Homeless
Chapter Seven
The next morning, as Sunita approaches the clinic, something feels wrong. Then she realizes: it’s Socrates. A lump grows in her throat. They have to find him today.
Inside, everyone clusters around the reception counter while Dr. Mac takes a call, confirming they’re missing a cat. Maggie jumps up, announcing someone found Socrates. But Dr. Mac’s smile fades as she asks a few questions. She thanks the caller and reports it isn’t theirs. She hangs up, and Sunita’s heart sinks.
The found cat turned out to be orange but small, only seven or eight pounds, with white ears, and female. Dr. Mac says it’s not time to worry yet. They climb into the van.
It’s a quick drive to Dorset Street, near the railroad tracks. Dr. Mac fills the silence describing the Animal Control officer they’re meeting. They park to find a tall, slim man in a dark green uniform leaning over some papers. Dr. Mac shakes his hand and introduces him as Gary. Gary looks puzzled at the sight of a veterinarian and five sixth-graders.
Gary hadn’t checked his messages, so he doesn’t know why Dr. Mac is there. She guesses it’s the feral cats. Gary frowns, reporting the neighbors are in an uproar and he has to remove them. Dr. Mac calmly explains the TVSR program while Sunita crosses her fingers, hoping he’ll agree. She warns that if he refuses, there’s nothing more to be done, since protecting people and animals is his job.
Gary glances up and down the empty street and asks who’s paying. The vaccines, surgery, and medicine will add up, and his budget has no room. Dr. Mac promises she won’t charge the county. She’ll do it for free. She hands him a thick binder of TVSR studies. They show that the cat population slowly decreases and levels off. Some towns have cut their feral cat numbers in half within a few years.
Gary worries the neighborhood association will have his head if the cats come back. Dr. Mac counters that removing the colony just lets other feral cats take over, and TVSR works better. The statistics are convincing, but Gary will still need to educate the neighborhood. Dr. Mac offers to speak to them herself. As Gary flips through the notebook, Sunita blurts out that he has to let them try. The cats need their help, and this will save their lives.
Sunita isn’t used to speaking out like this. Gary takes a deep breath and admits he’s always hated putting these cats to sleep, since it’s not their fault. He agrees to try the program this time and will set up a meeting to explain it to the neighbors. But if it doesn’t work, they’ll have to do it another way.
Gary brings out his humane traps: big cat carriers that slide shut and hold the animal still for a shot. He mentions they’ll need to sedate the wild cats first, since they’ll put up a fuss. Sunita wouldn’t like being trapped and squeezed either. She wonders if she could design a better trap once these cats are cared for.
Gary asks how many they want to trap now. Dr. Mac says she can handle about six at a time and has brought smelly tuna for the traps. Maggie offers to pass out flyers about the meeting, and Sunita volunteers to stay and watch, hoping she’ll spot Socrates.
They cross to the railroad tracks and the colony, deserted except for the eyes of cats watching from the tall grass. Sunita notices a curtain move in Jamie’s house and hopes his mom will attend Gary’s meeting. Once Gary and Dr. Mac set the traps, everyone crouches out of sight. Sunita sits as still as a mouse.
After a few minutes, cats slink out of the weeds and the boxcar, drawn by the tuna. Sunita recognizes many, including the gray cat with a broken tail and the black-and-white kittens, but not Socrates. They circle the traps warily. Something brushes Sunita’s hand, and she looks down to find Mittens, the soon-to-be mother cat who once fought with Socrates. Still no Socrates, though he might yet smell the tuna.
Mittens tilts her black head back, meeting Sunita’s eye as if she knew Sunita would come. Sunita squints and spots a black flea collar under her fur, proof that Mittens isn’t feral after all. She was abandoned by people who once loved her, and now she’s alone, though not truly wild. She wants to live inside and sleep on bedspreads, safe.
Sunita knows Dr. Mac told her not to touch the cats, but she can’t resist. Mittens, probably used to people, bumps against her hand. Sunita scratches between her ears until she starts to purr and rubs her mouth against Sunita’s knuckles. Suddenly a trap swings shut on a cat, then three more close in a row. Mittens bolts off before Sunita can stop her.