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The Cat Incident

"Dimitri Belikov! If you do not grab your food and eat this instant, I will punish you! For three weeks!" Olena yelled, her face red from the heat. Karo and Sonya had already eaten and were playing around upstairs, but Viktoria was giving her some trouble, constantly spitting out her food.

"Aw, Mom! We're in the middle of a game!" Little Dimka yelled, the other 7-year-olds around him waiting expectantly. Baseball was the one thing they loved with a passion, and their summers consisted in practicing their moves over and over again.

"You can play later! I swear, Dimka, if you don't come in right now…" The kids, recognizing the finality in Olena's tone, abandoned her front yard dejectedly, promising they'd be back later. Dimitri stormed into the house and plopped himself down on a chair.

"Mom, can I at least eat outside? It's hot in here" He whined, looking at his plate of meat and vegetables and sighing.

"As long as you eat" The boy was out in a flash, sitting on the porch swing with his food on his legs.

A figure came into view as he munched thoughtfully. The little ball of fur seemed to be a cat – probably belonging to one of the neighbors.

Dimka waited for the animal patiently as it approached him and then licked his fingers. Happy to have made a new friend, and thinking he might get a pet if he pleaded enough, Dimitri offered the cat a piece of his meat.

"Whiskers. I like that name. And I don't know if you're a girl, but that's an OK name for a girl, too. Right, Whiskers?"

Olena finished feeding her youngest daughter and began doing the dishes. She was oddly happy that day – it had been two weeks since the child's father had last visited her, and the bruises on her legs were healing quite nicely. If only she could…

A scream startled her into dropping the glass she was holding into the sink. Olena flew outside, a mother's instinct drawing her towards her only son, her heart thumping in her ears.

"Momma! Get him off me! Get him off!" Dimka wailed, trying to cover his face from the cat's sharp claws. There were scratches all over his little torso and legs. His mother grabbed the cat by the scruff of his neck and threw him away, into the yard.

"Oh, baby – let me see, what did that horrid thing do to you?" Olena inspected her son for damage and, satisfied that he would be OK, cleaned the scratches, sat him down on the sofa and poured him a glass of milk.

"Dimka, you're bleeding!" Sonya gasped from the living room's door.

"What happened to you?" Karo asked, skipping down the stairs.

Yeva – on her way to the kitchen – stopped walking for a moment to hear his reply. When none came, she smiled and shook her head "Dang kid tried to give that poor cat a bath"

This was just because I love you guys. And I couldn't resist.

I mentioned this in the first chapter and some people expressed their... curiosity. BTW, the first chapter of MENTORY SCHIZOPHRENIA, the Frostbite DPOV (nice title, huh?) will be up on tuesday.

But who knows, eh? I just might make it monday if we reach over 418 reviews - I'll let you know why later...

xoxo

Lizzy