Crazy Cat Kid (Crazy Cat Kids Book 1)

by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

  Soon we had an audience. The kids quit playing hide and seek and stood watching. Some of the adults brought their chairs over and sat on the sidelines. They even picked sides, clapping when one team made a great play or got the ball back. This could be a beach volleyball game except there was no sand, we were on hard ground, and we girls were not wearing bikinis--it was shorts and halters for both of us.

  At first we didn’t keep score but then we decided to have a real game. The first ones to twenty-one with a two-point spread would be the winners. It was close all the way with Jesse and me not being ahead by two points when we scored our twenty-first point. We kept going back and forth until they finally beat us twenty-nine to twenty-seven. Our audience clapped in appreciation when we finally set the ball back by the post.

  We were all tired and sweaty at the end.

  “There’s cold water in our fridge,” I said, leading the way to our motorhome.

  Bill went for a chair from their table while I got the water. The four of us sat and drank greedily from our bottles.

  “That was a great game, Lilly,” Maurie said. “You’re good.”

  I felt myself blushing. They were as impressed with me as I was with them. “So are you.” I looked at Jesse and Bill. “We all are.”

  “Next time we’ll play girls against the guys.” She grinned at Bill

  “Sounds good,” Bill said. “But just so you know, you girls don’t stand a chance.”

  “Yeah, right,” Maurie snorted.

  Jesse’s parents drove into the yard and parked.

  “Boys, get over here and help your mother unload the groceries,” Stuart yelled.

  “We won’t be long,” Jesse said. “They couldn’t have bought much. Our fridge is small.”

  Maurie and I watched the brothers walk across the yard. Stuart went to the trunk and pulled out two boxes of beer.

  “Oh geeze,” Maurie said. “That’s not going to be good.”

  “Does he drink a lot?” I asked.

  “A lot and all the time.” Maurie’s voice sounded disgusted.

  I didn’t know what to say to that. “How long have you and Bill been dating?” Jesse had already told me but I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

  “We met at a Valentine’s party put on by one of my friends. Her brother and Bill are friends.”

  “You seem very close.”

  “We are. We’re in love and going to get married.”

  “Aren’t you both still in school?” I asked.

  Maurie shook her head. “Bill graduated this year. I’ll graduate next year. We’ve decided that we’ll marrying once I’m finished school. That is, if he can handle living at his parent’s house that long.”

  I didn’t have to ask what she meant by that. “If he can’t?”

  “Then he’ll move out. He’s been working and saving money for an apartment for us and he’ll use that for his own place.”

  “Is it expensive to live in Nanaimo?”

  Maurie shrugged. “Depends on what you are willing to settle for. Bill and I are willing to live in anything just as long as we are together.”

  Daisy meowed from the doorway. Maurie swiveled around. “Oh, it’s your cat.” her voice softened. “I heard you brought a cat with you.”

  “Actually, I brought four of them.”

  “Four? You own four cats?”

  I nodded.

  Maurie went over and put her fingers against the screen. Daisy stuck her nose up to Maurie’s fingers. “She’s so pretty. What’s her name? Can I let her out?” Maurie reached for the handle.

  “No,” I said, quickly jumping up. “She might take off. Come inside.”

  “Her name is Daisy,” I said, as we entered through the passenger door. Saltry was on a swivel chair and Daisy still at the door. It was as if they could sense Maurie liked them. Neither of them took off when she came in. They just turned their heads and looked at her.

  “Who is this?” she asked, as she pet Saltry on the head.

  “That’s Saltry.”

  But Saltry wasn’t the one Maurie was after. She went and picked Daisy up. She cuddled her while Red and Purple looked on from the edge my bed.

  Maurie turned and saw them. “Oh.”

  “Those are Red and Purple.”

  “You do have weird names for your cats.”

  Daisy doesn’t like to be held too long and she started to struggle. Maurie set her down and petted Saltry again. Then she went to the girls on my bed.

  “Who is who?”

  “Red is the short haired one on the left. Purple has the long hair.”

  Maurie petted them with both hands. “I wish I could have a cat.”

  “Why can’t you?”

  “My brother is allergic to animals.”

  “That’s too bad.”

  “Yes. His throat swells up and he can’t breathe. But Bill says when we have our own place I can get a cat.”

  I saw Jesse and Bill come back to our table. Maurie picked Saltry up and carried her to the screen door. “Look what I found.”

  “Oh, I should have known if there was a cat around you would find it,” Bill grinned.

  “There are four in here.”

  “I think you’ve found a kindred spirit.”

  Maurie looked at me and nodded. “Anyone who likes cats is a friend of mine.”

  My heart jumped. I was three years younger than Maurie and five years younger than Bill and yet they seemed to have accepted me as an equal. That was unusual in the teen years. Then I sobered. We had been thrown together by our parents and were stuck here. This comradery would end once this camping trip was over.

  Maurie and I went back outside. The sky had turned cloudy and it was sprinkling rain. Mom and Dad drove in and over to us. They stepped out and went to the trunk for their groceries. Both Bill and Jesse jumped up to help them. I hurried inside the camper and moved Daisy away from the screen door. While I ran interference with the cats and Maurie manned the door, the others carried the reusable sacks and set them on the floor inside. I moved them to the table to make room for the rest. Once the trunk was empty, Mom and Dad thanked my friends then Dad moved the car and Mom came in. She rummaged through the sacks and pulled out a bag of chips and one of pretzels.

  “Here, these are for you kids,” she said, as she handed them to me. “Since the weather is getting bad why don’t you get a game out?”

  I’d forgotten that Mom had packed some board games. I enjoyed playing Scrabble or Monopoly with family and friends. Sometimes we’d get boisterous and loud and we’d laugh a lot. To me it’s a lot more fun than playing virtual games alone on computers. I didn’t know what Jesse and the others liked.

  I got two bowls out of the cupboard and poured the snacks into them. The cats were still out of the way so I quickly went out the screen door. Even though it was now raining it was still warm. I set the bowls on the table.

  “Since we can’t do much else does anyone want to play Scrabble?”

  The three looked at me. Had I suggested something absurd?

  “Well….” Maurie started.

  Bill shook his head. “I’ve never been good at it.”

  “What about Monopoly?”

  “I like Monopoly,” Jesse said.

  “Me, too,” Maurie agreed.

  “Okay with me,” Bill said.

  “Mom, can you get me the Monopoly game?” I asked through the screen.

  Mom reached into the cupboard over the swivel chair and pulled out the box. She handed it to me.

  I took off the lid and spread out the board. I dealt the money, while Maurie laid out the Chance and Community Chest cards. Bill chose the top hat for his token and put it on the Go. Maurie chose the shoe, Jesse reached for the wheelbarrow and I, of course, picked the cat. We rolled the dice and Jesse went first.

  It wasn’t long before we were teasing each other about the spaces we landed on, laughing when someone had to go to jail, and buying houses and hotels. The rain beat on the awning
as the lead went back and forth among the four of us. The game ended about two hours later with Jesse being the victor. We were discussing having another game when Stuart stepped out of their camper onto the top step. He almost fell over and had to hold onto the door as he yelled at Jesse and Bill.

  “Get over here for supper.”

  “Oh, God,” Bill said. He swore under his breath. “Can’t he go one day without drinking?”

  “I guess we’re done,” Jesse said, resignedly.

  “I should go, too,” Maurie said.

  The three left while I packed up the game.

  Dad came out and got some kindling from under there motorhome where he had put it to keep dry. He laid the small pieces of wood over some crumpled paper in the ring and started them on fire. The rain had increased and the flames sputtered and kept trying to go out. Other people were having the same trouble but, like Dad, they were persistent. They wanted to cook their evening meal outside. Mom brought out the foil wrapped tortillas from lunch and set them on the screen. She gave Dad an oven mitt to turn them with while she went in for the plates and cutlery.

  I took the game inside and checked on the girls. Saltry began to yowl but it wasn’t an angry one, it was a mournful one.

  “What’s the matter with her?” Mom asked.

  “I don’t know? Maybe she’s going to be sick.”

  Saltry went to the back room of the motorhome and laid on the floor mat by the bed. It was getting colder so I put on a sweater before Mom and I went outside to eat supper. The tortillas tasted as good as at lunch. We had a cake for dessert.

  The clouds were making the evening darker and colder. Since I couldn’t use the fire for warmth, I took the dirty dishes into the motorhome and set them in the sink. Someone, probably Saltry, had been sick on the floor. While I cleaned it up, I heard a noise and saw Saltry under the table being sick again. She went and laid between the two front seats.

  I cleaned up the second vomit then pet my cat. “What’s the matter? Why are you sick?”

  I got the cat food from the fridge and divided it for the girls. The others came but Saltry stayed where she was. I carried her plate to her. She sniffed at it but didn’t eat. I wasn’t sure what to do. I went to the door.

  “Mom, Saltry has been sick and now she won’t eat. What should I do about her insulin?”

  “Did the vet tell you what to do in a case like this?”

  “No, she never said anything.”

  “Well, if she doesn’t feel well and she has to eat at the same time as she gets her insulin, maybe don’t give her the needle. Just keep an eye on her tonight.”

  “Okay.”

  Because Saltry drank a lot of water I placed a bowl of water near her then I climbed on my bed. It was dark up there so I turned on the light. I found my book and began reading. Daisy joined me while Red sat on the table and looked out the window. Purple, however, continued on her quest for a way out. Dad had left one of his drawers open. It was only about ten centimeters in height but she tried crawling in. When she couldn’t find a way out there, she jumped up on the back of the bench seat of the kitchen table, stood on her hind legs, and checked the freezer door. Nothing. She went from window to window looking out.

  I heard a lapping noise and looked over the edge of my bed. Saltry was drinking some water. I felt better. However, if she continued being sick tomorrow I wanted to take her to a vet. I pulled out my cell phone and looked for one in Lake Cowichan. I found Cowichan Veterinary Svc. Good, at least one was close.

  Mom and Dad came in. Dad closed the blinds and the sheet then sat at the table. Daisy jumped down and went to him. He scratched her ears and she climbed on his lap. Mom got a deck of cards and the cribbage board from the cupboard and joined Dad at the table.

  “Do you want to play a game of crib with us?” Mom asked me, as she shuffled the cards.

  It was too early to go to sleep and I was read out for a while. “Sure,” I said, climbing down to sit beside Dad and Daisy. We played two games with Mom winning the first and me the second.

  “Well, I’m quitting,” Dad said, throwing down his cards as I counted out. “I think you two ganged up on me.”

  For the first part of the night Red and Purple kept a vigil at the windows by my head and feet. Sometime during the night Purple left and jumped on the counter where she pawed on the blinds above the sink. The noise woke me up and I got down to raise them. She looked out the window.

  I found Saltry underneath one of the swivel chairs. I gave her more water and she lapped for a long time before she was satisfied. I went back to bed. It wasn’t long before I heard Purple banging on the blinds above the swivel chairs. I leaned over the edge of my bed and told her to stop. She looked up at me. Then she stood on her hind legs and put her front paws on one of the slats. She pulled it down and peered out. Again, I got out of bed and lifted the blinds a bit. Finally, she seemed content. I was able to get back to sleep.

  Chapter Ten

  In the morning I went to Saltry and picked her up. She began to purr loudly. I felt relieved. I gave her and the others their breakfast. She ate normally and had her needle. She was better.

  Mom and Dad were still in bed. I got dressed and opened the blinds and sheet. It was still overcast but not raining. The ground was wet and there were some puddles. The only activity outside was one guy returning from a walk with a dog. Tonight was Hawaiian night. Everyone was supposed to dress in a Hawaiian outfit and supply one Hawaiian type dish for the meal. Hopefully, the weather would be sunny again for it.

  I found my cell phone and sent a text to Brenda and Olivia. I told them about my activities yesterday and what was planned for this evening. Brenda told me about a boy she had met yesterday at work and Olivia said she and her parents were getting ready to fly to Nova Scotia to visit her older brother and his new baby daughter.

  I read until Mom and Dad got up. By this time the clouds had dispersed and the sun was shining. There were a few fires going outside, some smoky because the wood had gotten wet overnight. The kids were creating rivers and dams in the mud and stomping their way through puddles.

  I didn’t see any activity from the tent. It was a good thing they had put on a rain cover that first night to keep them dry.

  After lunch, which we ate inside, Dad and some of the other men, under Mel’s supervision, began to arrange the tables in a long line just as for the potluck evening. Most of the women were in the campers making their Hawaiian dishes. Again the meal would be potluck. Since Mom had everything under control, I went out to help Robin with the decorating. Maurie, Bill and Jesse soon joined me.

  There wasn’t any time to talk as Robin handed out yellow cloths for us to spread on the tables. They hung just over the edges. She had packages of green-colored, grass skirts which we opened and pinned to the cloths. These reached the ground.

  Mel brought out a large sign with the words Luau Party painted on it. Some other men carried painted wooden cut outs of palm trees, hula dancers, and surf boards and set them around the yard. Mel strung two strings of tiki lights. One set was of small huts with thatched roofs and the other had aboriginal masks. Dad stuck tall, tiki torches in the ground. They were supposed to keep the mosquitoes away but so far I had only been bitten once. I wasn’t sure if we would need them.

  Maurie and I followed Robin into their cabin and helped her carry out pineapples to place on the tables as center pieces. Jesse and Bill brought over lawn chairs and placed them around the yard. It looked like the meal was going to be buffet style again. We went back in the house and Robin gave me a basket of little paper umbrellas.

  “These go on the table with the pineapples,” she said.

  She handed Maurie two packages of different colored balloons. “Could you and the boys blow these up?”

  “Sure,” Maurie said.

  I laid the umbrellas amongst the pineapples while Maurie opened the packages of balloons. She gave a handful each to Jesse and Bill and the three of them started to blow them up. />
  “You sure went to a lot of work,” I said to Robin, when I was in the house for a third time. “All those palm trees and hula girls.”

  “Oh, Mel loves to do woodwork. He makes them as a hobby and rents or sells them for parties. He has other theme party decorations like pirates, princesses, zombies, things like that.”

  Robin carried a punch bowl and ladle while I followed with a coffee urn. We set them on a separate table with paper and Styrofoam cups, sugar, coffee creamer, and spoons.

  “I won’t make the punch until closer to the time of the party,” she said. “But I will start the coffee urn. It takes a long time for it to percolate.”

  Jesse, Bill and Maurie had most of the balloons blown up. They were spread out on the table. Robin brought over a ball of string and the four of us cut lengths and tied them around the balloons. We then tied groups of three balloons together and hung them from the strings of lights, from tree branches, and on the cutouts.

  I checked my cell phone. It was almost four o’clock. I had to get dressed in my outfit.

  “I have to go change,” I said.

  “Yes, I should too,” Maurie said.

  “We didn’t bring much for costumes,” Jesse said. “Dad said it was a stupid idea and told us not to buy anything extra for it.”

  “Mom did offer us some money but we thought it might be best not to antagonize Dad, especially at a party for her team.”

  “My dad has an extra Hawaiian shirt,” Maurie said, to Bill. “Do you want to borrow it?”

  “Sure,” Bill smiled.

  That left Jesse and I had nothing to offer him except a lei to hang around his neck. They were cheap at the dollar store and I had bought five.

  Jesse accepted my offer and we went to the motorhome. I held out the five, each a different color, for him to choose from. “Take two,” I said.

  Jesse chose a multi-colored one and a blue one. “Thanks,” he said. “See you there later.”