Chapter 76

“My professor is a real pain in the ass. I must have turned a little green, and she said, ‘Surely you’re not squeamish, Mr. Black? After all, your generation seems to be so fond of those slasher flicks.’ The witch.”

“You didn’t call her that to her face, I hope?”

“Geez, Ty, you should know me better.”

“Okay, so what happened then?”

“I said, ‘Yeah, but a cat—’ And she didn’t even let me finish. She said, ‘You know the shelters are filled to overflowing with strays.’ She said it in a real snide tone, too.”

“The witch!”

“Yeah. I mean, they were someone’s pet at one time. So okay, these were from feral colonies.”

“Oh, and that was supposed to make you feel better?”

“I’m telling you, buddy. The thought of cutting into Sylvester the Cat made my stomach tie into knots.”

“So how’d the dissecting go?”

“Not good. We had to skin it first. I made the cut from one side of the throat to the other and down the belly, and…” He swallowed heavily.