Itty Bitty Kitties

1 My bucket of fried chicken The wind whished through my hair as I drove my trusty, old, bright yellow convertible Rabbit down the busy four-lane road. I lifted my chin slightly as I savored the feeling of freedom that washed over me. It was a bright, sunny day, and I was a newly single, confident, independent woman. Julia, you can do this, I told myself silently before amending my affirmation to, I will do this. It’s not like I have any other choice, I realized looking down at my already-showing tummy. Placing a protective hand over my belly bump, I smiled to myself. “We’re going to be okay, little one,” I promised out loud, which earned me a glare from the crate on the passenger-side floorboard. “I’m sorry you have to be in your crate, Pretty Kitty,” I peeked through the holes in the plastic at my gorgeous, white Persian cat, who was my pride and joy. She narrowed her emerald-green eyes into half slits and aimed them in my direction to let me know she heard me, but didn’t care to accept my apology. I imagined that she would be shooting poison-tipped darts at me with that scowl if she could. “We’ll be there soon,” I promised her. She turned her head away from me and flicked her tail. It was her feline version of flipping her nose at my lame attempt to placate her. Her regal posture made her look like a queen as she twitched her tail in annoyance and ignored me, despite the fact that I had sprung for the extra-large crate to give her plenty of room. “I’m just worried about your safety,” I muttered more to myself than the cat, since P.K. was steadfastly refusing to acknowledge me. Deciding that getting her to forgive me while she was still locked in the offending crate was a lost cause, I shifted my attention to the large bucket of extra-crispy fried chicken sitting in the seat beside me. The delicious aroma wafting over was almost irresistible. I had gotten the chicken as a delicious surprise for my cousin, since he was so kindly allowing me to move in with him after the rest of my family had turned their backs on me. My parents were acting like I was the first woman in the history of the world to get pregnant out of wedlock. It’s not like it had been a one-night stand or fling, either. I had believed that Brett and I were on the track to marriage. Shaking my head to clear out the anger and hurt feelings, I redirected my thoughts. I refused to think any more right now about the people I was supposed to be closest to shunning me in my time of need because I didn’t want to get all weepy again. Getting away from all of them and going to stay with my cousin, Van, for a while was clearly the best thing for all of us––especially me and my unborn child. Shifting my attention back to the chicken, I decided that digging into the bucket for one piece of chicken would be permissible. After all, I was eating for two now. This piece could go directly to the baby. I would politely wait for my piece until Van was home and we could sit down to eat together. When I pulled to a stop at a red light, I decided I had waited as long as was humanly possible. As soon as I lifted the lid from the bucket, the smell of hot, juicy chicken overpowered me. It had been a long time since I had tasted greasy fried chicken, since I generally watched what I ate and ordered the sensible cage-free, organic grilled chicken. The baby must have been craving something deep-fried because I grabbed a piece from the bucket and tore into it like an animal. I’m pretty sure I actually groaned with delight at the first taste of it, not caring that the top was down on my car or that people were probably staring and judging me. My laser focus on the delicious chicken was probably the only reason I didn’t see what was coming. I suppose it’s for the best because it probably would have petrified me. I don’t mean frightened me a little. I mean actually petrified me into a statue. The sight of what was heading my way would have literally scared me to death. Just as I was scarfing down my second bite of chicken an enormous, black, hairy beast with huge white teeth hurled itself into the passenger seat of my car!