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A guest post by Taylor Green

HIS NAME IS MOXY! BYYYTCH!

(Short story) Reading time 3 min

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The weather was beautiful. I had reluctantly agreed to go to the movies with my housemate Clarke.

As we boarded the bus, he explained we’d have to take two buses but only have to pay for one.

Hmm… okay, I wondered how that works.

He said to ask the driver for a transfer. I get one every time.

Miss, can I have a transfer?

What?? she said.

You know. The bus driver looked confused.

Clarke interrupted, “Hey, lady; she wants one of those pink slips.”

The bus driver said I don't know.

All other bus drivers know what a Transfer is. Do you need me to show you how to do your job?

Uh oh…

The door opens. Get off my bus!

Hey Clarke! Look, lady, this was his idea.

He said that he asks for a bus transfer slip all the time! So why are you giving me a hard time?

Upon seeing Clarke, the bus lady smiled and gave me a pink slip for bus transfer.

Wow! I guess there must be a secret code I don’t know about.

I’ve known Clarke for 3years, and the only one in the Boarding House I talk to and the only one who talks to me.

He belongs to a local Active community group, and today was their movie day.

I felt a bit down when Clarke asked me to go with him.

I had a neighbor down the road almost bite my head off for being nice to her cat.

I was leaving, and she was in the front yard.

She said you’re feeding the cat, are you?

“Yes, I gave him some milk."

“What! Don’t give my cat Milk!”

“He'll get Diarrhea and shit all over the Place!”

That's it! Fuck that Bitch! I’ve been feeding her Damn cat for Months!

And this was the first time I even met her.

I thought he was a stray cat. Not even a Hello! Or Thank you!

“My daughter watches you from inside the house and says, ‘Mom, here comes that Cat Woman.”

I felt really bad. I said, “Well, good to meet you too. Goodbye. I opened the gate and walked out.”

I heard Moxy, meow, meow as if to say goodbye Karen, I’ll be alright.

Yeh, I’ve been bewitched by this Cat.

Now I’ve become a joke in the neighborhood!

Hey, look! There goes that Crazy Cat Lady going at the back of the Owners house to feed their Cat!

It all started a few months ago …......

Every day I walk the neighborhood in the Morning for exercise twice around the Block 3x a day and in the Afternoon and Evening – alone.

Good exercise. My doctor says I need to lose some weight.

I’m determined to get back to my goal weight of 135.

People see me walking all the time, sometimes in the pouring rain.

Hi Karen, now that’s commitment!

Thanks, Clarke.

Clarke is nearly 80 years old, and he's fitter than me.

One day, I saw a black/white cat in front of our house. I love animals.

When I tried to pet him, it would always run away.

That cat is always eating out of the rubbish bin.

You should adopt him, my other housemate said.

I’m sure the Landlord won’t mind having a cat in the Boarding House. Just make sure it’s vaccinated and check if it has an owner.

I said, “No, that’s alright. I can’t afford it, and it’s against the rules, no animals. Sal knows the rules.

He likes to start mess. He’s a hypocrite and friends with Alvin.

I have five roommates who live here, and they are all men.

I get along with all of them except Alvin.

One day, I was in the kitchen making some fresh juice and not bothering a soul, and I heard someone talking behind me.

It was Alvin. He’s been harassing me for months.

He said, “You are a stupid woman! You’re an idiot! …

I turned around and said what is your problem? I’m not Stupid! I’m not an Idiot!

He said, “Oh, I believe you are! …

Alvin, I don’t give a Fuck what you think. I’m not bothering anyone.

I’m just making a drink, and you’re standing behind me, verbally attacking me for no reason!

You’ve been bullying Clarke, too, you Crazy Twat! Leave me alone!

Alvin just rolled his eyes, turned, and walked away.

When I first moved into the Boarding House, Alvin was friendly, but his woman broke up with him and took him to Court for physical abuse.

He’s 70 years old, stayed in his room for months, and smelled like his head was up a donkey’s ass.

Unfortunately, poor Clarke lives next door and has to bear the brunt of his bullying.

***

The next day, I was outside, and I saw the cat. I began feeding it.

Oh, I see you’ve made a friend.

Hi Clarke, yes! I’ve given him a name …. Moxy.

Oh, lovely name. Hello Moxy.

I said he seemed to like coming over here a lot.

Clark said, “Well, he’s getting free meals.

Any animal would be around for that.

He even comes down to my door, and I don’t feed him.

He visits all the houses in the neighborhood.

Oh, that didn’t make me feel good. But Clarke, I feel sorry for him because he’s a stray.

No, Karen, he’s not. His owners live a couple of houses down from here,

I thought you knew that-- I’m sure he already had a name.

I was silent. I couldn’t stop looking at Moxy.

I had already fallen in love with this cat even though it belonged to someone else.

I was bonding with him.

Over the next serval weeks and even months, he consumed my time.

Every day Moxy would be outside waiting for me, and when I came back from my walks,

he would be waiting for me at the door.

It broke my heart that I couldn’t let him in the house,

but messy Stan started leaving the door open so Moxy could wander in the house, and one night,

I heard meowing outside my door.

I let him in, and he walked around the room, checked it out, jumped on the window’s ledge, and laid down.

Aww, I was hooked.

He was so adorable. I let him stay in my room for a few hours until he wanted to leave.

It was cold outside. I sat on the steps and kept Moxy company.

Then Alvin comes out the door screaming.

No more feeding that cat out here!! You hear Me!

Then he kicked over the water bowl, went inside, slammed the door, and switched the light off outside.

I was terrified.

I sat in the dark, and Moxy was at the bottom steps shaking.

I said, “Moxy, you need to go home.

It’s not safe here.” I was worried for Moxy.

Moxy was in danger from that Cruel, Crazy man Alvin.

I told Clarke the following day about the incident.

“I was harassed last night by Alvin, and I’m sick of it!

This has been going on for six months, and he’s bullying everybody in the house, and I’m the only female here.

Clarke said, “Karen, I met with Landlord yesterday and filed a complaint.

He’s sending Alvin an email and putting him on notice.

He kicked my leg off the couch the other night while I was watching TV.

Okay, Clarke. I was literally shaking.

That morning I got an email from the landlord that said he wanted to talk to me and would be here at 10 am.

Wow, I was concerned about the urgency and the 4 hour’s notice.

I thought maybe he wanted to offer me another place to live.

But glad to tell my side of the story.

The Landlord arrived right on time. We met in the lounge room overlooking the kitchen, and no one was in there but us.

“I won’t take long, Karen. We’ve received complaints about you feeding a cat.

You cannot feed that cat on these premises; rules stipulate no animals on or near this property.”

I said, “So you came out here for this?” I thought, what about the harassment?

Yes, this is a serious complaint, Karen. It’s a breach of our rules, and the complaints come from more than one person and are valid.

This is devasting news. I said what if I feed the cat away from the front door …. like near the front lawn?

“No, Karen!’

‘Can I at least hang out with the cat outside the house?’

‘No, Karen!’

(Fuck!) I said to myself.

Landlord: Feed the cat away from the Property, and if you want to hang out with the cat …. go down the road and hang out with the cat, but not on this Property, is that understood?”

“Yes, I understand.” What else could I say?

The next thing I knew, Alvin was standing in the kitchen listening with a smirk on his face.

Okay, now listen. I’ve had a problem with that man!! Long before the cat came along.

He has been harassing me! Harassing me! Alvin quickly exited the room before I began to cry.

I told them how he’s been intimidating me for six months.

The Property Management Team just stared in silence. We’re sorry. We didn’t know the seriousness of the matter.

Okay, listen, Karen, if that happens again, I want you to let me know, and he will be evicted.

I don’t want him to leave; this is his home. I just want him to leave me alone!

This is your home, too, Karen, and you have the right to be safe in your own home.

So, for the next few months, Alvin kept silent and left me alone.

Until one day, I was sitting outside waiting on a cab.

Alvin came outside and saw Moxy on the sidewalk. He stood there looking at the cat.

Moxy did not budge and stared right up at Alvin as if to say, ‘hey, big guy, what’s up?’

I knew Alvin was up to no good.

But I could not stop Moxy from coming to the house, and I couldn’t just ignore Moxy.

So, I did my civic duty to meet Moxy’s owners and tell them that I thought he was a stray

and that he was no longer allowed on the property.

I ended up speaking to the owner’s husband.

He said Moxy is old and he likes walking in the neighborhood.

Well, it didn’t seem that the owner cared and could do nothing to stop Moxy from coming over to the property.

I asked if it would be okay if I visited Moxy here at your house.

“Sure, no problem,” the owner said.

For the next eight weeks, I visited the cat over at his house as I walked around the block 3x a day.

We had started a new routine.

One day as I went to the owner’s house to feed the cat, I heard a child’s voice.

“Why do you come over here?” she asked inquisitively.

She was five years old. I didn’t know what to say.

“Why do you come over here?” she said again.

“Oh, I’m just passing through.”

“Do you live here?”

I didn’t reply.

“Where are you going?”

I didn’t feel comfortable talking to a child. I felt somewhat embarrassed.

The child's innocent question made me realize that what I was doing was silly.

Going over there to feed a cat that wasn’t mine...spending money on cat food on a cat that wasn’t mine!!

What the hell was I doing?

Signs were everywhere telling me to STAY AWAY FROM THE DAMN CAT!! IT ALREADY HAS AN OWNER!!

A nice lady who lives in the same building as the cat’s owner had previously asked...

‘Have you spoken to the Owner of the Cat?’

“Yeh .. sort of.” She told me not to feed it Milk.’ That was the only conversation I had with her.

“Oh,” she said.

Then it happened.

The next day after talking to the little girl ….. her mother came outside.

“You need to Fucking Stop coming over here!” This is my Fucking Cat! And you are trespassing on Private Property.!!

“Well, then feed your Damn Cat!”

She said, “Get A Life, you, you BLOODY IDIOT.

“Hey! You Owe me $500 for cat food. I’ll be coming tomorrow to Collect it! – You hear me?”

Yeh, Me and the Police will be Waiting, Shitface!

I turned around and walked away. I was torn to pieces.

I never went back there again. After a month, the cat stopped coming to the house.

I still have all the pictures I took of the cat and videos. One day when I’m ready, I will delete them or

I might even send the photos to the cat’s owner with a note…

HIS NAME IS MOXY! BYYYTCH!

P.S. As far as Alvin is concerned, that man who bullied me. He caught Covid-19, went to the hospital, and was on a ventilator.

Or so I heard. He never returned to the Boarding House.

If you want to read more of Taylor Green's writings, check out How to Cope with Intense Drama, click here, and her latest book DARK PLANET available on Amazon. ORDER A FREE SAMPLE FOR PC TABLET OR CELL