BRISTER THE CAT

Luca sat up in bed, swung his feet over the side and got up. He put on his robe and went to the living room to open the drapes on the sliding glass door, as he did every morning. Snuggled up to the glass on the outside, was a cat, orange and sort of striped. It’s fur was smashed against the glass, it looked straight ahead, and tucked his paws tighter into his body as Lucas watched. His pink skin beneath the matted fur, was dirty as Lucas could see where he was pressed up against the glass. He was cold, certainly, and hungry.

The cat meowed, modestly and looked up, moved his feet a smidgen more, just enough to let Lucas know he was alive and wanted attention.

“Hey, Brister,” he said giving the cat an instant name, “I can't let you in because I haven't enough food for myself and certainly can't provide for you.”

The cat meowed again, this time looking up at him. Lucas drew the drapes shut quickly before he could give in.

He shaved, dressed and prepared to leave for the day’s activities. He went to draw the drapes again, hoping the cat had given up and left. He looked down on the pathetic cat. The cat had a rather flat nose and glum green eyes. Weren't cats supposed to clean themselves? Lucas gave a sigh, angry with himself for giving in. The cat must be in a bad way. His fur didn't look glossy the way a cat's fur should.

He started to shut the drapes, but couldn’t. He opened the door and bent down, lifted the cat by it’s stomach and brought it inside. He snuggled the cat to him. Feeling the cat’s ribs, he couldn’t go off and leave this wretched cat.

“Poor kitty,” he said.

He set the cat down on a chair and went to the refrigerator, but all he had was a piece of apple pie, Dotty at the restaurant gave him last night.

“It’s the last piece and if you don’t take it, it goes in the garbage,” she’d said.

He didn’t like admitting he was broke. He had all kinds of education and was a lawyer, but an out of work lawyer. He had been framed by a competitive staff member, who wasn’t yet caught in his tricks. Dotty had somehow caught on to his plight.

He rummaged in his cupboard for something to feed the cat. He found some potted meat and some powdered coffee creamer. He opened them, mixed the powdered cream with water and set both on the floor. He then set the cat before them. The cat wound his tail around himself and looked at the food for a minute before lapping hesitantly at the potted meat.

“That’s all I have,” he told the cat before leaving to tend his affairs.

He went each day to place his cards in businesses around town, something he had been doing of late, hoping someone would contact him to do some small matter. He spent his afternoons writing letters and filling out applications, so far netting him nothing. This morning after putting out cards, he stopped by the food bank and explained about the cat. They gave him some powdered milk and some canned milk, along with some cat food.

“Mix the cat food with some milk. He may not be able to eat much to begin with. Sounds like he’s really in bad shape,” the worker told him.

He cut short his days efforts worried about the cat. He found a plastic tub at a thrift store and brought it home, filled it with dirt from the garden around the apartment and brought it inside. Brister had eaten much of the potted meat and drank some of the cream. He now lay on the couch, curled into a ball. Lucas sat beside him, picked him up and started petting him, turned him over to inspect his tummy and discovered he was a she.

‘Oh, well, Brister will do for you,” he told the cat.

Still sitting on the couch holding the cat next to him, he began to explain his situation.

“I was doing fine until Dan came along. He was a prize the firm won away from another company. He had a high reputation for winning legal cases. The bosses wanted me to help him out when he first arrived. I knew that wouldn't work. I took a real dislike of the guy right from the git go.”

Lucas settled himself on the couch talking aloud to the cat.

“That was about the time I lost my first case. My ego took a blow then, and that man, Dan, really played it up. He was an arrogant slob in his nice suit. He laughed and joked about my loss with other members of the firm. They didn’t exactly like what they heard him saying, but it had an effect,” he told the cat.

He was silent for a bit, petting the cat which didn’t purr.

“You know, you’re really dirty and you might have fleas. You need a bath.”

He took Brister to the bathroom, ran some warm water in the sink and placed the cat in the water. She scrabbled a bit to begin with and then settled down and let him wash her. He wrapped her in an old towel and walked her back to the couch.

“You know Brister, I didn’t steal that money. It was Dan, I’m sure, but how can I prove it now. My name is mud in the business. He’s sitting pretty while I’m on the dole,” he said.

He gently rubbed the cat dry. He sat her on the couch and went to make himself a cup of coffee. He took the plate with the coffee creamer up and washed it. He left the potted meat plate on the floor in case she wanted to eat some more.

The cat sat on the couch, one leg sticking straight up so she could clean herself again.

He made the coffee and sat down at the table to drink it and eat the pie, his lunch for the day.

“That’s all I’ve got cat. I don’t cook. I got this cat food at the food bank. Best I can do for you,” Lucas said in this one way conversation. The cat had moved to the food Lucas had put out.

He sat on the couch, lost. What was the use in putting out all the cards? They weren’t being picked up. When he went back to refill them, he found them untouched. He had called every law firm in the city and been either turned down or told they weren’t hiring. Where did he go from here?

He had law school loans due and no money to pay them. He was on unemployment, which barely gave him enough to pay rent, gas for the car, bare essentials to keep his household running and a little cash.

He wasn’t guilty, but how did he defend himself. Word had spread quickly and his name was mud in the law community while Dan tiptoed through the system, mister law man.

He somehow made it through the day until after six in the evening. He gave the cat one last pet before leaving her on the couch and checking to be sure she had enough food and water. He drove to the Delight Restaurant and seated himself inside at the booth where he always sat. Dottie came and filled his coffee cup and returned minutes later to take his order.

“The usual,” he said.

“Good day or bad day,” she said before she turned in the order.

“Guess a little of both. Got a cat,” he said.

“Oh, yeah. From a shelter?” Dottie asked.

“No, I pulled my drapes this morning, and she was up against the glass,” he said. “I can’t afford a cat, but I guess I’ve got a cat.”

The restaurant emptied, and Dottie came to stand by his booth and talk.

“You’re an educated man. Why are you struggling so?” she asked.

“It’s a long story,” he said.

“I’ve got time. Tell me. Get it off your mind,” she said.

She sat down opposite him.

“Have you heard anything?” he asked her.

“Heard you got a bum rap and the firm let you go,” she said.

He had not expected that.

He kept his hands busy, twirling the salt shaker.

“Yeah, it was a bum rap, but no one but you believes that,” he said.

“How’d it happen?”

“The firm hired this hot shot lawyer because he won some big case, and he was an arrogant fool. He and I butt heads right from the start. He would steal my ideas, looking at them secretly and then presenting my ideas saying they were his. Made him look good in the eyes of the bosses. I didn’t know he was doing this at first. He was looking at my notes and beating me to the punch coming up with these great thoughts and conclusions that were mine. And when I would come up with them later I looked like the fool,” Lucas said.

”I’ve met that type here,” she said.

“How’s that?”

“Waitresses come along and take the big tippers, smooth as ice” she said.

He leaned back, saying nothing.

“We make our wages on tips. They pay us little. We earn our big tips, and it’s ugly when someone comes along and steals them,” she said.

“Yeah, when some funds came up missing from an escrow account, he blamed me. It looked like I did it, but I didn’t. They’re lawyers. They should have proved it before blaming me, but the boss called me into the office and told me about the missing money, said I was the last person to sign on the escrow account and fired me, just like that. I’m sure it was Dan who did it. He set me up, but I can’t prove it now,” Lucas said.

“Stick in there. He’ll mess up soon. Just wait for it,” Dottie said and got up to return to work.

“Want some coffee to go,” she asked.

“No,” he said. “Got to get back to that cat. It looks like it is almost dead. Maybe I’ll go home to find her body.”

He came home to a quietness, a solid, dark mood in an empty apartment. He came through to the kitchen and heard a meow. The orange cat sat near her empty bowl. He bent to pet her.

“Hey, look at you. Feeling a bit better, are you.”

The cat wrapped herself around his leg.

He got her some cat food and some milk and sat watching her eat.

When he woke the next morning, he found the cat had crawled onto the end of the bed and slept near his feet. He felt inordinately happy about this. The cat had faith in him.

He lounged that day, thinking about his situation, about his conversation with Dottie, and what he had been trying to do to get work. He decided to fight more for himself, to not bend his body in defeat. He didn’t know how he would proceed, but he knew now he had to have confidence in himself if he expected others to have confidence in him. He had to let go of his anger and move forward. He couldn’t apply for a job with this downtrodden look about him.

He cleaned his apartment and talked to the cat, even sang to her. She sat next to him on the couch and meowed softly when he was in the kitchen. He got a call late in the afternoon from a woman who wanted him to set up the sale of her business. It was a first. He made arrangements to go see her the next day. To celebrate, he bought himself a beer and the cat some cat treats. The cat came to him as he sat on the couch and sat down on his lap. He smiled and pet her. Later, he caught her attacking his shoe laces.

Nothing happened for a week after that, but then he got a call from a new lawyer with his own business who wanted someone to do some research for him. When he went to meet him, he liked the man immediately. He was trying to establish his own firm. He was about the same age, and dressed nicely, but not fashionably. He wanted someone to do the research for small pay to begin. He hired Lucas and the work went well. His name was Jack Donavan.

They talked over the cases involved. Jack listened to Lucas’ ideas and gave him more and more work. He moved into the extra office with Brister taking a place of honor on a chair next to his desk. When Jack had too much work, Lucas took some court time.

It wasn’t long before he had a case of his own and after a year, they became partners creating their own law firm.

One day while eating in a restaurant, Lucas’ old boss came in. Lucas avoided him and acted like he didn’t see him, but the man came and addressed himself.

“Hello, Lucas. I hear you’re doing well. I’m glad to hear it,” he said.

Lucas didn’t get up nor did he invite his former boss to sit.

“Yes, I’m happy with my partner, and we’re doing well,” he said.

“Dan has moved on to a firm in Bellingham,” his former boss said.

“Oh,” was all Lucas could think to say.

“I’m glad to hear you’re doing well,” his former boss said. He tipped his head, smiled pleasantly and moved away.

As a child, Bonnie Sedgemore was given away by her mother to twelve different homes. Her childhood, painful and difficult, led her to determine she was ultimately in control of her life. Only she could occupy her mind and make decisions about where she was to go and her goals. She could overcome her childhood to succeed. She determined to write to let others know they could overcome their difficulties. When she was home, her mother often locked her in her room with nothing to occupy her, no toys, no books, no nothing, but this treatment forced her think and to evaluate what life she wanted. She realized that no matter how she was treated, she was still in control of her life. Only she could decide where her life was to go. She began to set goals. At sixteen the school principle asked her if she wanted to work for The Dallas Morning News as the reporter for the small cities news. She went on to report for The Shreveport Times and had a column in another small newspaper. She worked her way through college, studying psychology rather than writing as she felt if she was to write about people she needed to understand people.