TANK

Emma accepts one of the kittens and holds it gently in her palms. “Hello, Uno. Did you miss me? I missed you.”

Brett shakes his head. “She can always tell them apart. I don’t know how she does that.”

I watch in amazement as Emma lights up. How wrong I was to think that she never smiles. Obviously I’m just not the right audience. She is wearing the biggest, most beautiful smile right now. When she turns to me, her face bent so she can rub her cheek against the kitten’s soft fur, my heart gives an extra thump.

“You are so beautiful.”

“Huh? Did you say something, Tank?

“Uh, they’re beautiful. The kittens.”

She smiles her agreement and then sits right on the floor and allows the kittens to crawl all over her lap. Brett moves around the room, opening a few other crates and taking out their occupants. Before long the room is a meowing, hissing, purring cacophony of sound.

“Most of the cats don’t get a lot of one-on-one affection. That’s where we come in. I do some chores to help Brett take care of them but also I get to play with them.” She hands me a calico kitten nicknamed Patches.

“Wait, what am I supposed to do?”

A tickle of panic threatens. I’ve never had a pet. My mom could barely afford to feed us, let alone an animal.

“Just give them some love. I’m going to help Brett clean out a few cages.”

Give them some love. Right. Like I know what that means.

Emma moves away, chatting easily with Brett. The other man squeezes her arm, his touch lingering a bit longer than necessary. I look down at the calico kitten currently trying to climb the front of my T-shirt.

“This is not going the way I’d hoped, cat. I’m supposed to be charming her, convincing her to give me a chance and now she’s off with that guy and I’m stuck here with you.”

Patches meows plaintively.

“It sounds like you agree.”

I run a finger experimentally over the kitten’s soft little head. It stretches into the caress. It’s so small it almost looks like a toy. It fits in the palm of my hand.

There’s a movement to my right so I turn to see what it is and then immediately jerk backward. A hairless thing stands at my elbow, watching me with narrowed eyes.

“Uh, Emma. What is that?”

She turns to see what I’m talking about. “Oh, that’s Poochie.”

“What’s a poochie? And why is it bald?” The thing blinks at me with huge golden eyes. Now that I’m not so startled it looks less threatening.

It’s so ugly it’s almost cute.

“No, that’s her name silly. She’s a cat. A breed called a Sphynx. She’s supposed to be hairless. Unfortunately, her last owner decided she wasn’t cuddly enough and abandoned her outside in the middle of winter. I can’t believe they just left her like that.”

The cat watches me with strangely human eyes. An image comes back to me of watching my dad’s car drive away from our house while my mom sobbed in the background.

“I know how she feels.” I stretch out my hand slowly, tentatively. Poochie’s ears flicker but she doesn’t move.

“Oh dude, she never lets anyone pet her. She’s bitten me like five times–” Brett stops when Poochie walks forward, her head bent, and allows me to stroke the top of her head.

“Well, I’ll be damned. That mean ass cat finally took a liking to somebody.”

“Tank, can you help me? This one is stuck.” Emma points at one of the cages.

I stand carefully and Poochie retreats to the corner of the room. For the next hour, I help Emma and Brett by lifting cages and cleaning.

It’s an easy hour, surprisingly. One where I’m not required to think about myself, just what I can do to help out.

This is what Emma meant earlier about animals not requiring anything from you other than love. I scratch the kitten Emma’s holding behind the ears. Brett replaces the food and water in the cage we’ve just cleaned out.

When I sit back down on the floor, Poochie slinks over. I’m not sure exactly what to do but she doesn’t require me to do anything. She rubs up against my shirt using me as a makeshift rubbing post. Another kitten crawling on the floor nearby climbs into my lap and curls up.

“This is amazing. I’m still in awe. You’re some kind of cat whisperer.” Brett holds out a clipboard. “If you wanted to adopt her, it’s easy. You fill out this form and then just pay the fees. She’s already up to date on all her shots and stuff.”

I’m shaking my head before he’s even done with his spiel. “Adopt? I can’t even keep a plant alive.”

He looks over at Emma. “So, how are you two friends? It seems like a bit of an odd matchup.”

I can’t disagree with him but the way he’s looking at her makes me want to stake my claim anyway.

“Opposites attract, right? Besides, I’m sure Emma knows enough about animals for the both of us. I’m just here to help her out.” I stand up and place the kitten back in its crate.

Emma appears at my elbow. “She’s so cute.”

While I’m not an animal lover the way she is, it would take a heart of stone not to be moved by some of these little balls of fluff.

Poochie follows us as we move around the room.

“Come on, cat. It’s time to go.” I try to coax her back to me but she seems to sense it’s a trick.

She gives me a mournful look and then retreats to the other side of the room. She presses herself against the wall, looking like she’d rather disappear than get back in the crate.

“She’s not coming. Not that I blame her.”

Emma makes a soft cooing sound. Poochie’s ears twitch but she doesn’t come any closer.

Brett waves a hand. “It’s okay. You can go. Once you leave, I’ll put her back. Thanks for the help today.”

“Of course. See you next week, Brett. Good luck with your exam.”

She gives him a quick hug and then retrieves our coats. He watches her movements a little too closely for my taste. I grit my teeth and then shrug into my leather jacket.

There’s a mournful cry from across the room. It’s eerie, like the sound of a wailing ghost. Poochie yowls again when I step out of the room.

Emma doesn’t move. She looks horrified.

“Aw, Tank. She’s upset that you’re leaving. Look at her.”

Against my better judgment, I poke my head back in the room and look at the meddlesome cat. She’s still doing that horrendous howling and ramming her back against the wall.

“Okay, okay. Come here.”

I crouch down and she immediately comes to me. I scratch behind her ears and she emits a rumbling purr. Brett walks up behind us. Poochie opens one eye and hisses at him.

“Good girl,” I mutter under my breath.

I stand again and Poochie rubs against my leg.

“Wow, I’ve never seen her take to anyone like this.” Brett sounds amazed.

Emma looks up at me, her gray eyes soft. “She obviously has very high standards.”

Before I know what I’m doing, I grab the clipboard from the table. “This is a bad idea.”