Observations of a Cat-Lady (Back Story Solo)

Tses, as told by Meggy the Cat Lady

Meggy loved cats as long as she could remember. From the time she was 3 years old and got her first kitten, they were part of her life. Through high school and into college, her kittens would follow her; even in her prom picture, she had picked up a stray from outside the school and stood posed with it between her and her date, a loving smile on her face. When she was younger, people didn’t think much of it though. She was just Meg on a date, or Meg getting married, or Meg with the grand-kids. When the family moved away and the kids got older though, she found herself alone in New York, and she started to change.

On her 60th birthday, she was Meggy the Cat-Lady with an affectionate quip, and time slowly melted that title down to just ‘the Cat-Lady’. She broke rules so many times at the assisted living homes by bringing in too many animals they eventually had to kick her out, and her family set her up in a cheap apartment next to central park. They said it was close to the park so she could get out and exercise, and the price was unbeatable. But Meggy didn’t mind much. She just wanted to be with her cats, and settled in with her children: they were all she needed after all.

The apartment was shady in the most decent way of describing it. Few people wanted to room next to her because of the smell and cat fur, so she had open rooms on either side. A few rooms down a young teen stayed, some actress with ambitions of making it on broadway. But she got into the drugs, and she became the ‘crack-head’ as easily as Meggy became ‘the cat-lady’. They were lost souls, all of them: drifting into that building like little candles across the water. Meggy rarely left her apartment, and the family stopped coming back to visit; her world was one of the kittens, their upkeep and their care. She figured she didn’t have much time left anyway, so she should enjoy it in the company of their undying love. But fate changed things.

She remembered the day the young girl’s arrived on their floor. She took apartment 66; a blond haired punk with pigtails and combat boots. The room used to be room 666, but they took one of the 6’s off to make it more appealing. The kid didn’t seem to care one way or the other. She was just like the rest of them: a ghost just looking for a place to crash.

Meggy watched her for a while when she arrived. She was distant, hostile, and rude to everyone she met. She had a snarky smile and a way of mocking people without meaning to. But Meggy had been around long enough to see something different about her. In her eyes there was a little glimmer of longing, a little bit of hope. She pushed people away, but she did it out of fear. Meggy had been like that once, so many years ago. She was a cheerleader in her high school days, back before she fell of the top of the pyramid. She broke her back badly, and the doctors told her she could never cheer again. She recovered well enough to walk, but she would never be able to function properly. She still got married, did the house wife thing, but her dreams of going somewhere never came true. This girl though… she had a look on her face like she had been everywhere possible.

Meggy’s suspicions about the girl were confirmed one stormy evening about a week after she moved in. Meggy was getting the kittens ready for dinner when she heard a soft knock on the door, and there the teen was, a tiny kitten wrapped up in her shirt. She was wearing her black undershirt, soaked from head to toe, and she held out the little animal with an awkward frown. ”He was wandering around outside trying to find shelter, braving the storm like a little David fighting Goliath. Got some claws on him though, so be careful!” She remarked, and Meggy noted the little scratches where the kitten clawed her neck. With a warm smile, she took the kitten, and smiled down at its tiny pink nose. ”Oh, little David you sure do have some spirit in you? Just like my little neighbor here. Oh, what did you say your name was dearie?” She slyly inquired. The girl just shuffled, and accepted her over shirt back.

”Tses. My name is Tses.”

Things changed for the 6th floor that day. Somehow, that lost ghost became a light to them, brightening up their dark existence. When Meggy’s family stopped paying rent for her, and she was about to be evicted, Meggy caught Tses by the front counter paying the landlord for the woman. She never confronted her about it, but the old lady never got a bill for rent again. When she asked about it, the landlord simply said “It’s covered. Just take care of your cats.”

A few doors down, the actress got sick from the drugs she was on, and fell ill in the middle of the hallway. Tses, who had been out late, carried her all the way to the hospital. She left before the girl woke up, and no one knew who the blond haired shadow had been who delivered her. But Meggy did, watching from her little perch by the door. Tses was looking out for them all, and while Meggy knew Tses did so by doing some questionable things like stealing, she never took a dime from the people around her. When Meggy’s cats had kittens, Tses picked up the tiniest little runt, and smiled at the old lady. ”He looks like a little burnt marshmallow. Reminds me of when I tried making s’mores. S’mores. We should name him that.” She grinned, and Meggy couldn’t help but smile.

”David likes the name s’mores.”

As time passed, Tses grew up, but she never stopped looking out for her apartment family. When a robber tried breaking in one cold December, she fought him off and broke her hand in the process. Meggy watched the tussle on the fire escape, but when she commented on it, Tses just gave a shrug and said ‘It was personal’. Because to her, it was. The cat lady, the crack head… they were her family, and Tses was looking out for them.

Tses had her own share of problems though. Meggy saw it on and off, as a dark figure came and left, always leaving foreboding feelings in his wake. After his visits, Meggy would often find Tses standing in her doorway, quietly reaching for the little kittens for comfort. She never said a word, never talked about it, but she would just sit and the two women would hold the cats together. It was their connection: a silent friendship. Some nights, Tses would come home injured, and Meggy would check up on her. She never asked for help, never asked for comfort, and kept a brave face through it all.

Meggy never minded the girl was a mutant. Few people did. She tried to hide it, but sometimes her hands would glow when she was angry or upset, and it always gave her away. She was their mutant, and she would always be welcome. But then, one day, there was another figure coming home with her. A red-haired teen with a bright smile. And for the first time, Tses was smiling too. It made Meggy happy to see them together, and even when they fought and disagreed, and things got loud, she knew they would make it. She had been in love once too, after all.

While they were suspicious at first of the new arrival, the residents on floor 6 soon accepted the young male. Every time something happened to their Tses, he was the one to bring her home, and make her safe again.

For the first time, someone was protecting the person who had secretly cared for them all.