BLOOD ON THE ASPHALT
Chapter Four
By Galen Hardesty
Quinn came in the front door, and saw Daddy in his easy chair reading his paper and her creepy sister on the sofa facing the other way, undoubtedly reading some book. That was about all she ever did.
"Hi, Daddy!" Quinn called in her cute/cheery voice. "Hi, weirdo," she said, in a distinctly less friendly tone.
"Hark, hark, the dogs do bark." Daria said as if reading it out of her book. She didn't turn around, but two little round black-and-white ears appeared over her shoulder, followed by a furry little mostly-white head with two shiny black button eyes, a little pink nose, and two tiny pink hands holding onto her shoulder. The button eyes blinked and stared at her, and the nose twitched and sniffed.
"EEEEE! A rat!" Quinn shrieked, beating it back out the front door.
Jake jumped and dropped most of his paper. "Don't screech, Kitten! That's not a rat, it's a kitten. Heh, heh, now we have two kittens! Funny, huh?"
"Duh-ADD-eeee! That is NOT a kitten! It's a big, ugly, nasty rat!" Quinn squawked from the supposed safety of the front door, where she continued to let in flies and impress the neighbors.
Looking again at Opie as he clung to the front of Daria's sweatshirt and observed Quinn's antics, Jake took in the long naked tail and the four naked paws that looked so much like tiny hands. From this angle he could also better appreciate the length of the creature's muzzle.
"What's a rat?" demanded Helen, approaching from behind the distracted Quinn, pushing her into the living room and closing the door to cut off the neighbors' free entertainment.
"That!" Quinn pointed, gleefully ratting out her sister.
"Opie is not a rat, he's an opossum." Daria stated, as if the use of the correct name might quell further argument. She stroked the little creature reassuringly. "There, there, Opie, I won't let the screech owl get you."
Helen came around the sofa to where she could see better. In the very cozy family room of this small house, this placed her in front of her easy chair, which was a twin of Jake's. The thing was certainly acting very much like a kitten, and it seemed to enjoy Daria's attentions. "And what are you doing with an opossum, Daria?" she asked, maintaining low tones.
"His mother got run over on Algonquin street. He's an orphan. I was walking by and he saw me. He called me and came up to me."
This seemed to touch a chord somewhere within Helen, but she shook it off. "Aren't you embroidering a little bit, Daria? Possums don't call," she said as she sat back in her chair.
Daria cradled Opie in one arm and stroked his head with her other forefinger. "Baby possums have a noise they make when they're calling to their mother. It sounds kind of like sneezing. When Opie saw me, he started coming after me and making that noise. He stopped when I picked him up."
From behind the cover of Jake's easy chair, Quinn piped up. "Sure, I believe that. You look like a possum, 'spesh'ly your face. You smell like one, too," she said with her snidest inflection.
"Quinn, don't talk ugly to your sister," Jake said, and Helen gave her a cross look. But Daria saw disbelief in the looks they turned back to her and Opie.
"Let's see if he'll do it again," she said.
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