Dad had to take it easy after his heart surgery, which made his job in real estate suffer. We moved out to Queens, on the poorer side of town.
Dad still did the same job, but sold a lot less houses, for a lot less money. I enrolled in public school.
I didn't know my job, for the IFs (Imaginary Friends), hadn't concluded until the floor panel on my school bus opened up, and out popped a cat in pajamas.
Humanoid, zebra striped, as tall as the bus driver, with a Dracula cape. He climbed all the way out from under that dirty green tile, brushing himself off. "Boy! You are a difficult girl to track down!"
He squinted at me, as if to make certain he hadn't just addressed the wrong person. "... Bea, right?"
I nodded.
The bus smelled like old Cheerios, hair spray and motor oil. Not a great view out the window, bunch of run down houses straight out of All in the Family.
"The name's Cat..." He leaned on the back of a rough textured green vinyl seat. "Listen, I heard that you're pretty good with pairing IFs with children that need them. could you come with me real quick, and..." He gestured to the open floor panel.
I stared through the opening. Instead of swiftly passing blacktop, brake and fuel lines, or something else pertaining to the bus, the hatch opened up into an immense room like the TARDIS on Doctor Who. "...Can you wait until I'm out of school for the day? I promise I'll help you get back together with your owner at the end of the day."
The cat shivered and turned pale in horror. "Please don't say that! I don't want to live in a casket!"
My jaw dropped. "Your child is dead?"
Cat's shoulders slumped. "Cancer."
"But how are you alive?"
"I dunno. But now I don't have a home. Can you help me, please?"
I groaned and rubbed my face. "Okay, okay. Just give me until the last bell, I mean, the end of the day. I promised Dad not to sneak off like I did last summer. But I don't know how I can help you. I don't give IFs to kids that don't have them, I get their owners to take them back. Other kids don't want someone else's IFs."
"And I'm telling you I absolutely do not want to go there!"
"Why didn't you.. .just disappear?"
This made Cat shiver more. "Don't even suggest that!"
This conversation hadn't occurred in a vacuum. Three girls across the row from me had been watching. A blonde girl in fancy clothes elbowed a green haired Goth chick next to her. "Hey, check out Cloud Kookoolander over there, talking to herself!"
A mocha brown girl, with hair in cornrows, leaned over her seat, staring at me.
They all stared. I and Cat stared uncomfortably back.
Cat waved to them. "Hey! How are you doing? Do any of you need an IF?"
I don't think they saw him... At least I'm pretty sure. Still, I hissed, "Stop! You're embarrassing me!"
All three girls now mocked my muttering. "Cuckoo! Cuckoo!"
The green haired girl threw trash at me.
I glared at Cat, saying nothing to him until I got off the bus.
Even off the bus, I didn't dare say a word.
"Are you mad at me?" he asked.
I glanced nervously at the crowd of kids stomping into the red brick building, and just shook my head...and shrugged.
"Oh good! I'm glad you're not mad. I'm sorry that those kids mistreated you. Want to see my spaceship? It's really cool!"
I just rolled my eyes and kept my head down.
They gave me my locker instructions and stuff before school started. I fumbled with the combination because Cat kept muttering numbers while working on a Soduku puzzle.
The moment I at last yanked the aluminum door open, a giant purple butt popped out.
"Blue? What the hell?"
I grabbed the huge mass of fur, pulling and pulling until the large body attached to it crashed on the tile floor.
Big dopey eyes blinked at me, a mouth of oversized crooked teeth smiling stupidly. "Bea! Long time no see!"
"What are you doing here? Why aren't you with Jeremy?"
He shook his head sadly.
"Did... he die too?"
"No, he just got canned. He tried to start his own business, but it failed and now he's in a homeless shelter. He doesn't want me around anymore, says I'm bad luck, and he wants to find another IF. Can you help me again?"
Now even more students laughed and pointed at me. Worse, they had phones out, recording my antics.
"Cuckoo! Cuckoo!"