Here’s another excerpt from “Crumb”, the story I donated to DARK THINGS II: CAT CRIMES. I had another excerpt a few weeks ago, but this one has the actual cat in it.

Crumb – Excerpt
by Marian Allen 

Snuffy laughed again, then had another coughing fit.

“Crap!” he said, putting his inhaler into a pocket of his trench coat. “No lie, you got a cat or what?”

“It come in out of the alley,” I said. “What kind of goddamn tea shop would this be, without a goddamn cat, you freakin’ moron?”

Right on cue, here came Baby Face, twenty pounds of lard and long red-brown hair, sashaying out of the store-room.

I thought Snuffy was too racked up to move very fast, but he showed me different. While I still had my eye on the cat, he flashed out an arm and grabbed Jake, pulling him off balance. Jake crashed into a table and ricocheted into a chair, both hands to one cheek, blood oozing between his fingers.

“Crap!” Snuffy said again. “Missed! Lock the door and close the curtains and come over here where I can reach both of you, or I cut him again. And put that cat out.”

“It’s a storm out there!”

He raked his knife across the top of Jake’s head, and hair and blood mixed together on my man’s shoulders.

I picked Baby Face up by the scruff of his neck and tossed him into the rain. When I’d locked the door and pulled the curtains, Snuffy motioned to a chair on the other side of the table from Jake, then sneezed five times. He pulled out his handkerchief, blew his nose, wiped his running eyes, and tucked it away.

“Damn cat!” His eyes were getting red and swelling, but he was still in killing form.

Everyone involved donated their services, including the authors. Proceeds go to cat rescue. If you’d like to help the cause, buy it in print or for Kindle at Amazon.com or as an ePub from Lulu.com.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: A character objects to a “resident cat” in an eating establishment, library, or store.

MA