"Mama, look at this!"
He bounds up behind his sister and prepares to barrel on past, but she blocks him and points to the source of the piteous squeaking. He peers down into the weeds. It's a sickening sight, yet fascinating for the boy, and he barely notices the sluggish movements of the tiny kitten.
"Oh," his mother gasps when she catches up to them, and shoos them away. "It must have been that nasty tomcat. Watch out, David, you're going to get blood on your hands. That kitten can't be more than three days old; let me pick it up, David, please move!"
Could it really be a coincidence that this is Mother's Day? David's mother takes to the task the same as she would have for one of her own children. Mixing up kitten formula into the little rubber-tipped bottle, burping the kitten, just like a baby, cleaning it with a washcloth to simulate the mother cat's tongue. David and his sisters like to stroke the kitten's nose and feel its velvety fur.
"No, no, David, you can't force her little eyes open. Give her to me, you're squeezing her too hard." He stands back and frowns as his mother takes the kitten out of his hands. His mother named the kitten Chloe because of where she was found, because it means the first bloom of spring. Chloe gets bigger and stronger and his mother buys her a little bed with her name written on it.
David isn't a malicious child, but he is just a child. It's so funny the way his mother yells now every time their other cat gets out. "Don't you kids know how to close a door?" Well, yes he does, but maybe he doesn't want to. It's funny the way she freaks out the first time he leaves the patio door open overnight. His mama is too sleep-deprived to remember to check the doors every single night, so sooner or later he makes it happen again.
He's disoriented when he awakens and his mother makes his sit up and plunks his slippers into his hands. "Get up, sweetie, you kids need to go out into the yard. That tomcat got into the house." He wonders why she looks like she's been crying.
It sure is a crazy scene when his father finally runs that big black tomcat out of the house. Mama goes up to Father and presses her face into his shoulder and cries her heart out.
Later that week they bury Chloe in the garden. And David decides he's not going to break any more rules.