The Story of Little Bear - Part 3

Dawn, clever Dawn, suggested I put a call into maintenance and claim that I have a bad leak in the sink and my kitchen floor is flooding. Then once they arrive, I could fess up and tell them the truth.

I didn't know what else to do, so, I did exactly what she suggested and had them paged. Thankfully, the maintenance guy me called instead of showing up. He would have been pissed since it was 10:30 by this time. I fessed up and explained to him my situation. He was really nice about it. He told me to do whatever necessary to expand the hole and get the cat out. They could come in the next day and seal it up for me so it wouldn't happen again.

I doubled the size of the hole and waited for Bear to reapper. It took him about 20 minutes to come back but he wouldn't come back through the hole. He just sat there, all I could see was his face. So, I reached through and pulled him through it myself. He didn't seem to be too happy about it but boy was I relieved to have him back.

Judy called the next evening and we talked for a long time. Her story was that her son and daughter-in-law divorced and the son was living in California. She was going to fly over to join him but had stuff in storage in Houston. She had to get tickets to fly and didn't have the money yet. She left a number where I could contact her so a few days later I called it and left a message for her to call me back.

A woman called me instead and told me she was the Director of the house where Judy was staying. Apparently, Judy was staying in a home designed for women in transition. One stays there for about $400/mo and the place helps women make whatever changes they are going through. They require some volunteer work in return. She told me that Judy would disappear for long periods of time, skipping her volunteer work and show up odd times. She asked me if I thought Judy was an alcoholic.

I didn't know Judy that well. I was just taking care of her cat but I could tell something was wrong. Judy left that house eventually and called me from some place else. To my knowledge she was receiving social security checks and was living off of them. She had one excuse after another for why she couldn't go to California just yet and asked me to just keep watching Bear. It seemed as though she would find a place to stay and then move on a month later.

This lasted for about three or four months and then she just stopped calling me. I think she's homeless. I offered to send her money but she wouldn't take it. If I lived in a house, I probably would have offered her a room.

In hindsight, I'm not sure her son is in California; though she has been consistent with the story, even with the Director of the first place she stayed. I thought maybe he passed away and she just hasn't dealt with it. Many things have gone through my head regarding her plight but I don't think I'll ever really know.

I just know that if I were in her same shoes, I would find great comfort knowing that someone like me was taking care of my pets.

Bear has grown on me and Mimi, too. He has a few querky ways which I'll share in another post. He is one of the sweetest kitties I've ever met and I absolutely adore him. Most times he just sits facing me with his eyes closed. He can never seem to keep them open. Inevitably, wherever I am in my apartment, he is only a foot or so away.

Ah, I am going to get a digital camera very soon so I can start posting some photos.