Chapter 9
Cheeky Trouble
After my fancy meal of instant noodles, I had gone straight to bed but I was still too distraught by the fight at the Pier to fall asleep, so I grabbed a book to help me relax.
I had this old habit of reading stories out loud, from when old Jules was still around, so I just started reading out The Wizard of Oz without realizing what I was doing. The book was an old-time favorite of mine and I found myself in the mood to revisit the marvelous wonders of Oz again that night.
Lucky listened to me from his curled-up position on the carpet. He seemed not to care much about it but I kept reading anyway. It wouldn't hurt him to get acquainted with one of Mister L. Frank Baum's most epic story.
I fell asleep with the book in my hands and a content smile on my face. Reading was my happy place, it was where I ran to, whenever I wanted to escape the crappy problems of my life.
But sleep had been a difficult thing to do that night, because Lucky had caused such a ruckus, waking me up several times with all his thumping around and bumping into things all over the basement. He could make a lot of noise for such a small animal, it almost seemed like there was someone there with him.
I kept shouting at him to quit messing around but he only stopped with the rumpus after I threatened to toss him out in the pouring rain if I heard another peep coming from him. He had let out a begrudging meow before finally settling down to sleep.
I know cats are nocturnal animals and tend to be very active during nighttime, but Lucky was pushing his luck there – pun intended – and he was going to keep me up all night if I let him continue with his unbridled prowling around the place.
I had blinked awake the next morning with no sign of him anywhere on the carpet and I thought that he had finally got the message and left the basement. Then I nudged my foot against something furry and warm beneath the covers to find him sleeping all cozy, with me, in my bed.
I cannot tell you the levels of cheek that cat had on him.
So, after waking up to this cheeky ball of fur snuggled up to my leg, I decided to go upstairs to have breakfast, since I was all out of cereal, and milk, and any other food, for that matter.
Marie was happy to see me up in the apartment again. I'd been going up there only for occasional meals and we'd hardly seen each other lately.
"Hello, honey. Good morning!" She greeted me cheerfully as I walked into the kitchen. "You're out of breakfast down there again, aren't you?" She noted with a knowing smile.
"Yeah. The cat ate the last bit of food I had stocked. I'm all out."
She chuckled. "I figured. You only show your face when you're hungry. You are just like your limping buddy there..."
"What bu- Oh, he's followed me here again, didn't he?" I grumbled annoyed. I was certain when I had shooed Lucky out of my basement this morning that it wasn't going to be the last I'd see of him.
"He's not my buddy. He's my stalker, that's what he is." I turned around and there he was, in one corner of the kitchen, trying to be as inconspicuously unnoticeable as possible. "I'm trying to get him to leave because he's all healed from that car accident, but he won't go. Come on, Lucky, I told you already! You can leave now."
He pretended I wasn't talking to him and just laid there, getting himself all comfortable on the floor.
"Oh. You named him. That's not a good sign if you really want him gone... And Lucky? Why that name?" Marie asked puzzled.
"Because Frankie kept saying he was bad luck just because he's a black cat, and I think it's the opposite since he survived and recovered so fast. He's Lucky."
"That's cute. And true," she said, nodding. "He gets grumpy when he's hungry, huh? It was quite the howling racket he made last night..."
"Yep, I don't think 'racket' is the right word to describe the sounds he made, but let's go with that. He only shut up after I stuffed him with fish sticks."
"Mia!" She admonished me. "You know these junk food are bad for cats! Supermarket processed frozen fried fish? Honestly!"
"It was an emergency! I didn't have any other option down there!" I protested. "And you told me to feed him!"
"If you want him to leave so badly, you shouldn't be giving him food anyway." She berated me.
"You were the one shouting for me to feed the damn cat!" I wailed. "I was following your orders!"
"Well, if he's so insistent on staying, maybe you should--"
"Nope. I'm going to stop you right there. I'm NOT taking him in. This has been discussed and resolved already. He's not staying. Period. He's the most aggravating cat in the history of the world!" I huffed out.
He 'Acch' grumpily by the other side of the room in return.
"Seems the feeling is mutual," Marie noted with a chuckle.
I turned around in my chair to shoot him a proper glare. "Well, I don't see any chains holding you to me, Mister. If I'm that aggravating, there's always the door." I gestured flamboyantly to the door.
He turned his face away with an undignified look of 'No, thank you, I'm fine right here where I am.'
"You should have seen all the rumpus he made down there in the basement. I thought I had a burglar the whole night with me. He's the loudest and most annoying cat ever!" I complained.
"You just need time to get used to him, Mia. It's been a long time since Jules-"
"Please don't." I cut her in. "I don't wanna hear another 'get back on the saddle' advice, okay? I won't ever get over it, all right? I won't ever forget her!"
"I'm not saying you have to forget her, Emilia. I'm saying you should let go of what happened. Let the past be in the past. Maybe your new buddy will help you mend your heart." She suggested in a hopeful tone. "Maybe he can be your next project. You can train him, make him less aggravating."
"I can't do that. It's like asking to make him 'less cat', Marie," I said begrudgingly. "He is what he is: aggravating. There's no training that out of him. He's trouble and I don't want any more trouble in my life."
She stood up from her chair and stopped next to me, pulling my curly mane gently away from my eyes. "He may seem like a lot of trouble right now, but sometimes trouble comes disguised as the greatest gifts we'll ever receive in life, baby girl." She murmured, leaning down to plant a kiss on my forehead. "I speak from experience."
She gave me a warm smile and walked towards Lucky. "Now, let me see you, Mister Trouble-Maker." She grabbed him by the back with such a firm grip that he had no time to escape.
The expression on his face was priceless, body frozen, eyes wide and scared, and facial expression silently saying 'Oh, crap! Why is she grabbing me? What's she gonna do to me? Please, someone, help!' as he was brought to the table.
Marie cupped his head and tilted to the side to inspect him, looking pleased with his recovery. "This is remarkable! He's healed so impressively fast. There's just a tiny scar in his head but the bump and swelling is all gone."
"He had a bump in the head?" I asked, watching him frozen on the table while Marie checked him out. "Well, that explains a lot, actually. I thought he was just naturally weird, but maybe it's a head concussion he's having there."
He let out an annoyed string of chatter in reply but stopped quickly when Marie grabbed his leg and pulled it in all directions to see if it was moving as it should. "The leg injury is almost healed, and his ribs too." She praised, but he protested with a hiss when she pressed a tender spot on his leg.
"He still limps a little. Is he going to limp forever, you think?" I asked.
"It's too soon to tell. It's a possibility. But I wouldn't be surprised if the limp is gone by the end of the week though, at the speed he's recovering..."
She grabbed his face with both hands, to keep him still. "Look at him. Isn't that the most beautiful Heterochromia Iridis you've ever seen, Emilia? The colors are so distinct and so vivid! Beautiful, beautiful!" she said in awe.
I stood up and hunched behind her to see him properly. They really were the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen, so unique and mesmerizing.
He blinked back at us, clearly very uncomfortable with the scrutiny we were putting him under. His whole body language screamed: 'I'm dying here! Please, staph!'
When he whined a soft 'mewmewmew' of complaint, I decided to have mercy on this torture. "I think we've admired his Heterochromia long enough, Marie. He's asking you to let him go."
"Oh, right." Marie released him and he skittered out of the table in a flashing second, scurrying to hide in the dark recesses under the kitchen cabinet.
Marie rose from her seat again and walked to the door. "Well, I'm going to check my schedule for the day at the Clinic now. How about you open the Pet store early today, Mia? You can have the whole Saturday free if you work a few mornings in the store." She offered.
"Deal!" I exclaimed happily and she nodded before she left the kitchen.
I hurried to fetch some cereal for myself and fumbled inside a cabinet, searching for a certain magic item that I knew for sure would get me on the good side of a certain annoying fur ball. I grabbed the can I was looking for and waved it in the air to catch his attention.
"Now, who wants some yummy-yummy tuna fish in his tummy?" I asked in a sing-song and watched with a pleased smile as his furry head poked from under the cabinet, ears flipping eagerly upwards and eyes twinkling with expectant joy.
"Say meow if you want some!" I requested and he let out the most enunciated 'meow' of all time. I laughed before I went to grab the can opener so I could give him the breakfast of his dreams.
Lucky might be a pain in the neck, but I was a sucker for pleasing cats, no matter how aggravating they were.
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Let me know in the comments what you liked the most in the chapter! Feed the author with yummy comments, just like Mia feeds Lucky with yummy Tuna!