cat stood up and stretched, her back arched in a Halloween cat look. Her blue eyes looked at Brian with lofty distain as she also kept watch on her new owner; her long thin whip like tail erect, the tip twitching. She looked from her kitten to Brian and then over to Michael. The two men watched her as she sized up the situation. And then without seeming to even tense her muscles, she leapt from the sofa to the bookcase against the wall.
“Shit did you see that?” Michael said in awe. “That was amazing.” He watched the cat as she began her inspection of her new home. “But Brian, what is she other than damn ugly. Is she supposed to be that skinny... I think I see her ribs? How come the kittens ears look like bat ears? And did you notice she has blue eyes, cats are supposed to have green eyes or yellow eyes.”
“Mikey, leave it alone. I know they aren’t the best looking cats. Gus likes them. These two are Siamese cross, whatever the fuck that means. All I know is that I now have them living in the loft.”
“But you have to admit it’s kind of funny you getting two cats and having them be Siamese. Fuck, I remember that stupid Disney movie we saw. You were scared shitless of those two cartoon cats.”
“I was not. That was you,” Brian lied. “Besides, we were drinking some of Deb’s homemade hooch; it probably had some kind of mind altering drug in it.”
“No way, it was you. I remember it well. You made me promise never to tell anyone. We even swore a blood oath. See I still have the scar on my finger.” Michael held out his fingertip for his friend to look at. Brian ignored him and got up from the sofa, no before he carefully moved the kitten to the back of the seat so he wouldn’t fall off.
“Where did the damn cat go?” he asked, looking around. The mother cat had managed to lose herself in the loft. A yowl answered his query. He looked around, finally looking up. The cat was walking along the metal support beams near the ceiling of his loft. “How the fuck did you get up there?” Brian asked. His eyes followed her as she walked from beam to beam, sniffing and searching for what he didn’t know until finally she headed back toward him. He and Michael watched her jump down a couple of feet to land on the top of the cat tree by the door and then hop down level by level until she was on the ground.
Justin put the final touches to his apartment. Ese and Mais had followed him through every step of his decorating, offering what help they could. He finally had shut them into one of the spare bedrooms not being able to take anymore of their help. From that point on he’d hung pictures and unpacked boxes serenaded by the two indignant Siamese.
He called for a pizza and released his housemates. “Sorry guys, but I had to finish and you weren’t helping.”
“What’s he talking about? I was helping.” Ese stared down her nose, her eyes crossing worse than usual.
“No you weren’t,” Mais answered her and jumped up onto their favorite perch which had finally appeared. It was the bookcase from their old house. “I think I saw a mouse.”
“There isn’t any mouse,” Ese huffed. “I’m hungry, I want tuna.” She swatted two pens off the side table and onto the floor. Mais jumped down to join her in a lively game of hide the pen. It was one of their favorite games but for some reason, their daddy didn’t like the game.
“Would you guys stop doing that?” Justin got on his hands and knees to fish his pens out from under the sofa.
“Nice look.”
Justin turned quickly at the sound of the voice and bumped his head on the side table. “Daphne, how did you get in here?” He jumped up and the two friends hugged. “I can’t believe you’re really here.”
“I’m here,” Daphne laughed. “And better yet I come bearing food.” She showed him the pizza box. “Your dad let me in. He was checking on a dog. I think he figures you and I have something going.” She bent down and scratched each cat behind the ears. “Hey guys, you keeping your daddy busy?”. “Don’t you ever feed them, they’re scrawny.”
“You say that every damn time you see them,” Justin laughed. He found his freshly washed plates and began to dish out the pizza. “How long are you staying in Pittsburgh for this visit?”
“For a year or so, maybe longer. I’m not sure.” Daphne grabbed a plate and sat on the sofa. “I took a job at Kinnetik, I have a year‘s contract, but it’s renewable.”
“What’s Kinnetik?” Justin asked, his mouth full of pizza. “Some kind of law office?”
“No, it’s an advertising firm. I’m working in the legal department,” she grinned at him. “And baby is the owner of the company one hot looking guy. He’s tall, dark and handsome as they say and the best part is, he’s single and rich.”
“What’s wrong with him?” Justin asked. “A closet full of ex-wives, likes to dress in women’s clothes, slurps his soup? There has to be something if he’s still single.”
“You’re still single.” She stuck out her tongue. “What’s your problem?”
“Let’s see... I’m gay, I work twenty-five out of every twenty four hours, I’ve been in school and working at the same time, my children won’t accept just any guy.” He nodded toward the two cats that were sitting on the coffee table watching each mouthful of pizza that Daphne and Justin were eating. “Maybe if Mr. tall, dark and handsome is gay then send him my way... if he is.”
“No problem, I’ll have him call for an appointment,” she laughed. “Give him a two o’clock between the neutering of a Persian and the gall bladder removal of a Burmese. Do Burmese cats have gall bladders?” she laughed as she watched Ese hook a piece of pepperoni off of a slice of pizza, her coordination perfectly dainty.