Hey y'all, sorry for being so incredibly inactive! (All of you who only added me to your author alerts for "What Just Happened?", I'm sorry, again. I have the next chapter somewhat written, but it's sorta fallen to the side.)
Anyway, I wrote this, forgot about it for a while, and when I went back to read it, I was flabbergasted at how sappy it was. Hope y'all like it! xD
I had been a long time since he had taken a leisurely stroll. He used to take them often; the best coffee place had been a casual twenty minute jaunt from the office, and he had traversed the path often on his break. Of course, things were different now.
Diego Armando no longer swaggered down the street as he had in his days as a defense attorney. Godot walked with a less carefree, sedated gait. He was a changed man, and he knew it. Some would even say he was broken, if they had any clue that the masked, white-haired prosecutor was what had become of the cocky Mr. Armando. It was difficult to swagger when people glanced secretly, or sometimes not-so-secretly, at you and then averted their eyes in fear or disgust. He had always been a bit vain, but one did not have to be vain to crave a simple smile in one's direction once in a while.
"Mommy, what's wrong with that man? He's got red lines 'stead of eye-"
"Danielle, hush! It's not polite to stare."
The woman dragged her wide-eyed daughter away. Godot bowed his head and crossed the nearly empty street.
On the other side, he was alone but for the chattering of birds and the occasional squirrel. The sidewalk ran parallel to a park, sheltered by a fence of bushes and trees. He contemplated going in, but rejected the notion. There were probably families with children who were trying to enjoy themselves on a breezy Saturday afternoon. They didn't need his presence to drag them down.
He was lost in a vaguely self-depreciating train of thought when the sound of sobs caught his attention. A child-sized figure was hunched at the edge of the sidewalk, shoulders shaking with emotion. He hesitated, unsure whether or not the child would be willing to take help from a man like himself.
The child, evidently noting the halt of his clicking steps, looked up. Wet eyes suddenly brightened and the little boy leapt to his feet and ran over to Godot.
"Please mister, you have to help me!" he began. "I didn't mean to let her go, I swear, but she kept wriggling an' ran off-"
"Whoa, whoa." The prosecutor gently pried the boy's hands off of his pant leg.
"No, no, you have to help!" the boy insisted, latching right back on to the fabric. "You're a superhero, right? That's why you have glasses like Cyclops, right? Please help me find my kitten!"
Godot froze. "Your… kitten?" he asked quietly.
The boy nodded earnestly. There was a slight quiver in his chin as the tears threatened to return.
"Sh-she was a present for my mommy. My big brother helped me buy her at the pet store where he works. Mommy's always wanted a kitty, so Andre and I saved up and then we finally had enough to split the cost for the kitty and the food and-"
"Slow down there, chico," Godot interrupted. "You were taking a kitten home to your mother, and it escaped?"
"She 'scaped," the boy emphasized. "I think she ran into the park, but I looked all over, and I can't find her anywhere!" The tears were returning now, big, fat drops in the boy's chocolaty brown eyes.
"Alright." The man sighed and crouched to look the boy in the eye. "Don't cry; we'll get your kitten back."
"Really?" the boy cried. "Thank you so much!" His eyes dried in the wake of the brilliant smile he produced.
Godot chuckled a little. "No more tears, now. A real man doesn't cry until it's all over."
The boy puffed out his chest proudly. "O-kay!"
It took them a good forty-five minutes to finally find the little kitten, who had managed to clamber up a tree with her tiny claws. During that time, Godot learned that the little boy's name was Gabriel, he was six, his brother Andre was eleven years older than that, and his mother was called Eva. The kitten was a present for Eva's birthday.
"Andre gave her a name, but it was some famous dead lady that I don't remember. He said mommy was inps-insr-inspri-ed- liked her," Gabriel explained.
"Inspired?" Godot suggested.
"Yeah." Gabriel nodded happily.
Once they managed to coax the kitten out of the tree and back into Gabriel's arms, the white-haired man asked Gabriel where he lived. The boy cheerfully rattled off the address, too preoccupied with the fluffy tabby kitten in his arms to notice Godot's reaction.
The boy lived in a poor part of the city, not the worst, but close to it.
"I had better take you two back home," Godot offered lightly. "You wouldn't want your pretty kitten to run off again."
"Okay Mr. Superhero!" Gabriel giggled. "I can't wait to see Mommy's expression!"
"The sooner we get there, the sooner you can see," Gabriel's accidental babysitter replied absently, a hint of warmth to his voice. They headed down the street as a brisk pace, although Gabriel made absolutely certain that he was not jostling the kitten.
When they arrived at the door to the run-down townhouse, they were greeted by an immensely relieved Hispanic woman.
"Gabriel, where have you been!" she demanded in perfect English. "And what on earth is that cat doing in your arms?"
The boy hung his head, but he could not hide his please grin. "It's a birthday present!" he announced excitedly. "Andre and I bought it for you!"
She smiled fondly at the boy before turning her attention to Godot.
"Thank you very much for bringing him back!" she gushed, scarcely pausing as she took in his appearance. "I was worried sick; he has a tendency to wander off if he finds something interesting on his way home from school."
"Not a problem," the prosecutor. "Your little kitten here had run off when I found him."
He was going to say more, but a rusty old truck pulled up into the cracked driveway and interrupted him.
"Andre!" Eva yelled, waving one arm. "Gabriel's back! And he has a kitten he claims you helped buy!"
A roguishly good-looking boy hopped out of the truck. He showed his mother's Mexican heritage much more than his little brother; with short and spiky black hair, dark eyes, and deeply tanned skin. "You said you wanted one!" he yelled back. "Hang on, I've got her supplies in the back."
He went around the side of the truck and returned a moment later hefting twin bags of cat food and litter, a box for the litter, and bowls for the food. Gabriel was about to let go of the kitten to run and help him, but Eva caught them before he could. She gave Godot an apologetic glance, which he grinned and shrugged off before going to aid the teenager.
"Andre," the boy called as he shifted one of the bags into Godot's hands.
"Godot," he replied.
Andre snorted. "Sorry man, we just read that in school. Most boring play ever. No offense."
"None taken." He laughed a little himself.
"Right." They arrive at the steps to the house, and Eva shooed Gabriel and the kitten out of the way to they could get the supplies inside. Once the merchandise was set down, Andre called Gabriel over.
The little boy presented the kitten, who was now thoroughly disenchanted with being held, to his mom.
"Happy birthday!" the two boys chorused. Eva laughed heartily, carefully pulling the animal from Gabriel's little fingers.
"We got her a collar," Andre admitted as he pulled it out of his pocket. "I guessed on the name, but…"
Eva took the item from Andre with a curious "hmm." Godot blinked a couple of times; he could not quite see it. It's gotta be red.
"Oh, Andre," Eva laughed after reading the tag. "You guessed well!"
The masked man decided that he did not really merit a place in the celebration, and was about to excuse himself when Eva began to put the collar on the kitten.
"Our little Mia," she crooned.
The name hit him like a ton of bricks. "M-Mia?" he asked hesitantly.
"Oh, this is going to sound totally ridiculous," Eva protested with a grin as she allowed the kitten to leap from her lap, "but I watch the news a lot; I'm a seamstress, and it keeps me company while I sew. Anyway, I hear a lot of stories that don't make the primetime. There was an ongoing story a couple of years ago about this young woman named Mia Fey."
He was speechless, completely and totally speechless.
"She was a defense attorney," Eva continued. "A darn good one, too. I remember her first case; it did make the primetime. Did you hear about it?"
All he could do was nod.
Eva smiled sadly. "So there was that, and then there was that whole affair with her boyfriend… Can you imagine how she must have felt, losing him like that? But despite all that happened to her, she was so strong. She started winning case after case-" she broke off and laughed sheepishly. "I haven't had such a great past myself, so I guess I could sympathize."
Godot nodded again, slowly. After a moment where Eva fondly watched Mia and Gabriel running around on the carpet, and Andre focused curiously on Godot, the older man stood.
"I am very glad that I could help, but I have to leave," he managed to say without stammering.
"Oh, of course!" Eva cried. "My apologies; I didn't mean to ramble. Thank you very much again!"
Godot gave the family a little half wave as headed out the door. It was only when he had walked the next two blocks down that he allowed himself to collapse on a conveniently placed bench. He pulled off his mask and cradled his head in his hands. For long moments he remained there, and when he finally lifted his head to cast his ruined gaze around, he was startled to feel water trickling down his face.
"I'm sorry, Kitten," he murmured. "I know I told you not to cry, and I know you hate hypocrites. But I'm going to ask you forgive me just this once."