The awaited continuation of The Adventures of Tequila Kitty. Chapter Eight was written by my friend, the esteemed young adult novelist L.A. Kuehlke, who doubles as one of the most genuinely optimistic people on the planet. She is the author of the Pursuit series, a spiritual romance thriller, consisting of Pursuit, Redemption, and the forthcoming Ransomed. She also teaches English at a private middle school in New Jersey. Kuehlke is comprised of at least 35% chai latte.
She needed some time to think, clear her head, process through some... of the past almost-twenty-four hours. She wandered through the backyard and settled on a bench by the water. The sun was hanging low in the sky, filling it with shades of pink and gold and purple. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, soaking in the serenity of the moment. Tequila jumped onto the bench, startling her. She allowed the cat to crawl into her lap and stroked his fur....
Was any of this real? Which of her lives was reality and which was fantasy?
Chapter Eight
Kitty stood on shaky legs. She wasn’t sure what to do next, but her mind screamed that she had to get out, run, disappear. Being in this house was too painful. Everywhere she looked she saw reminders of all she’d lost.
“Have to leave,” she mumbled.
Tuna put a hand out to stop her. “You gotta rest, Girl,” she said. “Come with me.”
“No,” Kitty protested. “I can’t -” Her words caught in her throat. An emptiness the likes of which she’d never experienced filled her. What was the point anymore? She had nothing, and there was no way to ever get beyond it.
She looked to Tuna for help, but before she could say another word, she crumpled to the floor and her eyes rolled back in her head. The world around her went dark, and the last thing she heard was Tuna’s voice calling to her from the abyss. Like Alice falling down the rabbit hole, she felt herself being pulled to some other place.
Anything is better than this, she thought. Anything.
“Mom, wake up! You overslept again!” David was shaking her.
Kitty jumped and cried out. David. Her mind, her grief was playing tricks on her. He was gone. David.
She backed against the wall, away from him. “What?” she asked, dazed. Kitty looked around. Where was Tuna?
She squeezed her eyes shut tight. “Wake up, Kitty. Snap out of it.”
The memory came rushing back. She passed out in David’s room, and Tuna must have given her something to sleep. She wondered if she was still dreaming. It was also possible that this was the after-effects of the sleeping pills or some hallucination from the poison injected into her veins.
She opened her eyes to see him standing over her. “How are you here?” she asked, her voice so low it was almost a whisper.
“The stairs?” David shook his head. “Quit joking, Mom. Raphael will be waiting, and like always, I’ll be late.” He pulled the covers back. “Time to get up. You’re lucky you own your own business!” He laughed and turned from the room.
“My own what?” she called out, but David was already gone. Kitty sat up in bed, running her hands over the 500 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets. She glanced down at the tank top and matching pajama bottoms she wore. What the hell? Whose clothes was she wearing?
She slowly rose from the bed, expecting the haze, expecting her head to hurt, expecting something. But her head was clear, and she’d never felt better.
When she entered the kitchen, she saw David seated at the kitchen table, a bowl of cereal in front of him. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee filled the air. The paper was open, and he was so focused on reading the news that he didn’t notice Kitty enter the room. She watched him for a moment, taking advantage of his distraction. He wore dark jeans and a button-down. The expression on his face was...happy, carefree. When was the last time she’d seen him look so at peace?
Never.
The house was too quiet. No TBN blaring on the television, no harping from her mother, no yelling. No sound of any kind. Just silence.
“David, where’s your grandmother?” Kitty asked. That must be was why he was so happy; the bitch was nowhere to be seen.
He looked at her quizzically. “Uh, Mom, Grandma is at the nursing home. Same place she’s been for the past year after her fall.” His eyes narrowed, and he studied her. “You feeling okay today? Did you have one too many glasses of wine with Tina last night?” He smiled.
Tina? Who the hell is Tina? “That must be it,” Kitty agreed slowly.
She still had no idea what was going on, but she figured she’d let this hallucination play itself out. At least it got her time with her son. A tear fell as she remembered the accident, saw the van, heard the screeching, the crunching of bones against metal.
Oh, my God, the blood. Kitty gasped and put a hand to her mouth.
“Drink this, you’ll feel better.” David smirked and pushed a steaming mug of coffee across the table. He laughed, and she jumped.
Kitty lowered herself into one of the chairs and raised the mug, hands shaking, to her lips. For the first time, she noticed the house. Something wasn’t right; this wasn’t where she lived. A plush couch, matching chair, and coffee table in the living room. A wall-mounted flat screen t.v. The walls painted in rich, deep earth tones. The kitchen complete with top-of-the-line stainless steel appliances and one of those French door refrigerators. The entire place looked like the pages of a Pottery Barn catalog she’d seen once. She blinked a few times. Where was she?
“You’re acting stranger than normal today, you know,” David said, his head cocked to the side. “You feeling okay? Maybe I should see if Raphael can just pick me up instead. I’m sure his parents wouldn’t mind.”
“No, no, I’m fine. Just a little groggy,” Kitty protested and smiled. “I think I’ll take a quick shower. Don’t want you to be late for -” she paused, her eyebrows pinched together.
“School, Mom.” He set aside the paper and raised his eyebrows.
“Right, school.”
Kitty made her way to the second floor of the house, her feet sinking in the plush carpeting. Waiting for her at the top of the stairs was a small tabby cat. He seemed to be watching her, almost as if assessing her reactions. His eyes were focused so intently on her that for a minute Kitty wondered if he was trying to tell her something.
Have you found the answers yet, Kitty?
She bent down to scratch between the cat’s ears. “Hey, little guy. Are you mine, too?”
In response, the cat purred and rubbed against her leg. He remained near her as she walked down the hall toward the bathroom. Kitty reached for a towel.
“You stay here,” she said to the cat. Obediently, he sat outside the door. She shook her head. “Odd little guy.”
She stepped under the warm water and sighed; it felt like a hundred hands massaging her body. What kind of business did she own? She must be doing well, judging by the improvements to her home and the life it seemed she lived. Kitty rinsed the shampoo - organic - from her hair and lathered herself with some expensive-sounding body wash. The name on the label caught her eye.
Ga’Ta
Organic Soaps, Lotions, and Body Wash
There were products from the store all over the shower. Her shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. All from the same place. Kitty turned off the water and stepped from the shower. A lotion on the counter was from the same store. She seemed slightly obsessed. And since when would she spend that kind of money on organic body products?
The cat was still waiting for her when she opened the bathroom door. He meowed loudly and followed her to the bedroom. He didn’t enter, just sat by the doorway waiting. He acted more like a dog than a cat. He was cute, but she found him to be really strange.
Kitty opened the closet and another gasp escaped her lips. Row after row of sweaters, shirts, camis, jeans, dress pants, dresses, skirts, shoes, boots, sneakers...more clothing and footwear than she’d ever owned in her lifetime...lined the walls and filled the cubbies of her walk-in closet. She chose a pair of black jeans, a gray cami, a sweater, and black riding boots. She quickly pulled her hair up in a ponytail and did her make-up. All organic, all from the same store. She wondered if she was getting a bit eccentric, all of these products from a place with a cat-like name, owner of a cat, her own name being Kitty. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she smiled. The woman smiling back at her looked polished, professional, and gorgeous. She hadn’t felt this good about herself since...ever.
“Mom, are you ready? We should go,” David called up the stairs.
“On my way!” Kitty answered. She looked for her purse, grabbed the Coach bag that hung on the back of a chair in the corner of the room, and almost skipped down the stairs, buoyed by a feeling of elation and a sense that life was finally working out for her.
She found her keys hanging on a rack in the kitchen. David waited, laptop case slung over his shoulder, texting.
“Tell Raphael that we’re on our way,” she said, smiling. The cat had followed her downstairs, and she shooed him with her foot. “This crazy cat keeps following me.”
“Tequila is all yours, Mom. He doesn’t like anyone but you.” He looked up from his phone. “Wow, you look great. Jeans, huh? I guess you’re working in back today?”
I named the cat Tequila. Tequila Kitty. She cringed.
“I...am,” she said, hesitantly. “Busy day ahead.”
David opened the door to the garage and stepped inside. “So, what’s it going to be today? Candles, soap, lotion?”
“I haven’t really decided yet,” Kitty replied, hoping that more conversation would give her an answer to what he was talking about and why seeing her jeans would make him think of candles, soap, or lotion.
“Well, whatever you make, customers will love it. I’m really proud of you, know that? I mean, you put yourself through school and started Ga’Ta with Tina. You guys built it from nothing, and the store is a huge success. I know it was hard for you, raising me on your own, and I don’t say thank you enough,” he paused. “Thanks, Mom. I love you.”
More tears slid down Kitty’s cheek. “I love you, too. Now, quit it before you make me wreck my make-up.” She nudged him with one elbow.
He grinned, looking young and beautiful and invincible. “Can’t have that, now can we? What would the customers think?”
She owned the store. No wonder she had the products all over the house. And at least now she knew who Tina was - her business partner, and, apparently, a friend with whom she drank wine.
Realizing she had no idea where Raphael lived, in this life or her prior one, Kitty handed the keys to David. “You know what? You need the practice driving more than I do. How about you drive to Raphael’s?”
David’s eyes sparkled. “Really? You’re letting me drive the Benz?” he asked. “You must not be feeling right today!”
The Benz? Her world was getting weirder by the second. A black GLK350 sat in her garage. Her black GLK350. Kitty grinned. She could definitely get used to this life. David cautiously backed out of the garage and proceeded towards Raphael’s house.
“So, how are things with Raphael?” Kitty asked once they were on their way.
“Good. Only one or two people know about us; a lot of people are still pretty closed-minded. But, we’re good,” he answered, shrugging.
“He treats you right?” she asked.
“Yeah, he’s great,” David smiled.
“I’m so happy for you, Honey,” she said. “You deserve nothing but the best.”
We’re going to make you better. David’s voice, but sadder and sounding so much older than his seventeen years.
“Thanks, Mom,” he said, blushing.
“Just keep your eyes on the road. No accidents.” A chill swept through Kitty’s body. No accidents.
David turned onto a quiet, tree-lined side street with one enormous house after another. The lawns were perfectly manicured, and he pulled into the driveway of a large stone-front mansion and hopped out.
“I’ll be right back,” he said.
Kitty watched him jog to the front door and ring the bell. She scanned the property from the passenger seat. Raphael came from a very affluent family, and she wondered who he was in the other life, the one she was trying to forget. Had he been the same then, too, or was this another by-product of whatever she was experiencing? The door opened and a blonde woman of around forty-five step out, give David a hug, and raise a hand, waving to Kitty. No one like her ever would have given Kitty the time of day before. She waved in return.
A blonde-haired boy walked beside David to the car. Just by looking at him, Kitty could tell that he was fantastic. A genuine, compassionate energy seemed to surround him and shine through his eyes. Tears welled up in hers; finally, her son had the life she’d wanted for him.
She’d done it right this time around.
“Morning,” Raphael said, sliding into the backseat of the SUV. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Morning, Raphael,” Kitty replied, unable to stop herself from grinning. “Anytime.”
David caught her goofy grin and shook his head. “You’re just being so weird today.”
Kitty listened as the boys talked about a test they had in third period, a movie they wanted to see...plans. She was sitting beside her son listening to him make plans. Her mind drifted to another life, one in which he was no longer able to make plans. Their voices faded into the distance, as she stared out the window.
“Uh, Mom?” They were parked on the circle at the high school.
She blinked and turned to look at him. “Daydreaming,” she said. “See you after school.”
“Have fun playing mad scientist today; try not to blow anything up,” David said, reaching for his laptop.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Kitty remarked.
He laughed and they all climbed out of the vehicle. Kitty leaned forward on both arms, resting against the roof of the SUV. She watched the boys walk toward the building, already caught up in another conversation. As he opened the door to go inside, David turned back and waved. Kitty raised her hand in response and smiled.
She got back in and once again realized that she had no idea where she was supposed to go. She pulled out her cell phone and Googled the address to her shop. Once she had it in the GPS, she pulled away from the curb and headed in the direction of Ga’Ta. Kitty had no idea how to do any of the things she supposedly did at work, but she figured she could spend the day wandering through the store, smelling things, selling products to customers. It beat the way she used to spend her days.
Ga’Ta was beautiful. Correction - exquisite. And she’d done all this? Really. Glass shelving held bottles, tubes, candles, boxes tied with natural raffia ribbon, and various earth-friendly displays. Kitty shook her head in wonder. She’d never thought of herself as having the potential to create something so amazing.
“I should have tried harder,” she said out loud. She’d allowed her past dictate her present and steal her future.
She walked behind the counter, running her hand along its length. Her world had become filled with beauty, success, and joy. Kitty wondered how long she’d be allowed to stay here; she never wanted to leave.
The bell on the door rang, and a slender woman with long, brown hair came in bearing two cups from Allegro. Her smile was radiant, and Kitty guessed that she must be Tina.
“Caffeine,” she proclaimed. She set a large cup on the counter in front of Kitty. “You’re welcome.”
“Thanks, Tina. Just what I needed.” Kitty began. She took a sip of what turned out to be some kind of pumpkin latte. “You ever have one of those days when it feels like you’re living someone else’s life?”
Tina waved a hand through the air. “Your life is incredible. The only thing we need to get you is a decent man.”
“Have to agree with you, and don’t get me wrong. I love the life I woke up to. Today has just been strange, I guess.” Kitty sipped her latte. Strange was a bit of an understatement.
“Is everything okay? It’s not something with David, is it? He’s a good kid, Kitty. You’re an awesome mom, and you’ve done a great job with him.” Tina leaned on the counter.
“It’s not David. I’m just in a weird place, I guess.” Kitty tapped the counter. “I’ll figure it out.” She smiled to confirm this to her friend.
Tina eyed her suspiciously. “Okay, Hun, but if you want to talk, I’m here for you.”
“Thanks,” Kitty said.
Customers began coming through the door, and the day got busy fast. David was right; she had made a success of her career, of herself. Kitty felt pride surge within her spirit along with something else, something she hadn’t ever let herself feel before...hope.
After picking up the boys and dropping them off, Kitty decided to go for a walk. She needed some time to think, clear her head, process through some of the oddness of the past almost-twenty-four hours. She wandered through the backyard and settled on a bench by the water. The sun was hanging low in the sky, filling it with shades of pink and gold and purple. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, soaking in the serenity of the moment. Tequila jumped onto the bench, startling her. She allowed the cat to crawl into her lap and stroked his fur.
“What do you think, Tequila? Has today been nothing but me going insane?” she asked. The cat didn’t answer, just remained on her lap, purring contentedly. “I mean, yesterday my life was one train wreck after another. I lost everything that meant anything to me. I couldn’t see a way out of the corner I’d backed myself into. And today? Everything is perfect. Can I trust it?”
She pulled her legs up onto the bench. Kitty sighed.
Was any of this real? Which of her lives was reality and which was fantasy?
Tequila looked into her eyes. He stared at her for a long time then meowed.
Still looking for answers, I see. What is reality, Kitty?
Welcome back to the seventh installment of The Adventures of Tequila Kitty. The previous chapters can be found here and on the soon to be launched website.
Chapter Seven was written by my good friend Mike Hancock. A former commercial fisherman and outdoors and wilderness guide, Hancock currently teaches English and writing at Southern New Hampshire University, where he received his MFA in Creative Writing. If Cormac McCarthy, the author of bleak western novels No Country for Old Men and The Road, were to handpick a successor, Hancock's name would be in the running. But don't take my word for it. Read some of his published fiction in Xenith, Red Fez, the front view, and The Tower Journal to see for yourself.
All that said, if you ever drive across Oklahoma with him, be sure to print out directions first.
Me with Mike Hancock in Eureka Springs, Arkansas
She opened her clenched fist, a handful of white sand blowing away with the heavy winds. A child’s hands. She stood barefoot on the beach, the wet sand wedged between her toes, staring out at the serene expanse of the Pacific, running wide, azure blue, the sunset reflecting its rays in a highway of gold, the dull rhythmic roar of the tide coming in. She glanced back, and there, perched under a palm tree, was a black cat, its tail curled around its haunches, gazing with yellow eyes. She smiled, and the cat meowed, strolled up to her, rubbed against her skinny leg. She bent down, scratched behind its ears.
“What’s the answer, Tequila Kitty?” she whispered.
The cat looked up at her, its eyes intent.
Chapter Seven - Mike Hancock
“Nice story,” Kitty said.
She smiled, the sharp smell of his whisky breath burning her nose, and she fought the urge to sneeze. Least it wasn’t bad breath, or B.O. That shit was the worst. It was usually her luck that the smelly bastards wanted a lap dance during the long ass hair band songs. Jesus.
“Crazy, right? One big fucking epic dream. Couldn’t wait to tell you.”
Weird kid, thought Kitty. Been at the club every weekend night. Couldn’t be more than twenty-one, twenty-two years old. Pale, glasses. Came by himself. Only a few years older than her son, she realized. But he always asked for her. Mommy issues, she thought.
“So why was the cat a guy?” she asked.
His cologne, which Kitty thought he practically bathed in, gave her a headache.
“Dunno. I guess in the dream, I was Sarah the dog.”
He laughed, Kitty pranced around, then straddled him, willed herself not to breathe in the clash of odors. Her hands gripped his bony shoulders, felt the growing bulge in his pants. She wondered if he had ever been laid. In between gyrations, she discreetly checked her watch. Good. Almost closing time.
The song wound down, the deejay’s booming voice thundered through the dim lights.
“And that was Lusty Laura on the stage. Give it up, gentlemen! Lusty Laura!”
A short-haired, petite blonde gave one final twirl, shook her butt, and bounced down the stage stairs, plastic smile, and equally plastic tits. Kitty had hers done, too. She called it “overhead”.
***
She parked the ancient Buick in the gravel driveway, got out, slammed the door shut. Dropping the cigarette butt, she trudged to the rickety front porch, hearing the usual voices on the television. Her mother in her decrepit recliner, her head tilted, mouth ajar, asleep. Kitty turned off the t.v., silencing that goddamn Pat Robertson and all of his “700 Club” minions. Her mother adored him.
In her bedroom, she kicked off her heels, reaching between her mattress, pulled out her gear. Second nature, could do it in her sleep. Shooting up, getting a guy off, all the same. Tourniquet wrapped tight, she crushed, added water, heated, let cool, drew it out with the syringe. There. Oh yes.
Carefully putting everything back, she lay down, tapped the vein, injected.
Euphoric rush, the day flashing briefly, then gone. The kid and his epic, two-song long blabbering about that stupid cat that some dumbass gave her stage name: Tequila Kitty. She couldn’t remember how many shots she had to down bought by the horny fuckers thinking she actually liked tequila.
But all gone now, all the mistakes, her bigot mother, her gay son who kept getting his ass kicked in school, her uninterested boyfriend. Sweet nothingness. She stared up at the ceiling, flat white, blank slate. Nothing mattered now.
***
“Mom.”
The hazy image of her son, David, sharpened as Kitty opened her eyes. Her mouth dry, felt like a cat shit in it. She half-smiled at the irony, grunted.
“Got any cash?”
He leaned against the open door, the long bangs of his thick black hair obscuring one eye. Tight orange t-shirt, belly button exposed, jeans.
“You can’t wear that to school.”
“They can’t tell with my jacket. Money?”
“For?”
He sighed, rolled his eyes.
“Ever hear of Valentine’s Day? My boyfriend expects something, you know. Well, besides other things.”
“Fornicator!”
Well, Mom’s up, Kitty thought.
“In my purse, twenty dollars. That’s it.”
David left, and Kitty groaned as she rose out of bed, noticed the empty syringe still lying on the rumpled sheets. Turned to the dresser mirror. Thin, bloodshot blue eyes reflected back at her through disheveled brown hair. Crow’s feet, lines forming around her mouth. She traced the wrinkles with her finger, and walked to the shower.
***
“What?” Tuna asked.
Kitty put down her cell, blew out a stream of cigarette smoke. She and her best friend, Tuna Tartar, were having lunch in downtown Beaumont, oyster po’boys and fries, oil-stained men in coveralls around them, stealing glances.
“Didn’t call. Didn’t text.”
Tuna peered at her, her chocolate brow furrowed.
“Don’t know why you mess with that fool. Can have any man you want.”
Kitty gazed out the cracked window, pickup trucks whizzing by, the feed store, the looming hardwoods beyond.
“Not any man. Ever want a different life? Be a different person? Somebody that would be in the same league with the man you want?”
Tuna cocked an eyebrow.
“Girl, you trippin’. Ain’t no other Tequila ‘cept you.”
Kitty laughed.
“What better friend can a Kitty have than Tuna?”
“Yeah, but watch out, because mess with me, and I’ll get tart on that ass.”
“Like sucking on a lemon?”
“Tarter, sugar. Like biting into a lime right before a shot of…”
“Tequila!” they said together, giggling at the old joke. Gray-haired men turned, glanced up and down, back to their food.
***
Back at the house, Kitty sat on her bed, gazed at the empty screen of her phone.
“Fuck it,” she whispered, and dialed the number.
“Hello?”
“Misael, it’s Kitty.”
“Hey you. Just finished a video conference, en route to a two o’clock meeting with a client. What’s up?”
She inhaled deep.
“Just wanted to hear your voice. And wish you a happy Valentine.”
A pause.
“Damn. Yes. I for…what? Okay, yeah.”
“Huh?”
“Sorry. My partner just reminded me about a phone call I need to make. Listen, babe, can I call you back?”
“Sure.”
***
Another mix, heated up, injected. Blissful burn. Kitty walked outside, careful not to wake her napping mother, went around to the back, came to the edge of the hardwoods that lined the creek, the oaks, the elms, the magnolias. She wore jeans, but her sandaled feet were tickled by the thick grasses, the bluestems, the needlegrasses. Following a narrow game trail, she made her way to the water, just a meandering trickle over sandy bottoms, crowded narrow with the vegetation.
Finding a soft cluster of bunch grasses near the bank, she sat, lay back, the hardwoods on either side of the creek forming the sky into a wide, cobalt blue road, spotted with cotton clouds. Kitty gazed up at the spectacle, hands behind her head, imagined floating through the cool air above the tops of tallest oaks, high enough to see the vast expanse of the gulf waters to the east, and the miles of dense forest to the west.
“Mom?”
Kitty laughed. David made his way through the grass, holding a ziplock bag of crackers and a water bottle, plopped down next to her.
“At your place again. Now what?” he said.
“What nothing, my love, what nothing.”
David brought his knees to his chest, stuck a stem of grass between his teeth, stared at the slow-moving water.
“You got to get off that shit, Mom. I’m not going to always be around, you know?”
“I will, baby. Just need it to get through some stuff. I will.”
“No, I mean now. It’s been close to six months since you started. The drinking and weed was bad enough. Tired of protecting your ass.”
Kitty turned to him.
“Protect?”
“From grandma. You left your shit out in the open bunches of times. How do you think it gets back under the mattress?”
He spat out the grass stem.
“Here. You need this.”
Taking the water bottle, he gently brought her head up, held the edge to her lips. Kitty sipped gingerly, her eyes cast away from him.
“We’re going to sit you all the way up, okay?”
“Don’t want to.”
“Have to, Mom. You need to eat something.”
She turned to him, placed her hand on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, David. So sorry.”
He brought her upright, handed her the crackers, stared at the ground.
“It’s okay. I want you to get better, that’s all.”
Kitty began sobbing, tears dripping from her cheeks, sprinkling on the blades of grass.
“You’re not going to leave me. Can’t leave me.”
“Not until I get out of high school. But I’ll be back to visit.”
“I need you.”
David sighed, kept his eyes lowered.
“Eat your crackers, Mom. Then we’re going back inside.”
***
They hiked back, David holding Kitty steady, telling her to step over the occasional exposed root, half-submerged rock, guiding her around the low-hanging limbs. Reaching the front porch, he opened the door. His grandmother sat in her chair, the television blaring. She lifted the remote, turned down the volume.
“Kitty, what the hell happened to you?”
“Not now, Grandma. She’s having a bad day, that’s all.”
She took off her glasses, wrinkled face scowling.
“Bad day my ass. She’s drunk, or on something.”
“Leave her alone. Go back to your religious shows and cheer for the murdered gay people in Uganda,” David said.
“What they get for sinning. They want to go against natu…”
David stopped, quickly turned to her.
“Shut the fuck up, you stupid old bitch.”
Grandma gasped, her mouth tightened. Realizing she still had the remote in her hand, she hurled it at him, the remote glancing off his shoulder, hitting Kitty in the mouth. She let out a cry and ran to her room, slammed the door.
“It’s my goddamn house, you little faggot!”
David turned away, walked back to his room.
“Why don’t you just die, and take your ignorant shit with you,” he said, closing the door.
Grandma got up, ambled over to the remote lying on the floor, grunted as she stooped to pick it up.
In her room, Kitty lay on her bed, face buried in her pillow. She thought of David’s father, out of his life for sixteen out of his seventeen years, god knows where now. Dead or in prison, probably, while he was around dishing out beatings in between gulps of whiskey and sporadic employment. David, for years having to deal with one guy after the next. And then Misael, beautiful, kind Misael. The first white-collar man David had ever been around, Misael accepted him without prejudice, spending time with him, taking him shopping, out for pizza. First man that really paid attention to him.
Kitty tried for weeks to keep where she worked a secret after meeting him in a chance grocery store encounter, telling him she was a waitress. After repeated requests that he visit her there, last week she finally relented and told him the truth. And now, the distance, the stifled emotion, the invisible wall.
He’s as good as gone.
So do something else, dumbass.
With what skills? Where else can I make that kind of money? Mom’s social security doesn’t cover shit. No. Gotta make sure David has what he needs. Because I need him.
You need him? How normal is that, bitch?
After a few minutes, she closed her eyes, fell asleep.
She opened her clenched fist, a handful of white sand blowing away with the heavy winds. A child’s hands. She stood barefoot on the beach, the wet sand wedged between her toes, staring out at the serene expanse of the Pacific, running wide, azure blue, the sunset reflecting its rays in a highway of gold, the dull rhythmic roar of the tide coming in. She glanced back, and there, perched under a palm tree, was a black cat, its tail curled around its haunches, gazing with yellow eyes. She smiled, and the cat meowed, strolled up to her, rubbed against her skinny leg. She bent down, scratched behind its ears.
“What’s the answer, Tequila Kitty?” she whispered.
The cat looked up at her, its eyes intent.
“This isn’t your life,” it said. “Go find it.”
“How do I…”
“Mom.”
Kitty opened her eyes, momentarily dazed.
“Huh?”
“I told Rafael that I’d meet him at the movies. We’re going to see Spiderman, and oh my god, Andrew Garfield. Know him?”
She lay there sideways facing him, her hair strewn over her cheek.
“Yes, David. I’m not blind yet.”
He smiled, his eyes dancing.
“So beautiful. That hair. That body.”
She slid her legs from under the blanket, put her feet on the floor, rubbed her eyes, yawned.
“Awkward. Tell me about your boyfriend, sweetie. We’ve never really talked about him. How long have you two been dating?”
He sat on the bed next to her.
“Couple of weeks. Sixteen days, actually. We try to be cool about it at school. Nobody knows except my best friend Janell, and she won’t tell anybody.”
“Rafael. Cute name.”
“I know, right? He’s got dark hair like ours, about 5’8, broad shoulders, but not muscle-ly, you know? Gorgeous brown eyes.”
Kitty got up, put on jeans, high-heels.
“What kind of guy is he, shy or no?”
“Oh my god yes. He kind of gets annoyed with my rants.”
“Tell him to join the club.”
“Whatever. But he’s into the political thing like I am. And tumblr. My man has to love tumblr.”
Kitty glanced at the mirror, put her hair up in a ponytail, faced him.
“Well, all right, you little shit, you ready?”
“Of course.”
She grabbed her purse, slung it over her shoulder.
“Hey,” she said. “I’m proud of you. And I want you to be happy. Always.”
David grinned, stared at the floor.
“I know, Mom.”
***
She drove the Buick quietly through town, past the mall, grocery and hardware stores, café. David had his finger to his lips, thinking. He finally turned to her.
“Hey Mom, you said you need that shit to get through some stuff. What stuff?”
Kitty stared at the road ahead, sporadic cars and trucks chugging by. She took a long drag on her cigarette, exhaled slowly.
“Told you about me growing up, remember?”
“Yeah. It sucked. Said your dad killed himself.”
A pause.
“Can’t blame the guy, being married to the wench.”
“C’mon, David. A little disrespectful. She IS my mo…”
“Who hates your son.”
“I don’t think she hates you. She just comes from a different time, you know? Can’t understand that you didn’t have a choice.”
He shrugged his shoulders, gazed out the window.
“But that’s beside the point,” she said. “I never told you how he did it.”
He turned to her, an eyebrow raised.
“Well?”
She sighed, another drag, stubbed the butt out in the ashtray.
“I was in high school, not too long before I got pregnant with you. It was at night. Dad had been drinking, of course. Through the walls I heard them get into it. Mom’s yelling something about him sneaking around on her. Could hear him tell her it was bullshit. Usual stuff. I just turned up the radio, like always.”
“Let me guess, Bon Jovi, right?”
“You gonna shut up and let me finish? And piss off, not that old.”
“Okay, okay.”
“They’re going back and forth, and I hear him say ‘No you’re not’, then I heard what sounded like a light bulb breaking, a little pop, and then a scream.”
Kitty turned off the main drag, onto the two lane.
“Should’ve never left my room,” she said.
David sat, wide-eyed, arms crossed. The overcast skies turning to an angry gray, thick droplets of rain began to pelt the Buick. David quickly rolled his window up.
“So what happened then?”
“I ran downstairs, and there was my father, slumped over the kitchen table. Blood on the walls, all over the table. Saw the pistol lying on the floor next to him.”
“Jesus,” David said. “Why did he do it?”
Kitty gulped, cleared her throat. Should I be telling him this now? Is he old enough? Screw it. He deserves the truth. And you started the damn story, might as well finish it.
“Your grandfather was touching me, David. In a bad way. I never spoke with your grandma about it, hell, she wouldn’t talk about it, but that night I think she threatened to turn him in to the police.”
“Mom, I’m sorry.”
“So that’s it. Guess it’ll be with me forever.”
Kitty pulled into the theatre parking lot, parked.
“There’s other ways of dealing with it, you know,” he said. “We’re going to make you better.”
“Okay, sugar. Now get that out of your head, and go have some fun with Rafael. I love you.”
“Thanks, Mom. Love you, too.”
David quickly got out of the car, slammed the heavy door. Kitty watched him dart across the lot, behind the dozens of parked cars and trucks, shielding his head from the pouring rain.
He didn’t see the van coming.
Kitty burst out of her car.
“David!”
It hit him head-on, David flying forward, crashing into the concrete, a crumpled figure. The van stopped, a group of teenagers got out, rushed toward him.
Kitty sprinted toward the small group gathered around. Felt like she was watching all of this from above, like she was somebody else, no feeling, no thought. Numb. She tried to scream, tried to wail, but there was nothing.
She shoved past the cluster of kids, saw the blood welling up, the rain carrying it away. David, curled up, one leg twisted, his head split open.
“911! Call 911!,” she heard from somewhere far off.
Kitty fell to her knees. The world around her spinning, the gray clouds, the red concrete merging, all the people hazy, distant voices, hands on her arms, trying to lift her up.
And she fainted.
Head raging, Kitty half-opened her eyes to the searing sunlight. Bad dream. Just a bad dream. The events from yesterday, sirens screaming, the paramedics placing him on the stretcher, she riding with them as they sped toward the hospital. And later, the words she knew was coming from the start from the doctor: He was pronounced dead at…
“Bullshit. Bullshit, David.”
She jumped out of bed, threw open her door, stormed down the hall to his room.
“Quit fucking with me!”
Opening the door, she inspected the room. Empty. Unmade bed. Rumpled jeans on the floor. A sock. Posters adorning the walls, a laptop still on, tumblr on the screen. Like someone swung a bat at her stomach, all the air gone. She picked up the sock, lay on his bed, cradled it to her face, sobbed.
Voices through the walls. Her mother talking to somebody. The voices getting heated. Drumming footsteps, louder. The door opened.
Tuna didn’t speak. She walked over to the bed, got in, curled up next to her, slid her caramel arm around Kitty’s waist.
“I love you, my sweet angel,” she whispered. “I’m staying with you through this. And after, we’re heading west. Getting you out of here, Miss Kitty.”
Kitty held Tuna’s arm, thought back to the dream the day before while David sat in class, his whole life ahead of him. She was a little girl, staring at the ocean’s horizon, a cat by her side, with all the knowledge to take away the problems of the world, to make her whole again.
So what’s the answer, Tequila Kitty?
Hello all,
Let me take a moment to thank everyone, first and foremost the writers who participated in the making of Tequila Kitty, for taking such an interest and for following along the convoluted, sometimes non-sequential adventures of our four-legged, sombrero-wearing, tequila-swilling friend.
That said, I owe everyone an apology for unceremoniously dropping the ball, er, bottle (probably many bottles at this point) in posting the chronicles of our feline friend Tequila. I could give many reasons, but they would all be excuses, and there are no excuses that can be made. I have not lived up to my responsibilities in posting each chapter on a weekly basis. And, I also erred disastrously in not deputizing one of the many extremely talented, more responsible, and patient writers involved in the project to post the chapters weekly in the case of my grave negligence. To everyone involved, I can only apologize for not getting your words out fast enough and to as much of the reading world as they deserve. And to those who have been following the project, I can also apologize for the same reasons: for not getting the words of the talented writers who gave a lot of time to this project out to you for your enjoyment.
I am taking this as an opportunity, however, to get the series back on track and posted on a weekly basis, and to win back the loyalty of those who had started to follow the series. This will be an ongoing effort and it will start today with the posting of Chapter Six by my talented friend Jon Stern. As mentioned already, too many writers gave too much of their time, talent, and energies to this project to let it die at my irresponsible hands.
I am grateful to everyone's patience and their involvement in this project. I can only hope to win back the initial trust you all showed in my by becoming involved by living up to my end and getting this story and your words out to the public in a timely manner.
With many apologies,
Darren Cormier
Welcome to the resumption of The Adventures of Tequila Kitty. I would first like to apologize for the break in action in our chronicles. Tequila Kitty was away for a family wedding and, on his way back to Vegas, he was sidetracked by a twice in a lifetime opportunity (this cat has been and seen places) to see Mount Rushmore.
This week's chapter is brought to you by y0urs truly. As the creator of the idea, I still wanted to participate, and I held myself to the same rules as the other writers involved: as such I did not know where the story was going until I saw the third chapter by Brian Lepire. For those new to the novel, Chapters One and Two by Christopher Chik and Aimee Hamel can be found by clicking on the links.
Without further ado, here's Chapter 4: It was never supposed to be like this. I was raised in a normal household, just one in a litter of six. How I got to this point...how I became known as Tequila Kitty (Tequila is not the name my owners gave me); where I got the sombrero that seems to be stapled on my head like Fozzie’s hat...well, I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t believe it. But everything I’m about to tell you is the tequila-soaked truth.
-excerpt from Chapter 4: How I Started, by Darren Cormier
Tequila Kitty Ch. 4: How I Started
It was never supposed to be like this. I was raised in a normal household, just one in a litter of six. How I got to this point--the most unwanted cat in Vegas, scrambling to maintain my six remaining lives, with just 24 hours to somehow track down $5500 to prevent getting killed by a Zuckerberg wannabe, and former protégé who wanted to be oh so much more, with my ribs almost broken, bloody whiskers, and my tail between my legs...well, I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t believe it. But everything I’m about to tell you is the tequila-soaked truth.
Just like everything in this town, it’s all due to a dame. That plastic, feline version of Joan Rivers--Hello, to be specific. But that’s not where it began… and I haven’t started drinking enough today to tell you that story just yet.
Where to begin… How I got involved in the mixed-up criminal underworld? how I became known as Tequila Kitty (Tequila is not the name my owners gave me); where I got the sombrero that seems to be stapled on my head like Fozzie’s hat? Poor Fozzie: tried to make it on the strip as a comedian and when he couldn’t bring in the crowds like he used to—after a certain point “wokka wokka wokka” can only carry you so far—he just ran out of material…fast—the owners of the Palace kicked him to the curb. Got hooked on speed. When he couldn’t pay his debts, they reinforced the brim and stapled the hat to his head. He can never remove it. This town is a cruel, dysfunctional mistress. You might try to leave, it might be what’s best for you, in your best interests, best for your health, but you can’t. Once you’ve tasted it once, you’re here to stay. They say if you can make it in New York you can make it anywhere. But with Vegas, once you’ve made it once, you don’t want to make it anywhere else. Everywhere else is just being a shnook, or in my case, a mangy alley cat.
Anyway…
As I said, I was one of a litter of six. Once ma had us, we lasted a few weeks before the owners tried to find us better homes. And before you try to pin all of this on the fact that my mother didn’t love us, all feline mothers are the same. After two weeks, you stay out of their way or you get whacked. Feline moms are a mafia of one.
Those first few months, though, were a kitten’s paradise: races up stairs, red laser lights, marbles and yarn, and ma carrying us around in her mouth. Unlike my brothers and sisters, I was born with opposable paws, so I had better grip, faster reflexes. Yeah, I was a prodigy cat. But I still hadn’t developed the ability to talk or walk on my hind legs yet so I was at this point just a very advanced feline. After three weeks all my brothers and sisters were gone, except me and Paulie: the runt. He had one folded over ear, a lopsided eye, and when he ran, he tripped over his back paws. He looked like Sasquatch sat on his head. One of our brothers once pinned him down, but after I took care of him… don’t ask what happened: I’m not proud of that day. But let me tell you this: if you ever messed with Paulie, you messed with me, too, I think the Newmarks realized Paulie wouldn’t survive without me there. Really, it was the other way around. And I don’t think they tried very hard to find a home for him. They felt bad for us. So there we stayed with the Newmarks.
The first few months were fun: exploring the house, exploring the giant barn at the far end of the yard. To us it seemed like it was a farm, but we’re cats: we’re one foot long, 18 inches tops. What perspective do we have on distance? Obviously now that I’ve been around the world and flown in the nicest private planes you can think of, hell, I jumped off the freakin’ top of the Eiffel Tower once (bad catnip experience, that’s all I can say, but I did land on my feet), since I’ve done all of that, I have a better idea of what the distance is, but at the time me and my nearsighted brother, we had no idea about size. But what he lacked in ability, he made up for in smarts. Smart as a fuckin’ tack, that Paulie. (Yeah, mixed metaphor. Who cares? I just had my ribs kicked to shit, okay? I’m sleeping under a dumpster at the far end of the strip. Far cry from the penthouse, okay? Give me a break.)
Paulie had the brains, I had the ability. We would chase down anything in that yard: mice, moles, squirrels, foxes, birds, deer. Yup, deer. One time. We had a system. I’d patrol the far area and swipe their faces with my claws, immobilizing and temporarily blinding them. I’d then corral them towards Paulie at the far side of the shed, who was waiting underneath the ramp for them to stagger by. Never underestimate how vicious a cat who can’t run well can be. Talk about somebody with something to prove. But, like I said, he had the brains. He’s the one who helped me figure out how to use my paws to my advantage, how to climb into the best possible places for food and jumping onto unsuspecting mice. If Paulie could have talked, there’s no doubt we’d be running the strip right now. He’s the one, who when I first got involved with the Dice Kids, taught me the best strategies for playing poker. And had Paulie not been there to teach me chess, I wouldn’t have been able to get out of that den in Chinatown. Chess roulette they called it, a combination of exactly what it sounds like. If you were checkmated, you held the gun to your temple. My paws, although I was able to hold the gun, were not strong enough to pull the trigger, but that’s a different story. I still wasn’t about to lose to Fingers Johansson. Dude was born with seven fingers on each hand. And after every move against him, he would just point and laugh. Yeah, yeah. I get it. I’m a talking cat. It’s a freaking novelty, I know. Get over it and play the game already, Fingers. The look on his face when I dragged him into an Accelerated Dragon…
Anyway… I’m getting off topic again.
That lasted a few years. We mostly stayed out of ma’s way, and she mostly didn’t try to rip our tails off. It was a mutual understanding. On a good day, she’d just give us the stink eye when we tried to eat a little too much of her food, and on other days, she’d let us get on the same couch as her. I can remember once, when ma was sitting on the youngest daughter’s lap, we each jumped up as well, sitting next to her and rubbing up against the sides of her legs. Now granted, the mom and older daughter were there so ma didn’t have to share the petting—we were each getting petted—but ma didn’t try to shew us off. Didn’t even hiss once. I think Aimee had a lot to do with this.
The Newmarks had three daughters: Erin, Michelle, and Aimee. Aimee was the youngest, and each daughter kind of warmed up to each of us: Erin had ma, Michelle had Paulie (Paulie would purr like a freight train when she picked him up); and Aimee chose me. What can I say? The girl had good taste.
This is how it was for a while, though: Paulie and me running around and killing anything in the yard and staying out of Ma’s way. Over time we’d get into more trouble, as he realized what my double paws and leaping ability made me capable of. We would start taking time in the barn and, instead of eating the dead mice or bringing them inside to Ma or Erin or Mr. Newmark, Paulie would hide them on the top of a landing that was just out of reach for me to jump to. He wanted to see how far I could stretch and see if I could start walking like Napoleon. He had heard Michelle talking about this book she was reading about a bunch of talking animals and one of them was a pig who by the end could walk on his hind legs. I don’t know how he knew what they were saying, but he did and he would scratch out things for me or, as he heard them say something, he would point to it in the house and told me to listen more. I owe everything to Paulie and if he were here now, I’m sure he could help me figure out a way to get that asshole Craig his $5500. Which isn’t even his debt. He stole that from the Dice Boys. It’s them that I owe the money to all because of that bitch Hello. (I know a cat can’t be a bitch, but you know how trustworthy dames can be. I’d say I trust her as far as I could throw her, but if I ever found her again, I could throw her a helluva far way, so that metaphor’s moot.) I know the Dice Boys, I grew up with them, they and Paulie made me what I could have been, and I know that they wouldn’t care about the debt.
Anyway… back to Paulie. He’d have me hide the mice on these landings and wouldn’t let me jump. He couldn’t do anything to me, so he didn’t intimidate me with beatings or whacks and he was just as nervous about Ma as I was, but if Paulie asked me to do something or if he had an idea, I would run through a brick wall for him. He’s my brother and he’s so much smarter than a talking cat like me could ever hope to be, and vice versa. I know that if Paulie could trade with me he’d do it. Over time, Paulie would put the mouse in higher and higher places, and over time, in that barn, at least, I was able to balance on my hind legs and even to walk a little on it. The first time I was able to hold it without falling, I thought Paulie was going to mate with the wheelbarrow. That was where we’d nap in the barn. Mr. Newmark was a very neat and tidy guy: everything had its place. But one day after mowing the lawn, I think he was beat tired, more tired than an alcoholic cat sleeping under a dumpster, and didn’t feel like bringing the rest of the grass to the woods in the back of the yard. He wheeled the barrow into the shed, and left it there, instead of standing it on its end. Paulie and I saw the grass and jumped in, slept there until Michelle and Aimee came out looking for both of us, late at night, crying, clutching her doll to her side, the same doll whose hair she’d dangle over my head.
The Newmarks were a crazy card playing family, too. Every Saturday night, they’d have some friends over, and they’d all sit around the table, bottles of whatever being passed around, glasses clinking, ice spilling over the side, more and more alcohol staining the tablecloths as the night wore on. As the girls got older, they’d join at the table.
One night, Paulie had been in a particularly needy mood. One of the dad’s friends—Jonesy, loud, large, and stupid—commented on “what an ugly looking cat that is.” He usually would run and hide under Michelle’s bed on these nights. She had lots of furs and think white carpets in there. He’d sprint at full speed in there, stop on the carpet, and there he’d slide underneath the bed, curled up on whatever part of the carpet would slide under with him. Michelle had heard this, though, and since they were adolescents now, they were allowed at the card table. So she and Aimee grabbed each us (Erin was out with a boy, and ma didn’t want anything to do with them at this point) and brought us to the table. You know that moment when you finally do something that you’re destined to do, like how a chef feels the first time he’s in the kitchen; or that moment when you meet the love of your life. That’s how I felt when we sat at that poker table: the blur of the cards folding into each other after someone made a bridge shuffling them, the whirr of the colors, the secret code language; the lower sound a quarter makes when hitting a dime, the roar of the guys as someone decided to throw a five dollar bill on the table, chips slapping against each other. And it didn’t matter who you were: everyone was equal on the poker table. They all just wanted you to play, and play well, so they could take your money.
So Paulie and me became members of the Saturday night crew. But one night Jonesy said something particularly nasty. I was already on thin ice for the last time he said something. It had been a summer night and he was wearing shorts, so I treated his leg like it was a scratching post. He never came over in shorts again. But because of that night, I had to be on behavior or out in the barn I would go, no matter how much Aimee cried. So this one night after he talked about Paulie’s ear, I waited to strike. Jonesy liked his drink and nobody was going to get between him and his drink. One of the friends once tried to dump one of his beers when there was still an inch left in it. You would have thought someone had slapped Jonesy’s mama they way he reacted. Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, but he sure found a way. The color in the glass this night was deep amber, and the reflection of the ice made Jonesey even bigger, if that was even possible. So when he got up to pee, I jumped off Aimee’s lap, walked across the table and dipped my head into his glass, lapping up all of. Damn it tasted good. That’s the day I stopped being Mittens and started being Tequila.
***
On weekends and during the summer, Aimee would ride her bike to her friend Mitzi’s house. (Mitzi was the younger sister of The Dice Boys.)
“Aimee? What are you doing?” I heard Mrs. Newmark ask.
“Nothing.” Aimee was chasing me around the house with a cardboard box. She had cornered me onto the couch and was trying to put the box over my head. I was swatting at her, claws in mind you.
“Aren’t you going to Mitzi’s? You aren’t bringing Mittens with you on your bike.” Not everyone had taken to calling me Tequila yet, just Mr. Newmark and the Saturday night poker crew.
“That’s not what I was doing.” Aimee dropped the box on the couch and went to gather some other things to go to Mitzi’s. With everything relaxed, I pulled myself out from between the couch cushions. I had squeezed myself in there to make it harder for her to pull me out. If she did start pulling me out, I would have used my claws, or bitten her on the arm.
While I could hear Mrs. Newmark talking to Aimee in the other room, I climbed in the box and curled up. Can’t explain to you why I love boxes so much: the walls muffle the outside world, we can’t hear it as much, so it’s much easier to fall asleep. Okay, maybe I can explain why I like them.
Moments later I heard Mrs. Newmark’s keys rattling, and the box was picked up. We were going to the car! What the hell had I done to deserve such a fate as this? I just wanted to sleep, dammit! Apparently, Mitzi had a cat and she and Aimee wanted the two of us to play.
On the way over, Aimee kept trying to put me on her lap, thinking her petting would comfort me. You pulled me from my box sleep, kid. There’s no comforting me now.
I don’t know how long we were in the car (I’m a cat. I don’t tell time. I might be able to talk and walk and drink tequila like nobody’s business, but there’s a reason I don’t wear a watch) but when we got there, I still didn’t want to come out. So they pulled me out in the box. Mitzi was on the front steps, hair in braids, bow on the left side of her head, wearing a pink and black dress. She had a small cat in her arms that was dressed up the same way: a pink bow on the left side of her head, and wearing a pink and black dress. I don’t know if it was the car ride, my half-wakened state, or the fact that I had never seen a cat dressed up like a human before, but I was frozen.
Aimee held me in her lap. I inched my head closer to this new fine feline. I didn’t know what her name was, but I kept hearing Mitzi and Aimee, in high-pitched voices, as if speaking on behalf of us, saying, “Hello, Kitty. How are you?” Each would in turn grab our paws and gesture to the other one with them. People can be so stupid sometimes. Just let us cats do what we want.
I wanted to jump off and lick her face. I wanted to put my paw on top of the bow on her head and spin her like a ballerina in a music box. I wanted to run across country with her, she in her dress wooing people over to me to try to beat the cat at poker; and me taking all their money, a cat version of Bonnie and Clyde, but without the gunfire: Teqs and Hello, Hello and Teqs. We could be a vaudeville act, a mom and pop catnip shop, traveling snake-oil salespeople, gypsy cats with patches over our eyes sailing on makeshift rats on the ocean, all the fish we could want. We sat like that for what must have been hours, staring at us each other, not moving, not saying a word to the other, just quietly assessing the other, wishing we were away from our human masters.
After some time, Mitzi’s mom came outside. “Aimee, your mother just called. She wants you to know she finished grocery shopping and is on her way to pick you up.” We left shortly after Mrs. Newmark pulled into the driveway.
Every time after that day when Aimee would go to Mitzi’s, I’d mewl and chirp and rub on her legs, trying to get her to take me over there. Never happened again. I don’t know what I did that day, either, but Hello clearly didn’t want to see me. She didn’t look like she does now. Her eyes were wide. Her legs were normal cat size. She could move; man, could she move. I don’t know how she made it over to Japan, but she did. Forgot all about us, about me, about her roots. Stepping stones for some dames wild dreams of fame, fortune, and the grand catnip in the sky.
Haven’t seen a cat like her since. Dames. Every dream we have, they manage to take our snow-globe world and trash it on the ground, porcupines in our world of bubbles. You end up sleeping under a dumpster with your ribs kicked in and owing some jackass $5500, lapping up leftover tequila from the broken bottle of someone else’s shattered dreams.
Dames.
Brian Lepire is a man of many hats: editor and contributing writer to the online pop culture zine Junkyard Arts; poet; lyricist and lead singer of a rockabilly band; playwright and actor; sous chef; student for a degree in publishing; and an aficionado of all cool storyteller music: think Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, Sex Pistols, etc. He also hates cats and tequila. Which is why his authoring of the third chapter of Tequila Kitty (found here) seemed so appropriate. And, lastly and definitely not least importantly, he's also a friend. I sat down with him recently over a glass of his hated tequila to discuss books, writing, and his own process.
Brian Lepire, looking mighty skeptical about his tequila.
Q & A with Brian Lepire
Q: Tell me about what your writing. You write in a lot of different genres: poetry, prose, songs, drama, film criticism. Do you think they all feed each other, or do you have one particular genre that you consider your calling more than the others?
I view writing as a form of expression. It allows me to tap into my various thoughts, beliefs, and experiences. But there’s not just one genre that lets me expose all those elements. Some things I feel are better said through a poem than through a story, a three act play rather than a three verse song.
Then there are the articles and music reviews and film critiques. That’s my thirst for knowledge and new experiences coming out, as well as the desire to share that information with people. I would say my background is definitely in creative non-fiction and I derive a great amount of joy from writing a well-research, well-executed article.
Q: What would you say are your strengths as a writer?
I’d like to think I turn a good phrase here and there and pull together a coherent storyline with relatable characters. When I write, I spend a good amount of time making sure my characters are familiar enough so the reader doesn’t have to work excessively hard to see things from the character’s perspective. Another strength, and perhaps my greatest weakness, is I’m known for writing too tight sometimes – my sentences and paragraphs flow in such a way that editing can be a long and tumultuous project.
Q: What are you working on now?
I’m currently piecing together a collection of short stories, tentatively called THE PEOPLE WE MEET. I’ve spent a good portion of the past decade focused on my poetry and journalism, so writing short stories has been an exciting challenge. It’s forced me to dive deeper into the themes that surround my writing and my life.
Q: What publications has your work appeared in?
I’ve spent the past three years as a contributing writer and editor for Junkyard Arts, an online magazine aimed at exposing the masses to what’s happening in the art world and what’s worth paying attention to. You can also find my work at SalemFilmFest.com, where I am Online Media Editor.
My work has also been featured in Thirsty Magazine and several newspapers.
Q: Who are your primary influences, or inspirations, as a writer?
My influences are as varied as the genres I write in, but at the core they all seem to share a knack for packing great description and wit into crisp, memorable lines. Writers like Gay Talese, Leonard Cohen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Neil Simon, and Hunter S. Thompson have masterful styles that I keep returning to for guidance.
Q: What inspires you the most (e.g. music, landscape/nature, written word, life, etc.)?
More often than not I pull inspiration from real life experiences, especially when writing poetry.
Q: Do you find there’s a difference in writing poetry or prose? Which comes easier to you? Which do you enjoy writing more?
There’s a definite difference for me between writing poetry and prose. Poetry has always been easier for me to write. My best poems usually come from brief moments of inspiration that turn into a feverish writing session that can last anywhere from 20 minutes to three hours. Prose takes more time and development, which is fun, but is more of a commitment for me than poetry.
Q: What are you reading right now?
Right now I’m catching up on Jack Kerouac’s THE DHARMA BUMS because I should have read it a while ago. I’m also reading BOOK BUSINESS: PAST, PRESENT, and FUTURE to prepare for my summer at the Denver Publishing Institute.
Q: What authors, when you read them, make you think, “I’m giving up writing because I will never be as good as them?”
Breece D’J Pancake. He was able to capture so much emotion without having to become overly verbose. His writing at times is very stark and completely captivating.
Q: I know this is the hated and borderline unanswerable question, but it has to be asked. Why do you write?
Because when I don’t write, food is tasteless and my blood is quick to boil. Writing gives me purpose, fuels my ambition, and allows me to express the world that I see. But most of all, writing is what I’m meant to do. I get very frustrated when I can’t write for long periods at a time.
Q: If you weren’t writing, what else would you be doing?
Publishing. Managing an independent press/independent bookstore. I want to provide an outlet to great writers who might be intimidated or feel burned by the big publishing houses. There are too many poems and stories and books that have never reached the public because the writers have been turned off by the whole process, and I think that’s a shame.
Q: Name your top five favorite books and/or top five favorite authors?
Oh man…why did you have to ask? My five favorite books, in no particular order: The Rum Diary (Hunter S. Thompson); On the Road (Jack Kerouac); Stranger Music (Leonard Cohen); The Prophet (Kahlil Gibran); and CASH: An Autobiography (Johnny Cash w/ Patrick Carr).
Q: What is your non-writing claim to fame?
Officiated the wedding of Sarah Murray and Liam Walker. A pretty big accomplishment in my book.
And now we get into the non-writerly, more silly-ish questions of the interview, as paraphrased from James Lipton of Inside the Actor’s Studio:
Q: What is your favorite drink?
Coffee
Q: What is your favorite curse word?
Fuck…it is such a versatile curse. Good for any fucking occasion.
Q: Favorite food?
Hot Dogs from Coney Island in Worcester, MA. And cheese. Man, I love cheese.
Q: What is your most vivid memory?
The night I met “The Man with the Bomb”. You’ll have to pick up the book when it comes out to find out more.
Q: What is your favorite sound?
The excited greetings of friends when I arrive to the party.
Q: What is your least favorite sound?
An unattended, screeching fire alarm.
Q: If heaven exists, what do you think god will say upon meeting you at the pearly gates? What would you want it to say?
I would want God to say “I hear you have some questions. Want to talk?” But It will probably say “How did you get in here?!”
I’d made it to the motel parking lot when I heard the footsteps. A sombrero may make me look good, but it does shit for my hearing, so the bastards were able to scoop me up real quick. The first one gave me a hard slap on the top of the head with an opened palm. The bottle crashed to the ground, shattering like so many dreams do in this city. While I was still reeling, another one came up from behind with a burlap sack. The last thing I saw before they cinched the sack closed was an oversized neon cowboy wink at me.
- excerpt of Chapter 3 by Brian Lepire
Welcome to Chapter 3 of The Adventures of Tequila Kitty. (Chapters 1 and 2 can be found here and here, respectively.) When we last saw Teqs he was getting kicked out of the house of a kind-hearted, lovelorn woman who had fallen for him and taken him in. But, just like you can't teach an old dog new tricks, you can't domesticate a wild cat. Chapter 3 was written by my friend Brian Lepire, who has written for Junkyard Arts, the Salem Film Festival, plays, and songs for his previous incarnation as the lead singer of a rockabilly band.So, without further ado, (and because Teqs getting rather restless and we want to tell this story before he bolts the country...again), we bring you Chapter Three of The Adventures of Tequila Kitty.
Chapter 3
I promised myself I would never come back to this city.
After my last trip to Vegas, I knew the only thing this city had to offer me was trouble and bad credit. I told myself it was time for a fresh start. I’d put down the tequila and put away the sombrero.
But here I was again, with a bottle in my paws and women by my side, making more bad decisions.
I had come back to town to wish an old friend good luck. She was a good woman who didn’t deserve the hell I put her through when we knew each other, so when I heard she had run away to find a better life, I wanted her to know I wished her only the best. The fact she ran away to the place I was running from was an irony that tasted like a bad omen, but I went anyway.
She was giving everything she had to be a comedienne and had managed to get a show at the Venetian lounge room. After her set, I decided to bolt out before she had a chance to corner me. Awkward moments smell like rotten mice – I can smell them for miles. I was also hoping that no one recognized my tail. The last time I was at this particular casino, I hadn’t left the best impression. Probably because I didn’t leave as much money as I owed.
The place was crowded. There was a convention of seniors in town playing the slot machines and a poker tournament that was getting some national air time, so I thought the staff was busy enough that a cat wearing a sombrero minding his own business could go unnoticed. The girls and I walked quickly, careful not to make eye contact with anyone who might give a damn that I was back in town for a one time occasion.
There’s a trick to walking fast across the casino floor. The joint is set up so that you can’t get ten feet without stopping to spend more money, but you just have to keep the slots to your right at all times and keep your eyes out for old timers. They’re the ones who usually get blinded by the whirring cherries and sounds of emptying machines and might accidentally step on your tail, then keel over from the unexpected sound of a cat screeching and clawing their ankles. Blind fools have it coming though.
We were almost to the doors when I thought I saw someone swing their heads around for a second glimpse. I was hoping it was just someone getting a better view of the beauties I had picked up earlier that night at the bar down the strip. Or did I meet them at the bar this morning? I think their names were Tina and Emily.
The fresh air tasted cool and sweet. I took a fresh swig of my tequila.
“Where to now, Teqs?” asked Emily, the brunette in a perfect blue dress.
“Oh, oh, oh, let’s go to the Palace! I haven’t been there yet,” Tina exclaimed. She was obviously new to town.
“I think this might be where we go our separate ways, girls. I think I’m gonna call it a night.”
“What? It’s still early though. There’s still so much trouble we could get into,” Emily said in a way I’d heard so many times before, like a lady who expected me to keep her warm tonight. Damn if she didn’t look good in that dress though.
“Yeah. I wanna go to all the nice places,” Tina said.
“First off, the Palace ain’t as nice as you might think. Be careful over there. That place can shed your fur. They especially like to ruin blondes, Tina. And Emily, I’ve had my share of trouble in this town. I’m ready to call it a night on Vegas. Give me a call tomorrow.”
They pouted a bit, but when they realized I’d made up my mind, they headed off towards Caesar’s.
I didn’t want them around when trouble came.
I was holed up under a dumpster outside a cheap motel at the end of the strip; a far cry from the penthouse apartments and ritz’d up houses I usually worked my way into when I was in town. Lonely ladies had a thing for taking me in, and I didn’t mind taking advantage of their desperation every now and then. But this time I chose a place further off the radar, away from the lights that might give me away to any of a number of people who I didn’t have time for.
I’d made it to the motel parking lot when I heard the footsteps. A sombrero may make me look good, but it does shit for my hearing, so the bastards were able to scoop me up real quick. The first one gave me a hard slap on the top of the head with an opened palm. The bottle crashed to the ground, shattering like so many dreams do in this city. While I was still reeling, another one came up from behind with a burlap sack. The last thing I saw before they cinched the sack closed was an oversized neon cowboy wink at me.
***
Dried blood on burlap has a weird smell to it.
Whoever had sent these goons to pick me up had forgotten to mention I didn’t have all my nine lives anymore. They’d gingerly tossed me into the back of their van and laughed as the sack bounced off the interior walls. By that time I was so groggy I didn’t know how long we drove for. I assumed we were just going out to the desert to dig a well, so it didn’t really matter how long it took.
At some point I had finally passed out and didn’t wake up until the van door slammed open. One of the bastards stepped in to grab the sack. I let my claws peek through just enough to give him a nasty surprise when he wrapped his hand around the knot.
“Sonofabitch!” the unlucky one said.
“What’s your problem, Joe?”
“Bastard clawed me!”
“Haha. Pussy.”
“Shut up, Brad!”
I chuckled a bit too, until Joe’s boot met my ribs. I passed out again.
The next time I woke up the bag had been opened and I was surprised to find I wasn’t in the desert next to a fresh grave. Instead, I was in a large room without windows. It was covered in blood red wallpaper, which did nothing for the lack of light in the place. Shadows danced around the room from hanging incandescent lights.
There were two men standing behind me making sure I didn’t try anything stupid like bolt for the door. Joe was a bit shorter than most guys in his line of work, but had shoulders to make up for it. I could tell it was him from the fresh blood still speckled on his hand. Brad was a bit taller and better off in the looks department. It’d looked like someone had busted his nose at one point, but the damn thing gave his prep boy face even more character.
At the other end of the room was a glass desk that reflected the weird blue glow of twelve computer screens mounted to the back wall. There was a chair facing the screens, but I already knew who had picked me up.
I coughed up a hairball and some blood.
“Is that the infamous Tequila Kitty I hear? It can’t be. I thought he was long gone by now, especially after the shit he pulled last time he was here.”
The chair spun around to reveal a young guy who still dressed like he was in college, even if he did have more money than most actors in their prime. Craig Irvin had a specific look: zipped-up hoodies, jeans, and sandals. Didn’t matter where he was or who he was meeting with, whether it was the Prime Minister of Russia or the founder of the world’s largest tech company - he always wore sandals. He also had a nickname to match his curly red hair, but I refused to call him “Big Red”.
“It’s nice to see you again, Craig,” I said, trying to hide any signs of pain.
“Oh, it’s nice to see you too, Tequila. I assume you have my money.”
“Your friends there picked me up in the parking lot of a motel I couldn’t afford a room in, so, no. I don’t have your money at this moment.”
Craig wanted to kick me himself, but couldn’t because of his sandals, so he looked at Joe. A familiar boot met my sore ribs and I let out a loud yelp.
“Who the hell do you think you are, you mangy alley cat?!” Craig was on his hands and knees, pushing his beat red face against mine. Spit sprayed my eyes as he spoke. “Do you think the rules don’t apply to you? I want my money!”
I felt as good as I could in a situation like that. He wanted his money, which meant I might be able to walk out of this room if I could promise I could give back everything he’d lent me during my last bender in Vegas.
“Or maybe I’ll just make myself a new pair of fur-lined sandals. What do you think, Teqs? Those sound nice.”
I didn’t feel so sure about this anymore.
“Craig, I think I can-“
Joe stepped on my tail, twisting his foot as if he was crushing out a cigarette. I hissed and took a swipe at his ankle which caused him to jump back. He started to wind up for another kick.
“Not yet!” Craig said. “Little runt was about to say something. Hopefully he was about to tell us the code to his bank account, which conveniently has the $5500 he owes me, plus interest.”
“Craig, if you don’t mind me saying, what’s $5500 to a guy like you? Don’t you make $5 million a day from your websites alone? Is it really worth killing me over?” Probably not the best thing I could’ve said at that moment, but I had three broken ribs and a concussion. I was doing the best I could to figure out how to give him what he wanted.
“Vegas is an interesting place when it comes to debt,” Craig said, letting the anger on his face transform into malice. “Did you know they found a body in the desert last week of an old gangster killed over $50?”
Craig sat back down at the wall of computer screens and began pulling up files.
“Tequila, let’s summarize what’s going on here so you and I are on the same page. You came to town a few months ago driving a nice looking Corvette and swigging straight from the bottle. You and your loser buddies start playing the tables and you’re having some luck. You hit a couple places around town, running tables until they get cold.
Things taste real sweet as you rake it all in. Then, like pretty much everyone in Las Vegas, you overstay your welcome and lose it all. You think you can still win, so your friends hook you up with a pretty well-off guy: me. We hang out for a bit. I think your hat is weird, but like you enough anyway to front you some money; exactly $5500.
You head back to the tables and lose it all over Vegas. Then, instead of doing what you agreed to do and hand over the keys to the car, you jump in the Corvette you probably stole from someone and drive back to whatever dirty litter box you came from.
Does that sound about right to you?”
“You’ve got a good memory.”
“And you have a lousy memory. I want my money back. How are you going to get me my money, Tequila?”
When your universe starts to collapse around you, time stands still. The imminent sense that there is no way to avoid a death you are unprepared for makes the world’s axis grind to a halt and all you’re able to do is remember the most random moments of your life. As I listened to Craig layout my dilemma, all I could do was remember the most obscure things: my first sombrero, the first time I caught a mouse in Tijuana, the smell of a woman as we laid under the covers on a cold morning. Craig and the others must have seen a drooling cat, because Craig slammed his fist on the desk.
“Tequila! How are you going to get my money?! Better yet, I don’t want to know. I just want it back. And I want it back in the next twenty-four hour.” Craig swung his chair back to the screens. “And now for some added incentive. You know you weren’t the first one we picked up last night, right?”
Craig pulled up a live camera feed of a small empty room, save for two chairs back to back. There were two beautiful women handcuffed to the chairs. Luckily, it looked like Joe had been kinder to Emily and Tina. But their faces were etched in fear.
“You bastards! What have you done to them?!” I spun around and made a quick dash towards Joe. He must have been expecting it though, because as I jumped up to claw his eyes, he reached out and swatted me down. I fell on my back, which took the wind out of me and reminded me I should be in a body cast.
“Calm down. They’re fine,” Craig said. “You’re the one we want, not them. I only had Joe and Brad ask the ladies to join us so that you don’t get the idea to run off again without paying back what is mine.”
Craig walked over to the spot of floor I was sprawled over. Another bloody hairball came up as he looked down at me.
“Tequila, you don’t know me very well, but you should realize by now that I’m a man of certain principles. Kind of like how computers and science have unbreakable rules, I believe that there is no debt too small worth forgetting. And not only do I value my money, but I value my time. I took the time to help you out of a bad situation, and now I’m taking the time to address this little problem we have. So, basically what I’m saying, if you don’t get me my money, and if I feel like you’ve wasted my time, I am going to be very angry. And Joe likes it when I’m angry, because that means he gets to be angry too, and Joe really likes being angry.”
Joe took a step forward, but Craig raised a hand.
“Tequila, here’s the deal: you get me my money in the next twenty-four hours, or else the young ladies are not going to win big in Vegas. And please, for their sake, and yours, don’t try to leave town. I’ll know if you will, and I’ll still come after you. Is any of the unclear?”
I gave Craig a big smile, wide enough to show all the pointed teeth I still had, and nodded.
“Be back here tomorrow at 10 am with my $5500. Joe, Brad, get him out of my sight.”
I thought I was going to end up back in the sack and was prepared for an extra kick from Joe for good luck, but instead Brad came over and ran his hand across my back.
“Alright. Grab your sombrero and let’s go.”
I dragged myself onto all fours and tossed my sombrero on. Joe and Brad escorted me to the elevator. Brad hit the button for the first floor, and the three of us rode down twenty floors in a weird silence normally saved for funerals or in-laws.
“I’m guessing that hat ain’t your lucky one,” Brad said.
“Ha! Nope. I guess not. Hopefully I can change that though,” I replied.
“I doubt it,” Joe said with a smirk.
The elevator doors open and sunlight burst through the glass-paneled walls of the reception hall. Brad pointed to the door and gently pushed me towards the exit with one foot.
“We’ll see you in the morning, Tequila Kitten,” Joe said. He waved as the elevator doors closed.
I stepped out the door and realized we’d never left the Vegas strip. I felt lost.
Last week a new literary project (phenomenon?) was launched: The Adventures of Tequila Kitty. Thirteen writers were recruited to write one chapter each, only being allowed to see the chapter written before them. There were no limits on scope, style, or plot line. The only mandate was that one of the main characters of their chapter had to be a tequila swilling, alcoholic, sombrero wearing cat: Tequila Kitty, or Teqs. Chapter One: The Tequila-Mockingbird Incident can be found here
As part of this project, an interview will be posted within days of each author's chapter.
Chapter Two: Confessions of a Crazy Cat Lady was written by my good friend, the bartender poet, Aimee Hamel, who recently received her Bachelor's in Creative Writing-Poetry from Emerson College in Boston.
Aiimee and me moments before our mandatory Tequila shot.
Q & A with Aimee Hamel
Q: Tell me about what your poetry collection. When did you originally start it? How did it evolve? Was there a theme in your work you intended, or is it more just a collection of your works?
I actually started it a couple weeks before freshman year of college when I was talking to a future peer and he asked to see my work. I didn’t have anything to show so I wrote a poem in like 5 minutes to show him. An edited version of that poem did end up in my final poetry Thesis.
There was no intended theme, but as I went along it was pretty clear there was a theme forming. Each poem sort of had something to do with the trials and tribulations of being in love, and I ended up titling the collection after one of the poems: This Is Why I Choose to Be Alone.
Q: Give me a brief bio of your life:
I’ve been a New England girl all my life: grew up 40 minutes south of Boston, went to school at Emerson in Boston, and bartend in downtown Boston now. I’ve always been active in dance and sports, and in my older years am now heavily into fitness. I have always had a California state of mind and am currently saving up to move out there in a year or two.
Q: What would you say are your strengths as a writer?
I think my stuff is pretty easy to read, and I like that. I like that my poetry is complex but still understandable to most people, I think. I typically am drawn to write dramatic, depressing stuff, so once in a while when I attempt to write comedy (like this chapter in TK), and it’s actually funny to people, I definitely feel a sense of accomplishment.
Q: What are you working on now?
After taking almost a year off from writing after I was burnt out from writing my Thesis, Tequila Kitty got the ball rolling and I’m excited to start writing again. I’m going to try to publish some or all of my poetry collection, and I’m thinking about writing a short story.
Q: How has your upbringing influenced your work, if at all?
I don’t know if my upbringing really influenced it at all... I just remember as a 9 or 10 year old kid, always coming up with make-believe scenarios in the back yard with my neighbors. I also acted in middle school. I love a good story I guess.
Q: What inspires you the most (e.g. music, landscape/nature, written word, life, etc.)?
I’d say life. Weird stuff. Every time I see weird or creepy person, I want to write about him/her. A lot of times the weird stuff is the depressing stuff, so that’s why I think a lot of my writing is depressing, but I love it. This world is so strange and I just want to talk about it.
Q: Do you find there’s a difference in writing poetry or prose? Which comes easier to you? Which do you enjoy writing more?
I really do like them both. Lately i just love that you can tell a whole story in a couple of lines, with poetry.
Q: What are you reading right now?
As weird as it is, I managed to go all of high school and college not having read The Great Gatsby, so now that the movie is out I feel like I finally have to read the book. I literally don’t even know the story line, haha, so I’m interested to check it out.
Q: What authors, when you read them, make you think, “I’m giving up writing because I will never be as good as them?”
Q: I know this is the hated and borderline unanswerable question, but it has to be asked. Why do you write?
Unlike what I think a lot of people would say-- some nonsense along the lines of “I get the urge and I just HAVE to do it,”-- I don’t really feel any urge to do it. Half the time I convince myself I’m not that great of a writer. But then I eventually write something and at the end I find myself liking it and it’s always a pleasant surprise, like WAIT I actually am good at this, cool!
Q: If you weren’t writing, what else would you be doing?
Well over the past year that I wasn’t writing, I have been bartending and working out. Both of those things make me happy, and I’ll be continuing them even as I get back into writing.
Q: Name your top five favorite books and/or top five favorite authors?
Books: We Were the Mulvaneys, The Lovely Bones, Oryx and Crake, The Virgin Suicides........ Fifty Shades of Gray! I had to...
And now we get into the non-writerly, more silly-ish questions of the interview, as paraphrased from James Lipton of Inside the Actor’s Studio:
Q: What is your favorite drink?
Alcoholic: I don’t drink sugary drinks anymore since my diet, and I miss them!!! But technically my favorite would be Tequila Sunrise.
Non-Alcoholic: Anyone who knows me will tell you I’m obsessed with milk. Room temperature and drunk straight from the jug.
Q: What is your favorite curse word?
Cock sock
Q: Favorite food.
Clam chowder. I have to moderate my intake.
Q: What is your most vivid memory?
I’ve suppressed most memories before the age of like 14.
Q: What is your favorite sound?
Cat’s purring.
Q: What is your least favorite sound?
People chewing loud crunchy things. Like that one person in class who would bring carrots or a bag of Fritos during a lecture. Close your damn mouth or go away from me.
Q: If heaven exists, what do you think god will say upon meeting you at the pearly gates? What would you want it to say?
I hope that I will get enough done before this life is over so that he says “well done.” I hope he does not say, “#fail.”
He took off his sombrero and playfully placed it on my head. “And really, don’t be upset. You’re fine. There’s nothing wrong with loving your cat.”
He was right, there is nothing wrong with loving your cat. But there is something wrong with owning a different cat-print sweater for each day of the week, and there’s definitely something wrong with your kitchen floor being completely hidden beneath enough cat bowls and litter boxes to feed an army of cats, which I basically had. I had a problem, and that problem was all thanks to Tequila.
- excerpt from Chapter Two: Confessions of a Crazy Cat Lady, by Aimee Hamel
Welcome to the second installment of The Adventures of Tequila Kitty. The first chapter, written by Christopher Chik, introduced us to the hard-living, heavy-drinking, womanizing lifestyle of Tequila Kitty, or Teqs as he likes to be called, meow. (Chapter One: The Tequila Mockingbird Incident can be found here or here.)Chapter Two: Confessions of a Crazy Cat Lady was written by my friend, the bartender poet, Aimee Hamel. And now for the continuation of the exquisite-corpse novel, The Adventures of Tequila Kitty... Chapter 2: Confessions Of A Crazy Cat Lady
It’s always the dumbest, most obscure and unexpected little things that spark the long-awaited realization your life has become completely unreasonable. And it never happens early on, at opportune times when your dignity is still very much salvageable-- it just doesn’t work like that. You only receive that unforgiving jolt to your ass bone courtesy of the first jagged stone to greet you at Rock Bottom when you’re already way too far gone. I had that same jolt handed to me personally tonight by, of all things, vegetables.
I was sitting at my dining room table. Alone. Again.
Because, as usual, Teqs was three hours late for dinner and I’d resolved that I wouldn’t wait any more than an hour and a half for him this time.
I stared at his full bowl of Fancy Feast beside me as I pushed cold food around aimlessly on my own plate. I was thinking how I wasn’t going to put in the effort of getting him the good stuff anymore-- back to dry food he would go. I jerked my hand back from the table when my eyes settled over the edible art I’d created: Three slices of steamed carrots made for two eyes and a nose, with six string beans lined up on either side marking long green whiskers.
Just then Teqs crawled in through the front door cat flap with a guilty look etched on his muzzle.
I immediately got up and ran toward him like a mad woman, yanking my shoe off and chucking it at him.
“Tequila Kitty, what the hell have you done to me! Look at me! Waiting around for you like.. like I’m some pathetic little pet of yours! Whose owner clearly doesn’t give a shit about her! You’re the pet, goddamnit. You should be the one waiting on me! Oh my god, listen to me. What the hell am I saying?” I dropped to my knees and tears began to fall.
Teqs walked cautiously over to me, his claws defensively exposed.
“Don’t cry, meow. I’m sorry I’m late. Boss had a couple of mice at his house he needed me to take care of before I came home, ” he said.
He took off his sombrero and playfully placed it on my head. “And really, don’t be upset. You’re fine. There’s nothing wrong with loving your cat.”
He was right, there is nothing wrong with loving your cat. But there is something wrong with owning a different cat-print sweater for each day of the week, and there’s definitely something wrong with your kitchen floor being completely hidden beneath enough cat bowls and litter boxes to feed an army of cats, which I basically had. I had a problem, and that problem was all thanks to Tequila.
***
I wasn’t always this way. It feels like just yesterday that I was on top of the world, one of the most smoking hot blonde knockouts California had produced, and not afraid to let you know I knew it. I was living in Barstow and working in L.A. as a model when I met Tequila. I had been invited to a punk show in Corona by a friend of my agent who claimed he wanted to meet up and discuss a potential “business” deal. After he made a pass at me within the first fifteen minutes of my arrival, I had him swiftly removed from my vicinity and I decided to stay and enjoy the show by myself.
That was until I saw the most adorable little striped cat in a sombrero curled up in a seat at the bar. Cute animals were my kryptonite-- the only thing to make a no-bullshit independent woman go soft. I waited for him and his friend to leave the crowded bar and head for the door when I stopped him and suggestively asked him to come home with me, knowing I always get what I want. But I do love a challenge, and he declined, saying he and his friend had to leave for Vegas. He asked for a ride and I couldn’t say no. I ended up having him drop me off at home, and I let him take my Corvette the rest of the way. I wanted a reason to see him again, and I had such an expendable income then, it wasn’t much of a loss either way.
He did come back, about two weeks later. I had just gotten home from a photo shoot and was about to take a shower when my doorbell rang. I opened it to find Teqs, by himself, swaying drunkenly from side to side.
“Meow, I managed to keep the ‘Vette in one piece. You’re welcome,” he purred, tossing the keys into my hand. He started hiccuping and I took the bottle of Cuervo from his paws before it smashed all over the front porch.
“Tequila, are you okay? Where’s your friend?” I asked.
He brushed me off with a wave of his claw. “He’s got a thing. Look, meow, I’ll be honest with you. Vegas didn’t go so well for me. I was up about $5,500 for a good while, but I lost it all on a bad hand. I’ve got nowhere else to go. Do you think...?”
I cut him off, finishing his sentence for him. “Would you like to stay with me for a while? I could use some company around here, honestly.”
“You sure, meow? I wouldn’t want to impose.” Just as the last words left his little lips he started dry heaving and I ushered him inside.
“C’mon, Teqs, the bathroom is this way,” I said.
“I’m fine-- meow. It’s just-- a hairball.” he managed to choke out.
***
That night we went out and purchased the “bare” necessities-- Teqs insisted he needed nothing more than these: litter box, food and water bowls, and a big jar of catnip. Toy mice and laser pointers were of no use to Teqs. As long as he had his ‘nip and a handle of tequila handy at all times, he was stimulated and happy.
I had come up with what I thought was a suitable arrangement for us: he didn’t owe me any money for the room and board. It was on me. In exchange, he would sleep in my bed at night, playing up his cutesy-cuddly-kitty side to my satisfaction. He was still allowed to drink and smoke; he wouldn’t be Tequila if he didn’t. But he would have to stop the gambling and partying, starting immediately. I was going to do my best to make Teqs a good house cat. My house cat.
He agreed without any objections, and the first few weeks were great. I continued modeling, and Teqs scored a job promoting some brand of tequila, going around to different liquor stores in the area as a spokesperson and giving out samples. It was the perfect job for him; people got a kick out of taking free shots from a cute little cat in a sombrero. The stuff went fast. And Teqs was always home at night to greet me when I walked in the door, nuzzling my leg then jumping into his chair at the set table, ears perked waiting for dinner time. I poured some turkey gravy cat chow into his bowl while he rambled about his day.
“I’m tellin’ you, they love me over there, meow. Boss is telling me I’m in line for a promotion within the next couple weeks, whatever that means.” He dove into his bowl face first, going on when he came up for air. “Yeah, he says it’s time the rest of Cali, maybe the world, got a taste of the animal promoter craze we started. I don’t know if that means I’ll be traveling? We’ll see I guess.”
“That’s awesome, Teqs,” I said.
I was genuinely happy for him, at first. But three weeks later, when his boss did offer him the promotion, things started going straight downhill.
The first problem was all the cats.
Now that Teqs’ job required him to travel to bigger liquor stores around the state, and sometimes to other states, he started being inconsistent and coming home later and later. Some nights he wouldn’t come home at all, and the next day I’d see him in pictures online, out partying and drinking.
When I asked him what that was about, he went on the defense. “Meow. It was for one of the promotions I was doing. Boss needed me to work the crowd a little at a club. Do you want me to succeed at my job or not? I thought you supported me getting my life back on track.”
“I do,” I said. “But I’m not sure that partying and drinking all night long is helping you get your life on track...”
Before the conversation could go any further, he changed the subject. “You know what I think we need? For both of us?”
“What,” I said.
“Another cat. Maybe a kitten. As much as I care about you, and as great of a roommate as you’ve been, I’ve been craving more feline interaction. I think it’s instinctual. And it would be great for you when I’m out working late nights. You’d have another little buddy to keep you company--keep my spot on the bed warm for me,” he said.
“I don’t know about that, Teqs. The upkeep and everything... I still have a job too you know,” I said.
“I know you do,” he said, “but I promise there’s no more upkeep involved than there is having just one cat. Trust me.”
So that weekend, I went to the shelter, and I got myself another cat. In keeping with the liquor theme, I named her Ginny, Gin for short. She had a beautiful white and black coat with a brown belly. Teqs continued on his late night work grind, making it home in time for dinner maybe four nights out of the week. And for a while, Ginny filled that void just as he said she would. For me, that is. Him needing another cat for his own personal reasons was bullshit; he was never home and he never paid attention to her when he was.
After a another couple weeks, Ginny just wasn’t doing it for me like she was at first; I missed Tequila. I called him on a break at work and told him how depressed I was feeling. He seemed to know just the fix.
“Meow, I know you might think this sounds crazy, but I think you need another cat. Everyone I know who has three has never been happier.” It did sound crazy, but so was I. So I took his advice.
From that point on, it became a cycle. The more Teqs stayed out partying and doing God knows what, the more cats I brought home. One night Teqs came home with a diamond encrusted collar, I assume given to him by another woman, and the next morning I went out and bought three more cats. I truly believed that when I reached a certain number, the pain would go away. But it didn’t. And before I knew it I was a former model turned shelter volunteer. After so many visits to the shelter, I couldn’t stand by and watch so many neglected cats with no home. I figured if I worked there, I could take home a majority of them and no one would try and stop me.
That was the first way in which Tequila made me crazy. The second, and maybe even worse than the first, was Tequila’s jealousy issue.
For such an outgoing and flirty animal, he was extremely overprotective and jealous when it came to me and guys. My reassurances only angered him more.
“Tequila,” I said one night after I’d told him a customer at the shelter had given me his phone number, “you know no man--or woman-- could ever replace you. You’re my baby. But a woman has... needs. Which I’m sure you’d like to fulfill but it just doesn’t work that way. You understand what I’m saying right?”
Teqs was already popping the lid of his second straight bottle of tequila; liquor could either calm or worsen his nerves--we’d see which one it was this time.
“Frankly, meow, I don’t think I do. I protect you, I love you, I keep you warm at night. If some shmuck wants to take my place, he’s gonna have to do it over my dead carcass,” he said. “I’ve had enough of these guys trying to steal you away from me; it’s time I put a stop to it.”
“What guys?” I interjected. “Teqs, you are aware I used to be a model right? There were guys back then. Now... I haven’t been on a date in almost a year! No guy wants to date a girl who wears cat sweaters!”
“Hold on,” he said. “You don’t like the sweaters...?”
Teqs was referring to the sweaters he’d had printed for me for every holiday since he’d been living with me. Each one was an obnoxiously bright knit with a silk screen of him in his trusty sombrero. When he first starting gifting them to me I tried not to wear them, but he caught right on and got upset with me. Since then I’d worn them at least once a week. At least.
I knew that was just one more of his ploys to keep me from dating. As if the other issues of me having a house full of cat condos and a repertoire of conversational skills that started and ended with my cats names and respective quirks weren’t already achieving that goal.
It wasn’t until I actually landed a date, and endured the humiliation of Tequila showing up in the middle of said date and ruining everything, that I officially decided the jealousy thing had to stop.
I met a guy by the water cooler at my gym, as cliche as that sounds, and we got to talking. I ended up asking him over to dinner at my house--I don’t know why I ever thought that would be a good idea-- and he accepted. I didn’t tell Teqs for obvious reasons, and I planned it for a night I knew Teqs would probably be staying over his friend’s house after a post-promo party.
The guy--Adam, his name was-- showed up right on time, flowers in hand, and I was swooning. I couldn’t help it; it’d been too long. Everything went perfectly all night; I’d managed to hide all the cat paraphernalia in the garage so he wasn’t freaked out. He had just finally put his arm around me during a movie when Teqs strolled in through the flap, pupils growing as soon as he saw a male was present. It was quick, what he did, but the impact of it was lasting. He didn’t even say a word when he saw us-- just continued his stroll over to where Adam’s shoes were beside the couch, squatted over one, and did his business. When he finished, he looked straight at Adam and said, “Come back any time, dude. Love to have you.”
If looks could kill, every one of that cat’s nine lives would be used up when I was done with him. I threw him out that night. I couldn’t stand to even look at him and his smug little face. Even when he was being an asshole he was cute, and that pissed me off the most.
I don’t know where he went after I kicked him out-- maybe to another girl’s house, maybe he walked the streets like a stray for a while to see how much he could milk out of people. All I know is I didn’t see him for a while, and he dodged all my efforts to contact him. It wasn’t until I ran into him at--where else-- a liquor store when I was buying wine for a work holiday party. I had been bumped up to management at the shelter, and I was in charge of the beverages.
Tequila was in line with a handful of nips of assorted types of liquor. I knew he couldn’t be doing well financially if he was going for the mixture method. He tried to pretend like he didn’t see me, but I chased him down in the parking lot.
“Tequila, stop. Talk to me. Where have you been? Why won’t you talk to me?” I demanded.
“Meow, I don’t have time for this... I gotta be somewhere,” he said.
“Where. You don’t look like you’re dressed to ‘be somewhere,’” I said.
“Just leave me alone. Look. You’re better off without me. I deserved what I got for treating you that way after all you’ve done for me. Look at me, roaming around like a stray, I probably have fleas I don’t even know about yet. This is the life I should be stuck with.”
I couldn’t stand to see him like this. I didn’t even respond. I simply walked over to the dumpster behind the store and picked up an empty beer box, tipping it sideways and gesturing for Tequila to climb in.
“C’mon Teqs. Get in, we’re going home,” I said.
“No... I don’t think so. I can’t,” he mumbled.
“You know you can’t resist a nice empty box,” I waved the box around a bit more and he hopped in, our feud resolved at least for now.
***
He continued to stay with me, but not much more than a week later I was already regretting it. He came home even less often than he used to, and he never gave me any information on where he was. Every night I was back to moping around in my deep depression, right up until that moment at the dinner table when I had the vegetable-induced revelation that I had reached a frightening level of crazy.
As I sat there kneeling in my foyer being consoled by my cat, I realized I couldn’t fix my problems by sending him away. I was the one that had to get away. From all of it.
I packed my bags that night and left for Vegas. I had no idea at the time what I would do out there, but things fell into place quickly. I started waitressing at a club on the strip, slowly breaking back into the modeling industry since underneath all those sweaters, I still had my looks. I also started doing a stand-up comedy side show, which I named “Confessions of a Crazy Cat Lady,” because if I couldn’t laugh at myself and all the ridiculous shit I’d gotten myself into, then I was seriously in trouble.
One night, in the middle of one of my shows, I noticed a small sombrero floating somewhere in the middle of the crowd. It moved to the front row to take a seat and I realized Tequila was beneath it, with a pretty girl on each paw. He winked at me, and I was genuinely glad to see him happy, doing the things he did best.
If pressed to deduce a moral of the story from all of this, I’d probably advise anyone who spots a furry little cat in human garb sitting at a bar to look away, and never look back. But at the same time, should you really be taking advice from me? I mean, I shared milkshakes with my cats for god’s sake.
 As part of The Adventures of Tequila Kitty, an interview with each writer will appear within a few days of their chapter being posted. Christopher Chik, an emerging and very talented author, is currently working on his Master in Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University. His work has previously appeared in One Forty Fiction and also at his blogs Chasing Dimaggio and Occupy Mars. Q: Tell me about the novel you’re working on. When did you originally start the story? How did it evolve? What was the original kernel or acorn that became the story?
It’s the story of a baseball pitcher’s struggle with autism from childhood to the major leagues. I started the story around 2007 as a collection of my own autistic thoughts and tendencies fleshed out in awful scene snippets which would make even a bad experimental novel cry. The story was really born when I started the low-residency MFA at Southern New Hampshire University and my mentor, Wiley Cash, showed interest in the idea and pushed me to try other narrative approaches. I suppose the kernel was own experience growing up in an era when autism spectrum disorders were a relative unknown combined with my family’s history in baseball, particularly pitching.
Q: Give me a brief bio of your life:
I grew up and still live just south of Los Angeles and remember writing little stories of my daydreams since about second or third grade. As a child I loved sports, especially hockey and baseball and going to games with my Dad and Uncle David. I did a lot of camping and hiking with the Boy Scouts on my way to Eagle Scout. When I got older I took interest in philosophy which took my writing in a different direction for a while before I found my way back home to fiction again.
Q: What would you say are your strengths as a writer?
Most importantly, I take criticism well. I also read everything as a writer and editor, trying to dissect it and see what makes the heart beat and see how that applies to my own work, my own projects; to that end, I take a lot of notes while reading any book. I’m never satisfied and always try to learn and keep honing my craft.
Q: What are you working on now?
The novel for the most part, but I’m also working on some short stories, in particular a satire of the recent rash of American gun violence. My big project for the year, though it’s likely to take more than one, is a non-fiction effort about my favorite musician, Chuck Schuldiner, who was the front man for and creative force behind the band Death.
Q: What publications has your work appeared in?
OneFortyFiction
Q: Who are your primary influences, or inspirations, as a writer?
One of my best friends from high school has pushed me to write since I’ve known her, but I first got the idea of writing in my head at my local branch library. My parents left me there to read while they attended to something, and I found Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles and saw how a man put his daydreams, his fantasies, to paper. I was sold; I started dreaming of typewriters and, some years later, laptops. I’d have to sit around my parents’ offices a lot after school as well, so I’d find an unused typewriter and plot out my daydreams—at least, when I wasn’t making colossal paperclip chains. My mom has an English degree and got me to loving books real young. Seeing her write, even to little or no acclaim, gave me the affirmation I needed. Kids are so often short on confidence and long on doubts, it was nice having that as a beacon growing up.
Q: How has your upbringing influenced your work, if at all?
Being autistic obviously affects my WIP, the baseball novel, but having a physical disability probably had more influence. It hardened me, made me stronger, and gave me a more adult perspective to weigh my writing against. In elementary school, instead of stories about GI Joe and ninja fantasies, I’d write detective stories about serial killers and horror stories about things that go bump in the night.
Q: What inspires you the most (e.g. music, landscape/nature, written word, life, etc.)?
I’d have to say life, because I don’t really know otherwise. Sometimes you can’t sleep and are in bed watching Demolition Man for the five thousandth time, when epiphany strikes and the what-ifs start rolling around; sometimes a conversation sparks an idea for a story; sometimes the loathing of some existing aspect of human culture does it, especially when I get to writing satire.
Q: What are you reading right now?
Bang the Drum Slowly by Mark Harris and What We Saw at Night by my current and rocking mentor, Jackie Mitchard. The latter is really cool because the main characters have a genetic flaw that they don’t see as this big setback. I can really empathize with the way they think, that no holding back mentality. I’ve never had characters be so close to home for me.
Q: What authors, when you read them, make you think, “I’m giving up writing because I will never be as good as them?”
Raymond Carver comes pretty close. My writing mantra is “WWRCD?” Less is more, lean is mean, and all that jazz. Sometimes, though, a little poetry-spiced prose really lets that daydream form, and Toni Morrison weaves that into narrative with beauty and tension in the same breath. I try to strike a balance between the two.
Q: I know this is the hated and borderline unanswerable question, but it has to be asked. Why do you write?
I daydreamed a lot as a kid. Writing them down as stories was a way to share the process of make-believe outside of the playground. More than anything else, writing is a way to give the daydreams a reason to be, like an action figure is a reason to be talking to yourself, belly-down on the carpet.
Q: If you weren’t writing, what else would you be doing?
Playing and teaching guitar probably. I used to be on track for a career in law, but I wouldn’t trade writing for that ever.
Q: Name your top five favorite books and/or top five favorite authors?
In no particular order: Brave New World, Aldous Huxley; To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee; What We Talk About when We Talk About Love, Raymond Carver; anything by Ray Bradbury; Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert M. Pirsig.
Q: What is your non-writing claim to fame?
I got my picture in the paper as a kid for being a wicked awesome Push-Cart Derby driver who could make the Kessel run on a wooden palette in under twelve Parsecs.
And now we get into the non-writerly, more silly-ish questions of the interview, as paraphrased from James Lipton of Inside the Actor’s Studio:
Q: What is your favorite drink?
Rum and Coke with a lime twist.
Q: What is your favorite curse word?
Asshat, though my favorite cursing of all-time is the chained diatribes of the dad in Christmas Story. That guy could out-swear two sailors and a pirate with mere gibberish.
Q: Favorite food.
Pepperoni, black olive, and roma tomato pizza with Newcastle or Longboard beer, and I’m a big fan of Señor Fish’s fish tacos.
Q: What is your most vivid memory?
I’m not sure I have a most vivid memory, but I can remember almost everything since age three. My second earliest memory is dancing around in my parents’ living room to Michael Jackson’s Bad playing on a little Fisher-Price tape recorder.
Q: What is your favorite sound?
Ocean waves lapping on the beach, that steady rhythm of the Earth’s pulse.
Q: What is your least favorite sound?
Dog alarms, like people mount on their fences. Any real high frequencies like most people don’t hear really. Forget ADT, I can be stopped dead in my tracks by a dog alarm.
Q: If heaven exists, what do you think god will say upon meeting you at the pearly gates? What would you want it to say?
Probably, “I told you so, jackass.”
I’d want a god to tell me the journey isn’t over yet, that I was interesting enough to merit a sequel. Truth be told, I’d like to make the Singularity and live forever. Wouldn’t it be cool to see the Sun eat the Earth from the safe distance of some colony on one of those Kepler planets? What happens when the universe ends or does it?
That’s how I’d met him really: drinking games. We’d both been at the local watering hole, challenging the other patrons to drunken games of chance and making a clean sweep of it. A few guys, figuring themselves for alpha dogs, had Teqs cornered after he’d taken them for about a grand combined. I grabbed up a bottle and got ready for some smashing action, when a few ladies diffused the situation with their, “Aw, but he’s so cute,” and, “look at his little sombrero.” Before the petting turned heavy, he bolted out the door with his winnings. I followed him down to a dive bar just outside Hollywood. Inside, I spotted him paying his tab with the misfortunes of others.-excerpt of Chapter One of The Adventures of Tequila Kitty. Today marks the first installment of The Adventures of Tequila Kitty, an exquisite-corpse collaborative novel. A much longer explanation and introduction will be given in the near future, but here is the Cliffsnotes version.
Thirteen writers were recruited to write one chapter. The rules were simple: one week, 3000 words (more or less), any style. There were two conditions. The chapter had to involve the cat in the above photo (since named Tequila Kitty, or "Teqs" for short) as one of the characters; and each writer could only see the chapter written before them.For the next few months, the next chapter will be released the following Sunday on this website and many others. An interview with the author of each will be posted the following day.
The first chapter was written by my good friend Christopher Chik.
As always, thank you. And enjoy.  Chris Chik (left) and I moments before our obligatory tequila shot. Chapter One: The Tequila-Mockingbird Incident
We were in a Geo Metro convertible somewhere outside the Barstow freeway when the catnip started to hit.
“Birds, birds everywhere.” My companion was pawing at the sky in fits, claws extended.
I had told him not to open the bag with the top down. The stash had blown across the freeway into the setting sun, a puffy trail of green leaves and stems spattering the trailing cars with the mess. He was relegated to huffing what he could out of a stitched up tie-dyed mouse.
“Caught the bastard trying to steal my sand.” He had the mouse between his paws, back legs kicking and pushing, trying anything to get at the catnip.
Poor bastard, I thought, but I had my own problems. He’d put all my weed in the trunk with my bong and suitcase. In his haste to get at the catnip, my companion only thought to throw my rolling papers in the glove box. Not sure how he planned to roll joints with those paws of his—at least not without shredding the papers to bits. Without my grinder, all he was good for was dicing up the nugs anyway. We would need to pull over; I needed my weed, and if I didn’t get to a pet store before they closed, this hip cat would start clawing at more than a stuffed mouse. Say what you want about a Geo Metro, but it was mine and got fifty miles to the gallon at a time before they’d invented hybrids.
I took the next exit into a little patch of concrete, just outside the true desert of Joshua Tree.
“Coronas, they’ve got Coronas!” he said.
“Corona’s the town you idiot,” I said.
“Well, every town’s got Coronas.” He was huffing at the stuffed mouse and reeking of desperation.
I pulled into a gas station to ask where the nearest pet store was. The sun was nearly gone and with it had to be most of the store clerks around town as well. Inside the station’s little convenience store, the lone attendant fussed with dispensing cigarettes and one person who still paid cash for gas. He didn’t seem too interested in my questions at first.
“We don’t need your kind around here.”
“Just trying to find a pet shop, man,” I said.
“Everyone comes through here on the way to Vegas; stuck in traffic; just want to use the bathroom or get directions.”
“Relax, meow.” My companion tipped his sombrero forward on his furry head with his free paw, the other clutched to a case of Coronas; I hadn’t even heard him come in.
“No pets,” the cashier said.
“Name’s Tequila, but you can call me Teqs,” he said, flashing his fangs.
“There’s a pet shop two blocks over.” The cashier rang him up.
“Told you they had Coronas.” Teqs winked at me and smoothed his whiskers.
He slinked through the doors and left me to settle the tab. When I got outside the crazy feline was already six beers deep into the case. Since I’d met him, he’d been into something: booze, catnip, empty boxes. More than anything, he loved getting waist deep in people’s dirty laundry. Spend your days in the desert scratching in the sand, and you’ll dig up all kinds of dirt.
The pet store was just as run down as the rest of town. Before I could even pull into a space, he’d leapt over the side. I managed to make half a loop around the aisle when he burst through the door with cans and bags of catnip clutched to his chest, a bird between his teeth. I wished so hard for a string to be attached to the feathered mass, but when he loosed his fanged grip from it, I could see the blood trickle out. I gunned the engine when I saw the store clerk running through the door behind Teqs.
“Get back here you furry little drunk,” he said.
Teqs leapt up toward the car as I sped past. His front paws tumbled his swag into the passenger’s seat, but his legs weren’t strong enough to get him over the edge. He latched onto the top of the door with his claws, and with him hanging from the Geo we escaped into the night.
“What’d you go and do that for?” I asked.
“He was mocking me, dude.”
“The clerk? I mean, you are wearing a sombrero, man.”
“The bird.” He sat there batting at it.
I looked down to see a gray-white bird with soft orange and baby blue patches.
“We’ve got to make a run for it, ditch the body somewhere. I can’t take another murder rap.”
“Petty theft. Birds aren’t people.”
“Next you’ll tell me cats aren’t people.” He hissed and arched his back.
“I’ve probably got the only yellow Geo in Corona, you know.”
“Maybe we should ditch the car, too.”
“You buying me a new one?” I asked.
“Suggestions?”
“Lay low for a while, then book it to the Nevada border.”
I drove until I found a quiet, dark neighborhood and packed a bowl. Excitement was well and good, but if you weren’t paying for it up front, with cash, you’d get billed for it in the end. Nothing calmed me quite like smoking a fat one. Why he couldn’t just wait for me to park and go in with him is beyond me. Maybe he’d thought every second counted, that they’d close before I could park and get in. He never did have much sense of time; maybe that’s why I understood him better stoned—that total imperceptibility of the passing minutes. In the seat next to me he’d shredded open a pilfered bag of catnip and dumped it all over the seat.
“This is enough to last me a lifetime.” Teqs was writhing around in the seat, purring and rubbing his cheeks into the folds of the cushioned surface.
“Oh yeah, you’re really rolling in it now,” I said.
When we got back on the road, the sun was completely gone and my sense of direction failed. We drove around for blocks and blocks looking for the freeway. Teqs seemed more docile by then, just batting at the bird and muttering about getting locked up. He had a bad experience with a cage once and some folks in the Deep South who didn’t take well to his kind, but it wasn’t something he made a habit of talking about. The thought of answering for his crime of haste had him stuck back in that place, like a hairball he just couldn’t cough up. I’d have done anything to drag him out of that funk.
We passed a parking lot I’d seen a few times before. How long had we been dancing circles in the Corona concrete? The lot had been empty the first couple times we passed, but this time was filled with cars and a smattering of people; a number of them had mohawks and looked to be rather crusty—our sort of folk. Teqs was coming out of his comatose state by then and was burying his face in a fresh can of the ‘nip.
“Think you ought to slow down there, Teqs?” I asked.
He was oblivious.
“Wouldn’t want you so out of it you couldn’t run the hustle with me.”
His ears perked up and he quit wriggling in the passenger’s seat.
That’s how I’d met him really: drinking games. We’d both been at the local watering hole, challenging the other patrons to drunken games of chance and making a clean sweep of it. A few guys figured themselves for alpha dogs had Teqs cornered after he’d taken them for about a grand combined. I grabbed up a bottle and got ready for some smashing action, when a few ladies diffused the situation with their, “Aw, but he’s so cute,” and, “look at his little sombrero.” Before the petting turned heavy, he bolted out the door with his winnings.
I followed him down to a dive bar just outside Hollywood. Inside, I spotted him paying his tab with the misfortunes of others. He was so skilled he’d almost never taken a sip, while his opponents grew wearier with each slug. After I’d watched for a while, I made my challenge.
“Bet you can’t even hold your liquor,” I said.
“How’s that, meow?”
“Haven’t even seen you take but two drinks, man.”
“How’s about a drinking match, straight up?” Teqs asked.
“Name your poison.”
“Patrón.” He smoothed his whiskers. “Stakes?”
“Everything you’ve won tonight.”
Teqs slid his pile of cash across the bar.
“From before, too.”
“Meow, that’s my kind of scalawag.”
Saying Tequila was half my size would be generous, and still he had me beat. I’d had to stop somewhere after the first bottle, but he kept going. He’d spent my money on three more bottles before he finally passed out. Part of me wanted to take my money back, like there was no way anyone could drink that much and not pull a John Bonham. I’d thought about it for a few minutes, standing over him laying there on his back, all four appendages up in the air and kicking at dreams. He awoke with a fit, though. Seeing me standing over him, I expected Teqs to tear me a new one.
“How’d you do it?” he asked.
In his celebration, he’d drunken himself clean of the memory of his victory. I thought about claiming otherwise, telling him the truth of the situation, but before I had time to weigh on it, he made me an offer.
“Meow, I tell you what, we could clean up on a drinking game hustle; never met a man could outlast me.”
After we’d cleaned up from the Patrón binge, we went to a little coffee shop down the street. It was a lot like a first date, learning what my new shill was like. As partners go, this guy had a puss could squeeze a dime out of a miser and get him to smile while he did it.
“Name’s Tequila,” he said.
“How’s a guy come upon that name?”
“I guess since we’re partners, meow, I can tell you.”
I wondered if he thought I was a fink; I mean, he’d caught me standing over him at the bar and all.
“Tequila’s the only drink gets me fuzzy anymore.”
“So you’re a ringer?” I’d wanted to tell him he’d beaten me at the bar, but that early on, our partnership hinged on my established mythos.
“My kind is everywhere on the internet; I made my fortune there; CERN, DARPAnet, videos of me in different hats, that sort of thing.”
“Guess the sombrero stuck.”
“Blew it all on catnip, the good stuff, imported straight from Colombia, dude,” he said.
I started to think about all the greens I could buy with that kind of Silicon Valley dough.
“When I snapped out of the haze—”
“When you went broke,” I said.
“I tried to drown myself in bottle after bottle of booze, but nothing got me drunk anymore, except tequila.”
“Tequila—”
“Call me Teqs.”
By the time we’d hit Corona, our game was on point. Teqs was like a walking Konami code for the drinking hustle. Corona was just a detour along our path to Vegas drinking glory. We wouldn’t have been stuck there waiting out the heat if Teqs could go an hour without a sniff or wait two minutes for me to put the top back up. He was a cool cat, but I’m almost certain he had an attention disorder. He thought the world owed him something, too.
The kids in mohawks were starting to line up around a small brick building at the end of the shopping center. Some had wild liberty spikes; a number had patches sewn into denim jackets or jeans; a few had leather jackets; a couple even looked more like greasers. The music pouring out the double door entrance had an edge to it, the kind of rock that wouldn’t just cut the powder, but the mirror underneath it, too. A punk club with a live band was just what we needed.
I pulled into a space and started rolling some joints for the show. Teqs managed to stop rubbing his face around inside the catnip jar long enough to stash some in a baggie for inside. No one seemed to mind when we played a game of puff-puff pass with a few crusty kids ahead of us in line outside the club.
“We been squatting this trailer in the desert,” one of the kids said.
“Yeah, I came down from Fresno; met this guy at a show, he said he was squatting this place, and I could stay there too,” the other said.
“I love a good squat out in the sand,” Teqs said.
“Where you guys from?”
“L.A.,” I said.
“Come out here for shows a lot?”
I looked down and realized I’d worn my Leftover Crack t-shirt.
Teqs tugged at the stash he’d tucked away in his sombrero, but didn’t take a sniff just yet.
“Well, hey, thanks for the rips,” one of them said.
“Say meow, you fellows happen to have some extra space out there, I could do some scratching maybe?” Teqs asked.
I elbowed him a little.
If Teqs would keep his cool, we could make some real scratch and be on our way to Vegas without any guff over the pet store mockingbird. Inside the club, a mosh pit was raging in front of the stage and the bar was stacked three people deep. Somehow, Teqs always managed to wriggle his way up to the bar and set up shop. Once I’d even seen him hang onto the bar top with one paw while dropping shot after shot with the other. He got us in at the bar next to a shapely blonde in a studded jacket and ripped jeans. He had a way with the ladies I never did. The guy could just rub up against a girl and she’d just nuzzle him right back. That sort of thing would get me slapped for sure.
After a few drinks we’d found our mark. Some fish with short spiky hair, the kind has those frosted blonde tips—Zach Morris of the punk scene. Teqs put him away with a game of one-man relay flip cup. They threw the kid out when he puked along the side of the bar somewhere after beer eleven, but not before Teqs relieved him of his cash.
“Nine hundred bucks will get us a great start in Vegas.” Teqs slapped a stack of bills into my hand.
Before I could say anything, he was on top of the railing between the bar and the dance floor mosh pit with one paw in the air. He did a back-flip into the pit and floated around on top of the crowd, once in a while getting tossed up into the air some. At one point, he was pushed onto the stage. Security tried to grab him and throw him back in, but he darted every which way across. When they had him cornered, he leapt atop one of their heads and back into the pit. Through it all, he managed to keep the sombrero on his head.
When the band was called back for an encore, we decided to make our run for it. Cops would be lurking everywhere when the club let out after the show. Getting pinched now was the last thing we needed. I’d just gotten Teqs back in a more stable frame of mind—a scary enough proposition itself. At the door, the blonde in the studded jacket stopped us.
“I like your style,” she said.
“That a fact, meow?” Teqs asked.
“I got an empty box just for you.” She smoothed Teqs’ ruffled fur with an outstretched hand.
As I leaned against the brick wall watching them, I sparked up my last joint.
“Like to come back to my place?” she asked.
Women always wanted to take care of him. I could be eating soup with the broth dribbling down my chin and a waitress wouldn’t bother to say a word to me. They’d brush the burrs out of his fur, bathe him, or even pick up his tabs, though. For a guy who’d blown his bankroll on Colombian green, he lived pretty well between his hustle and the love of women. Could be that meal ticket puss of his kept me from coming clean that day at the bar.
“We’re headed to Vegas,” Teqs said.
“Oh, that’s too bad.” She leaned on a black Corvette.
“Nice ‘vette. Yours?” Teqs smoothed his whiskers.
The blonde beeped the alarm; the doors popped open and the engine started.
“How’s about a ride to the strip?” Teqs asked.
She got in the car but only closed her door.
I grabbed the suitcase, bong, and what was left of the Coronas, while I let Teqs handle the rest of our gear. It was a gamble, but the encore was tapering off and the cops would show up any minute. A safe getaway trumped ensuring that daffy tabby remembered everything I didn’t. I stowed what I was carrying in the trunk, except for the bong, and told Teqs to make sure he had both our stashes up front this time. With me sitting shotgun, Teqs circled around himself in indecision. The blonde noticed and tapped her thigh.
“You can ride in my lap,” she said.
I decided to take a little nap since I didn’t have to drive. When I woke up, I saw the approaching sign for Vegas zip by. I looked around, but the blonde wasn’t in the car. Teqs was behind the wheel, doing something like one-thirty, though.
“Where’s the blonde?” I asked.
“Got off in Barstow.”
“The car, though.”
I still don’t know how he did it, but he talked that blonde right out of her car. My bong was behind my seat, so I hoped this time the silly bastard remembered to pack my weed in the glove box like I’d asked. When I opened it, my stash was there and right next to it that damn bird.
“The hell is this here for?” I asked.
“Lot of sand out here, dude.” With one paw on the wheel, Teqs flashed a set of claws.
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