Chapter 53: I Once Knew a Fox
His cane clicked against the counter and his personal assistance device announced into his ear, "You have arrived at your destination."
"I can smell that I have arrived," the now sixty-six year old blind raccoon sighed as he replied to the computerized voice. "And I can hear Beth by the counter," he announced to the waitress. The grey on his muzzle only made him look more distinguished in his khaki pants and dark green polo shirt, but he was not as trim as he used to be during his youth.
"Good morning Mr. Runnel," the doe in the blue apron replied. "I have your coffees ready, one just black and the other with a splash of blueberry syrup. Both are tucked in a holder, just as you like."
"Thank you dear!" he smiled and handed her an envelope. "This should cover the tab and a nice tip. Now if my electronic friend doesn't get lost again, I have a fox to visit! Good morning to everyone and tally ho!" He waved his white cane dramatically in the air and then proceeded to walk towards the door.
The other patrons chuckled at the raccoon's antics as he exited the Main Street Café in downtown Happy Town.
"Where's he going?" asked a young red fox, who was sitting on a stool at the front counter.
Beth leaned on the counter and watched as the raccoon walked down the sidewalk, arguing with his PAD. A young coyote dressed in faded jeans and a old t-shirt left his booth in the restaurant and respectfully following several paces behind.
"Every Friday morning he buys two coffees and walks down to the cemetery, where he sits and drinks his coffee while talking to his best friend Nick Wilde," she replied. "He's done this for at least ten years now, ever since Mr. Wilde died. Before he died, I remember seeing the two of them sitting every Friday morning in the booth over there by the window. They would watch everyone on the street, talk, and complain about the coffee. "
"Why's there a coyote stalking him?" the fox said.
"He's a little obstinate sometimes and argues directions with his PAD, so we like to have someone follow…just in case." The doe answered.
"He must like coffee, he drinks two whole cups?" the he asked.
"He drinks only one cup, the other he sets on the gravestone. Mr. Wilde really loved blueberry syrup in his," Beth sighed.
"Seems like a waste of good coffee," the fox observed.
Beth chuckled, "Nah, the cemetery's caretaker Larry has really started liking reheated blueberry flavored coffee."
"You said his friend was Nick Wilde, say wasn't that the city's first police fox?" Asked the young fox as he hopped down and walked towards the cash register. "He was married to the new Police Commissioner, you know the rabbit?"
"Commissioner Hopps-Wilde," the doe answered while processing the fox's payment. "Do I know you?"
"No, I'm new to the neighborhood, but I was planning to go see Mr. Runnel soon. You see, he saved my grandfather when they were in prison together a long time ago and I just wanted to thank him," replied the fox.
He used his paw to explore the table before him, finding where everything was located before he picked up his spoon and sniffed the soup. "Chicken and dumplings with rosemary from the garden," he said to his companion, a young preteen coyote in jeans and a yellow sport shirt. "Is the garlic from the garden next door?"
"You are correct Grandpa Jake," Brian replied as he sipped the broth. "Uncle Freddie showed me how to make the stew last night when we were next door at Aunt Judy's."
There was an awkward silence before Jake finally sighed and said, "Okay my dear pack grandson, what are you up to?"
"I was wondering if I could get you to go to the studio at the Center and record some stories about Uncle Nick?" the coyote asked. "My class is helping do a display about him for the Center, you know he is kind of a hero to us canids."
"Heh, a hero," Jake chuckled. "Yeah, I guess he was always a hero to me too! I would be honored to participate."
There was silence again as they ate, until finally Jake asked, "So who's the young lady you've been rubbing up against?"
"Grandpa!" Brian almost yelped. "I've not been rubbing on anyone, I just pushed her on the swing and she may have bumped into me some."
"Bumped you some?" the raccoon laughed. "Yeah, girls do that when they like a boy, is she pretty?"
"Grandpa!" he protested again.
"So when do you want me to do the recording?" the raccoon changed the subject.
"Tomorrow, I have to let the teacher know that your going to do it," Brian answered. Jake could hear the twelve year old coyote pup's tail happily wagging.
That night he heard his wife enter the bedroom and a few moments later, she huffed, "Jake where did you hide my pajamas this time?"
"No pajamas tonight," Jake protested. "I hate those things with a passion."
"We're a little old to run around naked," she chuckled. "We're not exactly that young couple from long ago. Besides Freddie, Chery, and Brian now live here!"
"I don't know, you look the same to me," he replied as he held her in his arms.
"What do you know?" she sighed as his paws began to unbutton her blouse. "You're blind."
"So my other senses have to compensate," he whispered as his paws found her chest. "The sense of touch." He sniffed her neck, rubbing his muzzle upwards until his mouth found hers and they kissed. "The senses of smell and taste."
"Oh and what about hearing?" she huskily asked.
"These old ears want to hear you moan again," he chuckled as her blouse fell to the floor. Then his paws moved to unbutton her slacks and in a few moments they joined her blouse and underwear on the floor.
"Your evil coon," she muttered as she kissed him again. His paws cupped her tail and pulled her to grind against him. "Out and out evil."
His leg brushed the bed and he twisted himself so he sat with her straddling his lap. She shifted, rose up and then dropped herself to join them together like a key into a lock. "You're still a thief Sugar," she quietly moaned as she began to move her hips.
They both snickered when they heard their pack grandson Brian turn up his music.
Afterwards, he got his way as they snuggled together under the sheets. "I miss how you used to go nuts during mating season," he whispered in her ear. "Do you remember the first time you and I went through a season, back at the old suite at the Regency?"
"How could I forget?" she giggled. "I swear that I lost track on how many times we made love that weekend. Then there was the brunch ordered for us by Mr. Big, with the oysters, Champagne and a box of condoms."
"I still have that old book that Jerry gave us at the Mating Shower that he and the ladies on River Street threw us, you know the one about sexual positions," he whispered in her ear as he nibbled her neck. "We can start on page one and work our way through it one page a night, but you'll have to read it to me this time."
"Ha! You probably have it memorized by now and there were a few of those positions that almost sent us to the hospital!" she laughed. "We were a lot younger back then and more…flexible."
"Hey, I'm in good shape for a guy my age!" Jake protested. "I still workout daily."
She gave a slight gasp as his paws moved over her body before she pushed him onto his back and slipped under the sheets. She licked down his chest and below his waist, he groaned when her mouth found what she was seeking. It had been a very long time since she had done that to him and she felt like a teenager again.
"Okay stud, I'd forgotten how you tasted," she said after she returned from washing off her face and rinsing her mouth.
"Hey, Meredith once told me she like the taste of coon!" he objected.
She gently ran her paws along his chest and he knew he was in trouble. She wanted to laugh when she saw him flinch as she asked him her question, the one that he always avoided answering in the past. "How many lovers did you have before me Sugar?" she asked. When he tensed up, she pushed him down, "You owe me the truth."
"You're my only lover," he replied.
"You're not getting away with just that answer tonight," she huffed. "I want the truth, I told you about Michael and the others."
"You have a short list," he chuckled. "Okay, I guess your old enough to know about my sorted past. There were my friends who used to be on River Street, you know Meredith, Trudy, and Candy. Then there was Diamonds, Melinda Velt."
"Who became the Prime Minister of the Cape Republic," she chuckled. "You told me about her.
"Wanda Speedwell, but that was just a quickie and happened before I went to jail," he added.
"You rutted a mob boss?" she asked.
"That was long before she became a mobster, she was the security guard in that story I told you," Jake replied. "Then there was that kinky brown and white bunny, I don't remember her or her friend's name," he continued.
"Wait, you had a threesome?" the female raccoon laughed, "How did that turn out?"
"Like I said kinky," he chuckled. "Then there was a belly dancer in Sahara Square, she was a sand cat and I think her name was Simone."
"What is it with you and cats?" she chuckled as she stroked his ear.
She saw sadness in his sightless eyes before he continued, "Jasmine was my first raccoon, she was a jewel smuggler from the Southeastern Tropical Islands. Her voice was almost musical and I was going to rob her one night, but we seduced each other instead."
"What happened to her?" Marie asked.
"She was cruelly murdered," he sighed. "All for a damned stone."
"Oh, that's terrible!" she gasped.
"That's it, my whole sorted sexual history," he said. "After we met, it all came to an end and its been just you."
"Just me Sugar?" she chuckled. "You sound disappointed."
"Har…har…not funny raccoon!" he replied as he sat up and turned towards her. "You are my greatest lover and the best thing that ever happened to me. I love you with all my heart and soul."
"I love you too Sugar," she replied as she snuggled closer to him. "I love you too!"
That night she awoke with a smile, because he was once again purring in his sleep and she remembered that night long ago when they first made love inside a tent on a cold winter's night at Howler's Mountain.
The next day, Jake made his was across St. Patrick's towards the Canid Cultural Center, his PDA fussed as he took a short cut through the church. He crossed the street and met his pack grandson Brian at the building's front door and the coyote pup introduced him to his teacher and classmates. "So what do you want me to do?" he asked.
"We would like you to take a seat in the recording studio and tell few stories about Officer Wilde," the teacher replied.
With Brian's help, the raccoon found his seat. "Okay Mr. Runnel, you can begin when the light changes from red to green," the sound tech called out.
"I'm more then just color blind," Jake scoffed at the jackal. "You know that Paul!"
"Sorry, I forgot," the jackal replied. "So on the count of three. Three…two…one…go!"
Jake smiled and began his story, "I shouldn't have punched that fox, but if I hadn't I would have never met my best friend Nick Wilde…"
