– Excuse me, where’s the cat food?
– We don’t have it, unfortunately.
I exit the small shop on the corner and head back home which is only one block away. Tommy is waiting for me by the mosque again. I breathe a sigh of relief that nothing happened to him after he tirelessly followed me on my way to the minimarket. That had to be some scene. A gray cat with a white belly and paws kept lingering under my feet for an entire block. Left, right, sidestep, forward. And again left, right, sidestep, forward. I learned the special cat walk some time ago because of my long-tailed stalkers, but I literally have to dance with Tommy every time we meet. Add a long abaya to the mix, the whirling must present additional fun for the cat, but extra skill for me … We can probably just sign up for a dance competition and take home the gold.
“They don’t have food here, you’ll have to wait,” I try to tell him as other hungry cats start approaching us. I call Tamer on the phone and tell him I still need a ride to a bigger store.
“I’ll be down right away,” he informs me, and I sit down on the mosque steps with my feline company.
Opening the car door, I plead with them, “Wait here, we’re going to get some food for you. We’ll be back soon.” Several pairs of cat eyes look at me intently and something tells me they understand. They know they can count on me.
