Rapture Practice by Aaron Hartzler

Author:Aaron Hartzler
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
ISBN: 9780316094658
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published: 2013-02-22T16:00:00+00:00

After the girls leave, Bradley and I head into the kitchen to grab some leftover pizza. As we pass through the living room, Mrs. Westman peers over the edge of her reading glasses and smiles at us.

“Who are these handsome men coming up my stairs?”

“Shh! Mom, quiet! The paparazzi will hear. We gave ’em the slip.” Bradley speaks in a loud whisper, then grabs the pizza box and a couple of Cokes out of the fridge.

Bradley’s mom seems sleepy but happy, not unlike Benny, the long-haired Persian cat curled on her lap. She is reading a thick, hardcover novel and holds a large wineglass with a small amount of red in the bottom. Soft piano jazz plays over speakers I can’t see. Bradley plops down on the floor next to the overstuffed chair where she is sitting, takes a bite of pizza, then puts his nose against Benny’s and scratches the cat gently behind the ears.

I join him on the floor, and watch Benny open his eyes. He regards Bradley with mild disdain before shaking his ears and issuing an expansive yawn. His pink tongue unrolls slowly, and I notice a blank space in his mouth.

“Is Benny missing a tooth?” I ask.

Bradley immediately begins to laugh, and his mom reaches out and playfully bats him in the head. “Bradley, you stop that this instant. It’s not funny.”

Bradley snaps into a false composure. “You’re right, Mom. It’s not. It’s not funny at all. Go ahead. Tell Aaron what happened to Benny’s tooth.”

Mrs. Westman takes the last swallow of wine from her glass and flips her book closed, then gingerly places both on the marble-topped end table at her elbow, and buries her nose in Benny’s fur.

“Oh, my poor little prince,” she says to the cat. “It was an accident. Benny was a show cat—he’d been winning awards and everything.”

“He’s too sexy for his tail,” Bradley says, giggling.

“He was doing very well regionally,” Mrs. Westman says.

“Doing so well he got worn out and decided to take a nap in the dryer,” Bradley says.

Bradley’s mom reaches down to smooth Benny’s tail. “I was in a hurry, and I didn’t see him there when I tossed in a load of sheets.”

Bradley bursts into another fit of giggles, and laughs until there are tears in his eyes.

Mrs. Westman is shaking her head, and starts laughing, too. “Poor, Benny,” she says. “I heard the thumpity-thump right away and ran back down the stairs, but he’d already snagged an ear and lost a tooth.”

Bradley is gasping with laughter. “You’ve never lived until you’ve seen… a cat come out of the dryer… and try to walk…”

I’m laughing now, in spite of myself.

“My poor little Benny. It’s not funny.” Mrs. Westman kisses Benny between the ears, laughing. “Okay,” she admits. “Maybe it’s a little bit funny.”

“At least he doesn’t have to do those damn cat pageants anymore.” Bradley wipes his eyes. “I’m glad he’s okay, but god, those cat shows were boring. Besides—he looks tougher now.”

“Did the girls go home?” Mrs.

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