Autumn continued to lick her paw. Clem shifted from paw to paw, impatient at the silence between them. Clem would inhale as if preparing to speak, but the words would not come out. Finally, he could stand silence no longer.
“I don’t know why you don’t like me.”
Autumn paused in her bathing long enough to look at Clem. The look communicated one thing: “I now behold the stupidest thing on earth—and in the form of an orange cat.” She then resumed her hygiene regimen.
“I just don’t know why…”
“I heard you the first time. As with most things you say, it didn’t warrant a response. Is it so hard to believe that someone despises you? I would say that you should get used to it. I am certain that I am not the only one.”
A little boy came outside and sat down beside Clem. The cat rolled over on its side, assuming a playful posture. The boy began teasing Clem with a weed. Clem batted at the weed as if it were a mouse he was tormenting. After a few minutes, the boy picked up Clem and threw him around his neck like a mangy, orange scarf, and began a journey around the yard. Clem was wholly indifferent, acting as if it was his high calling to be traipsed around the yard in the guise of a small boy’s stole.
Autumn, now watching the activities, rolled her eyes and shook her head. Having completed her personal hygiene, she strolled over to the front door, awaiting an opening that she could slip through. I get in this time, she thought, and I’m going under the girl’s bed. I can’t stay out here with this idiotic, sycophantic fleabag. I deserve to be inside where it's cool.
The opportunity did not come soon enough for Autumn’s satisfaction. She moved around to the back door to take up her meowing perch on the handrail by the back steps. Here she could peer into the living room and witness the human activities of the day, assuming the blinds were not drawn. If they were, intense meowing would have to suffice.
As she rounded the corner into the back yard, she saw the boy and the cat-stole moving across the yard. Clem seemed proud of his station. He looked like an emperor reviewing his troops from a sedan chair. Autumn shuddered.
(To be continued.)
