บท 1: PROLOGUE
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┋ PROLOGUE ┋
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On the same day that Disney had released the live action movie 101 Dalmatians in theaters, John Edwards was running full speed ahead from the hundreds of dogs that were after him for crossing into their territory.
The twelve-year-old boy, despite all his panicky emotions, was brimming with energy. Nothing fazed him, and he kept his eyes steady on the obstacle-strewn path of the alleyway left by the bakery he had recently robbed. He was smart enough to keep anyone from stopping him, but he always went with his hand on his chest to guard his most precious treasure.
"Meow..."
A beautiful black kitten with golden eyes.
Her friend was right. Jhon scanned his surroundings and looked for something to throw towards the pack, as he was about to reach the spiked fences that had so often derailed his plans. But not this time, Jhon had anticipated everything for that day.
He reached out his hand to a broom hidden behind a small wall and clasped his hands very firmly on it, shaking hard from one side to the other causing a brutal fall of all the garbage cans and boxes accumulated by the tents to be thrown away very soon.
The dogs stopped for a few moments before the avalanche, and with what time he had left, Jhon hurried to hit the ground with the tip of the broom, using it as a balance point to swing and jump over the bars, as he had seen so many times in the gymnastics competitions in his town.
Finally, he managed to land without much carelessness, and turned to look at the kitten he was hiding under his shirt, who was shivering with fear at what had happened.
"O–Oh..." he was speechless at his little friend's nerves, to which he paused for a moment to stroke her head and try to reassure her, "sorry... I'll be more careful. I promise."
"Meow..."
She closed her eyes and let herself be caressed by the boy's warm hand, as he moved forward so as not to be noticed by the loud barking behind him.
The little one's meows filled his heart with warm comfort every time he saw her calm with her little smile. He was attentive to her little whines or meows at times so he could accommodate her and keep her safe with him, so he wasted no more time and walked the long path across the street in front of his school in order to reach their favorite hiding place.
The place where they had first met and could now have fun without having anything else to worry about for the rest of the day. The place where their friendship had begun.
Othelo's Pizzeria, the only pizzeria in their town.
It had been a year since then; that day that Jhon remembered as the day where everything had gone wrong.
That spring morning, where during his breakfast he was reprimanded by his father, who to this day was still in his bets with his drunken friends at home until the early hours of the morning, with no sign of having slept a wink all night. Sometimes, alcohol and losing large sums of money cost him his revenge. Jhon no longer remembered well what happened after that, he had preferred to block out his memories.
His grades at school had not been the best either, and he dreaded going home to be punished again with the leash. Sometimes his father's friends got involved to "teach him to be a better son", forcing him to play "Dark Alley", a strange game where they made whoever had done something wrong pass under a tunnel they formed by linking their arms stretched upwards one behind the other, and when crossing under them they received blows from each other on any part of the body. More than once that had left him with severe blows. So much so that he preferred not to return home, except to eat.
That afternoon after school, where he could not look for something to distract his mind from his worries, he let his steps take him to the pizzeria, where he found relaxation with the aroma of pizzas from the oven sneaking through the walls; however, he had discovered that, going up to the ceiling and lying quietly, the aroma was stronger, so much so that it was one of the few things he had to think that sometimes his days were not bad days.
Despite everything they commented about him, in reality, he did want to be a good boy. He wanted to make his parents proud. But between the banging, the noises and the chaotic environment that had made his mother pack her bags and leave without looking back, it was impossible for him to sit still in front of a book to study and learn. Jhon just wanted peace for a few moments....
But, with a strong longing as he looked at the sky, he implored for something much better, despite his situation.
A friend.
"...Meow."
A meow had made his eyes widen, arousing his curiosity followed by a small fright.
Jhon scanned his surroundings, but didn't hear another meow again. He remained silent with a strange sense of responsibility in his heart, and, only after a while, he heard it again, but now lower. It wasn't coming from the roof, but from below; from the alley next to the pizzeria.
More specifically, from the trash.
Carefully, he climbed down from the roof, placing his feet on the bricks that came out of the wall, which, to his luck, acted as a ladder to the ground if you made a great effort. Once on the ground, he did his best to stay calm, patting his cheeks at once, ready to do the impossible.
Attentive to any noise from inside the black garbage bags, he searched one by one being careful not to damage what was inside just in case that kitty was in any of them.
He searched one, and another, and another, and another, until his hands were already dirty from having searched through more than a dozen bags accumulated over the days.
He stood stiffly for a while, feeling cornered under the gaze of the people passing by and fearing that they would call his father at any moment.
But there was no turning back. He had become more serious about the matter than any exam and began rummaging through the bags again, one by one.
A few minutes later, enough people had come to be alarmed at the situation to start whispering behind his back and yelling at him. But, for the first time, his world was silent.
The only noises he heard were the ones the garbage bags made with their dirty plastic, and the little meow that, hopefully, he hoped to hear again.
He searched and searched, going so far as to tear the bags as his time was running out with the presence of the police behind him. Sweat dripped from all sides, and trembling hands shook the bags in terror. His father would kill him, yes or yes.
Frightened, confused and terrified, he froze. His vision had gone blurry, but, with a sharp pain in his body, his surroundings changed.
Bag by bag, person by person, and fly by fly. Among so many things, just as if he could observe and analyze the movement of each for a single moment, he noticed the slight movement of a bag lying hidden from the others in the dirty shadows of the alley.
Stumbling with her first few steps until the pain subsided, she ran to the bag and slowed during her crouch. Squatting down, he held the bag and began unmooring as quickly as possible. He dug through the trash with his hands, until he managed to hit a soft, spongy texture on his fingertips. With a slight movement, and doing it carefully, he fell to the ground due to an imbalance: but now, with a small black cat between his hands.
That instant, with the people around him looking worriedly at the boy and the pizzeria owner waiting for the crowd to calm down, they met each other's eyes for the first time.
Her blackish fur was covered in rotting food debris, the poor thing had been there for days. Jhon did the primal thing by removing the garbage in her eyes, while the little girl tried to shake herself in absolute fear without understanding anything of what was going on around her, with a slight breathing that conveyed feelings stronger than agony itself.
The boy, full of emotions, burst into tears after embracing the little girl and putting her on his chest. He did his best to keep himself together, while keeping the little girl's warmth under his shirt, not caring how dirty they both were.
It was there and only there that his world became clear. He became aware again of the people watching him with a frightened and worried look on their faces, as if they felt sorry for him.
His pupils dilated as he received the beam of light from a flashlight pointed at his face, and as a natural reaction of his body, he stood up with a bad balance, and with a cold sigh that terrified even him, he climbed up to the roof of the pizzeria in an instant by reflexes he had hidden, thus avoiding that someone could even grab him and stop him.
He felt an itch on his chin as he remembered the kitten, which he immediately searched for in fright; however, its purr came from inside his shirt, calming the boy's concern who thought he had dropped it.
He looked around, and just as he had practiced weeks before while escaping bullying, he jumped to the nearest roof, again and again, and again, and again, and again until he could lose sight of the people following him.
That same spring afternoon, after saving her from possible certain death, he made sure to feed her and keep her clean. Days later, he got a job cleaning cars and saved enough money to take her to the vet.
And with a year of care, outings, and a companionship they would keep each other company without her father's knowledge by hiding her in the bushes of their home garden, they would have returned to the place of their first meeting, now with a bag of loaves of bread in hand that they had gotten after taking a route to shorten the journey.
They had formed a good friendship, and no one could doubt that. Wherever one went now, the townspeople knew that the other was near. And, that day, Jhon had something special in store for him.
Taking the bag of bread, and handing out one for each of them, he let out a sigh of joy as he took a big bite of his own. She watched as her little friend imitated him, and taking advantage of the fact that she had also concentrated on the taste, she took her gift out of the bread bag.
Taking it by the ends, she held up a small cat collar and carefully put it on. On this, she had a small thin locket, but with a cat silhouette on it.
The kitty let go of the piece of bread and looked at the boy, who smiled happily at her.
"It's something... that I made. It was... It was a school assignment. I had a hard time making it look good and not having it taken away from me; ... heh, it must be because everyone else was envious that mine looked better. So... Well..."
"Meow...?"
"I... I... I... I hope you like it."
It was the first gift he had ever given anyone in his life, and blushing from the embarrassment of spending such moments with his only friend made him nervous.
He put his hand on her head, and she reciprocated his affection with happy purrs in his palm. The embarrassment left him a little at a time, and seeing her comfortable with her gift made him very happy inside.
That afternoon, like any other, was spent relaxing in the warmth of the evening sunshine, enjoying the view of the sky. Although, because of the little girl's climbing onto his chest as Jhon lay on his back, she became attached to his face, pressing her nose to his....
Jhon held a calm and grateful gaze, stroking his fur from his ears to his tail, until, without realizing it, they would fall asleep until nightfall.
Had it not been for the light from the street lamps blinding him for an instant, he would not wake up at all. It had been a long time since he'd had a good nap, since for safety's sake they didn't sleep together in case his father came into his room looking for him.
It was when he realized that, given the time of day, his father would already be waiting for him with a leash in his hand. He swallowed saliva, and clenched his fist as he turned his gaze to the floor, and keeping a heavy breath in his chest, he stood up.
"Come on, whatever happens, stay in the bushes as usual. If you hear anything, please don't come and pry. Dad...he might get a little mad at me today. So promise, you won't come near no matter what."
Extending her pinky towards the kitty, and trusting that their friendship broke the language and communication problem between the two, she placed her paw on his finger, letting out a tender meow.
Carrying her back in his shirt, and her with her new collar, they moved from rooftop to rooftop on their way home, being careful not to fall off. Finally, they stopped one street over as a precaution and got off their neighbor's roof without him seeing them.
Jhon advanced towards his house, but before entering he left his little friend in the bushes, motioning with his index finger for her to be silent. She nodded as if she understood him, and they parted. With a great hope that he could find an excuse on the way, he walked into her house, ready to defend himself if necessary.
However, as soon as he entered, the result surpassed his expectations: The house was a mess, as if a tornado had formed inside and destroyed and threw as many things as it could with the greatest possible intensity, except for the floor, roof and walls that still remained firm to their construction.
Confused, he walked inside his house, looking carefully to see if there were any thieves in it. His body trembled, but he had the courage to grab a baseball bat from his father lying on the floor, and entered his father's room off the living room and, with a frightened grimace, saw him madly packing as many clothes as possible.
"Wh-What...? Dad?"
"My God, John, you almost gave me a heart attack. Help me close this backpack and get to the car as soon as possible. We must leave quickly, they've already found us..."
His father got up from the floor and left the backpack unzipped to his son, who took heed and closed it with difficulty due to how much he was carrying inside. Jhon watched his father with a paranoid gesture, and his heart began to pound. In a real panic, as he understood what this decision of his father's would entail.
"We're leaving? But why? I-I have school tomorrow. And why is the house like this? Who found us?"
"The debtors, Jhon! When I arrived everything was already like this, fortunately I had gone out with the car to fill up with gas by mere chance. Heaven must be with us, and we can't waste this opportunity. Jhon, what are you doing just standing there? Come on, we have to leave before the streets get darker!"
"... Where... are we... going? Will it be near or...?"
"We'll go to another country if necessary!"
With trembling hands and a pounding heart, she looked out the window overlooking the garden, thinking quickly.
"I'll bring a few things and catch up with you in the car, okay?"
In an attempt to abscond to the garden to fetch the kitty with the plan to put her in his school bag, he was grabbed by the arm by his father, who pressed the button on his keys to unlock his car doors.
"... I'm sorry you have to go through this, son."
Those words shocked him, leaving him with a blank stare. The broken voice of a concerned father... he had never heard it until now; but, for some reason, it didn't ring entirely true to him, perhaps because he knew much of the guilt and was aware of this his progenitor.
But, in spite of the fact that she was about to let herself be carried away by her thoughts, she took strength to free herself from his arm and ask him for a minute to go to the garden quickly.
"We can't take that cat with us! Understand! Do you think I haven't noticed all this time?! Son, understand!"
Jhon was pulled into the car with some force and the door latched shut after he shoved the heavy backpack into his side. His father climbed into the driver's seat and fastened his seat belt, looking at the wrecked house where he had raised his son twelve years of his life....
"Let me take her, please. I need her," Jhon commented, trying to get out of the car, trying to get rid of all the things stuffed in the seats next to him, in vain.
The car started to beep with the engine running, and the noise of the machine made them both more tense.
"IT'S MY FRIEND!" exclaimed Jhon, trying to get out of the car, however, it began to start, "DAD, STOP THE CAR, PLEASE!"
"..."
"DAD!"
"MY GOD! IT'S A CAT!.... It's... a cat, she'll be fine", trying to keep calm, he put his hands on the handlebars, and started to drive turning the vehicle around, "please... understand, please... I beg you..."
In tears and with a deplorable view, the father drove his car while ignoring his son's scandals.
House by house.
Street by street.
And in a few hours, city by city.
***
Hiding in the bushes, the little cat, as yet unnamed, placed her paw against the medallion of her collar, watching it carefully.
She turned to observe the house that, a few hours ago, had already stopped making any noise and the lights remained off but, just like every night, she knew that he would come out to give her something to eat behind her father's back.
So she waited, just as quietly as he had instructed.
She counted the ants on the ground, the fleas falling off her, and also how many birds passing near her she fancied. But, like him, she wanted to be a good cat too.
So she continued to wait, entrusted to wait only for the food he would give her....
She waited. No matter what, she waited.
Until no one heard any more noise from the family... or at least, from their cat.
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