At the end of the garden path was a gate leading into the drive where Angie’s car was parked next to a gleaming black limo. On Sunday afternoon, Angie carried me down there to see it, helping me to understand the layout of our home.
‘Try not to scratch Graham’s precious Volvo,’ whispered Angie. ‘He likes everything pristine!’
She showed me the quiet lane beyond the drive, and pointed.‘That way goes to the main road … don’t you go down there, Timba, but you can go the other way. It leads to the woods.’
I took it all in, aware that Angie didn’t know how much I understood. I wanted to tell her about Vati, but she was human, and humans have mostly forgotten how to use telepathy.
But suddenly Angie was tense and annoyed.‘Who on earth is that? Oh no … I can’t believe that woman knows where I live.’
A car turned into the drive with a squeal of tyres and a smell of hot rubber. Janine got out, dressed in black tights and a shiny black jacket. I thought she looked like a beetle.
‘Don’t panic, Timba,’ Angie whispered, her hand protectively on my fur. ‘You go on purring. She’s not having you back.’
Angie kept the lid on her anger and spoke to Janine kindly.‘Hello! I wasn’t expecting to see you, Janine.’
‘Yeah, I know … sorry … but I really need to talk to you.’ Janine looked at Angie with a blend of defiance and desperation in her eyes. ‘And I had the chance of a lift. This is Dave …’ She waved an arm at the man in the car. He nodded without smiling. Then he turned the stereoup and sat with his elbow out of the window.
‘Ten minutes, babe.’ Dave tapped the chunky metal watch on his wrist. ‘I’ll wait in the car.’
Angie led Janine to a seat by the garden pond.
‘Timba’s adorable,’ she said.
‘Yeah … I haven’t come to get him back,’ Janine said. ‘It’s about Leroy. I need to … like … explain something.’
‘I’m listening,’ Angie said, and her eyes were full of love.
Janine seemed to be struggling. I went to and fro, from one lap to the other, trying to decide which of these two women needed me most. I settled on Janine’s heart, and she started to cry.
‘Take a deep breath, and just tell me,’ said Angie kindly.
‘It’s Leroy,’ Janine sobbed. ‘I’m on the brink of putting him in care. I can’t cope with him no more. I do love him. I do. But now he’s getting bigger, it’s one long battle from morning to night. I’m exhausted … and not very well … and … and I’m actually terrified of my own son.’
‘That’s so sad for you … and for him,’ Angie said.
‘I’m under the doctor,’ Janine wept. ‘I get migraines and depression, and I never sleep cos Leroy gets up in the night and draws all over the walls, or he turns the TV on and watches stuff he shouldn’t be watching. He’s out of control. I don’t know what he’s going to do next …and then there’s the bullying, it never stops, and it’s always because his clothes aren’t pristine and he hasn’t got decent trainers. I can’t afford stuff, Angie, I’m in debt … I had no one to turn to … not till Dave came along. I’m going to … like … lose my house if I can’t pay rent any more, and Dave wants me to move in with him. But he won’t have Leroy. I’ve got such a difficult choice to make.’
‘That’s tough, really tough. I sympathise,’ Angie said, and her eyes looked sad.
‘But I’ve partly come here to warn you,’ Janine said, talking more calmly now. ‘Leroy went ballistic over losing Timba. He’s trashed his bedroom. He knows where you live, Angie, and he says he’ll walk over here and get Timba back … he would too.’
A cold anxious feeling filled me as I understood what Janine was saying. Leroy intended to snatch me away from my beloved Angie.
‘There has to be a better way of dealing with it.’ Angie looked thoughtful.
‘Not for people like me there isn’t.’
The conversation ended abruptly when Graham came stalking mystically out of the house with angry eyebrows and his hair boiling up like a thundercloud.‘Would you mind turning that objectionable racket down?’ he said to the surprised Dave. ‘I am a professional opera singer, and I don’t want my practice ruined by you and your stereo.’
The music stopped and Dave grinned out of the car window.‘Keep yer cool, mate. It’s good music,’ he said, and called out to Janine, ‘Come on, babe. Before I get evicted.’
Janine scurried back to the car.‘Don’t forget … what I warned you … about Leroy,’ she said to Angie. ‘You keep an eye on Timba. Heaven help him if Leroy gets hold of him.’
Chilling words. I felt threatened yet again. Why couldn’t they just let me grow up and be a cat in peace?
When Monday morning came, Angie reminded me that she had to go to work. I was to be left alone with Graham for most of the day.
‘Tomorrow I’ll take you to see the horses,’ she said. ‘Today you must stay around the house and garden. Get used to the place … it’s your home now.’