Homeless

Chapter Thirteen

Katie screams for her mom, and the crowd near Gary’s truck stops arguing to look across the tracks. Sunita pulls the children behind her and orders everyone back. Jamie’s mom tries to run toward them, but two men hold her back. The police officer walks slowly toward the rail bed, hand on his gun.

The raccoon steps closer, its yellow eyes glaring at Sunita. Full-blown rabies has left it fearless and desperate to attack. Jamie struggles to get free, but Sunita tells him not to move. The raccoon is too close to risk running. A train whistle blows in the distance, about to cut off their escape. Sunita has to think fast.

Sunita reaches into the open boxcar door, fumbling for anything to protect them. She feels small bits of what seems like cat food and could throw it at the raccoon.

Underneath the boxcar, Mittens meows in pain, and the raccoon’s eyes dart toward the sound. It spots her beneath Sunita’s ankles, steps closer, and the train to Philadelphia roars past in a cloud of dust.

Sunita throws the cat food behind the raccoon. Three hungry stray cats rush from the weeds, thinking she’s feeding them: the gray cat with the crooked tail, a black-and-white stray, and Socrates. The raccoon turns to look.

Socrates and the other cats arch their backs, hissing and staring down the raccoon. Just as the last train car whooshes past, they leap and pounce on it, a blur of fur and flashing teeth.

Sunita swings Katie into her arms, grabs Jamie’s hand, and runs across the tracks to safety. She screams at the officer not to shoot the orange cat, since he’s a pet.

The fighting animals spring apart. Socrates and his companions flee into the weeds as the raccoon snarls and bites the air. The officer fires twice, and the raccoon is dead.

When Sunita opens her eyes, she sees Dr. Mac fighting into the underbrush with the volunteers. Once Jamie and Katie are safe with their mom, Sunita joins the search party, determined not to let Socrates escape again.