Black Kitties

“Kids!! The black cat just walked across our porc.! We won’t be able to leave the house today!” Yelled my mom.

 “But Mom!” My older brother protested. “We’re about to leave for Ethan’s birthday party.  I’ve been looking forward to it for over a month!”

“You the rules,” my mom stated.

“I am not doing this again, my friends already think I’m weird.  Please just this one time can we just ignore the whole black cat thing” my brother pleaded.

“ You know I can’t budge on this." 

“I’m tired of being the family of freaks that believe witches actually turn into cats to spy on us.  We’re ordinary people who literally have nothing interesting going on with our lives. Why would a witch have a vendetta against us?” My brother vented.

“Don’t you raise your voice at me young man! And how dare you question this? It could be the devil in disguise,  it could also be….”

“Just STOP!” my brother yelled.  “I can’t listen to you say that this cat is the vessel of the devil or whatever. You never liked Ethan and you don’t want me to go to his party.”

“That’s not true, I would take you if we could get out of the house but we can’t today and you know that.” 

“I’m going to this party and you can’t stop me!” My brother resolved as he walked towards the door.

My mother flung herself in front of the door screaming, “NO! You mustn’t, please I can’t lose you like I lost her.” 

“Mom, seriously you need to chill.  Nothing bad is going to happen to me,” my brother assured.

 “Please you can’t,” she gasped in between sobs.  “You can’t.”

“Fine, I’ll play along.  I can take my bike from the garage and shove it out the back window.  Then climb out and go over our neighbors fence.  Far away from the cat,” my brother offered.

“Thank you, thank you,” my mother breathed.  “Just let me check where that cat went and make sure the back path is safe.”

“No!” My brother yelled.  I’m going that way whether you like it or not, and it’s probably better for you if you don’t know the location of that stupid cat.”

“Don’t call the cat stupid!” My mother shrieked.

“Are you serious right now?  Is that part of the belief too? You can’t say anything bad about the cat either?  Do you want to make up even more things?” My brother taunted.

“No,” moused my mother.  “I don’t think that’s part of the superstition, but it doesn't seem worth it to take the chance.”

“Whatever, I’m getting my bike,” my brother muttered.

When he came back through the living room my mother ran up to him and put a crucifix around his neck. “Just in case the cat did go back there this might cancel out the evil.”

Staring at my mother in disbelief, my brother let her put the cross around his neck.

“Hey, Felix, how are you going to carry Ethan’s present there?” I ask, finally joining the conversation.

“Shit, Viv, I forgot about the present. I’m already late. How am I going to deal with that?”

“Don’t you worry,” my mom initiated running out of the room.

“Now what?” we both said in chorus and exchanged a glance.

Hearing some rusting and some footsteps my mother came back to the room.

“This day can’t get any worse,” my brother sighed in disbelief.

“It’s not that bad.  Sure, it’s old, but this bag is very reliable. It’s big enough to hold the present and you can wear it as you ride. See this?” She said opening up a secret compartment.  “It has straps to turn into a backpack.”

“And we’re just going to pretend it doesn't say Jesus loves you in bright pink letters across the entire back?” My brother questioned.

“It’s not that obvious, and what’s the big deal about it?  Jesus does love you,” my mom reasoned.

“Plus it’ll probably double cancel out the cat's bad luck,” I justified.

“Good point!” my mother added.

“Whatever, “ Felix said, slinging the bag over his shoulder. “I’m already late, might as well make an entrance.”

“Be careful, I’ll pray for you,” called my mother.

“Yeah okay, thanks,” we heard from the other room. “Oh shit, ow, stupid bike.”

My mother rushed to his room to make sure he was okay.

“Looks like he made it out,” she called to me.  “I need to pray.”

“Before you do that, can I call Eline and ask her to come here instead of going over there?” I asked.

“And you’re willing to risk the well being of your friend?” 

“What if she comes in the window that Felix just left from?” 

“I suppose it won’t hurt to add people to my prayer list.  If she does that, it should be okay,” my mother relented

“Okay I’m going to call her and ask,” I waited for a response.  Nothing.

“Okay mom?” I tried again.

“Our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name…” I overheard my mother mumbling.

“Yeah, okay I’m just going to assume that’s a yes,” I said, as I turned  to leave the room.

Just as I’m about to call my friend, I looked out the back window and saw that black cat sitting on the fence. “Great,” I said to myself. 

I picked up the phone, it rang a few times.

 “Hi,Eline, my mom is doing her thing about black cats again and we can’t leave the house.  Can your mom bring you here instead?” I asked.

“Let me see,” Eline responded. 

A few seconds later Eline came back to the phone, “She said yes. I’ll be there soon!”

“Bye!” .

I started rummaging through my room looking for a blank notebook.  

I create and fill in the table.  Date: October 13th, observation: cat in front and back yard, what happened: Felix went out the back 0 dead people.

Just as I finished writing the last part I heard the doorbell ring. “Shit!” I thought.  I meant to sneak Eline in the house. 

“Are you serious Vivian?” my mom yelled.  “You said you would tell her to go through the back.”

“I’m so sorry mom, I really meant to,” I insisted.

“Just get her in here quickly,” my mom demanded.  “I need to pray more.”

“Hi,come in quickly, my mom is losing it,” I opened the door. 

“Let me guess, two black cats this time?” Eline joked.

“Nope, just the same one.   Here come look,” I say gesturing to my room.  “I decided to make a log and prove it’s all in her head.”

“You think she’ll actually care?   It’s going to take a lot of entries to reverse years of freaking out about black cats,” Eline tried to reason.

“Yeah, but I can’t go on living like this anymore.  I can’t stand waking up every morning not knowing if we’ll be able to leave the house because we have a neighborhood cat that might traipse across our yard,” I explained.

“Maybe you could set up a bait station or something for the cat at the side of your yard.  You know to encourage them to go there instead?” Eline brainstormed.

“Maybe, and then what?” I ask.

“Yeah okay, I don’t know. Wait, is this your log?” Eline asked, picking up my notebook.  “Not much of a log you know, there’s literally one thing on it.”

“I just started,” I reasoned.  “But hey, now there can be two things.”

I take my notebook and write, Date: October 13th. Observation: cat crossed the front yard 30 minutes ago.  What happened: Eline came in the front door. 0 people dead.

“Shit, are you serious,” my friend cried.

“What?” I stare in disbelief.

“You didn’t tell me I was a part of the experiment!” she protested.

“I thought you don’t believe in this stuff?”.

“I mean, I don’t.  It just seems weird to see it all written down like that," Eline reasoned.

“Fair enough, sorry next time I’ll ask.” 

“Do you actually think someone actually dies if they cross the path of a black cat?” Eline asked.

“Well, my mom sure does. But, I think the whole world would be dead if that was true,” I explained.

“And why does your mom think that again?” 

“When my mom was young, she was walking with her mother across the street.  A black cat crossed the intersection, and both of them questioned if they should go a different way.. However, they were running late and decided to cross.  While they were crossing a car zoomed out of nowhere, and struck them both.  My mom doesn’t remember much since she woke up in a hospital bed.  But my grandma died there.” 

“Shit, no wonder your mom is so messed up about this cat stuff,” my friend said.  “How old was she when it happened?

“Only 7.” 

“So she’s held onto this belief for over 30 years?” Eline asked.

“Yup.”

“You’re going to need a lot more than a log to try get her over this,” Eline reasoned.

“I don’t know what else to do at this point,” I said.

DING DONG. Went the doorbell ring.

“Oh my goodness, not another one!” My mom wails running towards the door “No, no, no, no!”

Eline and I rush to the front window to see who it is, and we notice an Amazon Delivery driver jump into their van and pull away.

“No delivery is worth this,” I heard my mom say out loud. “Vivian, we seriously need to stop ordering from Amazon.  We never know if it’s safe for them to come here or not.”

“But if we can’t leave the house and they can’t come here it seems like we’re being held hostage,” I countered.

“We might be held hostage but at least we’re alive,” 

“We’re going back to my room now Mom,” I told her.  “Come on Eline.”

“Yeah, you’re going to definitely need more than just a log to change her mind about this,” Eline said.

“Any ideas?  I think I might start going crazy soon if she keeps this up,” I explained. 

“Not really, but hey, add the delivery person to your list,” Eline suggested.

“Oh yeah, good idea!!” I grabbed my notebook and started writing.

Date: October 13th. Observation: cat crossed the front yard 45 minutes ago.  What happened: Delivery person delivered package, 0 people dead.

“Maybe it won’t take too long to get a lot of things on this log. If this keeps up, I’ll fill the notebook by the end of the month!” I exclaimed, closing the notebook.

“Hey you wrote your full name on this notebook, I rarely see you write Vivian,” Eline notices.

“Yeah well this log is for my mom and she prefers my full name.”

“Oh that’s right. It means something right? Eline asked.

“Yeah, it means like alive or something.  You know the opposite of death, my mom does everything she can to keep us alive.

“Does Felix mean alive too?” 

“No, his name means lucky.  So you know between the two of us we are lucky to be alive or something. I told you, my mom is super superstitious about this stuff.”

“Do you want to go jump on the trampoline?” Eline asked.

“Yeah, you’re right, sorry! Let’s play!” I said running towards the back door. 

“Make sure you don’t see that cat first!” My mom yelled.

“It’s fine mom, I saw it on the back fence right after Felix left but it jumped the other way and didn’t come into our yard.” I explained.

“Wait, WHAT!?!?”  My mom screams.

“Shit,” I chastised myself. 

“What do you mean the cat was on the back fence when Felix left?” My mom asked.

“Well I don’t know exactly if it was there when he left, the cat might have jumped on the fence afterwards,”

“Well he can’t come back now.  It takes 24 hours to reset,” my mom started pacing. “I need to call Ethan's mom and ask him if he can spend the night.”

“Mom, you can’t be serious,” 

“Well Vivian, what are our options?  We can’t go get him and he can’t come back to the house until tomorrow.” 

“Why not use that secret underground tunnel we’ve been digging?” I joked.

“This is not a funny missy.  I don’t even know if it would work like that.  He’d still be crossing the path underground anyway.” 

“Sorry, geez I was just joking, but you aren’t going to actually call Ethan’s mom are you?  They are throwing a birthday party.  You can’t just ask someone to prolong a party because of a cat.  Felix will literally die of embarrassment if you do that.” 

“Okay, maybe he can go home with someone else,” my mom said. “Or I could get him a hotel room and he can stay there for the night.”

“Aren’t you taking this a bit too far?” Eline asked.

I whip my head around so fast I think my mom could probably hear the snap of my neck. I start to shake my head hopefully imperceptibly to my mom.  Pleading with my friend to stop. 

“Too far?  Is the value of human life  not worth it to you?” My mom countered. “In fact you should tell your mom you’ll have to spend the night here tonight.”

“But I already crossed the threshold and nothing happened,” my friend explained.

“We don’t know that.  Who’s to say the bad luck happens instantly.  Might as well not take the chance.  You can come pray with me too in the other room.  Try to reverse whatever damage has already been done.  You too Vivian.” 

“Are you just forgetting about the Felix thing then?” My friend taunts.

“Oh goodness me,” my mom proclaims. “I need to call over there. Where’s my phone?”

My mom started rushing around the room.

“Umm we’re going to go look in my room okay mom?” I asked.

“Yeah okay good idea,” my mom mumbled.

“I just don’t get it,” my friend says when we’re in the safety of my room.

“You kind of just have to go with it, it’s a lot easier,” I explained.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN FELIX NEVER MADE IT TO THE PARTY?” I heard my mom yell from the other room.

“Oh, shit, we better get down there,”I sprint out of the room.

“What to do, what to do, what to do,” my mother repeated to herself as she paced around the room. “We have to find Felix but we can’t leave.”

“It’s not that far he should have made it by now,” I added.

“You always think this black cat stuff is made up, I told you it’s real!” My mom cried. 

“Mom, we have to go look for him.  If he’s really in trouble he might need help,” I plead.

“But how??? How?” She trailed off.

“Are you serious right now?  Eline budded in.  “You just walk out of the door and get into the car and go find him.”

“It’s not that easy and you know that,” I sputtered.

“How long has it been? An hour? Not enough time,” my mom stammered.

“Maybe we can call the police?” I suggested.

“Seriously? Eline asked.  “The police aren’t going to give a shit about a kid who has been missing for a whole hour.”

“Maybe not, but what option do we have?” My mom argued.

“I can’t take this anymore!” Eline screamed running out the door. 

“NO!!!!” we both yell in unison and instantly chase after her. Halting as we see her on the sidewalk.

“Why would you do that?” I yelled.

“Because I’m done being in a looney bin.  Someone had to get you guys out of that house.  And look I crossed the threshold of the cat and I’m fine.” Eline mocked.

“Fine for now,” my mother mumbled. “Who knows when the bad luck will hit.

“And look, both of you have probably crossed where the cat walked, so the damage is done.  Might as well get in the car and find Felix. Driving is faster.  Oh, and drop me off at home as soon as this is over.  I’m so over this whole thing, “Eline sighed.

“Right, okay I guess we have no choice.  Let’s get in the car,” my mom decided.

“Seatbelts!” My mom reminds me before we speed out the driveway.  “No need to take extra chances!”

Click and we drive up and down the streets closest to our house.  

“Wait, I think I see something bright pink road down there!” I proclaim unclipping my seatbelt.  “Stop the car, I’ll run there.”

“No!” My mom instantly turns onto the street a little bit too fast.  The car skids and shakes a bit but stabilized as soon as an Amazon van speeds out of the driveway and sends us spinning across the road.

I flew out of the car and fell on something sharp.  Barely able to keep my eyes open.  

Date: October 13th, observation: cat in front, what happened: left the house. 5 people dead.