Tuxedo Gang
These are the four tuxedo cats who I’m going to be co-parenting soon! I wanted to make sure my girls were raised in a diverse environment with darker cats than themselves. Stay tuned to see our furry families integrate!
…Time for this week’s story…
Black Cats Matter
Madison and Darcy strolled merrily down the street for a night on the town. A chain of alleys provided a convenient shortcut between them and their destination. It was a quiet night in a safe city, so they tried their luck. While they giggled about their evening thus far, a black cat quietly pranced across their path. The young women stopped in their tracks. They watched the cat wiggle its butt, preparing for one final jump onto a closed trash bin.
“Let’s take the long way. I don’t want to get bad luck,” said Madison, eyeing the cat.
The cat stopped its preparation and sat up straight. The adorable feline turned its head to Madison with a brow raised.
“Wow, it’s twenty-twenty-four and I still have to deal with this kind of racism. That’s insane. I thought that as a society, we were past this stuff,” said the cat.
“Oh my god! It talked!” Madison tugged on Darcy’s arm.
“Oh no, it talked. What’s wrong? You didn’t think I could talk because I’m black?” the cat said indignantly.
“What? No. Because… you’re a cat.”
“Oh, so that’s why you wanted to take another route so you don’t get bad luck, right? Because I’m a cat?”
“No, that’s because you’re…”
“What? Because I’m what?”
“Because you’re a black cat,” Madison admitted reluctantly.
“A black cat. Yeah. That’s what I thought you were going to say.”
“Wow, Madison. I didn’t realize.” Darcy took a decisive step away from Madison to put some distance between them.
“What? Hold on, hold on. Wait. Are you not kind of freaking out right now because there’s a cat talking to us?”
“What’s wrong? Didn’t think black cats could talk?” Darcy asked.
“I didn’t think any cat could talk! Cats don’t talk, they’re not smart enough.”
“Wow!” Darcy and the cat both recoiled in disgust at Madison’s insensitive comments.
“I’m right here. You have no shame, do you?” the cat said.
“Okay, sorry. Maybe it’s a vocal cord thing?”
“You don’t need to walk it back. It already came out of your mouth.” The cat shook its head at Madison. “So, you’re her friend?”
“Friend?” Darcy said nervously. “I mean… we’ve known each other a few years now. I didn’t realize she was racist until just now. This is all new to me.”
“I would hope so,” the cat said.
“Wait, are you kidding me?” Madison protested.
“Um, are you kidding me? Did you know that black cats are discriminated against in animal shelters? They make up around one third of all cats admitted to shelters.” Darcy folded her arms and looked judgingly at Madison.
“That’s true. I’ve lost a few friends to the shelter. I’d rather be out here dodging cars than get locked up,” said the cat.
“Yeah, did you know that people try to kill stray black cats more than any other cat?” Darcy continued. Madison tried to cobble together an answer, but was too flustered.
“That’s true. They’ll drive right by a white cat, or a calico, or a tabby, but they’ll aim their tires right for me,” the cat said supportively.
“Do you know why?” Darcy pressed. “Because people think they’re bad luck, like you did.”
“Oh! You’re one of those people?” The cat took a step back out of caution.
“What? No! I’d never! I don’t hurt kitties. Believe me, kitty cat, I wouldn’t do that!” Madison tried to assure them, but they both recoiled.
“Woah! Stay away from me, racist human. And, that’s Mister Kitty to you.”
“Come on.” Madison laughed. “Come on, Darcy. You can’t be serious. You can’t be serious right now. Me? Racist? You know me.”
“I thought I did.”
“Darcy! Come on! It’s a cat! Someone must have slipped us something. Cat’s don’t talk!”
“Black cats, you mean?” Darcy said.
“Darcy! I feel like I’m going crazy here. Please tell me this is some kind of joke,” Madison’s laughter turned desperate. Her shallow breaths and twitchy mannerisms only further put off Darcy and the cat.
“Madison, please, this behavior is unbecoming. You can feel however you want about black cats, but I don’t think I want to hang out with you anymore.”
“What? Darcy! Come on. Darcy. Darcy, seriously.” Madison clearer her throat. “Darcy, seriously. What’s going on here?” Madison said as Darcy backed away, holding her hands like a wall between them.
“Hey, Mister Kitty. Would you like to get out of here? I’ve got some treats at home. Maybe we could snuggle up on my couch for a little while?”
“Oh, yeah, that sounds nice. I could really use the pick-me-up after being the victim of a hate crime. That’s not how I imagined my night going.”
“I’m so sorry about that,” Darcy lovingly petted the cat’s head.
“It’s not your fault. Some people just aren’t raised right.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Darcy looked over her shoulder at Madison, then walked down the alley with the black cat.
Madison was left in the alley with her jaw hanging slack from her face. She watched her friend and the black cat disappear into the night. She touched the things around her, even slapping herself to make sure she was awake. After taking some time to process things, she spotted a stray brown dog watching her.
“Hey puppy,” she said.
“Don’t ‘hey puppy’ me. I saw that, racist,” he replied.
“Yeah, we all saw that,” said another voice nearby. Madison looked around to see a raccoon with a half-eaten sandwich in her hands. The raccoon shook her head at Madison and before scampering away said, “people like you disgust me.”
Madison now realized a number of small animals were in the alley, each paying her a disgusted look before retreating into the darkness. She stood baffled and weak in the knees as she processed what was happening. She stumbled through words and half sentences until she finally muttered something coherent. The high pitch denoted her utter confusion.
“Am I racist?”