Aldo and Eylo returned inside, their footsteps echoing through the sliding doors, to find Nermin and Ramy busily setting up in the kitchen.
"Gran!" Eylo rushed towards Nermin, arms outstretched.
"Did you give anyone a pirate's patch at the clinic today?"
"Eylo!" the men exclaimed, taken aback by his facetious question.
With the same wide and piercing eyes her son has, Nermin locked her gaze with Eylo’s. Her stare was both intimidating and inviting.
"Not today, dear," she said.
"But I can certainly share some other icky eye conditions my patients came in with." She demonstrated with a sinister hunch and wiggling fingers pointing at the center of her own eyeball.
"Maman," Ramy protested, placing the plates down on the counter.
"Dad, did you hear a loud noise?" Eylo changed the subject.
"What loud noise?" Ramy asked, distracted by his own rummaging through the drawers in search of something.
"I've already set the hot plates under the boxes, dear. And you know exactly what noise," Nermin replied, turning towards Eylo. "Your dad had to clean up after that 'loud noise'," she added.
Eylo looked at them with anticipation. "So, you didn’t make a mystery for me? Then what was it?"
Nermin responded with a knowing tone, "What else? Nana, of course."
"It was an accident," Ramy said finally emerging from behind the cabinets. “And I was looking for napkins.”
Nermin shook her head in disagreement and rolled her eyes. "According to you, it's always an accident," she retorted.
"And according to you, Nana’s always to be blamed for, she’s always scheming," Ramy fired back.
"That reminds me," Aldo tried to intervene. "Patrick, the new vet—"
"He got the job? That was fast," Nermin shot back at Ramy.
"Yes, Maya needed the help. She's been working long hours, and she seems to like him. I trust her judgment," Ramy explained.
"Anyway I was saying, Patrick mentioned today that the Nextownover Animal Shelter burned down two nights ago," Aldo finished his sentence.
"I heard about that from my book club as well. They say it was because of a cat—the one that adopters kept returning because she was a troublemaker," Nermin said, her eyebrows arched up in a knowing expression. "Just like our Nana..."
"We don't know what caused the fire, Maman," Ramy replied.
"Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see if Nana too burns down our house," Nermin remarked while gesturing as if the walls were crumbling around them. “Then we'll know.”
Ramy crossed his arms in front of him, took a deep breath, and resorted to chewing on his lips.
Eylo broke the silence. "So, what did Nana do then?"
Nermin began, "She pushed—"
"Accidentally knocked—" Ramy interjected.
"—a plant off the top of the cabinet in the room. The pot shattered into pieces. Another cat could have been hurt," Nermin finished her sentence with a high-pitched tone. "And not to mention the mess. The cats walked all over the dirt, so now the room is covered in paw prints."
Eylo's voice trailed off as he spoke, "The sound I heard wasn't like something breaking..." but his words were unheard by the adults.
Ramy had already turned to face his dad who was drizzling olive oil over salad greens. Aldo had been keeping his head down, maintaining a safe distance from the conversation.
Nermin continued speaking, seemingly to no one in particular. "No, dear, it's okay. I'll clean up the room. That’s what I always do anyway. But I have no doubt there will be another 'accident' soon."
Aldo spoke in a low voice audible only to Ramy, "She just wants to feel, well, heeded," he said. There was a subtle request in his tone for Ramy to be more sympathetic toward his mom.
Ramy nodded, “I know, Baba.”
Aldo returned to his normal voice. "I also heard that the animals from the Nextownover Shelter need to be rehomed since most of the shelter is now uninhabitable. The owner herself has taken in 4 dogs and 7 cats into her home, and the shelter volunteers have all done the same."
Nermin approached the two, "Please, no. We're already at full capacity here. Let's not suggest taking in more animals from that shelter."
Aldo looked up, his already small eyes entirely hidden behind a big smile, "Great idea, Nery! We should indeed consider taking in some of their animals." He leaned in and kissed Nermin on the cheek.
Ramy chimed in, albeit with a hint of hesitation in his voice, "You're right, Pa. We should help... I'll talk to Gemma and see if she has any ideas on how we can accommodate more animals without overcrowding the rooms."
"If only my opinion mattered in this family..." Nermin muttered under her breath. She returned to the dinner table.
"Is everyone ready to eat?" she asked, neatly folding napkins into triangles and rolling them inside holders, even though they will be unrolled within seconds.
"Come on, then. Let's all sit down. Eylo, dear you sit next to me," Nermin instructed. Everyone followed her lead and took their places around the table, leaving only the green chair vacant.
Nermin helped Aldo by shaking open a napkin and placing it on his lap. "Well, dig in dear, dig in," she said, prompting everyone to tear apart a slice of pizza, eagerly grabbing onto the melted cheese that slid off the edges.
As the Abbott family enjoyed their pizza, the only sounds that filled the room were their satisfied "Mm-mmhhh" with each bite. The door to Belling, their animal shelter, swung open.
Harriet, the cockatoo, bobbed his head in his cage by the entry next to the kitchen and chirped, "Cool beans, drip drip." One of the evening volunteers walked in, declining the offer of pizza from the Abbotts.
"Found a letter wedged to the door, leaving it on the reception desk for y’all," she called out before making her way upstairs.
Grabbing one last slice of pizza, Eylo took the side door in the kitchen to the back hallway that led through various rooms before circling back to the front of the house. He glanced at the basement door in the back hallway, wondering if the noise came from down there. He took a step towards it but stopped at the top of the stairs. "Maybe when it's light out," he mumbled to himself, moving away from the imposing door.
Before Eylo rounded the hall to bid goodnight to Nana, who was sitting in her usual spot in front of the glass door, his eyes caught sight of Burt, the basement rat, and Kat, the house mouse in the corner.
"Burt, we had an agreement! You stay in the basement, and I keep the exterminators out," Eylo scolded. He tore off a small piece of his last slice of cheese pizza and put it on the floor for them. "And you, little one, you're new here. But be careful to stay out of the cats' sight!"
Jackson appeared at the other end of the hallway, carrying Sameera in his arms. Sameera immediately hissed at Burt and Kat.
"Hah, isn't it always hilarious when cats get worked up over nothing?" Jackson called out to Eylo, who, frozen in place, continued to kneel down as Burt and Kat hid behind him.
Once Jackson entered the senior cat room, Eylo gave Burt and Kat one last warning look before heading upstairs.
"Go-golly, that wa-as close," Kat looked behind Eylo as he walked upstairs.
"Relax, the little human is harmless. Just make sure to deliver the collars with the sewn-on pouches and collect the money properly this time. No payments in installments, no credits, and absolutely no dry kibble in place of the real treat," Burt said with an emphasis on 'real'. "And, and, don't get too smart about it and hand out favors, I'll be watching this time." Burt glared at Kat, even though there wasn't really a way for him to actually be there to watch.
In truth, neither Burt nor Kat could get close to the cat rooms. And since the dogs didn’t see the point of “A Token For A Treat,” a.k.a “T4T” system because, as one said “humans just always give us treats anyway,” the cats were their only customers.
But Kat had formed a friendship with rabbit Murphy, which was, at the moment, the sole reason Burt gave a commission to Kat. Murphy was their mole in and out of the cat rooms to carry the rigged collars. They weren’t sure how he did it, but Burt said that Murphy was just too sad and dull to have an ulterior motive and so he can be trusted.
"Repeat these to your room-hopping, get it," Burt laughed at his own pun, "friend Murray."
"M-Murphy," Kat corrected, but Burt gave her an 'I don't care' look.
"How are t-t-the kids?" Kat said, trying to change the subject. She did not care to be friendly with Burt, but she needed him until she formed more alliances at Belling.
"Oh, they are great, thriving in the basement. So many of them are swarming the place. You should come for dinner one day," Burt replied.
"Sure. I'll b-b-b-bring a cheese plate from the kitchen!"
"Do you think I'm not able to put cheese on the table for my family?"
"I-I-I-I,"
"Just kidding, feeding 12 kids this year has been punishing. Bring loads of cheese if you decide to come or I can't promise how the kids will behave; they are vicious when hungry."
"Right. I-I need to g-go now," Kat said as she crept away.
"Wait," Burt called out.
Kat turned around.
"Remind the customers that the collars only come with a 1-month warranty, excluding accidents, usual wear and tear, and factory defects."
"That doesn't c-c-co-co-ver, mmm, m-much?" Kat said.
"It’s the beauty of this enterprise Kat, they don't have another option. Maybe I'll even increase prices again. Hmm, yes, yes. That's very smart, Burt... Okay, tell them a new collar will now cost 6 Goldfish, and to get them fixed is 2 Goldfish per repair."
"Maybe we can tell them that the prices will increase in 2 weeks' time, so they might want to purchase more now while the prices are lower!" Kat said in excitement.
"That makes no sense. This is what happens when a doe thinks she can be a businessdoe," Burt laughed, revealing his yellowed incisors.
With a frown, Kat headed toward the kitchen area. "I could run this business so much better than him," she mumbled.
"What kind of a name is Cat for a Mouse anyway," Burt continued laughing to himself on his way down to the basement.
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