"Lawrence Watt - Evans - Something To Grin About" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watt-Evans Lawrence)

a pawful of claws to Todd's left ankle.
The noise Todd produced in response was a fascinating combination of scream, sneeze, cough, and
choke. He staggered back and sat down heavily on the bed, both fists clenched, a soggy tissue dangling
from one of them.
"Who did that?" he demanded, looking about wildly.
The cat, of course, had vanished again; now its head reappeared behind Todd's right shoulder and
spoke.
"I did it," the cat said. "And I'll do more of the same as long as you're here, or if you ever set foot in
this apartment again."
"Fine!" Todd said, flinging down the tissue. "That's just goddamn fine, whoever you are! The bitch
isn't worth it. Hey, Melody, you hear me? You ain't worth it. I can find another girl who'll treat me
better!" He looked down at his ankles and saw blood seeping through his socks.
"Oh, Jesus, I'm bleeding," he said. "Damn it, look at that! Look what you did! Jesus!" He dabbed at
the blood and only succeeded in spreading it further. He snatched a handful of tissues from the box and
stuffed them into his socks as makeshift dressings, and was interrupted several times by sneezes as he did
so.
"Doesn't she ever dust in here?" he grumbled. "What the hell am I sneezing at?"
The cat considered the sight of Todd, sitting on the edge of the bed and bent down to stuff tissues in
his socks, and was unable to resist.
Todd felt a sudden weight on his back, and the mysterious needles that had gouged his ankles
suddenly scraped across the back of his neck.
"All right!" he said, jumping up. He whirled, but saw no sign of his attacker. "All right, I'm going!
Jesus, give me a minute!"
"No," the cat said.
"Oh, crap," Todd said, grabbing a final clump of tissues with one hand and his nose with the other
as he fought back a fresh attack of sneezing. He snatched up his laundry bag and fled, hobbling.
The cat watched him go.
When Todd was out of sight, and his footsteps had faded to inaudibility, the cat pushed the
apartment door closed.
The phone was still making its annoying buzzing noise, but the bedroom was reasonably quiet; the
cat jumped up on the bed, curled up, and went to sleep.
Several minutes later Melody returned, and discovered, as she fumbled for her key, that the door
was unlocked. Worried, she opened it.
 "Todd?" she called.
No one answered. She stepped in and looked around.
Nothing was out of place, so far as she could see. The phone was buzzing, though; she went to the
kitchen, put her bag of groceries on the counter, and hung the receiver up.
She didn't remember leaving it off the hook. "Todd?" she called.
"He isn't here," the cat replied. "He was, though. He collected a few things, and then left."
"He did?" Melody frowned. Todd almost always left a few things behind; that was one reason she
always expected him to come back eventually.
"And your mother called," the cat said.
"She did? How do you know?"
"I knocked the phone off the hook," the cat admitted.
"Oh, she's probably furious!" Melody snatched at the receiver and dialed.
A moment later, as Melody was making frantic apologies, her mother said, "Oh, that's all rightтАФbut
why didn't you tell me about that lovely Cat?"
"Cat?" Melody said, horrified.
"Your new roommate! She sounds wonderful; I'll have to meet her sometime."
Melody glanced at the cat, which stood in the kitchen door, grinning at her. "Roommate," she said