Janine took me into the building and immediately I recognised the smells of paper, polish and children. I remembered the rainbow auras and wanted to see them again. My meows had become hollow cries resounding up and down the corridors. Leroy would hear me and come running, I thought.
‘Hello, Mrs McArthur. Have you come to fetch Leroy?’ said the school secretary.
Janine put the cat cage on the floor so that I could now only see feet and not faces. What an insult. How would she like it? I was getting more and more upset.
‘No … and I don’t want Leroy to know I’m here,’ Janine whispered. ‘But it’s urgent. I need to see his teacher right now … please. It won’t take long.’
‘Angie can’t just leave her class, I’m afraid. Can you wait until home time? Then she’ll see you.’
‘I don’t want Leroy to know I’ve got the kitten. Can I sit in your office …with the door shut? He’s making such a row!’
‘Sounds like a big cat you’ve got in there.’
‘It’s just a kitten. Look!’ Janine held the cage up and both women peered in at my meowing face. ‘I don’t want Leroy to hear him.’
‘I should think the whole school can hear him!’
We waited, Janine getting increasingly nervous. Then a bell rang and I heard the sound of children. Somewhere among them Leroy would be grabbing his bag and setting off, expecting to find me at home.
I recognised Angie’s brisk footsteps out in the corridor, and finally she was with us, looking in at me. ‘You little darling,’ she whispered and put her face close to the bars. ‘Hasn’t he grown!’ She turned to Janine. ‘So why have you brought Timba here?’
‘You said you’d give him a home,’ Janine said. ‘I’m really sorry but I can’t look after a kitten. Leroy is OBSESSED with him, and it’s causing nothing but trouble. It’s not fair on the kitten. So, please … will you take him … otherwise …’
‘Otherwise what?’
Janine didn’t answer but stared at Angie. I knew what she was thinking. She was going to dump me somewhere. My meows turned into screams.
‘Oh darling! I can’t bear this.’ Angie opened my cage and took me out. ‘You’re so beautiful, Timba. It’s OK. It’s OK. Angie’s got you now, darling angel!’ She kissed the top of my head, and at last I was quiet. Exhausted from crying, I clung to the cardigan she was wearing, and tried to burrow my way inside it.
‘Of course I’ll have him,’ she said passionately. ‘And it will be a forever home … even though I hadn’t planned on having a cat … my life is in a state of flux right now … but I won’t let him down.’
‘Thank God for that,’ said Janine. ‘I wanted to do the right thing for Timba … he’s had such a rotten time. Between you and me, I think that Leroy would end up killing him. We’ve had some real humdingers over it.’
‘You do realise,’ said Angie, ‘that Leroy is going to be totally heartbroken. He’s talked of nothing else but Timba. He WAS trying so hard to look after him. I’m concerned for him … aren’t you?’
Janine shrugged.‘That’s life … and he’s gotta deal with it.’
‘It’s a shame.’ Angie’s eyes blazed with concern. ‘Leroy is SUCH a creative child. Have you seen his art work?’
‘No. I don’t let him do stuff like that. He makes enough mess. You should see his bedroom. It’s a tip. And he scribbles all over the walls.’
‘Shouldn’t he be allowed to say goodbye to Timba?’ Angie asked. ‘He’s still here. I told him to wait in the playground.’
‘No. Please … I don’t want him to know.’
But as she spoke Leroy’s face appeared at the window, pressed to the glass. He looked at me in Angie’s arms, then down at the cat cage. Seconds later I heard running feet and he burst through the door.
‘Why have you got Timba?’ he demanded. ‘He’s MY kitten.’
‘Timba is going to live with me, Leroy,’ said Angie firmly. ‘Your mum thinks it’s best for him.’
Leroy turned on Janine, his aura on fire.
‘You got no right to do that,’ he spat. ‘You got no right to take my kitten when I’m not there. I HATE you. I hate you all. And when I’m big, I’ll come and get Timba back.’ He hurled his school bag across the room and charged out of the door. The sound of his crying rang in my head for hours.
‘He’s broken-hearted,’ said Angie, and she kissed my head again. ‘It’s not over, Timba, with Leroy. We’ve got to do something to help him.’
My expectations of life as Angie’s cat were based on my past-life experience of being a pampered cat in a luxurious palace, in a culture where cats were idolised. I thought Angie would be drifting around in silken robes with nothing to do but cuddle me and play with me. Wrong! I expected to be the only animal in Angie’s life. Wrong! I assumed that in Angie’s house I would never be frightened. Wrong!
The first thing she did was introduce me to Graham. Angie sailed down the hall with me tucked close to her heart.‘This is the music room,’ she told me. ‘And this is Graham, the love of my life. Hello, darling.’ She stood on tiptoe to kiss the man. ‘Meet our new kitten, Timba. Isn’t he GORGEOUS?’