Free Life in Shadows by Elliott Kay Page B

remained in the kitchen,
watching with inscrutable eyes.
    “No
no no,” Molly said in the bedroom before Kevin could collapse on the bed. Her
voice took on an unnaturally firm, serious note of command that surprised both
him and Onyx. “Not sleepy time yet. Shower first.”
    Kevin
swooned a little. “Okay,” he mumbled before he walked into the bathroom,
seeming steadier and yet more lethargic than before. He closed the door behind
him. Then he opened it again and leaned out, wincing as he did. “Hey Molly,” he
whispered in a conspiratorial tone, “your girlfriend’s hhhhhot.”
    Standing
in the corner outside Kevin’s line of sight, Onyx clamped her hand down over
her mouth.
    “I
know, Kevin,” Molly said.
    “I’m
just sayin’. You totally gotta hit that. Like, a lot .”
    “Shower!”
    “Okay,
okay, sorry I stink,” Kevin rambled as he closed the door again. The sound of
running water could soon be heard.
    Molly
turned around with a mischievous grin on her face. Onyx was waiting with her
arms folded across her chest. “What the hell are we doing?” she asked.
    “We’re
giving him something else to think about.”
    “We
couldn’t just take him out to lunch tomorrow or something?”
    “No,”
Molly said. “We’re doing this. Help me grab all the sheets to his bed.
Everything but the bottom sheet.”
    “…why?”
    “Because
it’ll be funny,” Molly said, yanking the comforter off of Kevin’s bed.
    “What’s
funny about taking his bed sheets?”
    Molly
didn’t answer her right away. Opportunity interrupted her. “Oh. Hey, Attila,”
she said, dropping down to her knees as the cat wandered in. He leapt up into
her arms without hesitation. “Attila, we’re gonna steal all of Kevin’s clothes!
Wanna help?”
    The
cat looked at her, and then around the room, acting for all the world like an
entirely normal cat. As far as Onyx could see, there was nothing odd here
happening at all. People talked to cats as if the critters could understand all
the time, but everyone knew that was ridiculous.
    Everyone
except Molly.
    Attila
meowed again. Molly grinned widely. “C’mon,” she said to Onyx, “we’ve gotta
work fast.”
    Onyx
stared at her lover with disbelieving eyes. She knew Molly was a prankster, but
this was beyond anything she’d expected to see—let alone participate in.
    Minutes
later, the two stood at the bottom of the stairs with Kevin’s clothes hamper,
his blankets and even the box of clothes clearly marked for Goodwill at their
sides. The drawers from his dresser and the hanging clothes from his closet
were already in the car.
    “OK,
you get the clothes he just took off in the bathroom. And the towels, too.”
    “What?”
hissed Onyx. “You’ve gotta be kidding me!”
    Molly’s
huge grin impacted her credibility as she said, “I wouldn’t kid about something
like this. We need the bath towels, too, or he could walk outside with one
wrapped around him.”
    “How’s
he gonna dry off?”
    “Leave
all the hand towels,” Molly snickered. “Anyway, you gotta go up there and get
‘em before he gets out of the shower!”
    “Me?”
Onyx fairly shrieked. She lowered her voice to a hiss when Molly shushed her,
but didn’t lose her intensity. “Why the fuck do I have to go up there?”
    “Because
I don’t want to risk seeing my uncle naked in the shower!” Molly hissed back.
“You’re the stealthier one, anyway. Now go! I’ll start moving the rest of this
into the car.”
    Onyx
struggled for a counter-argument, but failed. Deep down inside, she had to
concede this was hilarious. And fun. She looked to Attila for support. “This is
crazy, isn’t it?”
    The
cat didn’t respond. “He doesn’t see a problem with this,” Molly said. “Go.”
    Onyx
threw her a glare, then turned away and started up the stairs. She paused to
say over her shoulder, “You’re sending me into a room with your naked uncle.”
    Molly
shot a glare right back at her. “I’m gonna screw