Big Mouth

When I was ten, my mom went outside one rainy morning to start my father's car. My father was, among other things, a chauvinist. He believed women were subservient, men ruled the roost, et cetera. She'd heard a loud mewing coming from under my father's car. After investigating, she'd found three kittens abandoned in my father's undercarriage. Wondering just how they got there, my mom wrapped them in a blue blanket. She came inside with said blanket awkwardly in her arms. My brain, being who I am, looked at the blanket.

"What's in there?" I asked.

I heard the mews.

"Don't tell your father but I found these little rascals in the Riviera's undercarriage. I brought them in to get them warm. It's pouring."

"It's raining kittens!" I said.

My mom's smile lit up the room. My father came in wearing his uniform.

"What are those?" He asked sneering.

"They're kittens, Daddy!"

He looked at my mom.

"Where'd you find them? They look like rats."

"They got caught in the undercarriage of the car. I had to free them."

He looked at me, then, my mother, then at me.

"Useless things, get rid of them."

My heart broke. My mother saw my heart break in that moment. My father, my hero and first love, squashed my little girl heart.

"Let them get warm, I'll feed them. Then, I'll call the Humane society. They'll take it from there."

Tears fell from my eyes. My mom's arms comforted me while my father walked out the back door.

A few weeks and bruises on my mother and me later, he walked out of our lives for good. My mom called the Humane society for the little fur babies. My mom told me I could keep one of them.

"I want the littlest one. It looks like a baby compared to the others."

The lady from the Humane society smiled.

"Excellent choice. The runt usually doesn't live long."

I looked at my mom.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

My mom held the baby in her arms and smiled at me.

"Never you mind about that. This kitten has a long live ahead, watch."

The lady took the bigger two kittens in a carrier and left. In that moment, the baby cried so loud...

"My, you have a mouth on you, don't you?"

The thought hit me.

"Her name should be Big Mouth."

My mom's look surprised me.

"Where in heaven's name did you think of that?"

"Easy. She's really loud, really small but you could hear her in the house next door."

My mom laughed at me.

"Child, you will be my death yet."

I laughed.

As years passed, I grew into a copy of my mom. Big Mouth grew too. She didn't grow much but she grew. Her attitude outgrew her small body. I learned the term "catfight" watching her claw her way through the mesh of our screen window. I saw her loyalty to my mom whenever a man tried coming to the house. I saw her disloyalty to me when my best friend Pablo came to hang with me. Pablo had a way with the girls. Apparently, he had a way with girls of all species.

"Hello, sweet girl," He said.

I looked at him.

"Are you talking to me or the cat?"

He laughed.

"I'm talking to both of you."

Flustered, I didn't have a reply.

"Cat got your tongue, Lise?"

"Um, Yeah."

Pablo's smirk was enough to turn me to mush.

"Mario Kart or Clay Fighter?" He asked.

"Clay Fighter."

After 17 consecutive games of Clay Fighter; we sat there, in my living room an awkward moment.

"I should go. My dad and Lu are going to dinner tonight."

I looked at him.

"You're going to be home alone tonight?"

"Yeah. It's not like I'm not used to it. I know how to make a pizza..."

I wiggled my finger.

"Nope. You're staying here. Mom's making yum yums tonight."

Pablo quirked an eyebrow.

"What's that?"

I laugh.

"Sorry. I call it that. Mom's making my favorite, baked chicken and mashed potatoes. I'd be crushed if you didn't stay. You're my bestest friend, besides Big Mouth."

As if on cue, the little striped tabby with attitude struts into the living room.

"Hello, Bestest cat friend!" I say.

Big looks at me, then Pablo, then me.

I swear the cat just winked at me!

She boops my head, then Pablo's. As she makes her exit, she purrs.

"Your cat is weird." Pablo says.

I giggle.

"She eats vanilla ice cream, if you leave your dish on the floor. She's also known to eat the fish food."

Pablo's eyebrow rises again.

"She doesn't eat the fish, just the food?"

"Yup. She's a weirdo."

I get up off the floor. For some reason, I wobble and topple onto Pablo's lap. I don't move right away.

"Hi there, Handsome!" I say between giggles.

The blush on his cheeks forms instantly.

"Well, hello there."

That's when the first time I felt this feeling. I looked at Pablo with this overwhelming urge to kiss him. I was 14, awkward and not the average looking girl. I was chubby, clumsy and curly haired brunette. I don't think I had an inch of muscle on me. Those chocolate colored eyes pierced my soul.

"What are you thinking about, Lise?"

"Nothing important."

At 16, Pablo's body was solid. His chest was stone.

"What are you afraid of, Lise?"

"Nothing," I stuttered.

"Then, you should kiss me."

I blushed.

"I don't know how to kiss."

His smile invited me to lay my head on his chest.

"Look at me, mi gatita, we've known each other for ten years. I'd be a fool to let you walk out of my life. Let me be your boyfriend..."

I look up at him.

"You've called me a lot of things in Spanish over the years. Princess, Sky, but what's 'gatita' mean?"

Pablo laughed.

"My little kitten."

As if on cue, Big Mouth re-entered the room. I sigh heavily as Pablo laughs.

"Ever the spy for the mother, huh, Boca Grande."

I laugh.

"Now, what does that mean?!"

"Big Mouth."

I couldn't stop laughing then, and I can't now. 35 years of friendship, 20 of marriage, three amazing kids, and loads of memories; Pablo Ramon Rivera made me the happiest woman ever.

Sadly, Big Mouth passed away in my arms at the ripe ol age of 16. She never had the pleasure of a boyfriend but my son, Jax came close. Mouth, when I was pregnant with Jax, was mother. She'd sit in my lap and purr. She'd also swat at Pablo for trying to touch me.

I swear that cat had an attitude up until she died.

As for my mom, sadly she passed away two years ago. My mom saw her daughter marry the neighbor boy and have a family. She saw the Hawaiian Islands. I took her for Mothers' Day when I published my first novel. She also saw my father where he belonged, a pine box. He wound up with a married woman and that mess unwound itself in a pile of spider webs so bad it made Charlotte's web look like a kindergarten project. That's a story for another day.