I cleared the opening to our little den, caught a glimpse of her rounding the corner of a building and went after her. I saw her up ahead rolling in the grass, reaching out with all four legs and yowling louder. To my astonishment, ringed around her was at least six toms, all licking their lips and carrying their tails high like sticks in a breeze. I could almost hear them purr from where I stopped and sat down. How did they get there so fast?
You’re about to have your ass whipped, I thought. I knew I’d have to fight every one of them unless I could get them to fight each other and eliminate some rivals. That’s what I planned as I walked over to Adele.
They were street amai, lean, hard and scruffy like me. Two were gigantic tabbies with faces like gouged wet mud. One was a black shorthair like me but with enormous yellow eyes and dull, murky faraawi that showed miles of scars. I knew he was the one I’d have to take care of if I wanted Adele. He sat with a bored expression on his face, calm and together.
The others were ordinary, except for a filthy white who could be deaf and who kept twitching his head and frowning like he didn’t know what to do or where he was. They were ogling Adele in her torment when I got over to them.
“Who’s gonna be first?” I asked.
“Not you,” one shouted. The black smiled and watched me carefully. He knew what I knew.
“Come on. Get going here or we’ll all lose out. She’s askin’ for it and we’re just standing around gawkin’. Hey, you, big tab.” Both tabbies turned to me while the others turned to them. I could see Adele was getting beyond frantic, which meant she might not struggle.
“Yeah, you, the one whose face looks like kilaab khara.” Everyone snickered except the tabbies and the black, who still smiled and glared at me. “Wanna fight?” I returned his smile. I knew if I took him out, it might discourage some of the others.
“Hey, why not?” one of the tabbies said. The black watched the tabby move toward me, and he chuckled.
“I wasn’t talkin’ to you, Tabby. I meant the black.”
“Don’t hurt him, Tab. He’s mine after you,” the black said, snickering. His voice was deep and dark like his faraawi. It occurred to me that since I was black, too, our fight would look like a rolling tar ball. I thought it was funny.
The tabby sprang. I jumped straight up like a kith, came down on his back, whirled around and gave him a vicious bite in the back of his neck. He rolled over on me and I grabbed his face like I’d seen Adele do to Raeed and bit as hard as I could. I heard a pop. I let him go and blood was pouring out his nose. He turned and ran up the hill and disappeared over the hill.
“Next.” I sprang up like a kith after a butterfly.
Whitey was gone, and the other big tabby melted into the bushes while all the other toms had backed off to the top of the ridge and sat like teir on a wire. They knew what was coming. I looked at Adele laying there grunting, a distant look in her eyes.
The black sat quietly licking a paw and flexing his claws. He mocked me with a sideways glare. “Can I be next, pretty please?” He sniggered while he flexed his claws.
I smiled back. A rock sat in the pit of my stomach because I knew he could end my life. Before Mutt died, I tested my fighting skills against a few amai who turned out to be pushovers who couldn’t have whipped a crippled piss ant. This black had scars like Mutt’s, so he was seasoned. I had to kill him or be killed.
“Okay.” I smiled wide and cheery and took a stance with my rear in the air, my tail swatting and all my claws bared. I hissed like I had for Mutt, but the black just sat and studied me, frowning. “What are you doing?”
He surprised me, so I relaxed and sat down.
A black flash is all I remember of his attack. He went right for my throat, and I dropped my chin and did a forward roll between his legs. He whirled around and sprang for my back just as I flipped over and sank my teeth as hard as possible into his leg. I pulled and wrenched until I got a plug of his flesh. He screamed but was able to slap blood from my nose and mouth. I spit the hunk of meat and leaped for his throat when he screamed again. Blood squirted into my mouth, and I knew he was finished, except that in his death convulsions he could still latch on and kill me, too. I clamped down for all I was worth, and finally, I felt him relax. I released him. He looked at me and gave a faint smile. “You’re really good,” he murmured as his eyes dimmed and became lifeless.
I was sorry I had to kill him because I think he was a good amait. We might have made friends. But he was the only one of the clowder around Adele that I knew could do me in. The others were good seconds and thirds if Adele chose, but I felt I had to be first. I was also amazed that I had taken him without getting torn up. Maybe I was that good.
“There you go again. Braggin’,” Chubby said.
“Sorry.”
~ ~ ~ ~
The amai like a row of teir sat on the ridge, watching. I mounted Adele and she began to squeal and purr. It was over quick, but when I withdrew, she screamed and turned on me, hissing, growling and punching. I ran away, and she followed until she dropped and began moaning again. Scared the khara outta me, Chubby. I was totally blown away.
She gave in to a couple more, and then whapped the others silly when they tried. She cleaned herself after each time before she let another one mount her, and if they got restless before she finished cleaning herself and started for her, she whapped them, too. When it was over, she came to me.
“You’re dangerous. I’ve never seen anyone like you, Gaylord.”
I just looked at her and grinned. I was burnt from fighting and flopped down. Adele joined me. It was after Time of Owls when we woke up and went back to our den.
Chapter 16
Some people say that cats are sneaky, evil, and cruel. True, and they have many other fine qualities as well. Missy Dizick
“As you know, Chubby, amai have been hangin’ around with bašar for a long time. ’Course, we’re the ones that get the good from it, right? And, they don’t know that. They think we’re just so sweet and cute and warm and cuddly. They think we need them for everything, and we give them a few purrs, we scent mark them, which they think is showing love, we sprawl on their laps, we let them pet us and we show how happy we are to eat that stuff they call food.
“But, a few of them are savvy and know we’re taking advantage in every way and keeping most things for ourselves. Belly rubs are a good example of how we use them. We roll over and let them rub our bellies because it feels good and it makes them feel they’re in charge. But, when it gets us drowsy, we nip them and run off, and some of them get wise to us. They figure out that they aren’t in change and that we use them any way we want to. They’re the ones that often throw us out or run us off because they can’t take it that we’re smarter. The good news is, most bašar don’t know we’re smarter and just keep on giving like the softies they are.
“I don’t have to tell you, Chubby, we can take care of ourselves, even if we have to learn it the hard way like I did. It’s a well-known fact that we can grab comfort in devious ways and be proud of it. We deserve it. We’re former gods after all, and probably still are, somewhere.”
“Youth,” Chubby said and yawned. “Ah, to be young and empty headed again.” He smiled and looked at me. “When I was your age, I thought the same thing. I ran around with that empty head for a long time, but as I got older and old, as I am now, I found a little sense and changed. Gaylord, bašar are alive like we are. They are what they are, just as we are what we are. Respect them Gaylord. They’ve been our friends and enemies forever, but they’re a part of life. Respect that, okay. I just sayin’.”
“What about kalb? They’re part of life, yes?”
He looked at me for a long time. “Well, I don’t know.” He was silent again. Then he said, “I’d have to say, yes. There are kilaab that kill us for no good reason, mean, nasty kilaab who need to be stopped, killed even. But, they are alive, a part of life. In my years I’ve learned to respect everything that’s alive
, and I’ve learned, too, that there are good kalb. I know you don’t believe that, but there are, somewhere. Maybe I’m just a stupid old amait.” He smiled again and looked away.
“You take the fun outta everything, Chubby, but when I’m you’re age, I’ll think about it.”
“Like I said, youth.”
~ ~ ~ ~
So, when we had more cold days than warm, I took a very knocked up Adele to the seminary. It hit me that I wasn’t sure if Ned and Harriet were still around, but I wasn’t worried. We’d find a bašar or two who’d take us in. I would blow them away with my charm, and they would be in my control.
“Okay, I’m conceited but most amai are.”
“I can see modesty is one of your great virtues,” Adele said after I’d laid my plan on her.
“Oh, yeah. Definitely.” I straightened my tail like a tower and pranced on. “Tails up, Adele. They think we’re happy that way.”
“Yup. I remember.” She thrust her tail high and followed.
“Like a smart housie, I listened to them talk when I was locked up.” I stopped and waited for her. “See, Adele, they don’t know we can understand them, understand their language. And, how is it we can understand their language? Because we’ve had to for however long we’ve let them take care of us, and let them believe they’re in charge. So if you’re quiet and listen, you learn a lot of stuff. Anyway, I know what I can do in the streets, and when it gets cold and the snow flies, I like to be fed and pampered and kept warm even if the food ain’t all that good.”
“Gaylord, I know all that khara. I’ve been around. You’re not the only one with brains, even if they are kith brains.” She laughed. “You know I’m having fun with you, right?”
“Yeah, I know.”
“But, you said it was a prison.”
“Yeah, but I learned how to get out.” I turned around and went on.
“Being warm is nice.”
Her belly looked like it had doorknobs in it and sometimes they moved. I mean there was no doubt she was loaded. Would Harriet and Ned turn us away? Nah. I figured if we played cute, we could get in.
“Remember to purr a lot and loud. They like that. And rub on them. Wrap your tail around their legs and scent-mark them as much as possible. Soft suckers’ll melt right away. Even the hard cases will fall if you keep it up.
“Hey, don’t get me wrong. I respect them because they’re big and strong and really smart, but they’re soft hearted. Most of them, that is.”
“Will you shut up, Gaylord! Remember, I was a housie once. I know the drill.”
Dodging cars and crossing open grassy fields, we were soon at the seminary. I recognized the apartment building, dark brick with all the apartments facing the street. Steps led up to each door that all looked the same.
Which one do I want, I thought as we huddled in some bushes. Early Season of Emergence can be a very cold time, as you know, because we’re still used to warm weather and our faraawi hasn’t grown in. An icy wind blew across us there in the bushes, telling us to get inside somewhere warm as soon as possible. I drew Adele closer to me.
“They’ll be coming out soon.” I said.
“Will they recognize you?”
“I think so. I hope so.”
A door opened and a kid walked out, bundled to his eyeballs, crossed to the sidewalk, and went up the street away from us.
“Ours?” Adele asked. I felt her shiver against me.
“No. But I think it was the kid next door who made a lot of noise all the time.”
Another door opened, and sure enough it was Harriet. “Wait here,” I whispered to Adele and trotted off toward Harriet.
I liked Harriet. She was kind and was a first class sucker for anything I asked for. Rolling over caused her to reach down and scratch my belly every time, and if I wanted some extra food, a chirp and a rub always worked.
Ned could be annoying and was harder to train because he was distracted most of the time with whatever he did. And, he wasn’t home a lot so I could work on him.
Harriet was bundled against the cold, too. As she walked toward the street, I crossed her path and deftly wound between her legs, almost tripping her. She stopped and looked down. “Gaylord! Gaylord, where have you been?” She scooped me up and cuddled me to her face. Her breath smelled of coffee. “I thought you were dead. Why did you run away?”
I wanted to tell her why, but she didn’t understand our language. So, I purred as loud as I could, nuzzled her cheek and tried to show her why I came back. I thought maybe she’d get the drift that I wanted inside.
“You are a rascal.” She laughed, spun around and started toward the door.
I gave out a whiny meow of protest and struggled hard to get down. I ran to where Adele hunkered in the bush, looked back at Harriet and let go with a piercing distress meow. “Owr! Owr! Owr!” Next I gave out a regular meow, all the time staring right at Harriet; you know, Chubby, so she’d think I understood her.
“What is it?” Harriet asked when she came to me.
I jumped in the bush and said to Adele, “Come on out. She’s delighted to see me.”
Adele came out and offered the sweetest queenie meow I’d ever heard. She pushed her head into Harriett’s extended hand, rubbing, purring and scent marking with the side of her mouth.
“You’re a natural,” I murmured. Adele heard me and poured it on more. Harriet didn’t have a chance.
“So, is this your lady, Gaylord?”
I meowed and joined Adele in rubbing and purring. Harriet gathered us in her arms and whisked us inside the apartment. I sniffed the air and knew right away that we were the only amai there. I struggled to get down. I feared the worst. Where was my sister, Lamis? No litter box stink, and only a faint, stale amait odor. I ran to the living room, then to the kitchen. No one. Harriet put Adele down, and she ran to me.
“My sister’s gone.”
“Oh, Gaylord, I’m so sorry.” She licked my cheek several times.
“How sweet,” Harriet said. “You guys must love each other a lot.” She went to the kitchen, got two bowls, filled them with milk and sat them by the stove. “I gotta go. I’ll pick up some cat food on the way back. You guys enjoy the milk and sleep. Okay? I’ll be back around five. Ned’ll be here late this evening. He’s in change of evening prayer. Take care.” She opened the door and turned to us. “Glad you’re home, Gaylord. We’ll decide what to do with your lady when I get back.”
I recoiled. Decide what to do with Adele? You keep Adele here with me, if you want to keep me.
Adele looked at me. “I don’t like what she said.”
“Neither do I. We gotta think and plan. And I want to know what happened to Lamis.”
“Take it easy. Let’s eat first.”
“I’m not very hungry. Besides, I hate milk.”
“What? I love it and don’t ever find it on the street. What do you mean you hate milk?”
“Gives me the galloping khara.”
She dropped to the floor laughing. “The what, Gaylord? The galloping khara?”
“Runs, Beautiful Amait, if you need to know. It’s what my maama called them.”
She rolled over on her back, waved her legs around and laughed until I thought she’d puke. “I have never heard anything so funny. You are some goofy tom.”
She drank both bowls of milk, and we curled up together on the sofa. Adele fell asleep right away, but I couldn’t with my mind whirling. For one thing I was uncomfortable. I thought being back in the apartment would be great, but with my sister gone, it wasn’t home. And, there was a peculiar smell, which I could not identify, that made me nervous. I wondered if Adele smelled it, but all she thought about were the kiths crawling around inside her and paid little attention to anything else. It wasn’t that she looked forward to having them; she just wanted it over, and she wanted the kiths gone as soon a possible. Adele was a practical maama, as you know, Chubby, not a loving one, which concerned me a bit for the kiths.
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br /> But what really scared me was what Harriet said when she left about deciding what to do with Adele. Did she suspect Adele was loaded? She looked it for sure, but bašar don’t know much about amai, anyway, and Harriet maybe hadn’t noticed. ’Course bašar detect things we think they don’t know about, like cleaning a litter box. Since they don’t use one, how do they know it needs cleaning? Always puzzled me.
Anyway, I knew I had to keep on guard. The first sign that they were going to get rid of Adele was my cue to get us out. So, I had to have a plan just in case because it was the Season of Emergence and they didn’t leave the door open like they did in the Season of Low Water. Maybe there’s another way out, I wondered. I decided to go look for it while Adele slept.
I uncoiled myself from Adele, went to the kitchen and snooped around. I found some holes in back of the stove, but they had pipes in them. I tried to squeeze through, but no way. In Adele’s condition it was out of the question. I pulled open the cabinet under the sink, and found the same thing. After I sniffed the rest of the kitchen and found nothing that would get us out of there, I went back to the living room.
Adele was still asleep, so I circled the room and sniffed everything: nothing, not even a crack anywhere. But, that smell I didn’t recognize was stronger. It really bugged me.
I went into their bathroom. All its familiar, weird smells were there but not the mystery stink. I nosed around; found the towels damp and the sink faucet dripping. I took a drink, but gotta whiff of the crap they use on their teeth, gagged and hopped down. Only way outta there was the bathroom door.
Their bedroom I knew well. Me, Maama and sis slept there every night, cuddled up with Harriet and Ned. Like I said, they were pretty good bašar as bašar go.
I’d explored the bedroom many times, so I knew it was escape proof. See, I’d looked for a way to escape many times, Chubby, and I had explored about everything in the place.
I was about to give up when I noticed their closet door was open. That’s new, I thought. I’d never seen that door open. Slinking inside careful like, I sniffed, and coughed. Dust. Lots of dust. I sneezed and rubbed my nose. Clothes were everywhere, some hanging up; some on the floor tangled with their shoes and some socks in the corner that really smelled disgusting.