She swings the huge cage door open.

“I don’t know how we’re going to get him in here. This sometimes takes a long time.”

Alex watches in disbelief as she tries to talk the cat into the cage. The cat stretches and walks over to sniff the cage, which probably smells of other strays and who-knows-what-else to a cat.

“Oh no,” she says. “He’s not going in. I was afraid of this. It might be a while.” I don’t have a while. I need to leave. She sits on the floor tapping a finger on the side of the plastic, trying to entice him in. Alex reaches down.

“In,” he says, and gently hefts him from un-derneath into the cage. He locks it down.

“Meow.”

“Well, there you go,” says Alex. Now get the fuck out of here, I’ve got to get to school. She beams up at him like it’s the best thing ever.

“Wow! You did that so well. I’m really im-pressed. You should do that more often!” She baby-talks the cat some more.

“Meoow.”

“Does he like his new cage?” She babbles at him, ignoring the distressed tone of his cries.

“Meow.”

“Well, I guess you two better get going,” says Alex.

She stands up. “Umm…you said that you could help with the vet?” And he remembers. He told her that he would pay for the neuter. A sick feeling creeps over him. This is a stray cat. A tom. He roams the woods behind the apartments where coyotes and foxes and other wild things roam. If no one feeds him, he must hunt to survive. If there’s one thing he needs more than anything else, it’s his balls.

Alex stares at the crazy woman in his living room, the wild look in her eyes, the frazzled hair, and he knows how the Nazis felt, the ones who went along despite their own disgust at the atroci-ties they committed. He gets his checkbook.

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