American Catseye

Chapter 45

by DeeJAY

Since I ate the iguana,
rather than interrogating
the Internet-interrupting pest,
I've no choice but to visit
the Lizaggio to research
the lizardman ping myself.

After glancing through
the sliding glass window
one last time
to make sure Gramps
is snoring peacefully
in his noisy sleep,

I leap to a balcony
on the twelfth floor—
which is actually true
to its name, unlike
floor thirteen
that's inaccurately labeled
floor fourteen.

Hooman superstition is silly
and inconsistent; are black cats
good or bad luck?
Do cats protect people
from spirits of the dead,
or attract misfortune
with our uncanny awareness
of the nether world?

I leap to another balcony
on the eleventh floor,
the tenth, descending
until I'm on ground level
next to the blue-green glow
of the horseshoe-shaped pool.

Since we aren't near
the airport anymore,
Uber drivers are in abundance,
unrestricted by cab drivers
and wholly in their element:
picking up drunks from casinos.

I sneak through the shadows
hugging the edges of the hotel
until I find a young couple
entering an Uber.

As she holds the car door
open for her partner,
I slither in through darkness,
crawling under the passenger seat
so it's near-impossible
to notice me—

Except the Uber driver
is sneezing like he's allergic;
at a red light, he achoos
so many times,
the backseat rider
offers up their bottle of water.

They don't head to the Strip,
either; as much as I thought
this car would expedite
my trip towards the Luxor
beam of artificial sunlight,
and the Lizaggio tucked
near the Excalibur,
instead the Uber
pulls up in front
of the pawn shop on television.

I decide to walk
the couple miles
between the pawn store
and the Lizaggio,
because it's a crisp night
with apple-tart air,
and there's enough moonlight:
so when I prance
into the dark yonder
with my curled tail lifted high,
I feel a sense of relief
and hope—yes, we're clumsy
when it comes to
finding the lizardmen,
yet we are diligent,
and I'm on my way
towards a life-altering shift.

The violet dark
sparkles with a sheer veneer
of sunlight, beckoning.