by Ashley Nemer
CHAPTER TWO
“Boys, come on, the bed is big enough you can both sleep in it.” Nadia tried reasoning with the two of them, but neither would have it. Only one was getting to sleep in her guest room, and the other was sleeping on the couch. “How about we flip a coin, and whoever loses can sleep with me tonight, yeah?”
“Yes!” Daman jumped a little in the air, pulling his arm up and down in celebration.
“Glad someone likes that idea.” Leon brought in the grocery bags from the car and helped Nadia put things away. The boys came over frequently enough that he knew where each item belonged.
“You boys know what you want to do today before the snow hits?” she said as she set aside some meat and vegetables to cook for their dinner.
“I want to go to the park and play,” Daman offered up.
“Alright, we can do that. Leon, why don’t you put the bag of salt by the front door so we can be prepared, then help me with the pipes around the house real fast and we can head to the park?”
“Alright, Aunt Nadia.”
“I wanna help too,” Daman pouted. His lower lip was used to being worked when he wanted something.
“OK lil’ man, you come with me outside, and Leon can handle the bathrooms.”
Nadia and Daman walked into the garage and gathered up the pipe covers and the blankets she kept out there to cover her foliage. “Come on, let’s start on the side. Take the blankets and cover the shrubs, okay?”
“Got it, Aunt Dia.” Daman walked to the plant and tossed around the blanket. Nadia chuckled to herself, watching him attempt to get things adjusted. She’d need to pick up firewood while they were out later to help keep the house at a good temperature.
“Daman, you need some help over there?”
“No, I gots it, Aunt Dia.”
They worked their way around the house, and Nadia went behind him to double check how secure the blankets were. Once they were done, Leon came outside with her purse and car keys. “Ready to go to the park?”
She swept the keys and purse from him, and the three of them loaded up in Lucky Leo. “I want to go to the zoo park,” Daman said from the back seat.
“Oh? Well I think we can head to Old MacDonald’s Farm, they should be open.”
“Awesome.” Smiling as he looked out of the window as they passed the town. When Nadia turned onto Council Street, Daman started bouncing on the back seat full of excitement.
“We’re here, we’re here!!”
“Calm down, spaz. It’s just a kid’s zoo.” Leon rolled his eyes at his brother form the front seat.
“Shut it Leon, you know I love aminals.”
“That’s animals; you should learn to pronounce things right.”
“Hey, be nice Leo. He’s your little brother; he doesn’t know better,” Nadia said as she pulled into the parking spot. “You used to say things wrong when you were his age too.”
“Did not.”
“Yeah, you did. Now apologize and let’s go see what we can go find.”
Leon mumbled something barely audible to Daman as they walked around the car coming up beside their aunt. She grabbed Daman’s hand and the three of them walked into the Children’s Zoo.
“Look they have baby cows!” Daman pulled on her hand in the direction of the calf. “Can we feed ‘em, puhlease?!”
“Alright you can feed them.” Nadia let go of his hand. She and Leon watched as he ran as fast as he could to the area where the baby calf was being kept
“Can I feeds him?” Daman asked the attendant.
“Sure, but be careful. Hold the bottle of milk real still so she can take it. That’s it, good job.” Nadia and Leon watched from the edge as the attendant and Daman talked and fed the calf.
“What do you think about helping me pick out a cat?” Nadia asked Leon.
“Oh, I like cats; I think we should!”
Leon held a smile on his face after that as he chased Daman while he was leaving the feeding area. They spent an hour walking around and petting every animal they could find, and when it was time to go, Daman was too exhausted to argue who had shotgun.
“Aunt Dia, look, it’s snowing outside. Can we play in it when we get home?”
“Sure you can. We just have one more stop to make, then we can head home.”
“Where are we going now?” Daman asked with his face plastered to the window, staring at the white specs that were falling on the ground.
“Aunt Nadia is getting a cat, and I get to help her pick it out,” Leon said with his chest pushed out, beaming with joy.
“Aunt Dia, I wanna help too.”
“You both can help me. Look. we’re here. There’s a sale on cats right now, and I’ve wanted one. I just need help picking it out.”
“I’m goods at picking stuff out, right Leon?”
“Yeah you are good.” Leon leaned over and whispered to Nadia. “He’s good for helping you find missing toys, not for making life decisions; you need a big kid’s help for that.”
Nadia put her arm around Leon, brought his head to her, and gave him a noogie. “Be nice. What do I keep telling you? Be nice to your little brother.”
“Argh, Aunt Nadia, stop it! You’re messing up my hair!!”
Daman started laughing from the back seat, and they all got out of the car and walked into Paws Pals.
“Hello, how can I help you all today?” Nadia heard a man’s voice off to the left, and she turned to see a brunette standing behind the register.
“I’m here about the cat sale I saw in the paper this morning.”
“Oh, right this way. We only have one kitten left.”
The three of them followed the man over to the kitten bin where the four of them looked down to see an orange and black striped kitten.
“Can we hold him, mister?” Daman looked up at the man with his eyes big, his excitement trying to stay contained.
“Sure, and the name is Ramon.” Ramon leaned over and scooped up the kitten in his hands, and passed him off to Daman.
“What do you think Daman? Would he make a good pet to keep me company?”
Daman held the kitten up with his hands, inspecting him before handing him to Leon. “I think so, he seems feisty enough.”
“You spaz, he’s not feisty, he’s tame; he’s just a kitten. He looks like a tiger though, with these colors,” Leon said as he cradled the kitten and stroked his fur.
The three of them passed him around a few more times before Nadia decided she would take him. “I need a carrier. Leon, why don’t you go pick out one of those black carriers, and Daman, why don’t you get one of the litter boxes? I’ll go pick out a collar.”
The three of them parted and went about their tasks. The kitten seemed to enjoy curling up on Nadia’s neck and batting at her strands of hair. She wandered along the walls, looking over the different products, when something caught her out of her peripherals. Ramon was talking to someone in the back office; there were envelopes exchanged and whispers murmured. He looked up from the conversation he was having with the other man to see her standing there, watching.
Nadia’s natural instinct was to question and dig for answers; that’s what being a reporter was all about. This time though, something told her to just turn and walk away. So that’s what she did.
“I need you to fill out this adoption paperwork before you go so you can take the kitten. I’ll need a copy of your driver’s license please.
“Is a copy really necessary?” She tapped her wallet in her hand, a nervous reaction to what her gut instinct was telling her.
“We need to confirm the application information, so yes, ma’am.”
“Come on, Aunt Dia, give him the license. I want to play with the kitty.”
Nadia handed Ramon the license and completed paperwork, and he began to check them out. She handed him the required cash and helped Leon and Daman place the cat inside the carrier.
“Thank you, Ramon, for your help. Come on boys, let’s get out of here.”
Ramon looked at the paper and smiled. “Thank you Ms. Maverick. We’ll be seeing you soon enough for cat food.”
Nadia got the boys and cat tucked away in the car, and they drove off towards her house. The snow had started to pick up was laying a nice blanket on the ground. “So what should we call the new kitten?”
“I think we should call him Stripes!” Daman suggested.
“That’s a dumb name Let’s call him George,” Leon said.
“George? That’s not a cat’s name. He looks like a tiger; he needs a strong name.”
“Oh, and Stripes is a strong name?”
“Stop it guys, but I think you’re right, he does look like a tiger. What about if we call him Tony the Tiger, or Triple T?”
Leon started to laugh. “Triple T? Aunt Nadia that’s crazy. Stick with Tony the Tiger.”
“Yeah, Aunt Dia, I like that, Tony the Tiger.”
“Alright, you hear that, little kitten? You are now Tony the Tiger. Hope he sure doesn’t eat like a tiger; we didn’t buy enough food.”