Alley Cat

Todd sits me down to tell his story.

The year was 1839 in Hong Kong. Todd was not Todd but Xia Hui Liu, a sixteen-year-old boy with big dreams of becoming the emperor’s head chef far off in the Mainland. But like all young people with big dreams, real life always seemed to get in the way. Xia’s dream of golden spoons and magnificent pagodas was squandered by horse-drawn traffic at 5 a.m. in the morning. The piercing cries of the morning paperboy always cut his sleep short. And his little sister Bao was always pestering him to dress faster, fearing their father’s wrath.

You see, Xia was the only son to Feng Hui Liu. Feng ran a cart of wonton soup through the city and his only partner was his son. Xia’s mother had died just a year before. And although her death pained his father, the old man tried his best not to let it show. He wanted to stay strong for his children even though he was falling apart.

Life was never easy, but the Lius made it work. Bao finished school and was eligible for marriage. Business flourished with each passing day due to Xia’s golden tongue. The Liu’s wonton soup became known throughout Hong Kong as the best wonton soup of all of China.

And it wasn’t just because it tasted good. People ate the soup to cure their colds. The soup was said to warm cold hearts and soothe heartache. You ate the soup after a hard day in the factories or to placate the sting from an angry spouse’s words. There were times when the Liu family sold out of soup mid day, so they had to go home to prepare an extra large batch of soup for the next.

Soon, they were able to afford luxuries they couldn’t have begun to imagine having before. Bao was able to buy a new set of clothes and some hair pins. Xia bought a fresh pair of shoes. And Feng was thinking about building a restaurant to sustain his family fortune. In his eyes, he could see far off into a potential future. He saw a future where his daughter was well married, his son––the prestigious owner of a renown restaurant, and himself free from the stresses of poverty and hard work. The future seemed so close that he could grab it. He wanted it more than anything in the world. A prosperous future for his family was his life-long wish.

The Lius worked hard. Bao used her charm to seduce strangers into buying their food. Xia cooked all night with his father only to pull the cart all day. They earned more and spent less. Eventually, they were just a few dollars away from purchasing their future.

And then, tragedy struck.

Feng had a stroke.

It rendered his right side totally paralyzed. He could no longer walk, talk. He could not use the restroom by himself. The medication needed to keep him alive cost the Liu family their entire savings. Bao had to give up her dream of marriage to become a life-long caretaker for her father.

That left Xia to work the family’s soup cart alone.

At first, Xia was determined to work hard. He cooked all night and worked all day. He worked for seven days straight with no breaks. He refused to return home without having sold the very last drop of soup.

The stress became too much. The sight of his paralyzed father and his miserable sister terrified him. Instead of coming home after work, he fled to the opium dens to distract him from his woes. Xia unknowingly walked into a new world of clouds and highs. The opium rotted his brain and ate his soul. He liked how the drug made him feel weightless. He liked not remembering his own name and the people waiting for him at home. He didn’t want to care about anything. Eventually, he lost the ability to care at all.

The opium cost him. Xia spent everything he earned on opium. It turned him into a different person. Xia beat his sister after she screamed at him for stealing their father’s medicine money. Bao cried every night. And although he couldn’t show it, Feng was hurt as well. Feng, no longer able to talk or walk, came to the conclusion that he was the root of his children’s misery. So as a final act of love for his children, and tired of being a burden, tired of surviving, he did the unthinkable.

Feng had hidden a shotgun in a small cabinet long ago. Long before his stroke, the day he lost his wife, he had already contemplated on killing himself. But back then, he decided to live for his children, to take care of them when they needed him most. But now, he no longer had a purpose for living. His children didn’t need him anymore.

So he did it. He mustered the remainder of his strength to crawl to his cabinet and shoot himself.

Bao woke up to a mess that would traumatize her for life.

Xia was plagued by numbness, too high off opium to register the fact that he and his sister were now orphans.

Their father’s funeral was the last time the two siblings were ever seen together. The second they laid their father in the ground, Bao cut off all ties with Xia and married a man from the mainland.

Xia was now...alone.

Xia died after fighting the opium owners for more drugs. They beat him, threw their bodies at him, and bashed his skull until it broke. The sweet smell of his brain matter swept the streets, revolting all those who crossed his way.

Xia’s death should have ended his misery, but something magical happened.

A passing witch noticed him on the street and pitied him. She felt his sadness lingering around his trapped soul, so she performed a spell. She removed the jade pendant from her neck and whispered something into the stone before placing it into his mouth.

What started as an act of kindness quickly turned into a mistake. Xia woke up with a ravenous hunger for destruction. He shifted into a monstrous form, something stuck between half feline and half human. Blue fur spread across his skin like a hairy rash. Pointed ears lifted towards the sky, allowing him to hear the fearful screams of people around him. Rows of sharp teeth shredded the gums inside his mouth.

Xia shifted and morphed until he became unrecognizable, a full beast capable of vast destruction. By magic, he split the earth and shook buildings until they toppled. The world quaked from his wrath.

Xia would have destroyed the entire region of Hong Kong had it not been for the witches. Two covens of witches who had long been estranged, The Phoenix Coven and The Dragon Coven, came together to defeat the threat to their home. Together, they joined hands and cursed Xia. They trapped him in the most harmless form of a street cat, wiping away his memories, and returning him to a state of innocence. And as punishment for his crimes, he will remain in his cursed form until he learns how to put someone else before his own.

“You saved me, Helene.”

Todd says, wiping the tears from my eyes. I hear sniffling all around me, and I realize that the line cooks are crying as well. One of them says something in Spanish and leaves the room to call his father. I wish I could say the same but my parents are better off dead.

“How? If anything, I should be thanking you. You saved me from loneliness. You became my friend when I least deserved it. You were always on my side even when I was getting caught up in my own drama.”

Todd smiles; it’s a great distraction from the gruesome dents on the side of his head. “You gave me the greatest gift of all. I wouldn’t be where I am if it hadn’t been for you. You saved me from myself. You still came back for me and reminded me where I came from. I was stupid for thinking that you will judge me. You are my most dearest friend, Helene.”

Todd embraces me one more time, and I try my best to take in all of him. He smells different than what I’m used to. He’s spicy like black pepper. He’s not furry, cute, or small. He’s not as quiet as I remembered him or the excited gluttonous feline I grew fond of. This Todd is tall and bony. This Todd feels pain deeply. He’s not as innocent, but he’s still cautious. He’s different, but he’s still Todd.

We’re interrupted by a swinging door that slams open. Kaya and Shirisha stand at the doorway with their arms crossed and lips pouting. The sight of them brings joy back to my overly emotional heart.

“Well that’s not fair!” Shrisha says, stepping forward. “Don’t I get a hug too?”

My cheeks cramp up from smiling so long. I give Shirisha a quick hug, and we spend the next half hour catching up. As it turns out, Shirisha spent the last three years helping Raphael organize BLM protests and helping protect protesters on the frontlines. I laugh when Shirisha shows me a compilation of videos that depict her shadowy leopard figure running through the dark, ambushing police from behind.

Shirisha seems happier. She’s not as eager to please or impress like she used to, and there’s an aura of calmness to her that wasn’t there before. She’s grown into herself.

“So what’s this plan of yours to take down the Russos?” Shirisha asks.

When I don’t answer, Shirisha’s eyes bulge out from their sockets in horror. “You don’t have a plan!”

“I’m working on it!” I insist.

“No. I know you too well, Hel. You were thinking of going in blind. That’s suicide!”

At the mention of suicide, Todd shivers at the reminder. Shirisha realizes her mistake and tones down her voice.

“Look, Hel. If you’re serious about putting an end to their whole drug monopoly and their blood farm, you need a plan. You can’t just expect to break into Aeternum, assassinate all the Russos, and leave. They’re strong and they have a bunch of supernaturals under their sleeve. The witches are probably going to be the biggest obstacle standing in your way.”

“Yeah.” Todd says, jumping in. “If they have enough magic to turn me into a werecat AND curse me for two centuries, imagine what they’ll do to you if you threaten their only source of income.”

“But you guys are also forgetting that the Russos laid off half their staff.” Kaya says with an entertaining smirk. “That means they’re down on manpower and they also have a lot of ex-employees with a whole lot of grievances.”

“We could invite them to join us.” My words chip away into flurries, revealing my hesitancy as I toy with the thought in my head.

“Let’s say we do manage to break into Aeternum and find the Russos. The Russos are really dangerous. There’s a good chance you’re going to get killed. Is this what you really want, Helene?”

Shirisha’s eyes burn onto mine, and the weight of Kaya’s and Todd’s gaze settle in. It doesn’t pressure me to change my mind, but it does make my decision all the more daunting. With a heavy sigh, I nod.

“Yeah. I want this.”

When I capture a small glimpse of disappointment on Shirisha’s face, I tell her, “Please don’t be sad, Shirisha. You, Kaya, and Todd have made something of yourselves. You guys have so much to live for. But me? I’m...I’m old! I’ve worked and felt pain and loved so many times over and over and over...If I die, this is how I want it to end. If there’s a chance I could put an end to this whole ridiculous shenanigan of drugs, abuse, and exploitation, I would. I want to do something right for once.”

“Okay, Helene.” I can barely hear Shirisha when her voice turns hoarse. “If this is what you really want, I’ll help you.

I shake my head hard enough to give myself a concussion. “No, Shirisha. You’re on your final life as well. It’s too dangerous.”

“I’ll only help you break in.” Shirisha says with a firm finality to her tone. “After that, you’re on your own. Does that sound good?”

Tears prick my eyes again, and I fight them back by tilting my head towards the ceiling. The light melts the sting.

“Okay.”

“I’m in.” Kaya steps forward so that we form a circle. “Just in case you forgot.”

“Me too!” Todd chirps. “When push comes to shove, I’ll make those wolves quake!” He shoots a reassuring look that has me grasping for words.

I think I’ve finally understood what it means to be on top of the world. Nothing can knock me down. I dare anyone who tries.