CHAPTER 3
The neighborhood didn't seem as intimidating as before and was a lot easier to walk through. No worry or doubt slowing down her thought. Other than Natalie's words and Nick's more frequent boys' nights out.
"Well if it ain't Officer Fluff-butt!"
Well, speak of the devil, Judy thought as she waved to Natalie, "Hey."
"Surprised you came back. And hey, you wore perfume. Looks like those ears are good for something other than getting TV reception."
A very snappy comeback was ready to be fired off when a wet wash cloth flew out of the front window and slapped over Natalie's face.
"Keep that mouth running and the next heading towards it won't be so forgiving. Judy, dear, just come on in. I'm almost done."
Walking in she head back towards the kitchen where Marie-Ann was finishing up washing some dishes. The room was full of the smell of baking.
"Oh that smells wonderful, what is it?"
"Blueberry muffins. Should be done in a few minutes. So go ahead and sit down, I'll get you a water."
She took a seat at the small kitchen table.
"So I guess it's my turn? Anything you want to know in particular, darling?"
That was something Judy had thought about for some time, the answer was easy enough, "His father?"
Marie-Ann deflated a little, "I was hoping you'd start on something a bit easier, but you do cut right to the quick, don't you?" She pulled the hot muffins out of the oven and set them on stove to cool and sat down across from Judy.
"Thomas. His name was Thomas Wilde. He was born and raised here in Zootopia. My family didn't move here until I was fourteen. Never met a kinder soul than his. Nor a worse sense of humor for that matter."
"The humor must be genetic then."
They shared a nice laugh, "We were married almost five years before we had Nick. Thomas was so proud. Having a son really lit a flame under him. He worked at one of the fish packing plants in Tundra Town at the time. But vowed that his family deserved better. Had this idea of opening a clothing store. It never got off the ground though. The plant closed down when Nick was about ten, a year or so after Nat was born. Thomas just went ten-fold with his idea. But I could see each rejection was hitting him harder and harder. I tried what I could to help him. I didn't want to tell him to drop his dream but we were starting to hurt at home."
Her blue eyes wavered, Judy reached out and gripped her paw.
"No, no. I'll be okay." She pulled out a handkerchief, "A few years later, Nick was twelve or thirteen, he had a deal drawn up for a loan with a bank in Savannah Square. Did the whole thing over the phone. But when he got there, they withdrew it. Said they didn't know they were dealing with a fox."
Judy's blood was boiling, Marie-Ann could see it, "It's gotten better over time but the world's always been like that for us foxes."
"It shouldn't be," she meant to say it comfortingly but it came out more like a growl.
"Bless you, dear. World needs more mammals like you in it," She squeezed the handkerchief tight, "He was devastated beyond anything I've ever seen. Those brutes smashed my Thomas' dreams, I could tell. I just didn't know how bad it was. He'd… he'd go on walks at night to clear his mind. There were time he wouldn't be back until breakfast. But when I heard someone at the door the next morning, it wasn't him."
The elderly vixen blotted her eyes with the white cloth, "It was a pair of officers. They said he made his way up to the canopy level, walked onto one of the vine bridges… and…"
Having fallen off one of those, albeit while being chased by a nighthowler fueled panther, Judy had a pretty good idea what happened. She lept over the table and wrapped her arms around the vixen, her own tears falling down her face, "I'm sorry. So sorry."
Marie-Ann hugged Judy back, and together they softly cried. After they dried their eyes, Marie-Ann got up and grabbed them some muffins. Judy offered to do but she was a guest.
"I ain't broken yet, so just you keep your fluffy little tail in that seat, darling."
Judy took a bite of the still warm muffin. It was a little slice of heaven.
"I haven't had muffins this good since I left home."
"And where exactly would that be?"
"Bunnyburrow. My family runs a farm, mostly carrots."
"Then you're just breaking the mold, aren't you? Good for you. Hope your parents are fine with your career choice."
"Yeah, took them a bit to get used to it," she chuckled, "Dad nearly had a panic attack when I told him my partner was a fox." Leaving out the fact that he did faint when they came out as a couple to her folks as a couple a year later. Her mother on the other hand saw that coming miles away. Mother's intuition and all that.
"Oh dear what about me? You come up here and show me my Nicholas is a cop. I thought I was having a fever dream."
"So," she nibbled on the muffin a bit, tasting the hint of cinnamon, "What happened after…"
"After Thomas passed," she nodded, "We got by. Most people think foxes are totally solitary mammals, and for the majority of the time it's true. But when it counts, we're there for each other. Different neighbors and family members looked after Nick and Nat while I worked. Mostly dish washing in restaurants. Not the most glorifying work but it paid the bills, most of the time. It was around then, Nick started down his dark path. You know about his run in with those nasty scouts, but his father's death really changed him. I never once had any issues with him at school. But after that he was in trouble left and right. To his credit he never outright failed a class but his grades plummeted, barely making it out of each year. And there was the money…"
She clutched at her chest at the memories, "I didn't think much of it at first. He was helping, why question it, right? But I have to say, the popsicle scam you caught him on was nothing to what he was doing when he was younger. Soon enough, people started to gossip about the kind of crowd he was working with. So then I began to question him. And every time we always ended up fighting. I grounded him, I emptied his room to just a bed, at the time I did just about everything but smack him around. But what seemed to really get the point across to him, was that I wouldn't take his money anymore. He looked at me like I just told him I wouldn't breath air anymore. Our fights only got worse after that. Then, when he was sixteen…."
"And where in the world do you think you're going young fox?" Marie-Ann was sitting in her chair, turned towards the front door.
"Anywhere but here." the young Nicholas Wilde said with a snarl. He was wearing a long black jacket that she knew cost more than a month of bill payments and carried two overly stuffed duffel bags.
"Nick…"
"Save it. I'm sick of hearing your pleading and begging me to stay. It's pathetic."
"No, I'm done pleading and begging. I'm warning you. You walk out that door now, you better not ever come back."
"Like I'd ever have a reason to come back to this dump." He adjusted the back strapped over his shoulder and yanked the door open.
"It's a blessing your father never lived to see you like this. Appalled and disappointed his little one is nothing more than another low life thug."
He tossed his bags out the door and turned back to her, "And why would I care what that idiot ever thought of me? He was a clueless sap who couldn't handle the truth that a fox can only be a fox, I'm glad he's dead!"
In a blink she closed the gap between them and slapped him across the face, "Get the hell out of my house. You're no son of mine."
Without a word, he walked out the door, slamming it as hard as he could while she stood shaking with fury, tears streaming down her cheeks.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
And we're half way done, if I don't write an epilogue.
So we got to see Nick as an angsty teen, that was... interesting.
I was kind of flip flopping on Thomas working at a fish packing plant or a bug packing, since bugs are totally canonical while fish are more of maybe. I figure fish are fair game.
And someone on reddit pointed out that foxes actually are rather monogamous. But in my quick little bit of internet sleuthing I found a place saying " Red foxes, meanwhile, might or might not be monogamous: Male red foxes, or dog foxes, might mate with several females, or vixens."
And of course, for the sake of drama one can just kindly ignore most scientific accuracy. Besides, Natalie might just being saying that because of her own experiences more than anything else. Or maybe not.
Stay tuned and find out!
