“The benefits and drawbacks of spending my childhood as a ping pong ball,” she shrugged, after taking a long drink from the can. “Eat or be eaten! Speaking of 10th graders, how are classes going?”
“Not bad,” I said, as I spread mayo on a slice of bread and then added lettuce and a spoonful of tuna. “They’re antsy with the holidays coming up, but they’re doing their best.”
“You could not pay me enough to be a high school teacher,” Kendra muttered, as Howard hopped up on the stool next to her and sat silently staring at her as she ate the second half of her sandwich. When she looked down at him, he looked away.
“You’d be good at it, KO,” I laughed, as I added a handful of chips to my plate and walked around to sit on the third stool at the counter. Howard sat between us staring straight ahead, but I could tell he was simply trying to gauge which one of us was most likely to give him a bite of our tuna sandwich. I sat down and added, “You’ve got a wealth of experience talking to people who don’t always want to listen.”
“God, isn’t that the truth?” she sighed, as she reached over and gave Howard a pat on the head. He responded by maintaining his thousand-yard stare and ignoring her. “Speaking of the bar and unruly customers, you want to come have a drink tonight? It’s two-for-one from 5 to 7, and it’s never very crowded.”
“Sounds tempting, but I still got a stack of papers left to grade,” I said, thinking about the 30 essays on early 20th century immigration sitting on the coffee table waiting for me to evaluate.
“You can’t keep hiding, Em,” Kendra said, as she petted Howard, who suddenly turned and swatted her with his big fat paw. She pulled her hand back as she said, “Hey, buster! Don’t swat me! You know this cat is anti-social don’t you? You’re not helping matters by emulating him, Em.”
“I’m not anti-social,” I protested weakly.
“Well, you’re certainly not social,” she replied. “You need to get out and live a little, Em. You can’t stay locked up forever.”
“I know, I know,” I said, waving my hand at her as I picked up my sandwich and took a bite. I chewed slowly as Howard bumped his head against my arm. I ignored him and said, “Maybe once I get this stack done, I can come out and play?”
“Now that’s more like it!” Kendra smiled. She tipped the soda can up and drank the last of what was in it and then belched loudly. I laughed and shook my head as she stood up and grabbed her keys. “I gotta go. It’s my night to set up the happy hour bar and pick out the music!”
“What are you spinning?” I asked.
“Probably some Dropkick Murphys and a buttload of Tommy Clancy drinking songs,” she said. “The guys like the authentic flair, you know?”
“Sounds like a loud night,” I laughed. “I’m sure you’ll have the night of your life and earn a fortune in tips.”
“Eh, it’s post-flag football night, so it’ll be mainly FD and PD guys,” she shrugged. “They’re a bunch of cheap bastards.”
“I’m sorry I’ll miss the fun,” I said, wondering if I should push the grading aside and go down to the bar.
“You can always change your mind!” Kendra shouted, as she pulled open the front door and headed out to her Mustang. I could hear her revving the engine in the driveway as I reconsidered my choice to stay home and grade.
“I could go for an hour or two,” I said, looking over at Howard, who was still perched on the bar stool. He blinked once and looked away. I sighed, “Yeah, you’re right. That’s not very responsible of me, is it?”
I finished my lunch and returned to grading. Curled up on the couch, I read paper after paper, marking them up and wondering where I’d gone wrong in the lesson to end up with such poorly supported thesis statements and lack of primary source evidence. I sighed as I wrote a C- on the paper I’d just read.
Howard hopped up onto the edge of the couch and gently patted my arm until I moved the stack of papers out of his way. He curled up in my lap and promptly fell asleep purring contentedly with his nose buried between his paws.
“A nap sounds good right about now,” I said, as I slowly stroked his soft fur. He stretched a little in response and rested his head on my stomach. I pulled the quilt draped over the back of the couch over my legs and slid down so that I could rest my head on the pillow I’d been leaning on. With an arm over Howard, I drifted off to sleep.
BRRRRING! BRRRING! BRRRING!
“Huh? What?” I mumbled, as I was jolted out of my sleep by the sound of my phone. By the sound of the ring, I knew who it was, but I reached over and grabbed the phone from the coffee table to check the screen. It was my mother. I stared at the phone as the ringing continued and then reached up and hit “Send to voicemail” before setting the phone back down again.
Howard stretched lazily on my lap and flipped over so that his soft, furry belly was fully exposed. I pulled myself up into a sitting position as I continued petting him. He mewed softly and put a fat paw on my hand before rolling over and going right back to sleep.
“Must be really nice to be you, eh?” I chuckled softly, as I reached up and turned on the lamp next to the sofa and grabbed the remaining papers.
I had work to finish.
Chapter Three
Blake
Sunday morning I was up bright and early, despite the fact that Nina and I had stayed up late watching all three Saw movies. I peeked into her room and found her buried beneath the purple comforter still sound asleep, so I closed the door and went into the kitchen to make some coffee. I turned on the local news and heard the meteorologist predicting that a major snowstorm was headed our way in the next few days.
Snow meant that we’d most likely be busy dealing with small fires caused by space heaters and fireplaces that hadn’t been properly cleaned since last winter. I poured myself a cup of coffee and stood looking out the kitchen window into the front yard. The last storm had knocked loose some branches, and I could see that I needed to get out there and cut them down before the weight of the coming snow caused them to break. I finished