Kitten

Prologue:

Katy answered her phone while squinting at the clock. It was two am. “Lily?” Her best friend sniffled. “Hi. Sorry, it’s so late.” Katy sat up and pulled on her robe. “What’s wrong, baby?” She heard Lily try to stop her tears. “I don’t know what to do.” Katy walked quietly to her kitchen so she wouldn’t disturb her sleeping boyfriend. “What happened?” Lily blew her nose. “It’s in the paper. I can’t go anywhere without anyone asking me how I’m handling things. Everyone keeps looking at me with all this pity. I’ve never felt so trapped.” Katy cracked the window and lit a cigarette. “You’re not trapped, baby. Come, Lily. Just come up here. You need to get out of that tiny podunk town and start over.” Lily tried to laugh and failed. “Katy, I can’t just drop everything and move up there.” Katy took a drag from her cigarette. “And why not? What do you have to stay for? You know your mom will come to visit you. You can call and Skype with the kids. If you’re going to be miserable you might as well be miserable somewhere people will leave you alone and let you heal. It’s been months sweetie, and nothing’s changed for you. I’m begging you, Lil, just pack your shit and go.” Lily paused and took a deep breath. “What about a job? I can’t move somewhere without a job.” Katy scoffed. “Of course, you can. You can move into my spare bedroom until you’re on your feet again.” Lily started crying again. “OK. I don’t know how long it will take me to pack...” “Just throw everything in boxes. Shit, have your mom ship the stuff you can’t fit in your car. I bet your mom would understand your need to get out of town.” When Lily hesitated Katy continued, “Fuck it. Brian and I will be there this weekend. We’ll help you get a trailer loaded and Brian can pull it in his truck.” “Oh, Katy, I couldn’t ask you guys to do that. No, I can figure something out.” Katy laughed, “You didn’t ask, dollface, I offered. And I think if you take the time you’re gonna start thinking yourself out of it. That’s the last thing you need to do. Now, try to get some sleep and we’ll see you the day after tomorrow.” Lily laughed lightly. “You’re the best. Love you.” Katy smiled, “Love you too. Get some sleep.” They hung up the phone and Katy got back in bed. As she did her boyfriend, Brian, pulled her close. “Who was that, babe?” She snuggled into him. “Lily. I’ve finally convinced her to move up here.” Brian kissed her. “When do we leave?” Katy smiled. That was exactly why she loved him. “Friday.” She pushed his shoulder until he was laying on his back. “Let me show you how much I love you.” Brian laughed until Katy’s hand cupped him, turning his laugh into a moan.

That Friday, Lily was sitting anxiously at her kitchen table, surrounded by boxes when her doorbell rang. She ran to the door, desperate to see her best friend. She pulled the door open and Katy’s smile slipped off her face. “Oh, Lily.” she said as her eyes filled with tears. Lily burst into tears. “I’m so glad you’re here.” Katy pulled her gently into her arms. “Doll, when’s the last time you ate or slept?” Katy had never seen her friend look so terrible. She’d known things had been bad, but she never could have guessed how terrible. Lily had lost an enormous amount of weight and there were dark shadows under her eyes from lack of sleep. Lily tried to sound nonchalant, “I don’t really remember.” Katy ushered her into the house, looking back at her boyfriend, worry darkening her eyes. She sat Lily down on a kitchen chair. She looked her friend in the eye and wanted to cry at the pain there. Lily looked away, “Please don’t. I can’t take any more pity. I just can’t take it from you.” Katy turned to look at Brian and he walked out of the room. Katy turned back to Lily. “Lil, why didn’t you call me sooner?” Lily shrugged. “I had to try. It’s been months, I was hoping they would find something else to gossip about.” Katy rubbed her arm. “How bad, Lily?” Lily turned her pain-filled eyes back to Katy. “I can’t sleep. I try, I really do. But I just can’t fall asleep. And I’m never hungry. I try to cook and then wind up having to throw half of it away. My mom calls all the time but I can’t talk to her because all she wants to hear is that I’m fine and what I’m doing to better my life.” Katy sat back in her chair, processing everything. Finally, she said, “OK. Brian?” He poked his head around the corner and Katy said, “Why don’t you go get the trailer and something to eat? Lily and I will pack and work up an appetite while you’re gone.” He saluted her and walked out the door. Katy turned to Lily. “First order of business, a shower, go take one. I’ll start organizing things out here and you can decide what stays and what goes. Everything that goes we can throw into the back of Brian’s truck and stop at the dump on the way out of town.” Lily stood and hugged Katy. “Thanks. For everything.” Katy smiled until Lily shut the door to her bathroom. Once she heard the water start, Katy hurried outside and into Brian’s arms. She couldn’t stop the sob as she buried her face in his chest. “Oh, Brian. Why didn’t she tell me? Did you see her? I should have been here weeks ago!” Brian smoothed a hand down her back and kissed the top of her head. “Lily’s always been proud and independent, baby. This whole thing has to be a huge blow to all of that. What matters is that you are here now and Lily is coming with you. Once she’s out of here, I know you, you’ll make sure she gets back on her feet.” Brian dried her tears and kissed her before leaving to go get the trailer. Lily was still in the shower when Katy came back inside. Katy listened but there was no music playing, an odd thing for Lily. She shrugged and began pulling things out of the kitchen cabinets. She had to laugh once she had everything out on the counter. It looked like Lily had grabbed random things, not paying attention to what she purchased. Lily had the bare essentials, rice, and peanut butter. Katy heard the water shut off and was about to go check on Lily when something in the trash caught her eye. She pulled out a newspaper for the town. In bold letters on the front page, it read, “Bride left at alter; Sister runs off with Groom”. Katy stared in horror at pictures of Lily, her sister, and her fiance plastered all over the front page. Katy looked in the trash can again and saw the engagement pictures of Lily and her fiance, well ex-fiance. Katy’s heart broke for her best friend. She’d been through so much and the small town seemed determined to drag her through it again and again. She was doing the right thing by getting Lily out of there. “Katy?” Lily asked softly from behind her. Katy turned still holding the newspaper. Lily’s eyes dropped to the paper and then back to Katy’s. A bitter smile twisted her lips. “Nice of them, isn’t it? Nothing major has happened here in years. The citizens are all very grateful for my misfortune.” Katy took a step towards her and Lily held up her hand. “Don’t. I’m fine. I’ll just throw some clothes on and we can get started.” Katy watched Lily’s retreat. Her once-proud friend now walked with her shoulders hunched and her arms around her stomach. Katy sighed. Well, she wouldn’t be defeated for long. Taunton was a big town and she’d never again have to deal with this small town bull shit.

By the time Lily came back out to the kitchen, Katy had schooled her features. She smiled at Lily and said, “Alright doll, where do we start?” Lily looked around her house and shrugged. “I want to take all the furniture.” She paused to smile slightly, “At least that’s not polluted by him.” Katy ignored the comment and said, “Alright, so furniture goes. Clothes?” Lily nodded then said, “I don’t know if my clothes are warm enough for up there.” “I’m sure they’re fine. If not, we’ll go shopping once it starts to get cooler.” Lily smiled. “Thanks again, Katy. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t provided this out.” Katy hugged her. “That’s what friends are for. You would have done the same for me. Now, do you have any plates or things you want to take with you?” Lily smiled sheepishly. “Uh, not anymore. I kinda smashed them all.” Katy laughed. “That’s my girl. What else did you do?” Lily looked down at the floor. “I might have accidentally burned his clothes. Like all of them.” Katy threw her head back and laughed harder. “Damn. I wish I could’ve helped!” Lily wrapped her arms around her stomach. “He called the cops and they hung up on him.” Katy had tears streaming down her face. “Oh my god! That is awesome!” The two of them were laughing so hard that by the time Brian came back they were on the floor, holding their stomachs, and crying. He took one look at them and said, “I don’t even want to know.” Which sent the girls pealing into laughter again. He sat down on the floor with them and doled out the food he’d picked up. He looked shyly at Lily. “Katy told me you really like Wendy’s. So that’s what I picked up.” Lily smiled her thanked and dug into her sandwich.

They had everything loaded in record time. Things were just thrown into boxes and bags, though Brian had insisted the trailer be loaded in an organized fashion. Katy did her best to keep her friend laughing and Lily tried her best to hide her pain. The love between Katy and Brian was real and Lily’s heart hurt watching them. She was happy her best friend had found someone but it did nothing to ease the ache of her loss. She didn’t want her fiance back, but she mourned for what she thought she’d had. She wanted someone to look at her with love in their eyes the way Brian looked at Katy. He was a good man, trying almost as hard as Katy to make her smile. He was goofy which suited Katy perfectly. Lily found herself laughing in spite of herself at the way his Boston accent would come out on the most random words. She pulled Katy aside at one point and said, “You know what I’ve discovered?” “What?” “I love Boston accents!” Katy laughed and poked her in the arm. “Just wait til you get there. You’ll be in heaven!” Lily smiled though she didn’t tell her friend she was not so optimistic about her future. She knew Katy would give her space and time, but eventually, her friend would parade man after man in front of her, hoping she would find a love like Katy had with Brian. When the last box was loaded and the truck bed full of everything Lily wanted to throw away Brian said, “Round it up, ladies. I’m ready to hit the road. Go pee cuz we’re not stopping as soon as we get on the highway.” Katy stuck her tongue out at him and turned to Lily. “Ready?” Lily took one last look at her house and said, “Ready.”