“Where?”
“Over there.”
“Have you seen it?”
“Just once. It’s white and small. It has long hair. I heard it crying. I came to feed it.”
“Does King know you’re out here?” She raised her hand to silence his reply. “Of course he doesn’t. He’d go nuts knowing you were running around at night alone. How did you get past the alarm?”
“I saw King press in the code. It’s easy to remember.” The kid lowered his voice. “1984.”
“Great.” Her head pounded and this was the last thing she needed right now. “Let’s get you back inside.”
The kid frowned. “But I’ve got to guard the kitten.”
“You fed him, right?”
“Milk and tuna.”
She now saw the two bowls by the Dumpster. Both looked untouched. “He’s not going to come out and eat if we keep standing here.”
“Why not? ”
“Think about it. Would you take food from a stranger? And then eat it while he watches you?”
“No.”
“Neither would I. I’ll bet that kitten is just as street-smart like us.”
“But …”
The kid hadn’t shown much interest in anything these last few weeks. He went to school, did his chores and brushed his teeth, but he had been going through the day’s activities in a stupor. She remembered being in the same funk after her mother died and she’d ended up in foster care. At least King cared about the kid.
She sensed if she didn’t give him something now, he’d go to battle over this stray kitten, and hunger demanded she eat, not argue. “We’ll try to find him in the daylight.”
He frowned, staring at her through narrow eyes. “Swear.”
Eva rarely made promises. “Swear.”
“And you don’t think anyone will get him.”
“He’s pretty wedged back there because it’s safe. He’ll be fine.” She opened the back door. “What is it about this place and strays? ”
“Maybe it’s King,” the kid said. “Maybe he has some kind of magic.”
“Magic.” She wasn’t sure what it was about King or why he collected strays like Bobby and her. The man had offered her a job while she’d still been living in the halfway house in Richmond just days after her release from prison. He promised honest work and an apartment in the attic. She’d not trusted him one bit and the last place she’d ever wanted to see again was her old home Alexandria. So when he’d handed her a bus ticket to Alexandria, she’d refused him. He’d left her with the open-ended ticket and told her to contact him if she changed her mind. Bad job opportunities for ex-cons coupled with nagging questions about home had prompted her to take the bus to Alexandria and find King’s. In the last six months, King had been good to his word. She had honest work and the apartment in the attic had started to feel strangely like home.
“Can we keep it?” Bobby said.
Eva shrugged. “I don’t know how to take care of a kitten.”
“It can’t be too hard.”
She flipped on the kitchen light. “I don’t know, kid. This isn’t my place.”
“Will you ask King if we can keep it? He listens to you.”
“I don’t know about that.” She glanced up at the back staircase toward the second-floor apartment that Bobby shared with King. The dark staircase told her King was asleep. “Hey, don’t sneak out again, okay. King worries about you.” She tried to summon the stern voice of her mother, which she only barely remembered, but the effect seemed lost on the kid.
“Will you ask him about the kitten?” The boy’s eyes held so much hope it squeezed her heart. “Since you fixed the computer and saved him all that money he trusts you. Please, Eva.”
She shoved out a sigh. “I’ll talk to him in the morning. In the meantime I’m starving.”
Bobby fiddled with the frayed edge of his T-shirt. “Do you think he can live in my room?”
Eva moved toward a wide stainless-steel refrigerator. “Ask King.”
“Can we leave the back light on?” Bobby said. “He’s afraid of the dark.”
“Cats love the night. They’ve special eyes to see in the dark.”
“He’s not like other cats. He likes the light.” Bobby slept with the light on in his room. His nightmares no longer came nightly but at least a couple times a week. He refused to tell King what terrorized him.
“Sure. Fine. We’ll leave the light on and get those bulbs replaced. Hey, I’m hungry, are you?”
“Yes.”
No doubt King had fed the boy a grand meal. King was good at feeding people. But the kid was always hungry.
She pulled out six slices of bread, buttered each and popped them in the toaster. As she peeled the foil back from the meat, the back door squeaked open. Bobby was checking to make sure the floodlight was indeed on. She had no illusions about fixing the kid’s life or even saving that damn kitten. Happy endings were for fools. “Make sure you lock the door and set the alarm. ”
Bobby flipped the dead bolt and punched the numbers on the security keypad like he’d done before. “Done.”
Eva washed her hands, assembled a sandwich and placed it on a white plate. She slid the plate toward him, not saying anything as she turned to the large stainless-steel side-by-side refrigerator and pulled out a half-full gallon jug of milk. Filling two glasses, she set one in front of Bobby and kept the other for herself. Bobby reached for a sandwich.
“Wash your hands, kid. God knows what kind of germs that kitten carries.”
Bobby moved to the sink and stood on the small stepstool King had put down for him. He scrubbed his fingers using hot water and soap like King had showed him. His hands dried, he scooped the sandwich off the plate and held a half in each hand. He glanced at each, as if wondering if he could eat both at once. He opted for two large bites out of the one in his left hand.
Eva cut her sandwich and took a few big bites herself. Slowly, she sipped the milk and both ate in silence. When Bobby had finished the first half he took the milk and gulped half down, then turned his sights to the other half.
Eva placed another sandwich on his plate and continued to eat.
The boy ate everything placed in front of him and ended up drinking three glasses of milk. When he’d finished he tossed her his first glance. A milk mustache covered his top lip.
“Pie?” Eva said. “Apple or cherry?”
He hesitated as if the choice was almost too overwhelming. “Apple.”
Nodding, she cut him a large slice. He grabbed the fork she offered and ja
bbed into a juicy apple slice.
“I go for cherry,” she said, trying to keep her voice light as she cut herself a piece. “But if I really had a choice I’d pick cake. Chocolate with extra icing.”
Bobby tossed another quick glance her way. He said nothing but kept eating as if fearing if he dallied the food would vanish.
“You like chocolate too?”
He nodded.
“Wise man.” She stabbed a cherry and a hunk of crust with her fork. “But then I could tell from the minute I saw you that you were smart. ”
He frowned. “How could you tell?”
“You found that kitten.” Always paid to avoid trouble in prison. “How’d you do it?”
“I heard it crying and I found its hiding spot. I’m good at finding hiding spots.”
“I can see that.” A part of her wanted to ask what he’d had to hide from. But she hated it when people dug into her past so she stayed out of theirs. If he wanted to tell her, she’d listen. But she’d not push. They ate their pie in silence and when they’d washed the dishes they checked in on the kitten one last time. “He’ll be fine. It’s not too cold and you left him a milk and tuna feast.”
The kid frowned.
“Don’t worry. That thing is a survivor.” Like us.
“Okay.” He hesitated, his hand on the knob. “You’re nice, Eva.”
“How can you be sure?”
He met her gaze. “I know mean people.”
“Me too.”
She swallowed, remembering a moment of cruelty that had changed her life. Most days she could elbow the memories aside and forget about The Night that she’d died and become a different person. But for some reason, not tonight. It must have been the flames of the fire that had scored through her barriers.
Both were silent for a moment, until she said, “Get to bed, kid. You’ve got school tomorrow.”
“I hate school.”
“Learn to love it. It’s your ticket to a good life.”
“You don’t go to school.”
“I will again one day. As soon as I can get the money together.”
He studied her with eyes that held wisdom far beyond his years. “Okay.”
She walked him upstairs to the second floor and lingered as he slipped inside the apartment. She waited until she heard nothing but silence and then waited a few extra minutes to make sure he didn’t double back.