PI On A Hot Tin Roof

kitten.
    They reached Lucy’s room (which looked like Pi’s ship after it went down), closed the door, and Talba said, “Christmas just came early. Go ahead—see what Santa Claus brought.”
    The kid approached the box as if it contained the crown jewels. Sensing freedom, the kitten began to vocalize. One white paw came up through the opening between the box flaps. “Oh. My. God.” Lucy folded the flaps back and beheld her new pal. “Oh. My. God.” She picked up the animal, which began to purr, and tears began to run down her face.
    Talba was alarmed. “Don’t tell me you’re allergic.”
    “Allergic?” But she quickly lost interest in anything human. “Oh, you precious baby. You’re so
little.”
She held the kitten up and looked at it. “Oh. My. God. This is the prettiest kitten I’ve ever seen in my life. Is he really named Richard Parker?”
    “No, that’s just her description. She’s actually a female. She was an orphan who hung around the marina—Royce called her Gumbo.”
    “She can be Rikki.”
    “Rikki it is.”
    “Did Royce know you were going to bring her?”
    “No, but he told me something he didn’t think was important. Guess what? Suzanne’s not allergic to cats—she’s afraid of them! And he didn’t make it a secret or anything—if you get discovered, you can quote me.” She chuckled. “
Then
you’ll see some fighting. But why don’t you shut Rikki in your room when you’re away? That way she’ll have time to adjust. And by the time they find her, she’ll already be ensconced. Know something? Royce loved this little thing—he wanted to bring her home, but he couldn’t because of Suzanne. I have a feeling he might be an ally.”
    “I can’t believe you brought her to me.” The change in the girl was nothing short of astonishing. Whereas before she’d looked as if she’d lost her last friend, now she was animated and…hopeful. Like any child who had a reason to live. Talba would have said “happy” if she hadn’t known better.
    “Well, it wasn’t actually my first thought, but if any two creatures ever needed each other, it’s you two.” She told the tale of Raisa and Darryl and the asthma attack, while Rikki went on patrol, poking her mottled nose into every cranny and corner, exactly as she’d done at Darryl’s house.
    “Raisa can come see her whenever she wants.”
    If they let you keep her,
Talba thought. “Listen, what’s the new maid like? Maybe I could talk to her for you—see if she’ll keep quiet.”
    “Oh, Mommo already fired her. Said she was worse than Alberta. So we don’t have anybody right now.”
    “Uh-oh. Who cleans your room?”
    Lucy laughed. “Are you kidding? Nobody in this house lifts a finger.”
    “Well, why don’t you start keeping your room neat? Then nobody’ll have to come in.”
    “Oh, Rikki’s a bribe, is that it?” She was laughing.
    “Kid, you can live in a hellhole for all I care.” She looked around her. “In fact, you do. Just a thought, that’s all.”
    Lucy surveyed her surroundings. “It
is
pretty bad. Maybe I could do a little something. That way when I change the litter, they won’t know.”
    “Smuggling it in might be another matter, but I’ll leave that to you. But, listen, if worse comes to worst give Rikki back to me—don’t take her to the shelter, whatever you do.”
    “I’m keeping her.” Somehow or other, she made her jaw look like Harrison Ford’s. Talba wasn’t about to argue with her.
    “Good. By the way, I couldn’t find a kids’ poetry reading. So do you want to read Saturday night?”
    “Saturday? That’s day after tomorrow.”
    “Come on, kid—let’s jump-start that career. There’s a place called Reggie and Chaz that has readings all the time. I’ll take you.”
    “It’s not my career—I’m going to be a cinematographer.”
    “Well, this’ll give you something to fall back on.”
    Not recognizing this as a stab at humor, Lucy didn’t crack a smile. Instead, she made a big show of nonchalance. “Whatever.” And then, “What should I wear?”
    “Something that covers your midriff.”
    Lucy grumbled something about Talba sounding like Mommo and saw her out the back door.
    Mission accomplished—Pi now had a pal on the lifeboat. Talba just hoped the kid didn’t write some cute kitty poem for her debut.
    After asking once more about Royce (there was no more news) she went home to call the client, her reasoning being this—if in fact the LaGarde bad