Homeless
Chapter Eleven
Even though Sunita feels fine on Monday morning, Mother and Daddy insist she stay home. She already spent two hours convincing them to let her keep volunteering at the clinic, so she doesn’t argue.
After breakfast, Sunita starts researching cats: why they make great pets, facts about feral and wild cats, and information on rabies. By Tuesday bedtime, after two days of typing, her thirty-two-page report is ready, with a table of contents, bibliography, and a cover page. She titles it “Why Cats Are Great.”
As Sunita kisses Mother goodnight, she leaves the report beside her. Mother scans the table of contents and says it’s not the time to ask for a cat again, but Sunita asks her to just read it. Even after being bitten, she still wants a cat more than anything, since they understand each other.
On Wednesday, Sunita returns to school. She loves science experiments, math, history, and checking out piles of library books, even though gym isn’t her favorite.
Wednesday flies by, and Sunita repeats the story of what happened with Tiger to her classmates and teachers over and over, not helped by the bandage her parents made her wear.
After school, Sunita heads to the clinic, where Maggie sends her to the recovery room while the others start their usual chores. She drops her backpack behind the counter and walks down the hall, where Dr. Mac and Dr. Gabe are removing the thick mitts they use for handling feral cats.
Dr. Mac says Sunita arrived in time to say goodbye to their first TVSR graduates, since Gary will soon pick them up. Asked about Socrates, Dr. Mac only shakes her head, as if he vanished, but they’re keeping hope. Tiger, quarantined upstairs in Dr. Mac’s bathroom with only her allowed near him, is healing quickly with no signs of rabies and will be released once quarantine ends. Given the rabies concern, Dr. Mac suggests checking clients’ records for pets behind on vaccinations.
The kitchen, Sunita’s favorite part of Dr. Mac’s house, is big enough for a couch and has a giant fireplace. The five volunteers gather around the table, with Sherlock dozing underneath while Sneakers, Zoe’s puppy, tries to wake him. It’s almost perfect, but the room feels cold without Socrates. Maggie says Sherlock keeps sniffing around the house looking for him, without luck.
The volunteers sit in glum silence, staring at the pile of folders, but they can’t give up yet. Sunita is sure Socrates can make it a few blocks home, since her research turned up cats that traveled across the country to get back to theirs.
Sunita explains how much convincing it took to get her parents to let her return to the clinic, and how she got Mother reading her research to prove cats aren’t the horrible beasts she imagines. She’s still hoping for a cat of her own and is eager to see the cats released, since the ferals will be happy to be outside again.
Brenna is confused, since Sunita once said all cats need a home. Blushing, Sunita explains she wasn’t thinking about how the cats felt, and admits Dr. Mac is right that ferals belong outside, where they’re used to living.
Maggie hopes they can capture Mittens this time and find homes for her kittens. The volunteers sort through the files in silence, listing clients to contact about overdue vaccinations, until Sherlock barks. David peeks through the blinds and spots Gary. It’s time to release the cats.