| Biographical Non-Fiction posted January 31, 2024 | Chapters: |
3 4 -5- 6 
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An update of my life in Chattanooga.
A chapter in the book Living the Elusive Dream
Christi and the Cats.
by BethShelby
Since Connie seemed to be having trouble with her schoolwork at the Academy, she begged to go to the public school for her second year in high school. We agreed it might be a good idea. I was concerned that her main friend seemed to be on the wild side and more prone to get her into trouble. I think Evan was a little embarrassed with Connie’s taste in clothing. He claimed she didn’t dress like the other girls, who wore more conservative dresses. It did appear her grades improved after we let her change schools. For a little while things ran smoother. It gave us a break money-wise, and the public school had a bus that picked up students near our house.
I had gotten a permanent job with a printing company which was more like the work I’d done in New Orleans and the pay was better. The only problem was I had to drive further and it was in a section near the projects. Also, the work often involved overtime hours.
Don was still attending college at UTC and working part time. The rest of the time he was with Kimberly or many of the other friends he had in the area. A lot of his friends from his earlier year in college, still lived here.
Christi was also working and still living with us. Which was a constant source of problems. She was really pretty and never without a date. She also had a girlfriend she liked to visit on weekends. One weekend, she brought home a stray cat which her friend had found.
“Christi, we don’t need another cat. We’ve got two weird Himalayan cats and a lunatic dog here already. No one ever pays any attention to any of them. There is cat hair everywhere, and now, they don’t want to use their litter box. One of them has been going behind the television, and I think one may have peed on the couch. It smells funky. We don’t need another animal. What we’ve got is about to drive your daddy bananas.
“Mama, look how cute she is. She’s a sweet cat. My friend can’t keep her. They can’t afford a pet deposit. Those other cats hate us. I’ll keep her in my room and put a litter box in my bathroom for her. You won’t know she’s here.”
“So, you’re just going to leave her locked up in your room all day while everyone is at work or school. You go out practically every evening and stay out most of the night. Besides she is awfully fat. She looks pregnant. You know your dad isn’t going to want to deal with another cat while we’re at work. If you want her, you’re going to have to take care of her.”
It so happened that I was right. The cat was pregnant. She had nine kittens. Christi swore she would find homes for all of them. In the meantime, the cat ripped the paper on the bathroom wall. She got diarrhea from something Christi fed her. Christi’s bathroom stunk to high heaven.
In the end, cats were only a part of the reason we would have to ask Christi to find another place to live. She continued living with us for a while longer. We made a new home for the cat and her litter in the garage and Christi ran an ad in the local paper looking for a home for the cats.
Halloween came around, and as the front doorbell would ring, Christi would walk out dressed as a witch holding two baskets. One would be filled with candy and the other with kittens. She got rid of two of them that way. I can imagine what those parents might have had to say when their children came home with a kitten. ‘You got that kitten where? Do you remember which house? There ought to be a law against people pawning kittens off on kids.’
I was shocked when I learned what she had done and even more surprised those kittens weren’t returned by irate parents. Those kids must have been extremely persuasive, or else forgot which house they came from.
The ads Christi ran had some interesting results. I think two of the kittens might have gotten legitimate homes that way. The third person who called was another story, which would make all of us a little uneasy.
The third man who called wanted two cats. He said he lived on a boat on the river. When he came for his cats, he was a sight to behold. He had a long stringy ponytail, a bushy beard and strange looking dark garments. He was riding a beat-up looking motorcycle with a basket in which he planned to carry the kittens. He was friendly enough. Too friendly. He and Christi chatted at least a half an hour. I’m sure he was attracted to her. Most men were. Christi was just trying to make certain the kittens would fare all right in the bike basket and would be safe on a boat. He left promising he would call and let her know.
He didn’t even wait until the next day to start calling with what he called kitty reports. He assured her the kittens were fit and happy which would have been enough to know, but for the next few weeks we were getting daily reports. If I happened to be the one who answered the phone when he called, he’d say, “Hey Mom, how are you doing? I’m just calling with the daily kitty report.” He would proceed to tell me something the kittens had done. I’d try to get Christi to the phone if she was home, but she’d refuse to talk. I tried to be polite but brief. He would ask, “How’s Dad, and Connie?” He’s only seen them in passing or else Christi mentioned them.
I wasn’t too worried since the river was on the other side of the city and a long way from us, but he did mention he might take some more of the kittens if she still had some left.
One weekend the family planned a trip to Mississippi to visit our parents. Connie had a report due for school or some reason she needed to stay behind. She insisted she was old enough to stay alone. We were reluctant to leave her, but she promised to keep the doors locked and not go anywhere. Our neighborhood seemed safe, but we were reluctant to trust her. At any rate, we left without her.
Evidently, we hadn’t gotten very far when Connie heard the sound of that motorcycle. By the time he turned into our driveway, she was in a panic. When he got to our front door, she’d made sure everything was securely locked, and had picked up something to use as a weapon in case she needed it. Her throat was dry and she was shaking with fear.
Getting control of herself, she went out onto the upper deck over the front door and proceeded to yell at him. At that time, Connie had a mouth on her, and her vocabulary wasn’t the purest. I only remember her saying she cursed him out and told him he wasn’t a part of our family, and we all thought he was a nut case. She told him to leave and not to ever call us again, or we would have him arrested.
I felt sorry for the guy when we returned and she told us what happened. He might have been just a lonely guy looking for someone to befriend him. He must have taken her message seriously, because we never got another kitty report.
v
The Shelby family has recently moved from the New Orleans area after Evan took an early retirement. Carol, the oldest child is married and living in Florida. Don and Christi are adult twins still living at home. Connie is in her teens and a freshman in High school.
-
The chapters usually deal with multiple incidents involving activities of all the family members and don't follow any story to a conclusion.They deal with whatever is happening during a certain time period.
-
This takes place in near the beginning of 1988.
Since Connie seemed to be having trouble with her schoolwork at the Academy, she begged to go to the public school for her second year in high school. We agreed it might be a good idea. I was concerned that her main friend seemed to be on the wild side and more prone to get her into trouble. I think Evan was a little embarrassed with Connie’s taste in clothing. He claimed she didn’t dress like the other girls, who wore more conservative dresses. It did appear her grades improved after we let her change schools. For a little while things ran smoother. It gave us a break money-wise, and the public school had a bus that picked up students near our house.
I had gotten a permanent job with a printing company which was more like the work I’d done in New Orleans and the pay was better. The only problem was I had to drive further and it was in a section near the projects. Also, the work often involved overtime hours.
Don was still attending college at UTC and working part time. The rest of the time he was with Kimberly or many of the other friends he had in the area. A lot of his friends from his earlier year in college, still lived here.
Christi was also working and still living with us. Which was a constant source of problems. She was really pretty and never without a date. She also had a girlfriend she liked to visit on weekends. One weekend, she brought home a stray cat which her friend had found.
“Christi, we don’t need another cat. We’ve got two weird Himalayan cats and a lunatic dog here already. No one ever pays any attention to any of them. There is cat hair everywhere, and now, they don’t want to use their litter box. One of them has been going behind the television, and I think one may have peed on the couch. It smells funky. We don’t need another animal. What we’ve got is about to drive your daddy bananas.
“Mama, look how cute she is. She’s a sweet cat. My friend can’t keep her. They can’t afford a pet deposit. Those other cats hate us. I’ll keep her in my room and put a litter box in my bathroom for her. You won’t know she’s here.”
“So, you’re just going to leave her locked up in your room all day while everyone is at work or school. You go out practically every evening and stay out most of the night. Besides she is awfully fat. She looks pregnant. You know your dad isn’t going to want to deal with another cat while we’re at work. If you want her, you’re going to have to take care of her.”
It so happened that I was right. The cat was pregnant. She had nine kittens. Christi swore she would find homes for all of them. In the meantime, the cat ripped the paper on the bathroom wall. She got diarrhea from something Christi fed her. Christi’s bathroom stunk to high heaven.
In the end, cats were only a part of the reason we would have to ask Christi to find another place to live. She continued living with us for a while longer. We made a new home for the cat and her litter in the garage and Christi ran an ad in the local paper looking for a home for the cats.
Halloween came around, and as the front doorbell would ring, Christi would walk out dressed as a witch holding two baskets. One would be filled with candy and the other with kittens. She got rid of two of them that way. I can imagine what those parents might have had to say when their children came home with a kitten. ‘You got that kitten where? Do you remember which house? There ought to be a law against people pawning kittens off on kids.’
I was shocked when I learned what she had done and even more surprised those kittens weren’t returned by irate parents. Those kids must have been extremely persuasive, or else forgot which house they came from.
The ads Christi ran had some interesting results. I think two of the kittens might have gotten legitimate homes that way. The third person who called was another story, which would make all of us a little uneasy.
The third man who called wanted two cats. He said he lived on a boat on the river. When he came for his cats, he was a sight to behold. He had a long stringy ponytail, a bushy beard and strange looking dark garments. He was riding a beat-up looking motorcycle with a basket in which he planned to carry the kittens. He was friendly enough. Too friendly. He and Christi chatted at least a half an hour. I’m sure he was attracted to her. Most men were. Christi was just trying to make certain the kittens would fare all right in the bike basket and would be safe on a boat. He left promising he would call and let her know.
He didn’t even wait until the next day to start calling with what he called kitty reports. He assured her the kittens were fit and happy which would have been enough to know, but for the next few weeks we were getting daily reports. If I happened to be the one who answered the phone when he called, he’d say, “Hey Mom, how are you doing? I’m just calling with the daily kitty report.” He would proceed to tell me something the kittens had done. I’d try to get Christi to the phone if she was home, but she’d refuse to talk. I tried to be polite but brief. He would ask, “How’s Dad, and Connie?” He’s only seen them in passing or else Christi mentioned them.
I wasn’t too worried since the river was on the other side of the city and a long way from us, but he did mention he might take some more of the kittens if she still had some left.
One weekend the family planned a trip to Mississippi to visit our parents. Connie had a report due for school or some reason she needed to stay behind. She insisted she was old enough to stay alone. We were reluctant to leave her, but she promised to keep the doors locked and not go anywhere. Our neighborhood seemed safe, but we were reluctant to trust her. At any rate, we left without her.
Evidently, we hadn’t gotten very far when Connie heard the sound of that motorcycle. By the time he turned into our driveway, she was in a panic. When he got to our front door, she’d made sure everything was securely locked, and had picked up something to use as a weapon in case she needed it. Her throat was dry and she was shaking with fear.
Getting control of herself, she went out onto the upper deck over the front door and proceeded to yell at him. At that time, Connie had a mouth on her, and her vocabulary wasn’t the purest. I only remember her saying she cursed him out and told him he wasn’t a part of our family, and we all thought he was a nut case. She told him to leave and not to ever call us again, or we would have him arrested.
I felt sorry for the guy when we returned and she told us what happened. He might have been just a lonely guy looking for someone to befriend him. He must have taken her message seriously, because we never got another kitty report.
v
The Shelby family has recently moved from the New Orleans area after Evan took an early retirement. Carol, the oldest child is married and living in Florida. Don and Christi are adult twins still living at home. Connie is in her teens and a freshman in High school.
-
The chapters usually deal with multiple incidents involving activities of all the family members and don't follow any story to a conclusion.They deal with whatever is happening during a certain time period.
-
This takes place in near the beginning of 1988.
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