Mark My Words

35 | Deal Breaker

Copyright © 2018. All Rights Reserved.

By the time Rosalie lapped around the entire Mason yard three times over and looked sneakily over the fences of her neighbors, school was out and practice was beginning. While Ray stood at the edge of the circle wringing her hands, Rosalie walked the curb down her street shaking a bag of cat goodies while calling, "Khoshekh! Khoshekh, treat! Treat, Khoshekh!"

Rosalie circled the entire block with no luck, and a heart beating faster by the second. Despite the temperature being well below fifty, she wore nothing more than her school uniform. The panic was fueling a fire deep in the pit of her stomach that felt a lot more like food poisoning than anything.

Lapping the block meant passing the Griffin property, and it was there that she found Sami's car parked in the driveway. Rosalie stopped at the evergreen hedges and looked through the fence. Supposedly cats had an excellent sniffer, and she wondered if Khoshekh would gravitate towards something familiar. Sami hadn't been over in a while, but his scent would always be in Khoshekh's olfactory.

She pushed open their gate and walked up the drive, bag of treats still in hand. She checked the shrubbery on the way to the porch, and continued to scope around as she waited for someone to answer her knock.

When the locks came undone, she straightened and waited for Sami, but instead was met with Tante Bee.

"Rosalie!" she said, eyes wide. She looked out at the road and then back to Rosalie. "What are you doing here? Is practice over?"

"No, not exactly," Rosalie said. She swallowed the lump in her throat. "I... was wondering if you've seen Khoshekh around. Just within the past hour."

That was enough panic anyone who knew Khoshekh. Tante Bee put her fingers to her lips and shook her head. She turned back inside in a fuss, only to backtrack and wave Rosalie inside. As Rosalie wiped her shoes off, Tante Bee went through the house calling, "Sami! Sami, come get your shoes and coat on!"

Rosalie waited as Tante Bee bundled herself up. Sami came down the steps and didn't look up until he neared the ground floor. He paused at the sight of Rosalie there, and then looked down at what she carried.

"What's going on?" he said.

"Khoshekh's missing," Rosalie said.

Sami cursed and hurried to slip his feet into sneakers and lace them up. Tante Bee hustled out of the door, already calling Khoshekh's name at the top of her lungs. By this rate, they'd have the entire neighborhood on the lookout. Rosalie waited at the porch for Sami, who shut the front door behind him and strapped on a light pair of gloves.

"Shouldn't you be at swim practice?" Rosalie asked.

"I could ask the same for you. I never signed up," Sami said. "Dad let me quit considering... everything."

"Oh. Well, I guess that isn't terrible," Rosalie said with a light laugh. "I mean, right? You didn't like sports anyways."

"Yeah. It was just a social thing at Bradshaw," he said. "I don't really know anyone on the team at Adams, so... yeah."

Rosalie sniffed, fully aware of how numb her nose was. Her ears felt enflamed from the bitter cold. She muttered something incomprehensible, but really, she didn't know what to say. She was so used to talking to him daily, and it felt odd having to seek him out rather than him just always being there. She knew their friendship wasn't strictly convenience, but living nearby, and going to the same school... it was an easy excuse.

When her teeth started chattering, she couldn't stop. Her jaw trembled, and she huddled her arms around her as she sniffed and said, voice stuffy, "I-I didn't mean t-to let Khoshekh out. What if he doesn't come back?"