The Pet Thief

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Christ, hes here Swans here Dainty Some of the others. Bunny Freda hands push into my hands You have to get Bunny out Come on. Baby gate bang. Down hallway to redbluegreen window Freda foots prip prip prip prip. Tinfoil hat shimmers. Dust spins. My foots follow, Bunny my arm hugs. Window frame Freda hands hit. Damn it. Pussywillows got the allee. Here, down the back stairs. Doorknob Freda hand twists. Dusty yawny steps door shows. Shadows, rustling ivy, rattly stairwell door below. Miaou. miaou. Tee hee. Shh. Surprisem good, Maidenhair. Door Freda hand shuts slow. Click. My sleeve Freda hand grabs, pulls. Quiet. Back inside. Into flat Freda runs, tippytoe. Yellow tail flips sidetoside. Foil hat red stocking hat hides. Freda says, Vite, vite, Ironing board cabinet. Skinny door Freda hand pulls. Inside, skinny broke tunnel. Dust, darkness. Downstairs, entrée door squeaks. Stairwell flashes, shadows. Get in. Hide n seek, just like we practiced, dac. They have to find you, remember. Past cabinet doorway my shoulders squeeze. Inside, my foots, shoulders turn. Bunny fusses. Stay put. Keep quiet. Keep Bunny quiet. Luisa, Simone, Mittens, Trinity, everyone, sing. Red mouths yowl, sharp tooths gleam. Raggedy Ann Hand throws. Clac clac. Here, books, pictures. Hide n seek. Keep quiet. Cabinet door shuts. Crack has door. Crack shows book stack Freda pushes across floor. Door books bump. To crack Freda O mouth says, Stay put. Keep quiet. Keep Bunny quiet. Downstairs sings, Little Polly Flinders, her home among the cinders, warming her pretty little toes. Crack shows Freda run sidetoside. Into closet diapers, blanky, dresser drawer Freda throws. Closet door shuts. Under sofa, dolls Freda boot kicks. Bunny coos. Shhhh. my mouth says. Hide n seek. Crack shows cats, torn brown sofa. Front doorway. In doorway comes long fur coat, rooster hair, spotted coat, white coat black fedora Damn, you got every cat in town up in here Shaddap Black pantleg kicks. Squawking Tivoli, Bart run. By sofa Freda stands. Freda says, Swan. Baby gate Bent white coatsleeve swings sidetoside. In cabinet door crack, gold tooths shine. Ha. A gate. For wayward infants, is it. Past crack red coat walks tic, toc, tic, toc. Floor creaks. Sometimes we let the guinea pigs and rabbits hop about. says Freda. Gimme a sack, Ivy. The, the gate keeps them in. White coatsleeve Freda hands touch. Lover, you dont usually come for the birds Bo peep. You know why we have come. Fuckin right. Brown hand shows, finger jabs. Thanks to you and yo retard I caint even show my face round dat arrondissement no mo. Bang bang bang. Birds squawk Nein Stop Please Too dark in sack Freda shoulders shrug. Freda says, I dont like how Dainty disrepects Oboy. I wanted to show her hes not as stupid as she thinks. Besides, Oboy didnt cheat at her game, Dainty did. She just didnt do it right. Brown finger shakes. Got me a garrote I can do right. Now, now, Dainty. Hm. Furry coat comes. Bunny lips my finger touches Tell me I aint doin it right, putain Over my shoulder, broke boards, skinny tunnel, splintery Lets see her fuckin run the game Little wood stool. Dirty pillow. Shiny dust curls from ceiling holes, walls holes, holes near floor. Into hole wiggles calico. Miaou. On book stack long fur coat sits, cabinet door shuts. Crack byebye. When her days work is done, her business more properly begins. Swan. He aks what you did Papa wit the money. Cats yowl. My mouth says, Voilà. Cream cup my hand shows. Bunny bounces in darkness, little hand takes. Cup lid dirty little fingernails scratch. Freda says, Well, it wasnt all about Dainty. The birds are getting sick. Stress. See how Ivys stuffing that parrot into the sack. Odds are its either going to die or lose all its tail feathers. So, I had to buy medicine. Vitamins, too. Got to keep them healthy, right, so they hold their value. My operation brings in more than Daintys Bullshit. Cabinet door bangs I just have no bees and honey to keep things going. Ironically, its true, Dainty, my dear. Alors, what you are saying is your nondurables were perishing before you could get them to market, yes. To remedy your lack of immediate cash flow, you saw a less capital intensive yet income generating activity as the answer to your operational quandry. Investing Daintys gains into my...