The Grey Cat

One Thursday night before Christmas I was sitting at a bar in Tempe. None of the local regulars where around to talk with so I decided to sit at the bar and have a drink.

Actually two people were there that I knew besides the bartender and the cook. One being semi-regular middle aged man who was giving me advice on becoming the exclusive mechanic in the state of Arizona for old 'Ratis (apparently short for Maserati) and Fiats since no one would touch them but died-in-the-wool fans of these mechanically troublesome relics of recent past. The idea was intriguing. The other older man was the all too regular (for the bar owner) electrician that may be rich or maybe not. Every time I see him he has already drunk too much and he can't quite seem to remember what he just thought about. But he recognizes me and always thanks me for being so nice to him since he knows he is annoying to most people. In the midst of this hand shaking - side shoulder hugging ritual that we go through, he spills my pint of Four Peaks Kilt Lifter - he buys me another one. I just laugh it off because the guy is so ridiculous, I find it amusing. They both eventually leave by the time my story gets to it's point.

The bands that were playing were unusually young and the crowd was unusually older. I quickly determined that these bands had many of their parents there to support them. It also occurred to me that these band members were teenagers. Not the high-school graduates that can't drink but can play in a band at a bar but actual high-school students. This was confirmed when the 'Rati man that I mentioned earlier turned to me in annoyance to say that he was confused as to why the good-looking late thirties/early forties brunette in front of him wasn't paying any attention to him. I leaned over to give him a clue (maybe). I said that I thought she was the mother of singer on stage (deductive guess). I didn't try to explain why that would be the reason. But that got him curious. So eventually he succeeded in finding out that she was indeed the mother of the young girl singing. After that she started paying more attention to him but he probably lost interest since he left not to long afterwards.

I don't remember exactly how many bands played but they were not that good to be honest. I hadn't eaten anything for dinner so after my third beer I started to feel a buzz. I starting thinking about ordering something from the grill. The buzz actually helped to loosen the anxiety that I had been feeling off and on through out the year about the all to real possibility of losing my job because of the bad economy. This is when my attention was drawn to the stage and a young, good-looking women, I had seen walking around earlier, started a rap.

It was not the kind of rap that you put to music but a honest testimony of her recent life as a crack dealer/user. I had thought briefly when she was walking around that she didn't seem to belong there. Now I knew for sure. I though it was strange that she was part of this production company's lineup. There was something harsh/gypsy-like in her demeanor. She certainly had the exotic facial features of real gypsies. I let it pass since most people who went to that bar didn't really belong anywhere which was why they went there. I don't remember the exact words of her testimony rap but I was hit hard with the content. When she was done I just sat there dumbfounded looking over the bar through the cheap bottles of liquor that line the lowest shelf. "What just happened?" I thought. The buzz was still there but an overwhelming urgency was invading my mind pushing the buzz into the background and allowing me to think very clearly about what I had just felt. It had been a long time since I felt that presence. I had wondered if I could still feel those things. The hairs on my arms were trying to stand up under my brown leather jacket. It was not out of fear but out of acute awareness. I was annoyed that I knew. I knew what that feeling was. I was trying to figure out what I should do as I stared down the bottles. I really just wanted to forget about it but I couldn't. I needed to say something. I distinctly remember that she had said that she was nine months clean from drugs. Yet she was up there declaring to anyone and all that she was free. She needed to be told and I don't know why I had to tell her.

She was outside on the patio with some friends when I came up to her and padded her shoulder. I apologized for interrupting and thanked her for her testimony. She thanked me for that. Then I told her to be careful. She asked why. Then I said because she had a demon following her. That was all I had to say and was about to turn around back to the bar inside. If she knows she will understand I reasoned, otherwise it was an easy enough metaphor for the all to common relapse that most heavy drug addicts go through. This had gotten her attention and started a conversation between us. She wanted to know if I was a psychic and how I knew. She didn't think I was crazy nor was she scared. She said she was a psychic and proceeded to tell me about things she saw in my life. She hit the nail on the head with two or three things that happened in my past long ago but the rest was just guessing and bringing up names that I clearly did not know. I was trying to be polite and probed her understanding to see she where she was. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything. Our conversation turned out to be very interesting and we talked about Jesus and God and she acknowledged the difference between good and evil. I won't get into it here because I don't remember everything exactly, I felt a responsibility for her know and asked if we could keep in touch. She agreed. She knew there was a reason for me to tell her what I told her. I needed to make sure that she could ask me more questions when she needed too. As soon as I had divulged my warning my buzz came back just a little bit harder and I knew I needed some water and food. But I do remember that she asked me if I had a grey cat. I said no.

There are allot of cats around my house for some odd reason. The only thing was they were black or mixed colors. I had heard that one of my neighbors was responsible for all these cats wandering around our neighborhood. This to me is a little annoying since I have a dirt lot and a bush that they love to do their business in and always smells like urine and feces if I don't get around to cleaning all the time. I do my best to run them off. She said keep the gray cat. I didn't put much weight to the idea since I am not superstitious.

I had talked with my recently moved away neighbor for little bit one day a couple of months ago when I noticed they were packing a truck. He was explaining their situation and saying he would miss this neighborhood except of course for the cats. He is the one that told me about the other neighbor who let all her cats walk about freely. He told me that one day he walked out in front of his house when he noticed his neighbor, an African immigrant, was stoning an already dead cat in front of his yard. My neighbor asked him in shock why he was doing such a thing and didn't he notice that the cat was already dead. The African man looked up in apparent bewilderment and asked "Don't you know that cats have demons in them?" The African apparently moved out of his house shortly after. I had knew of this belief in some parts of the world so I was not surprised. It however makes me wonder why they believe this and what kind of situations or events enforce this belief. It is not entirely unbiblical that animals can be inhabited by spirits as Christ let Legion enter into the flock of swine.

The other day, a little after I came home from Christmas with my parents, I looked out my front window deep in thought when I noticed a cat walking across my yard pretty close to my window. It was an adult grey cat I had never seen before. I thought to myself "Interesting." The next day as I drove to work I saw sitting on the roof of my derelict 1961 Cadillac next to my house three adult grey cats that I have never seen before as well. I can see how people become superstitious as this is not the first time I have seen "interesting" things. I wondered amusingly which one I was supposed to keep.

Ironically I was laid off a few days ago. Maybe one too many grey cats is not good.