The Chicago Rat Shifter

Chapter 11

V was for victory!

Outside, Cyrus hopped on his board and picked up speed. He bent his knees and swerved into a V and wove his way down the ramp. Cool evening air swirled past his face, blowing his hair under his helmet.

Now Becca would get off his case. He could make some money and maybe get an apartment of his own soon. Then he could listen to all the bad love songs he wanted and no one would complain.

He liked the ride home—a short, straight shot down North Milwaukee Avenue, where all the historic buildings, restaurants, and streetlights would be coming alive as he passed. Plenty of time to think.

He was cruising now. Only at the last minute when he reached the end of the block did he see a giant raven.

The raven didn’t budge.

He bailed, crashing onto the ground, the board narrowly missed striking the bird.

The raven gronked at him. The bird must’ve had a death wish.

Still, it remained, black feathers reflective in the setting sunlight.

It gronked at him again, flapped its wings, and with a hop, it landed on his board. It was the biggest raven he’d ever seen, and maybe the most beautiful. You almost never saw ravens in Chicago—the place was a crow town. Streaks of blue and purple ran through its feathers, and it stared at him with coal-black eyes. It stood perfectly in the center of the board, like it was ready to ride.

“Hey, get off,” Cyrus said, shooing the bird away.

Gronk. Gronk.

GronkGronkThe raven landed on a nearby bike loop, revealing a stronger tinge of blue in its wings.

“Rats,” the bird said in a hoarse voice.

He jumped at the word.

“Doctor,” another voice said.

A second raven flapped down to the hood of a nearby car.

“Doctor. Regret.”

“What the—”

“Rats,” the first raven said.

“Doctor. Regret,” the second raven said.

Cyrus backed away and the ravens extended their wings, gronking in unison, the cords in their throats flexing.

“I’m imagining this,” he said softly. “I have to be imagining this.”

Suddenly, the Bee Gees crooned from his pocket and his phone buzzed. The ravens scattered.

He stared after the birds as they wheeled over the roof of a nearby shop.

Huh. Even creepy ravens didn’t like love songs.

He slipped his earbuds in and took the call from his mom.

“Cyrus Alexander Grant,” his mother, Aurora, said sharply.

The only time she used his full name was when he was in trouble. From what he could tell, she was at home, sitting on the back porch, the hum of the Lifetime movies on the TV mixed with parakeet song. The old birds were really squabbling today. She was probably grading unfinished student papers. She taught English at the University of Illinois at Chicago, a half-hour train ride away from Logan Square.

“What did I do?” he asked, jumping on his skateboard. He eased into the street and a car honked at him.

“Are you on that skateboard again?” she asked. “You know I hate that thing.”

Cyrus bent down as he coasted through a red light. “It’s totally safe, Mom. Lot of crazies on the trains these days. What’s up?”

“I was hoping you might tell me. I just received a phone call from Julianeta a few minutes ago.”

Cyrus gulped as he rolled between a delivery truck and a motorcycle.

“She says that you’ve been bothering her,” Aurora said. “Is that true?”

“What’s your definition of bothering?”

“She says you got into a fight. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s nothing.”

“That’s not how she described it,” Aurora said.

He didn’t reply, but his mom didn’t accept his silence.

“Well, what did they break?” she asked.

“My pride,” he said, pushing through a green light.

“Good. Cyrus, this needs to stop. Now.”

Cyrus swallowed hard.

“I’m worried about you,” she said, her voice softening. “Becca tells me that you’re a nervous wreck. Listening to the Bee Gees every night and crying yourself to sleep?”

“Complete exaggeration,” he said. “I haven’t cried myself to sleep once.”

“But the rest is true?”

“I’m fine, Mom. I just miss her.”

“I know,” Aurora said. “But there are millions of women in this town. And you’re young, handsome, and smart.”

“There’s only one Jules.”

“You have no idea how sweet that is. The next girl will appreciate you so very much. But you need to move on.”

A truck cut him off. Quick thinking sent him into oncoming traffic momentarily before he flipped off the driver and gave a hearty f**k you. Thank God his mom couldn’t see what he was doing.

fuck youHe safely veered into a left lane, giving the truck a sidelong glance.

“Cyrus?”

“Okay,” he said.

“Okay, what?”

“It’s over. I’m not going anywhere near her house again. I’ll just continue to wallow in my own filth and listen to bad love songs.”

“I got you to listen to me for a change. That was a little too easy,” Aurora said.

Cyrus stopped at a busy intersection and kicked his board into his hands.

“How’s your job search going?” she asked, betraying more of her conversation with Becca.

“Nailed it,” Cyrus said. “I start a new gig tomorrow.”

“That’s fantastic. What is it?”

“A company called Whisker & Claw.”

“Sounds hipster,” Aurora said. “What do they do?”

“Uh, that’s a good question. I’m not sure. They asked me a lot of questions about rats, though.”

“Dear God, Cyrus. Pest management is a dirty business.”

“It’s not that,” he said. He jumped on his board and sailed through a green light and into a bike lane. He passed a cyclist on the right.

“Maybe you should ask them more questions,” his mom said. “I love you, but I’m not bailing you out of prison if it turns out to be a shady operation.”

Cyrus laughed. “You already deserve sainthood, Mom.”

“So does your sister.”

“Yeah. Bec is the best.”

“You’re running her ragged, sweetie. She’s more worried about you than I am. Maybe you should get her something.”

“Good idea.”

He promised to see her soon and told her he loved her before hanging up.

For the rest of the ride, he slipped into a flow, thinking about how the day had turned around. Mom was right. Becca practically had gotten him this job. He thought of the few extra dollars he had in his pocket from the interview. He couldn’t help but smile. He stopped at a flower shop on the way home.

As he entered, he didn’t notice the pair of ravens circling in the sky above.