- 10.
Mark looks quiet.
Г
After a while, he says, “She’s in the past.
Sarah, I love you now.‘
99
I ask, “But you forgot me. You wanted to
marry her. That means I’m not that important
to you. That means she’s important. Why are
you with me and not her? Is there something
wrong with you?”
Mark doesn’t say anything.
I say, “If you can forget someone, it means
they’re not important. That’s how it is for you,
and that’s how it is for me.”
I look at him and say, “And amnesia is no
excuse for hurting someone.
“”
He freezes up, and fear fills his eyes.
:
He doesn’t say anything for a while. “Sarah, I
have three days. I’ll help you remember.”
I laugh.
On the fourth day, he brings the cat back
from the pet store.
The cat rubs against my legs.
I touch its fur and freeze.
He gave me this cat for my 26th birthday.
There was a little cat in a lavender bouquet.
It was so cute, I almost cried.
He held the flowers and the cat and be
smiled. “Sarah, will you give this cat a
home?”
I petted the cat. “Kitty, do you want to come
to my house?”
The cat meowed.
Mark said, “It needs a dad. You don’t want it
to be sad, do you?”
I knew what he meant, and my face turned
red.
I said, “No way!”
But he kept trying, and I agreed to live with
him.
Mark tells this story, and he looks so loving.
く
I hold the cat and don’t feel anything.
I remember the day I was kicked out.
I could only take the things they thought were
trash.
Even this cat.
I smile.
I frown. “How could you put the cat in the
lavender? Don’t you know that’s poisonous to
cats? What if it gets sick?”
“Who gives a living thing as a gift? This is
alive, you have to take care of it for the rest
of its life!”
“Or are you one of those people who doesn’t
care about pets? You take them when you
want, and you throw them away when you’re
done?”
Mark doesn’t say anything.
He stares at me and doesn’t know what to
say.
I feel bad for the cat.
Mark gave me the cat, but I took care of it.
I had never owned a pet.
I found out that cats can’t touch lavender.
After that, I kept them apart.
But he didn’t notice.
He’s telling me this story like it’s a good
thing.
I always thought Mark was just going along
with the trend of giving people cats, so I
didn’t think about it.
But it’s coming back to him now.
I ask, “If this is my cat, why did you hide it?”
