by Zee Irwin
“Mm. I could go for bacon on a stick at Fenway.” I licked my dry lips. The salt and sweat reminded me of the famous salty pork strip fried in fat.
“Yes, see, that’s what I’m talking about. All the food comforts of Boston. Oh yes, I’ll be tasting some of everything in the first week I’m back.” Lewis, Travis and I were all from Massachusetts, the one thing that bonded us together in this war beyond being soldiers.
Gunnery Sergeant Jake Kruger yelled at us. “Incoming Jeeps with supplies headed this way. They’ll need cover fire. Lewis, Delfino, Miller, gear up and get ready.”
As the Jeep entourage arrived, we splayed out cover fire, warning off the other side. The Jeeps took a few hits from the enemy. One blew a tire, but they made it to our bunkers and dropped off supplies. Something didn’t sit right with me. The enemy had become too quiet.
I peered over to where we knew they were, a few hundred meters away. Suddenly the Pop! sounded unmistakable from a shoulder missile, and although the missile rapidly sped our way, everything moved in slow motion.
I knew its target, the jeep where Lewis and Miller squatted behind providing cover fire. I ran, I yelled, stuck in slow motion. When I reached them, I bowled them over in time before the Jeep blew up. Flames and heat engulfed me. The agonizing screams in my head played for an eternity, but whose they were, I couldn’t tell. The smell of flesh, so strong and thick, it had a distinct taste. We all burned. Some more than others . . .
I awoke with a start thanks to a big howl from Sammie, this time from his perch on my chest. Light in my living room poured in through the window. I had slept through the night on the couch. Sammie gave me a look of disdain like Get off the couch, you lazy ass, and feed me. Then get to the gym, go to work, and go buy me more food from the grocers. Jeez, I gotta organize your life for you now?
That all sounded like a good plan. If only I could get my body to move. I hadn’t dreamt about Afghanistan in over a year. Time and therapy had healed me, took away the PTSD, and made me human again, sort of. Hopefully, this was an isolated incident and wouldn’t come back to haunt me. I couldn’t let it.
Certain things needed to stay in the past, and if I kept myself busy, they would. Sammie jumped off me. I attempted to get blood flowing through my body again. My limbs creaked and muscles contracted when I moved off the couch to an upright position.
“Must have coffee. Food too.” I rubbed my eyes and grumbled to the only other being in the room. He let out a deep Meow logging his agreement and went back to torturing his mouse.
Later, I muddled half-heartedly through the gym, enough to break a sweat and soak the bandana I always wore around my neck.
I worked through the morning with a splitting headache. To make matters worse, Cap wanted an update on the cases.
“We’ve analyzed each burglary. Four of them, within a few blocks of each other. They each had alarm systems, all in working order. The alarms tripped, but by the time the police arrived, no one was around. At each crime scene, there’s no noticeable point of entry, no street cameras catch anyone entering or leaving, and no prints.”
“Get in contact with the alarm companies. Obtain a list of the employees, see if any of them have records. We have to catch a break in this case soon.” He huffed off back to his office.
Later, I stopped at the grocery store, not daring to return empty-handed or face Sammie’s wrath. Still out of sorts, I returned home to find the apartment manager standing by my door.
Without a greeting, he launched into his complaint. “Delfino. Neighbors have been complaining about noises coming from your apartment all day. Do you have a pet?” Greg had recently taken over as the new manager. He was young, maybe late twenties, and tried using a commanding voice with me like he was a little Napoleon.
In my grumpy state, I tried to keep a cool tone, despite wanting to clobber him. “My pet has never been a problem before.”
“Well, see, the previous manager may have let things slide, but I’m a by-the-book person. As I’m sure you are in your profession.”
We stood outside my front door, but I could hear Sammie belt out a few yowls in a row behind my door. What the hell was wrong with him and this yowling? Not helping, Sammie.
My arms folded across my chest and I stood strong, already towering over him by several inches. I peered down at him. “What exactly are you saying?”
The little twerp matched my power stance and crossed his arms. “I’m saying this is a pet-free building, no exceptions. Either you get rid of whatever is making that noise, or you move. Your choice, but you’ve got one week to comply.” Greg pointed his finger in my chest but stopped as if thinking better of it. With a Humph, he turned on his heel and walked away.
What a fucking day. What I needed was for Sammie to stop yowling, and I needed . . . Maybe a vacation? Maybe a hope for a decent meetup with Flower65? A good lead in the case? What I didn’t need was the inconvenience of dealing with Greg and my cat.
After consulting with an on-call emergency vet over the phone, I watched over everything Sammie ate and his litter box activity until the next morning. Me hovering over him doing his business made him yowl more against the undignified treatment. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary to me, but Sammie’s noise was getting worse. I even tried yelling at him, which didn’t help except to make me feel slightly better.
“Listen, you big lug, I don’t know what’s going on with you, but stop it. No more noise, hear me?” His sandpaper tongue reached out and licked my pointed finger, then he gave himself a tongue bath, licking his balls, a good sign he wasn’t taking me seriously.
Panicked later when his yowling worsened, I made a midnight run to the vet emergency room. I stuffed Sammie into a big box with holes poked into it, and carried the heavy thing to the nearest clinic.
I’d never been a cat person before and didn’t own one of those fancy cages. We probably looked like a sight to everyone sitting in the large waiting room filled with people and their pets. Me with my monster looks, carrying a yowling box, sitting along the furthest wall, away from as many people as possible.
When I thought things couldn’t get any worse, Lily walked out from the vet’s office, holding a tissue to her eyes. Of course, Sammie’s loud mouth cried out and all heads, including hers, turned my way.
“Oh, Jace?”
Great. She would happen to be here to witness this humiliation and trauma with my cat. “Hi, Lily.”
“Oh no! Is that Sammie? Poor thing. What’s wrong with him?”
The sarcastic side of me wanted to clue her into the fact that I must be at the animal hospital to find out. I knew I’d better play it nice. “Not sure yet. Making a lot of noise though.”
She crouched down to the box at my feet and peeked into the holes. “Well hey there handsome,” she cooed. Sammie let out a few more yowls. “Uh oh, he’s eaten something he shouldn’t. Did he get into your trash this week?”
“Not that I know of.”
I swear Sammie let out a most pronounced yowl just for her sake. “Yep. I’d bet money. In about twenty-four hours he’ll either puke it or poop it.”
Suddenly, the yowling gave way to his obnoxious purr. Her fingers poked through the holes and he met them with his nose rubs and tongue licks.
“Guess you made a new friend. What are you, a cat whisperer?”
She snort-laughed. It was kind of cute. “No, but my mother was a cat lady. We had at least fifteen cats at one point. I learned a thing or two.”
“Lily Young?” the vet called out from behind the desk.
I watched as Lily scurried over to consult with the vet. A minute later, it looked like tears were streaming down her cheeks again. My heart moved for her. There was a tissue box on the table in front of me. I took it to her.
“Oh,” she sniffled. “Thank you.”
Her fingertips brushed mine, flooring me again. She looked up at me with her big blue eyes flooding over. And man, I hoped I’d never cause sad tears like those.
“One of my oldest cats, Molly, has been wheezing. They think it’s pneumonia and want to run tests and keep her for a few days. I hope she’ll be okay.”
Sammie yowled, calling me back over to him as if he knew he wasn’t the center of attention.
“If you ever need to borrow a cage to take him to the vet, I have a few. Call me anytime. I’m happy to help.” Sammie almost busted through the lid of the box to get to all the attention she was giving him.
“Thanks. That’d be helpful. Actually, there is something I need. It seems my new apartment manager is a stickler for the rules. No pets. He’s given me an ultimatum to find a new home or a new home for Sammie. Would you know someone who could take him while I figure things out?”
“Are you kidding? I know just the place.”
Lily really was a cat whisperer. By the next day, Sammie had puked up what looked like pieces of a sock. Weird, but I was thankful to know what it was. It seemed the worst of the episode was behind us, and I called Lily about bringing Sammie to the shop.
With him in a cat carrier she loaned me, Sammie and I entered The Cat’s Cradle just before closing. She was wrapping up a book study group, so I made a couple cups of tea and waited, but I wished she would hurry.
Word must have spread through cat telepathy—there was a new cat in town. The five cats ignored their grub and were suddenly eyeing, sniffing, or growling at Sammie’s carrier. For the first time, Sammie was quiet as a mouse. Was he still alive or playing dead to mess with the heads of the other cats?
Lily ushered the last customer out and flipped off her Open sign. With an enormous sigh, she took off her apron, revealing one of those cute dresses she always wore.
Yes, I noticed her dress was tight, a black number ending above her knees, which was fine with me because for a short woman she had shapely legs and a slender waist. As she came closer, she sighed deep again, and bent down near me to pick up an orange cat.
Okay, add perfect ass to her list of attractive features. But I ushered those thoughts about her out of my mind real quick.
I also held back a chuckle seeing her cat eye glasses and a headband with black cat ears on it. I couldn’t imagine another woman ever wearing those to work, but somehow it didn’t bother me and it fit her circumstances and surroundings.
“Hi. You look like you could use a rest. I made us both tea.”
Her eyes flitted between the tea and me like no one had ever made her tea before. A smile split her face as she sat to join me. Sammie poked his paw out of the cat carrier at her. “It’s been busy. I haven’t sat or eaten all day. Hi sweetie, welcome to your new home, well, temporarily.”
“Are you sure this will be okay?” I glanced around at the other cats encroaching on Sammie.
“Are you kidding? Absolutely. I didn’t get all the cats at the same time. Nope, they came into my life one by one. Trust me when I say I’ve been through cat orientation and introduction many times. It’ll take a week, but soon Sammie will be part of the family. Er, until you want him back.”
She sipped her tea and a slight moan escaped her throat as she closed her eyes to appreciate the taste. I took a moment and a hard swallow to watch her breasts heave as she sighed again.
I cleared my throat. “Listen, admitting I was an ass was never easy for me. You’ve been really nice about all of this. I shouldn’t have left your office so quickly the other day.”
She considered me carefully. “You’re right. You shouldn’t have.”
“So, cat whisperer, what’s your plan with Sammie?”
“For tonight, I thought I’d keep him in my office away from the other cats. I have a litter box in there for him. They’ll all be able to sniff each other from under the office door. Tomorrow, I might let him loose in the basement, plenty of mice down there to chase.”
“Oh, he’ll love that. Hear that Sammie? Mice!”
“And maybe, by this weekend, I’ll integrate him with the other cats up here.”
“That’d be great. Uh, would you mind if I visited him each night before you close?” I’d have to move my workouts to mornings before work to fit in a nightly visit, but it was important. I didn’t want Sammie to think I’d disowned him, and honestly, I’d miss him.
“Not at all. Stop by anytime. Hey, BooBoo. Be nice.” Lily almost made me jump with her stern warning to a black cat that suddenly perched on top of Sammie’s box, hissing and squeaking her disapproval as a host.
“Don’t mind her, she’s the alpha cat.” She must have seen the worry on my face. “Trust me, I’m the cat whisperer, remember? They’ll all be good friends by this time next week.”
With Sammie taken care of, it left me with two more things to think about. Where was I going to find a new place to live that would allow cats? What was I going to do about the growing knot in my stomach as Friday approached and my meetup with Flower65 was imminent?
He’s Never Leaving
Lily
On Wednesday, BooBoo had gotten into my office and rebuffed Sammie.
“There was a bunch of hissing and howling at each other, but they’re fine.” I reassured Jace when he appeared after work. And boy, was Sammie glad to see him when he took a seat in my office chair. The sweet boy crawled right up to his enormous chest and purred.
Anytime Jace dared look at me as we talked, Sammie’s paw reached up to move his face back to him. It was so darn cute. I tried to snap a photo, but Jace shied away.
“Please don’t take a picture of me.” His voice, growly and rough, along with a toss of his long mane of hair, could scare little children away, but I stood firm.
“You and Sammie are having a special moment right now. I’ll bet you don’t have one photo of the two of you together?”
“Look, I hate photos of me all right. Leave it at that.” His eyes momentarily burned into me, which was enough to scare me into compliance. Okay, so the dude doesn’t enjoy having his photo taken? Noted.
It’s a damn shame though, because looking at the one photo of them I got off before he snarled at me, I couldn’t break my eyes away. The office lights highlighted the golden flecks of his brown eyes, and his brown hair had some lighter streaks the phone camera picked up on. It was too bad about his scars, because the man had looks. In fact, I could forget the scars were there. He was gorgeous. My cheeks and other place were getting warm, so I tucked my phone away.
“I hate leaving Sammie again. Sounds like it was a traumatic day.” Worry replaced the look on Jace’s face. I found it a little funny seeing the contradiction now between his sourly self a minute before compared to this big man softening right before my eyes. It was heartwarming seeing a man fawn all over his fur kid.
“No, he’s fine. This is what cats do until they figure out the hierarchy of things.”
By Thursday, at lunchtime, Sammie had caught two mice in the basement. He stood over them like a proud hunter as I snapped a photo. I texted it to Jace with a caption.
Me: Beast in the wild.
Jace: He only had a stuffed mouse before. Did he eat them?
Me: No, I threw them out.
Jace: Good, not sure I want him eating real mice.
Me: Me either. Have you ever picked up a half-digested mouse caught in a fur ball?
Jace: Okay, that’s nasty and an image I didn’t need.
Me: Then I won’t tell you the other nasty things I’ve had to deal with growing up with so many cats.
Jace:
Come Thursday evening, when Jace came around after work, he found me in my office doing paperwork with Sammie lounging on my lap, purring, and vying for my attention.
“Someone’s made a new friend,” Jace observed as he took a seat across the desk from me.
“His looks are deceiving. For such a big, intimidating cat, he’s really a big old softy.” I grinned at him, but stopped and slowly exhaled. His smile right now—maybe he was the one becoming the big softy the more time I spent with him. Even his scars were something I was becom
ing used to. They didn’t bother me to look at anymore.
I stood up and brought Sammie to him, handing the cat off like a baby into his arms. Sammie looked between us and didn’t stop purring.
“So, I’ll leave you two alone for a while. I’ll get his food ready and bring it in.”
He dared to take his eyes off of his pet for a moment. “Thanks again for being the surrogate parent. It’s been sweet of you to do this for me.”
Something possessed me, and I reached out and placed my hand on his shoulder. His warmth again spread up through my fingertips like a conduit firing up my body. His broad shoulder lay under my hand like something meaty I could dig my nails into while screaming his name, or maybe my teeth—
“Um, Lily? You okay?”
Sheesh, I have to stop these daydreams. I quickly removed my hand from his shoulder and felt an immediate void, as if his body had become an extension of mine and suddenly cut off. “Yes, yes, I’m fine. I’ll just move along.”
When Friday arrived, Jace stopped in at lunchtime to see Sammie. I had put him in the basement for the day. After ringing up a pregnant customer with a copy of the What to Expect When You’re Expecting book, he rushed up to me, out of breath and flustered. “Sammie’s not coming when I call him. I looked everywhere in your office, and even in the basement.”
“The only place he could be is here in the shop. I’ll help look.”
Bev, Jace, and I called for Sammie and started searching. My heart skipped a beat, wondering if he could have escaped out the front doors, but our double entry had been pretty successful at keeping the cats inside until this point.
“Found him!” Jace’s voice rang out.
I followed the sound toward the back, to my red velvet chaise, and couldn’t believe what I saw. Sammie snuggled up with BooBoo with her paws around the bigger cat as if in some sort of love embrace. They both purred with their eyes closed and seemed fairly content. I stifled a giggle.
