DAYS LIKE THESE (Part 5)

The Cat's Gone

By: Anthony Mayfield

Some of us are fortunate in that, like Rip Van Winkle, we don't sleep our entire lives away. The hope is, that, when we finally wake up, we'll have enough life left to do the worthwhile thing.

"Ring. Ring. Ring."

Coolac: "This had better be real."

Bijou: "Coolac, wake up, man. I’ve got to talk to you."

Coolac: "Bijou. Girl, what's got your mouth so full that you want to put it in my ear at two in the morning?"

Bijou: "All of a sudden I woke up out of a peaceful sleep and I realized that my cat was gone."

Coolac: “What? And this is news that you chose to share with me at two in the morning? Later, Bijou."

Bijou: “No, hold on Coolac. This is important."

Coolac: “Hold up, you don't even have a cat. What the hell are you talking about?

Bijou: “Not a real cat, that's just an expression."

Coolac: “Okay, now I don't get it. Since this is supposed to be important, and since this not real cat has something to do with what is important, pull me up on this expression."

Bijou: “One of my Girl mates was having some domestic problems with her live in. He was knuckle pasting her pretty good and on a regular basis too. I mean, she was so beat down that in the folly of the moment, we called her knuckle catcher."

Coolac: “Damn, that's cold. Nothing like a friend, huh?"

Bijou: “Yeah, I know that wasn't a ripe thing to do but we were angry that she wouldn't leave his tired ass. I know that doesn't excuse our insensitivity. What can I say in defense?

Coolac: "Not a damn thing."

Bijou: “Exactly. Anyway, since we couldn't talk her into leaving him, we were able to talk her into going to a counselor. She told the counselor everything that was going on and, after a few sessions, the
counselor finally told her that she just hadn't had enough yet, that she'd leave when her cat left. Of course my girl didn't know what that meant either so the counselor explained it. The counselor said that she
had another client who was just as beat down. In fact, this woman's abuser was so bad that he'd even kick the cat's Assonet day, the cat, having had one boot too many, left. When the woman realized that her cat had left, at the same time, she realized that if a cat refused to put up with the mistreatment, then it was time for her to leave too."

Coolac: “I don't get it."

Bijou: “Man, a cat will put up with anything just as long as it's getting something to eat. You can't even throw a cat away; it'll just keep coming back. So, when this lady realized that, she also realized
that it was time for her to go too. All it's saying is that something has to happen before we reach that point where we say enough is enough. And it could be something totally insignificant."

Coolac: “Yeah, sort of like this conversation."

Bijou: “Come on, man. Don’t bail out on me now."

Coolac: “Albright so, what is it that you're fed up with? Why did your
cat leave?"

Bijou: “My cat left because it was fed up with the system. Man, I woke up and realized that I am totally over my fear of doing my own thing. I am tired of working for corporate America. It’s time to do something different, something daring, you know?"

Coolac: “Okay. I’m happy that you've found your courage but what does that have to do with me at two in the morning? Is this your idea of doing something daring?"

Bijou: “I want to start an investment club and I want you and some of the others to get in on it."

Coolac: “What do you want to invest in?"

Bijou: “I don't know yet. I figure that we can all can get together and brainstorm about that."

Coolac: “So who are you thinking about inviting to your madness?"

Bijou: “Come on, Coolac. I'm serious."

Coolac: “Albright’s, who do you want to be a part of this?"

Bijou: “I'm thinking about Matt, Jock, Raymond, you and maybe one or two others."

Coolac: “After what happened with Jock and Brenda, I don't know if those dudes want to deal with me. I mean, Jock and I are still cool because he knows me and he knows my heart, but those other cats might not be diggin' me that way, ya know?"

Bijou: “Man, that was then and this is now. Besides, all you did was pull back the cover on the truth if they can't get with that then who need them? It’s not your fault if they didn't like what they saw.
Anyway, last I heard, money is still green and they are always talking about getting more of it. If a money making opportunity presents itself, I'm sure they'd want to get involved even if the devil himself was one of
the partners."

Coolac: “True, but why do you want me to be a part?"

Bijou: “Because you are different. You don't think like everybody else; while everybody else is looking at something from the front to the back, you go around to the back and look at it from the back to the front. Plus, you're a nonconformist. And whatever you do, you do it well because you keep money."

Coolac: Laughing. "Alright, I'll check it out. What about your girl, Serena is she a candidate?"

Bijou: “Serena? Dude, I don't run with things that slither. "

Coolac: “I didn't know that ya'll had fallen out."

Bijou: “You ever see a bee scratch?"

Coolac: “No, I can't say that I have."

Bijou: “Well, she's what causes a bee to itch. And that bee itch ain't worth real time."

Coolac: “That's clever, bee itch but why all the hate?"

Bijou: “Because she did some foul stuff to a guy friend. She had him thinking one way and all the while she was using him while she set her thing up with somebody else. Her type gives women a bad reputation. Anyway, moving on, back to the business at hand. Do you think that this
is a good idea?"

Coolac: "It's early in the morning, Bijou. I’m still sleep foggy but I think that the idea is cool. Even so, my question to you is, suppose that no one else's cat has left?"

Bijou: “See, that's what I mean about you, you take a different approach. I don't know; I guess we'll just have to find that out. I do know that at one time or another we've all talked about doing something.
We'll just have to see if they feel the time is now." Coolac: “Alright, let's give everybody a call. One more question."

Bijou: “Dare I ask?"

Coolac: “What if your cat comes back?"