The First Nine Lives of Isabella LaFelini

by Harvey, Rhonda

  “And you’re going to be a Panther when we go to Northside this year,” Ty added.

  “Ugh, don’t remind me! I’m glad to go to high school, Ty, but another cat! Think about it! It seems there’s something to the LaFelini curse.” She frowned. “But there has to be a trigger, right? There has to be a reason I turn into a cat?” Nervously, she turned the ring on her little finger, yawning as she did.

  Ty studied her for a minute. “Isabella.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Isabella,” he repeated. “That ring. Tell me about it.”

  “My ring?” she looked at him quizzically. “Why?”

  “Just do it, okay?”

  “Okay.” She spun the little ring between her fingers as she spoke. “It was my dad’s great-aunt’s—Nonno’s sister—like I told you before. He gave it to me for my First Holy Communion. I was seven. It fit better then, of course. Now it’s too small for my ring finger, so I wear it on my pinky. See the brown stone? It’s a tiger’s eye.”

  Ty looked as if he had seen a ghost. “Ti-ti-tiger’s eye, Isabella?”

  She nodded and shrugged. “What of it?”

  “Isabella. Think about it. One thing that we know is a constant in your…” he whispered the word, “…transformations …is the ring. You always wear it, don’t you? And you seem to play with it a lot…and,” he paused a moment, then continued, “and think about it: tiger’s eye. Another cat!”

  Isabella’s eyes widened at the thought. “You may be right, Ty,” she told him slowly. “It’s been in the LaFelini family for years, and I do tend to fidget with it …” Suddenly, she had a thought. “Hey! What if I do it now? To see if it works?”

  “Here? Now? Um, dontcha think you should wait until we’re home, and your mom isn’t around?”

  Isabella looked crestfallen. “Yeah, you’re right. I guess. Dang. I really want to see if that’s it, Ty.”

  “And you will, Isabella, but let’s wait until we get home, huh?”

  “Yeah. Okay. C’mon. I want to show you the exhibit on the water birds!”

  Eight: A Sign

  WHEN ISABELLA AND Ty finished touring the Estuarium, they found Luci was still sitting on the same bench, still staring out at the water. “Mom, you okay?” Isabella asked.

  Luci gave her a sad little smile. “Yeah, honey, I’m fine. Just missing your dad. Just thinking about how much he liked this place. And how proud he’d have been of you and the young woman you’re becoming.” She hugged herself tightly and stood up. “So, Ty, did you enjoy the Estuarium?”

  “Yes, Mrs. LaFelini, thank you.” Ty shot a quick look at Isabella. “It was pretty cool.”

  “Are you two hungry?”

  “Yes!” they both answered together.

  “Okay,” Luci laughed. “Let’s go find a restaurant.”

  They had driven just around the corner when Ty shouted, “Wait, look! Let’s go there! It’s a sign!”

  “A sign?” Isabella asked. She followed Ty’s pointing finger. There on the left was “La Bella Pizzeria”. Oh, a sign.

  “‘La Bella!’” her mother exclaimed. “Oh, Isabella, that is a sign. What do you think? Pizza sound good?”

  Isabella rubbed her fingers over the little brown stone in her ring. I love you, too, Daddy. “Yes, Mom. Pizza sounds great!”

  To their surprise and delight, the LaFelini women found that a lovely woman named Marie ran La Bella’s. She had moved down to Washington from Brooklyn. The restaurant was small, but charming, with exposed brick on one wall. Both walls of the narrow eatery were decorated with photos of New York, including pictures of the Chrysler Building, the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge. In the center of the wall opposite the cash register hung a blue neon Yankees emblem.

  “Look, Ty,” Isabella pointed as she grinned at her mother. “The Yankees!”

  Luci smiled genuinely for the first time that day. “Wow, Isabella. This place is terrific—it reminds me so much of ‘Ray’s’ at home…”

  They looked up at the menu board that hung on the wall over the register. “Isabella, they have garlic knots!”

  “What’s a garlic nut?” Ty asked.

  Isabella and Luci both laughed. “Knot, Ty. Knot. Not ‘nut’!”

  “Well, excuse me! I’m not a ‘Yankee Eye-talian’ like youse guys,” Ty retorted with a grin and an exaggerated Brooklyn accent.

  Isabella elbowed him in the ribs, more for effect than to injure. “You know it’s not pronounced that way! And that has got to be the worst accent I’ve ever heard…Mom, it smells great—I want one of everything!”

  “Hi, folks, how may I help you?” the young woman behind the counter asked.

  “Hi,” Luci replied. “I think we’re going to order a pizza—but we’re going to start with an order—no, make that two—of garlic knots. Ty, is there anything you don’t like on your pizza?”

  “Um, no fishy things, Mrs. L.”

  “You mean anchovies?”

  “Yeah, those. Otherwise, I’m good with anything.”

  “I think anchovies sound good,” Isabella interjected.

  “You do?” Luci asked, incredulous. “Since when do you like anchovies?”

  Isabella shrugged, her face glowing red as she did.

  “What about that ‘kitchen sink’ pizza?” Luci asked.

  “Kitchen sink?” Isabella asked in return.

  “Yes, look. The ‘house pie’. It has sausage, pepperoni, meatballs, peppers, onions…but sorry, no anchovies.”

  “Yes, yes, yes! Oh, man. I may die and go to heaven, “ Isabella groaned. “Mom, did you know this place was here? It’s New York food!”

  “Yes, it is,” the counter worker spoke up. “Hi, I’m Aimee. The owner, Marie, is from Brooklyn.”

  “Brooklyn? Seriously? Is that why it smells so amazing in here?”

  Aimee laughed. “I’ll bring your food to your table. Here are your cups for your drinks. I’ll get your pizza in the oven and then I’ll have Marie come see you!”

  Marie was a tiny woman with a quick smile and a thick Brooklyn accent. She explained to Luci, Isabella and Ty that the restaurant had been her husband’s dream—and that he had passed away a little over a year before—just a short time before they opened the pizzeria.

  Luci’s smile faded. “I’m so sorry,” she told Marie. She touched the woman’s hand in understanding. “My husband passed five years ago today. That’s actually why we’re here today. We released balloons in his memory. It’s something I started with my daughter to commemorate the first year, and we’ve done it ever since. I know it’s hard for you now, and I’d be a liar if I told you it gets much easier. Five years later, and I miss him almost as much as I did the first day…”

  “How long were you two married?” Marie asked Luci.

  “Eleven years. And you?”

  Marie smiled a small, sad smile. “Forty-five years.”

  “Wow, impressive! I am so sorry,” Luci told her. “I’m sure you miss him every day…”

  “Every day,” Marie agreed. “This place was his dream. We’ve been open just about a year.”

  Luci was so engrossed in her conversation with Marie that she didn’t notice Ty and Isabella’s intense conversation.

  “I really want to try it,” Isabella told Ty as she bit into a garlic knot.

  “You are crazy,” Ty told her. “And why didn’t you just tell me garlic knots were little garlicky rolls? Gotta admit, knots or nuts, they are delicious!” He licked his fingers.

  “Ty, you’ve gotta be right about the ring. It’s been in the family for years—it would make sense that it’s part of the curse. Don’t you want to find out?”

  “Isabella, do I have to remind you that ‘curiosity killed the cat’?”

  “Tyson Briggs! You did not just say that to me!”

  “What are we talking about?” Luci asked as she slid into the black vinyl booth.

  Isabella shot Ty a dirty look. “Nothing important. Ty thinks that the Mets are bette
r than the Yankees. That’s all.”

  “Ohhhh,” Luci teased him, “not good, Ty. This family is a Yankee family. If you’re going to hang with us, you can’t even talk about the ‘M’ team. Seriously!”

  Cassie, the other counter clerk, delivered the pizza to the table. “I hope you guys enjoy!” she said as she placed the heavily laden pie on the table.

  “Oh, man, that looks great,” Ty exclaimed, forgetting for a while about Isabella and her need to try out the idea of her ring having something to do with her transformations.

  Isabella took a huge slice and folded it like her daddy had shown her. “This is how my dad ate pizza, Ty,” she told him as she took a bite.

  “Isabella! Let it cool a min…” Luci tried to warn her.

  Too late! Isabella made a terrible face and grabbed her drink. “Ack! I just burned the roof of my mouth…owwwww!” She grinned, “But…man, is that good!”

  They ate and laughed and remembered. The ride home was quiet, though. Luci was quiet because she was thinking about Bobby. Isabella was thinking about her ring and wondering if it was in fact the cause of her transformations. And Ty was quiet because he had eaten too much pizza and really wanted a nap.

  “Hey,” Isabella poked him with her elbow, “don’t go rushing off when we get home; tell my mom we’re gonna hang out a while, k? I really want to check this out.”

  “Yeah, sure. Why don’t we have her drop us off at my house? My mom’s working late tonight—she said something about not being back until ten or something like that.”

  “Hey, Mom,” Isabella called from the back seat, “can you drop us off at Ty’s? He’s got a Netflix movie we’re gonna watch.”

  “Sure,” Luci told her, “but Ty, you are welcome to grab the movie and come watch it at our house.”

  Ty shot Isabella a quick look that said now what?

  “Mom, Ty has an HD TV. We don’t.”

  “HD? Well, excuse me, Isabella Rose LaFelini, and excuse the fact that my crummy job doesn’t pay enough to afford a high-definition television.” While her words sounded serious, Isabella knew her mother was teasing.

  “You wanna come watch, Mom?” Isabella asked, knowing that Luci would decline, but nearly giving Ty a heart attack.

  “Nah, I don’t want to see how the ‘other half’ live! Seriously, though, Ty, you’re always welcome at our house, you know that.”

  “Yes, Mrs. LaFelini, I do know that. Thanks.”

  Luci eased the car in front of the Briggs’ house on Main Street. “You two have fun; come home when you’re done, Isabella.”

  “I’ll walk her home,” Ty told Luci. “Thanks again, Mrs. LaFelini. I had a great time.”

  “You’re welcome, Ty. Isabella, be home by nine, please.”

  “Yes, Mom. Love you!”

  The two ran into Ty’s house as Luci pulled away. “Oh-em-gee, I’ve been dying to try this!” Isabella squealed. She rubbed frantically at the little ring. “Ty, do you think I need to think of something while I do this? Do you think it’s the ring itself? The gold? The stone?”

  Ty shrugged. “I dunno, but think about the times it’s happened. You weren’t thinking the same thing every time, right? And you usually just spin it around, right?”

  Isabella sighed. “You’re right. Again. You know, it’s kinda annoying that you’re always right, Tyson.”

  “Not always,” he defended. “Just most of the time!”

  They laughed, and then Isabella yawned. And yawned again. And again. “Ty, I am so tired all of a sudden. Do you…do you think…?” She collapsed on the sofa.

  “Isabella?” He couldn’t believe how quickly she fell asleep. “Is?” Ty decided to sit across from her and watch the transformation. “I’m not even going to blink,” he said aloud as if speaking the words aloud would give him more determination and resolution. I want to see this.

  But apparently, he did blink, because suddenly, without warning, Isabella the cat was on his sofa. “Ty!” she squealed with her little cat voice. “You were right. It’s the ring!”

  “But how? How did…I didn’t even blink. I swear I didn’t…”

  “You know what we didn’t think about?” she asked him.

  “Um, no…what didn’t we think about?”

  “About how long this lasts. We didn’t think about that. What if I’m a cat until after nine? How do I explain that to my mom?”

  “Oh, geez,” Ty dropped his head into his hands. “You’re right—we didn’t think about that at all. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Argh.” He looked up suddenly. “Hey, question. How long has it lasted before?”

  Isabella thought. “Well, the first time was a long time—three hours maybe. The second time, when we went to Bonner’s Point, wasn’t very long—maybe an hour tops. That time with the dogs was even less. Then the last time—when my mom almost found me—that was a little more than an hour, I think. Why?”

  “I just wonder…I wonder if there’s a correlation between how much playing with the ring you do with how long you’re a cat.”

  “Correlation?”

  “Yeah, Isabella. Correlation. Pay attention in math. Correlation. A relationship. If they’re connected.”

  “You don’t need to be snotty, Ty. Just because you’re a math genius and I’m not.”

  “Not being snotty, Isabella. I just…never mind. Listen, do you think that there might be a relationship between the two?”

  “Um, I dunno. Maybe.” She thought back. “That first day, I was bored. Hating North Carolina and this stupid, quiet town. Missing New York and my friends and my dad. I went to read on the sun porch…”

  “So do you think you might’ve been playing with the ring a lot?”

  “Yes, I think so…I guess. I dunno. Ty, I play with it a lot. I don’t really pay attention. Sometimes I’m playing with it, and I don’t even realize. Once Mrs. Tewksbury mentioned it to me—told me to stop fidgeting. I didn’t even realize I was.” She thought a moment. “Hey, if it is the ring, how come I didn’t become a cat before this?”

  “I dunno. You’ve had it a long time, right?”

  “Yeah, like I told you. When I was seven. But I almost lost it three times, and she was afraid it was gonna get lost for good, so my mom put it away for me. She gave it back to me when we moved down here. I found it in one of the boxes when we were unpacking.”

  “So you’ve had it what? Six months?”

  “Yeah, about then. Maybe seven.” She counted backwards to late December, when she and Luci had first moved down to North Carolina. “June to May, May to April, April to March, March to February, February to January, January to December. Yep. Six months.”

  “Maybe your system had to get used to it? I don’t honestly know, but really—it has to be the ring. Look at yourself.”

  Isabella licked her front paw and rubbed her face. “Do I look all right?” She picked at her claws with her teeth, licked and rubbed. “Ty, I asked you a question. Do I look all right?”

  “All right? Isabella, you look like a freaking cat!” He shook his head in disgust. “Look, I get that you have to look like a cat, but do you have to act like one?”

  “What?” she asked as she raised her back leg to lick her bottom.

  “Ugh! Stop! Isabella, you are too disgusting!”

  The little cat looked up. “What did I do?” She let out a huge yawn. “Mmm, I’m getting so sleepy, Ty. You think it’s time to…” and she fell asleep.

  And as quickly as she had become a cat, Isabella returned to being a girl. “Mmm,” she said as she became fully awake, “gives new meaning to the term ‘cat nap’, huh?” She laughed uproariously.

  “Oh, great,” Ty said, his voice heavy with sarcasm. “It wasn’t funny when I said it, but you say it and it’s a riot…”

  “Oh, stop. Ty, you’re a genius! You know that?”

  “Well, yeah, I do…wait. Why am I a genius?”

  “Because you figured it out. It’s the ring, Ty. That is so cool! Now that I know, I’ll bet I
can control it. Think about how cool! It used to be scary, but not anymore, Ty. Maybe we can use this to have a little bit of fun this summer for a change!”

  And as Isabella started the DVD player, Ty couldn’t shake the feeling that Isabella’s ability to change into a cat was not as cool as she thought—and that it was going to cause problems, problems for them both.

  Nine: Good News

  “YOU MISSED A call from Grandma LaFelini,” Luci called from the kitchen when Isabella got home that night.

  “Oh, crap!” Isabella exclaimed. “How is she? I’m sorry, Mom, I forgot we were gonna call her.”

  “It’s okay, honey. I told her that you were with Ty—she said to tell you she’s glad you’re making friends down here. I also told her how we remembered your dad today—she was very glad we did. She misses him as much as you do, Isabella. As much as you and I both do.”

  “I know, Mom. I know you miss him. A lot. Um…” she hesitated, looking for the right words, “It’s weird, ya know? When Daddy first died, I thought about him all day, every day. But now…um…sometimes I feel guilty because I don’t think about him every day. Mom, um…does that make me a bad daughter? Does it mean that maybe I didn’t love him like I should have…?”

  “Oh, Isabella!” Luci embraced her daughter and brushed the girl’s hair from her face. “Isabella, you are a great daughter—and you loved your dad very much. I know that, and I promise you, your dad knew it, too. Honey, it’s natural for it not to hurt as much now. It’s been five years. Life, as they say, does go on. Just because Daddy isn’t in your every thought doesn’t mean you didn’t love him or that you don’t miss him. It just means you’ve come to terms with the fact that he’s gone. It actually shows how much you’ve grown!”

  She released Isabella from the hug. “Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. I…well, I thought about waiting and telling you tomorrow, but it’s been a long day, and well, it’s nice to end it on a really good note.”