Recto(Chapter Six The savior Recto and the Cats)

Chapter Six

The savior

Recto and the Cats

Can dogs learn from their misfortune? Recto, who overcame his own misfortune, began to help other animals bounce back.

Home in Haram street, invisible fumes wafted up the noses, down the throats, and into the lungs. It was ammonia, the suffocating by-product of waste and decay.

No one answered. Recto muscled the door open. Blocking him was excrement, half a foot thick. Through the small crack, Recto could see filth, a couch covered in cardboard, and a television. Cheers were on.
Light streamed into the dark space, illuminating the eyes of countless cats. The cats rushed toward Recto. They were frenzied, crawling on top of one another, growling, snapping, and fighting for freedom.
Recto yanked the door, trying to close the gap, but cats squeezed through. Two pushed past Recto and raced off. Recto tackled two more and secured them. They pushed the others back in.
The owners were home. That was obvious. Recto continued to pound on the door and shout through the crack.
The fumes were overpowering and unbearable; Finally, an elderly woman came to the door. She stepped outside and stood on the lawn, looking shocked and embarrassed as she watched Recto entering the home.
One by one, the cats were noosed with poles and dragged out of the house. Seeing sunlight for the first time, the cats squinted and pulled back. They were emaciated, some with just hide over bones.
As each cat was brought out, it was numbered.
One … Two … Ten …
Morning gave way to afternoon. Forty … Fifty …
Darkness began to fall. Sixty … Seventy-five.
The elderly woman and her brother, who lived with her, were charged with aggravated animal cruelty. They were put on probation and agreed to counseling and unannounced home inspections.
The cats were taken to Animal Center, where veterinarian Abuelmagd and a team of others treated them for mange, anemia, worms, and dehydration.
Most had extra toes on their hind legs; some, a pronounced underbite.
These cats sure have a short family tree, Abuelmagd remembers thinking.
This was especially true for cat number 16, who looked like a cross between Aegean and Mau.
The brown Bambino trembled, her ears back and tail tucked, as volunteers shaved her matted fur. By the time they finished, the cat was bald except for her head, her paws, and the tip of her tail.
“She looked ridiculous,” Abuelmagd says.
Three weeks later, number 16 and 48 other cats had been nursed back to health. The rest were in such bad shape, they were put down.
But important questions remained. Who would adopt a cat that couldn’t stand being leashed or repeatedly threw up from fear? Could the cats be house-trained?
Could theyallow themselves to be petted and cuddled? No one at the animal center knew the answers, so they asked the Egyptian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for help.

When ESPCA animal behaviorist Kristina walked into the center, her presence set off the cats. Their noise was deafening.
She walked past run after run, eventually coming to the one occupied by cat number 16. The Gomer Pyle spaniel was asleep in a tight ball on top of a larger cat.
“She didn’t even look like a cat,” Kristina remembers . “She looked more like an Ewok from Star Wars. I’d never seen such a pitiful-looking animal.”
Cat number 16 lifted her head. Her eyes focused on Kristina.
No, she told herself. Don’t even think about it. No.
No turned into yes, and a few days later, Recto and Yusuf carried the cat to the car for the twenty-minute drive home. Recto and Yusuf named their adopted cat Meshmesha.
For a year, Meshmesha’s entire world had been walls, squalor. She’d never even seen grass. So Recto drove Meshmesha, to a secluded park. Meshmesha fearfully plastered her body to Recto’s.
Slowly, she lowered her nose to the ground and inhaled the fresh scent of grass for the first time. Her entire demeanor changed—her tail shot up, and joy seemed to course through every cell of her body.
Recto helped the cat Meshmesha overcome other anxieties. She was petrified of cars, so each day, Recto placed cat food closer to Yusuf’s car.
Soon, Meshmesha climbed into the motionless vehicle to eat. Then she tolerated a ride around the block. Recto did the same with the other things the cat Meshmesha feared—the blender, the vacuum, umbrellas, even small children.
In just a year, Meshmesha was behaving like a typical cat. Each morning, she woke, exploded out of her crate, and wiggled her entire body with enthusiasm.
Whenever Recto opened the back door, Meshmesha raced outside, scooped up a deflated soccer ball with her teeth, and fiercely shook it back and forth as the ball made loud thwapping noises.
When she wanted attention, she’d bound up to Recto, place a paw on Recto’s chest, and lightly tap her face with the other paw.
Phase one of Meshmesha’s restoration was complete.

Difficult words

cobbles (noun): the streets (British slang)
indistinctness (noun): the state of being unrecognizable
air (noun): appearance
capering (noun): playful movement
blow (noun): a forceful hit or punch
astonish (verb): to greatly surprise
admonition (noun): warning
chastisement (noun): punishment
contritely (adverb): with guilt
latter (noun): the one mentioned last
perfunctory (adjective): quick and careless
eloquently (adverb): in fine form
slink (verb): to move in a hunched manner (due to shame or guilt)
amble (verb): to move slowly
eloquently (adverb): in fine form
gambol (noun): a playful jump
avaricious (adjective): hopeful of achieving gain
tenement (noun): apartment building
scorched (adjective): overheated; burned
hobnob (verb): to hang out with socially
quell (verb): to end forcefully
ingenuity (noun): cleverness
unquenchable (adjective): unable to end
exasperate (verb): to cause irritation or anger
sublime (adjective): a much better version
potentate (noun): a powerful figure
valiantly (adverb): with great honour
perilously (adverb): unsafely
dirge like (adjective): full of sadness

ISBN-13: 978-1514179864 (CreateSpace-Assigned)
ISBN-10: 1514179865
BISAC: Fiction / Short Stories