“Why not?” Sam asked. “She seems pretty sweet.”
“For one thing, she doesn’t belong to me.”
“The neighbor feeds all the outside cats,” Sam said. “Just like she feeds the birds and the squirrels. I don’t think she has any particular claim over this particular cat. But you could always ask her, or put up a Found Cat poster around the neighborhood if it would make you feel better.”
Pat did appear to like animals way more than people. I had no doubt that she’d dangle a small toddler in front of an alligator if one came up the street. The idea of asking her anything scared me a little, but the Found Cat poster wasn’t a bad idea.
But I was only going to be here another month or so, and then after that I’d need to look for another apartment in North Carolina, which meant I’d need to put down a pet deposit if I had a cat, only to move again after I graduated in December. No. It would be impossible.
I started to reach for her, but then realized I had no idea how best to pick her up. Should I stand first, so I didn’t have to try to get to my feet holding a ball of fur and claws? But if I made any sudden movement, did I risk spooking her back under the bed? Everything I knew about cats suggested that there were veryrightways to handle them, and verywrongways, and if you stumbled into the latter you risked becoming a human scratching post.
“You grab the cat,” I whispered, as though she could process our speech, “and I’ll grab the tuna. On the count of three. One, two, three...”
I let Sam move first, to ensure the animal was restrained before I made a move on her food. He made it look easy, scooping her into his arms, giving her a little scratch on the top of her headas he got to his feet. She stretched her body once, as if trying to escape, but seemed to settle down as he started walking with her toward the front door.
I followed close behind, setting down the plate of tuna next to the garage before the cat leapt out of Sam’s arms and down to the pavement to continue her meal. I swear she gave both of us one withering look before resuming her laser focus on the food, as if to say,Wasthatnecessary?
“Thanks for your help,” I said. “If you hang on for just a minute, I can grab your can opener while Lenore’s distracted.”
I ran back to retrieve the can opener from my room, sliding back out of the door like the cat was going to try to battering-ram her way inside it any minute. “Here you go.”
He took the can opener from me without really looking at it. “Lenore?”
The bandana around my hair had gotten knocked askew in the whole ordeal, and I gave it a self-conscious tug to fix it. “I had to call hersomething,” I said. “And ‘The Raven’ is a banger.”
I glanced down, and somehow in the time I’d disappeared back inside she’d eaten the entire plate of tuna. It hadn’t been that much, but still—one minute she was demurely licking around the edge, and then the next minute she’d inhaled the rest of it. She lay out on her stomach next to the plate, giving a big yawn.
My phone buzzed, and I took it out of my pocket.So are you keeping her?? [gif of cat hugging teddy bear]
Alison was exacting with her capitalization and punctuation, which wasn’t surprising given her profession, but she was also a much more prolific gif- and emoji-er than I would’ve expected.
“Sorry,” I said to Sam as I typed out my response.I wouldn’teven know where to begin.“My friend is very pro me keeping this cat. Which is hilarious, given that the whole reason I texted her in the first place was to ask how to get the catout.”
It surprised me, how easily that description of Alison had tripped off my tongue.My friend. Technically, she was the oldest friend I had, and exchanging a few texts did go a long way toward making it feel like we might have a place in each other’s lives after all.
Hmm, if only there were a place where one could go for information... a place that had free books on every topic you could think of... [book stack emoji]
Smiling, I typed backthe interwebs?just to be a shit.
I slid my phone into my back pocket, taking a deep breath as I considered the absolute folly of every single part of what I was about to do. “Any chance you’re up for a library visit?”
THIRTEEN
SAM AND Iagreed to meet back up in front of my house in half an hour to head out together. He said he needed to gather his books and finish a few things, and I desperately needed a shower and a change of clothes if I was going to reenter the world of other people.
I told myself that getting a book or two on how to care for a cat wouldn’t be out of the question. It wasn’t like I was knitting Lenore a sweater. Reading up on cat ownership would just give me an idea of what to expect, if I ever did decide to get a pet down the road.
Plus, I really needed to get out of the house.
There was also no particular reason for me to dress a little nicer than I normally would, in a black V-neck shirt, with nothing screen-printed on it, that hinted at my cleavage. I applied some winged eyeliner and red lipstick before I decided that both together were too much and wiped the lipstick off.
I was tired of my own usual updo but also self-conscious about the idea of wearing my hair down in front of Sam, lest it feel like I was trying too hard or purposely referencing back to our conversation in his garage. So instead I braided it in a loose, over-the-shoulder style.
Sam was already waiting for me by the time I headed outside. If I wasn’t mistaken, it looked like he’d put in a little effort, too. He’d done something with his hair, at least, so that it was still shaggy but not as disorderly as it usually was. I’d never tell him this, but I kinda liked the disorder.
“Ready?” I asked brusquely.
He held up his books, the same ones I’d seen him with that day my battery had died. “As I’ll ever be.”