A N G E L (Roger Daltrey)

Nine

Nancy's POV

Jan and I were sitting outside eating our sandwiches on the curb when we heard the meowing.

"Did you just hear a cat?" She asked me. "Like, a baby cat?"

"I did. I wonder where it's coming from?" I asked.

"A cat, I would imagine." Jan said flatly.

"Obviously." I smacked her playfully. "I mean, where is the cat?"

"I dunno. Here, pinch me a piece of your salami and we'll see if we can lure it over."

I tore off a bit of salami from my sandwich and handed it to her.

"Heeeeere, kitty kitty!" She called, flailing the salami around.

"Kitty kitty kitty!" I contributed.

Eventually, a tiny orange kitten tottered over to us.

"Wow! Look, how cute!" I easily convinced the kitten into letting me pick it up.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Jan asked me.

"Hmm. Uh, boy, I think! Aw, aren't you just a handsome little man!" I rubbed the kittens head and it purred softly.

"You've gotta convince your mom to let you bring it home!" My friend exclaimed.

"You're totally right! Here, hold him for, like, just a minute. I'm going to call her off that pay phone there. You got any dimes?"

Janice took the kitten in one hand and poked around her pocket with the other.

"Here you go, there ought to be enough here." She handed me a palmful of change.

"Thanks, I'll be right back."

I grabbed up the phone and dialed the house. My mother picked up immediately.

"Hello?"

"Hi mom! I'm okay, I'm calling you because me and Jan found a kitten at the deli. He's the cutest little thing and I know we've been talking about getting a cat, so can I bring him home?" I explained in one breath.

"You found a kitten and you want to bring him home?" My mom repeated.

"Yeah, he's so cute! I'll take care of him and scoop his litter box and everything. Can I please bring him home?" I tapped my foot nervously.

"Sure, sweetheart. I'm sure your dad will be okay with it since we have been talking about getting a cat anyways."

I squealed. "Thank you, mom! Thank you so much! We're coming home right now!"

I hung up the phone and galloped back to Janice.

"My mom said I could keep him!" I whooped.

"Great! We're going to have to think of a name for him. And of course I'm going to be his godmother." She held the kitten up like a trophy.

"Mew!" Said the kitten, kicking his little back legs.

"Oh, sorry," Jan said, "didn't mean to scare ya."

"Come on, let's go back to my house and get him settled."

We were watching the kitten walk around the living room when I thought of his name.

"Ringo!" I exclaimed happily.

"What about him?" Asked Janice.

"That's what we're going to name the kitty!" I clapped my hands. "Ringo."

"As in Starr? Nance, you can't name a cat after a Beatle. That's gotta be some kind of copyright infringement." She shook her head slightly.

"I think it's a purrrrfect name. What do you think, little Ringo?"

The kitten threw itself down onto its back, wiggling around in the carpet as adorably as anything.

Janice giggled. "Alright. Ringo it is. Hey, I have to go home. But maybe tomorrow night I can come sleep over?"

"Sure. We can play with Ringo all night. I'll take you home."

I plopped the kitty in the bathroom and shut the door so he couldn't escape.

"Mom, I'm taking Jan home and then stopping at the pet supply to get some cat things! I'll be back in, like, 45!" I called.

"Okay, be safe!"
- - -
Janice's POV

When I got home, the phone was ringing. I sprinted over to it and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Janice!"

Oh, my god, it's Roger, I thought to myself.

"Oh, hi, Roger! I didn't expect you to actually call." I slid down the wall on to the floor. We really needed a new bench.

"Why wouldn't I? It would only be right to at least make sure you got home in one piece. I called at about one, but there wasn't any answer and it made me nervous." He chuckled slightly.

"Oh! Sorry I worried you. I was with Nancy getting lunch. I would've been home sooner but we found a baby kitten." I blushed and stuck my finger into the loops of the phone cord.

"You don't have to apologize!" He exclaimed. "But do tell me about this kitten."

I could practically hear his smile through the phone.

"Well, he's the cutest thing! He's orange and white. A tabby, I think. He's so small."

"Aww. And what's his name?"

My heart leapt. I couldn't believe Roger was actually interested in my life.

"You're going to think this is ridiculous, but I didn't come up with it." I prefaced. "It's Ringo."

Roger laughed a genuine laugh, and I put my arm over my head like I was protecting it from falling objects, for some reason.

"As in Starr?" He balked. "Isn't that some sort of copyright violation?"

I raised my eyebrows. "That's exactly what I said! Almost verbatim, actually. But Nancy said it's 'purrrfect'." I rolled my tongue on the r.

"That's adorable."

"Oh, nah," I blushed, "where's the band now?"

"Chicago, Illinois. The Windy City." He said it sort of like a game show host, making me laugh.

"That's pretty groovy. I'd like to visit Chicago sometime and try that deep dish pizza." I stuck my finger back into the phone cord.

"It's a nice place, what I've seen of it. Maybe we could go sometime when I'm not touring and we can actually take our time and enjoy it."

My stomach turned. "You'd take me to Chicago?" I gaped.

"I don't see why not," he said nonchalantly, "I already know I like your company, and if you want to go and I want to see more of it, why go with someone else?"

"No offense, Rog, but you're sort of Looney Tunes for that. You barely know me!" I gave the phone cord a particularly hard squeeze, which left squiggly imprints in my palm.

"That's the point, love, is to get to know you better."

I started to say something, but was cut off by Pete shouting in the background.

"Roger, you wanker, get off the bleedin' blower, we've got a show in four hours!"

I giggled. "Sounds like you better jam."

"It does, doesn't it? I'll talk to you later, Janice! Goodbye!" He made a smooching sound into the phone, which made me blush yet again, if I'd ever stopped to begin with.

"Bye, Roger..."

Click.

I hung the phone up and wandered upstairs to look for something to do.