Catboy (13 page)

“It's so empty. I can't believe how fast they're removing things,” I said.

“They are taking everything away quickly. They cannot start excavating the site until everything is gone.”

“Excavating?” I asked.

“Digging. They must dig down deep before they can build up high,” he explained. “The new boss keeps saying ‘Time is money' and yells at everybody to work faster. I do not think I want to work for him.”

“You're going to quit?”

“Oh, no, I will not leave here now, but he has offered me a job,” he said.

“A job? Wait, I'm sorry. I've been so wrapped up in what was going to happen to the cats, I hadn't thought about what would happen to you when this place closes. I'm so sorry.”

“The boss offered me the job of security while the construction takes place, and when it is a condominium, they will need security too.”

“So you could keep your job.”

“I would prefer to work elsewhere. Besides, he wishes for me to work evenings and weekends. He has scheduled me to work
this
weekend.”

“I know you like to spend that time with your family,” I said.

He shrugged. “I will stay until the cars are gone, and until the cats are gone.”

“How long is that going to take?” I asked. “How long do the cats have?”

“I can continue to direct them to other parts of the yard for this week, but soon there will be no other areas to clear, and they will begin taking the cars of the colony away.”

“So, this week, but not much longer?” I asked.

He nodded his head.

We walked to the colony clearing. Surrounded by the familiar wrecks, it was as if nothing had changed. There were a dozen cats lying down, sitting, walking and sleeping.

“Do you think they even know what's happening?” I asked.

“They can tell by the sounds and smells that something is happening. But they do not know what.”

“Maybe it's better they don't know since there's nothing we can do. It's like I'm coming here to feed them their last meals,” I said.

“Have you thought that maybe you could borrow that trap again, the one you used to catch Hunter, and remove some of the cats?” he asked.

“I could only remove a few, and then what would I do with them? It isn't like they can stay in my apartment.”

“I just know they cannot stay here,” Mr. Singh said. “But I am sure for some of the cats it will still be okay.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“Your Hunter cat, he is very strong and agile. He will get away from the yard, find another place to live,” he suggested.

“But what about the other cats?”

“I think it is not so good for them. Did you not tell me there are other colonies of cats?” he asked.

“There are lots, but that doesn't mean they can find them. Some are on the other side of the city. There's no way they could get there, at least not by themselves. If only there was some way.”

“Do you have an idea?” he asked me.

“Not an idea. Not even the beginning of an idea,” I said. “You said you were going to be working this weekend?”

“Two twelve-hour shifts.”

“So I could come and see the cats, right?” I asked.

“You may come and see the cats
and
the security guard,” he said.

“Thanks. It'll be good to see all of you,” I said. While I still can, I thought, but didn't say.

“You are always so good to bring food for the cats,” he said. “You are a good boy.”

“Thanks.”

I opened up the bag, and the cats all became interested in me. I pulled out a few of the scraps and tossed them to the ground. I didn't see Hunter anywhere. I guess he hadn't understood what I'd said about meeting me inside for more food. Either that or he didn't care for sweet-and-sour pork.

Twenty-Two

I looked down at the math questions. It was like they were written in a language I didn't understand. I should have understood. Mr. Spence had explained how to do them, and he was a good teacher. I just couldn't follow the lesson. My mind kept drifting off, thinking about my cats.

I looked over at Simon. His head was down, eyes on his paper, as his pencil raced through the questions. No surprise. I'd ask him to explain the questions to me right after school—well, right after I stopped in at the junkyard. No, I couldn't stop in after school. There would be too many trucks, and the boss could be there. I couldn't wait until it closed to sneak in either, because of the new fence. Maybe I could climb over the fence. There wasn't any barbed wire, and it would be dark but not that dark. Maybe I should get Simon to come and feed the cats instead of helping me with my math questions.

“Taylor?”

I looked up. Mr. Spence was standing over my desk. He looked concerned.

“Taylor, it's recess.”

The room was almost deserted, and the last of the kids were heading out the door. I was so preoccupied I hadn't even noticed. Simon lingered for a few seconds at the door and nodded my way before heading out.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“I'm just working on my math questions,” I said.

He reached down and spun the paper around to look at my answers, or lack of answers.

“I'm having a little trouble,” I said.

“Nothing you can't overcome, you know that,” he said. “We can work on it later. I can explain it again, help you. Are you sure you're okay?”

“I guess I was just concentrating,” I said. That wasn't a lie. I was concentrating, just not on the questions.

“Concentrating on the math?” he asked.

I
could
have lied, but I didn't want to lie to him. “No, sir, I was thinking about a problem with the cats.”

“What sort of problem?” he asked.

“The junkyard is being redeveloped into condos,” I explained.

“But where will the cats live?” he asked.

“I don't know, and that's the problem.”

“And you're worried about what's going to become of them,” he said.

“Really worried. I don't know what to do.”

“You keep thinking. Maybe something will happen to make it better,” he said.

“I wish it would.”

“But for right now, why don't you go out, take a break and enjoy recess.”

“Thanks, sir.” I got up, pushed my chair in and started for the door.

“Taylor,” Mr. Spence called out, and I stopped. “I'll think about your problem too,” he said. “Just remember, the more people who think about it, the better the chance of somebody coming up with an answer.”

I nodded.

I hurried outside and looked for my friends. They were standing together outside the door.

“Hey, guys,” I said.

“We've been thinking,” Simon said.

“About the cats,” Devon added.

“We've all been trying to think of a way to save them,” Jaime continued.

“And?” I asked hopefully.

“And we haven't been able to come up with an answer,” Rupinder replied.

“But we are still trying to think of something,” Alexander added. He put a hand on my shoulder. “Nobody is giving up yet. Maybe we'll come up with something in a day or two.”

“If we don't come up with something soon, it's all over,” I said. “I wish it was as simple as moving them someplace else.”

“Well, why don't we do that?” Simon asked.

“Why don't we do what?” I asked.

“Move them someplace else,” he said.

“Yeah, right, like I could move fifty cats,” I scoffed.

“Not you,” Simon said. “
Us
.”

“All of us,” Devon said, and Jaime, Rupinder, Mohammad and Alexander nodded in agreement.

“We would be like the United Nations,” Jaime added.

I was thinking more like Catboy, the Korean Kid and assorted other superheroes.

“Even if we work together, how do we trap them or move them, and where would we move them to?” I questioned. “Seven kids are better than one, but we're still only seven kids.”

“How about Dr. Reynolds?” Simon said. “He'd help, wouldn't he?”

Yeah, he
would
help, I thought.

“You told me he has traps, and what about those wild cat people? Wouldn't they help too?” Simon asked.

“I hadn't thought about that,” I said. “But even once we trapped them, where would we move them to?”

“There are other colonies around the city, right?” Simon asked.

“That's what Dr. Reynolds and Doris told me,” I agreed. “They said there are hundreds.”

“Well, maybe it isn't just you who can move from one home to another, but the cats can too,” Simon said.

“We've all moved,” Alexander said. “Some of us from one country to another.”

“One
continent
to another,” Rupinder added.

“So tell me, why can't the cats be moved to a new colony?” Jaime questioned. “Moving worked for all of us.”

“I guess they could,” I agreed.

“Well, then maybe we have a plan,” Simon said.

“Maybe we do.” I paused. “Thanks, guys.”

“Are you feeling better now?” Jaime asked.

“Yeah, I am, a little.” Now all I had to do was convince Dr. Reynolds to help us. Without him, we had a plan that had no chance of working.

Twenty-Three

I sat in the waiting room, doing the only thing I could— wait. Everybody else had a dog or cat or even a guinea pig with them. I just had me—me and an idea, and not even an appointment to discuss that idea. Suddenly I started to get even more nervous.

The door opened, and a woman and her daughter, who was about my age, came out leading a gigantic dog, an Irish setter. It was bouncing and pulling at its leash, and it took the two of them to stop it from dragging them right out the front door.

Dr. Reynolds poked his head out of the examination room and saw me. “Taylor?” he called out. “What are you doing here?”

I got up. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“I'm sort of busy. Can it wait until tonight? You could call me.”

“I know you're busy, but I really hoped I could talk to you in person. I can wait until you're through with everybody,” I suggested. “It's important.”

“Now you've got me interested. If you say it's important, I'm sure it is. Come in.”

Every eye in the place was on me as I walked into his office. He closed the door behind us.

“Is this about Hunter?” he asked.

“It's about all of the cats, the whole colony. They're in danger.”

He took on a serious look. “Poison, disease, mange? What's wrong?”

“They're redeveloping the junkyard. It's being turned into condominiums,” I explained.

“That's awful. The cats that don't die during construction will be put out on the streets. Most of them won't survive.”

“I know. That's why I want to talk to you. You said there were other colonies in the city, right?”

“There are spots all over the city, but none of them are close enough for the cats to migrate to,” he said. “Even if they knew where to go, the nearest site that could accommodate that many cats is too far away.”

“But it could fit that many cats?”

“The Leslie Spit could hold hundreds of feral cats, but there's no point in thinking about it. It's on the other side of the city. Even if they knew where they were going, I don't think a cat could survive that trip. Plus, there's no way a whole colony could make it. It's not like you can
herd
cats.”

“But you could
carry
them,” I said.

Dr. Reynolds looked even more curious.

“We could trap them in cages and drive them over,” I explained.

“How would you even get that many traps and cages?” he asked.

“That's one of the things I wanted to ask you about.
You
have traps.
You
have cages.”

“Not enough cages to hold fifty cats. That is about the size of the colony, isn't it?”

I nodded in agreement.

“I don't have that many cages or traps!”

“But I bet you know people who have some.”

“Yes, I know people who have cages and traps. We could probably find that many cages. But even if we could gather the cages, do you know how hard it would be to trap the entire colony?” he asked.

“Really hard.”

“More than hard, it would be close to impossible. It could take weeks and weeks to trap that many cats.”

“We don't have weeks. We only have this weekend,” I said, looking at the floor.

“In that case, it
is
impossible.”

“Maybe it is. But if we don't try, they're all going to die. Or almost all of them, especially the little ones and probably the older ones. Maybe we can't trap them all, but we can trap some of them. We could save some of them, couldn't we?”

He didn't answer right away. I took that as a good sign. He must be thinking about what I'd suggested. Either that or thinking of a nice way to turn me down without saying I was crazy.

“So let me get this straight,” he said. “You want me to try to round up fifty or so cages and traps.”

“Fifty would do.”

“You then want me to go with you—”

“And other people,” I said. “We won't be alone.”

“Fine, I'll go with you and other people to the junkyard and try to trap the whole colony of cats, maybe fifty cats, in two days. Then we're going to drive them across town and release them, so they can rebuild their colony in a whole new place. Is that what you're suggesting?”

It was, but it made less sense when he put it all out there in front of us.

“I guess so.”

“Even though you know it's basically impossible and it's just going to be a waste of our time. Is that what you want me to be part of?” he asked. “Is that what you want me to spend my
entire
weekend doing?”