Knitting Under the Influence

“Now that's never come up,” Lucy said.

Sari sneezed again. “Something's bothering me.”

Lucy looked up with a sigh. “You're allergic to cats, aren't you?

“Yeah, of course. You know that. But-” Sari got to her feet and looked around. “Oh, no. Don't tell me-”

Lucy just pointed to the corner of the room, where David was curled up in a brand-new pet bed.

“Oh, shit, Luce,” Sari said. “Why'd you do this to me?”

“I totally forgot you had allergies. I’m sorry.”

Sneezing again, Sari reached for her purse. “Please let me have a Claritin in here.” She rummaged around inside. “We won't be able to do knitting circle here anymore-not unless you want to put me in the hospital.”

“You have to admit he's cute, though,” Lucy said.

“I guess. I’ve never been much of a cat person. Given the fact that they make me totally miserable.”

“Oh, but come on.” Lucy went over and scooped up David. “Look at him.”

“Not too close,” said Sari. “Oh, good, I have one.” She went into the kitchen and took the Claritin with a glass of water.

“Don't you worry,” Lucy said to David, kissing him on the side of his furry little mouth. “She just has allergies. Otherwise, she'd think you were absolutely adorable.”

Sari came back in. “Let's hope that works quickly,” she said and immediately sneezed. She reached for another napkin. “Won't be fast enough for me. So when did you decide to get a cat?”

Lucy lightly touched her index finger to the tip of the kitten's right ear and made it twitch. “You remember my lab partner, David?”

“Why do you always say it like that?” Sari said. She sat back down at the table, pulling the magazine toward her. “Why do you always feel you have to explain who David is? I had lunch with him at the autism walk just a few weeks ago.” She flipped through the magazine.

“Yeah, I know. Anyway, he got the cat for me.”

Sari instantly looked up again. “What do you mean?”

“I mean he went to the pound and picked out the kitten-actually, it was a lot more complicated than that-I guess there was this whole auction thing-but the short story is that he got the kitten and gave him to me as a gift.”

“Why'd he do that? Did you tell him you wanted one?”

“Not really,” Lucy said. “But one night we were talking about all the rats we'd sac'd-killed-and I was kind of depressed about it and said how I had wanted to be a veterinarian when I was younger-”

“Oh, yeah, I remember. You used to make poor old Daisy lie down and let you examine her. Then you'd make pills out of rolled-up pieces of cheese and shove them down her throat.”

“-and I guess he took that to mean that I’d like a pet. And dogs are too much work and you can't cuddle a fish, so…”

“That's an awfully romantic gesture,” Sari said. “Giving someone a pet.”

“Romantic?” Lucy repeated. “No, it's not. It's nice, but it's not romantic. Parents give kids pets all the time. Why would you even say that?”

“Lucy, he surprised you with a baby kitten-”

“Kittens are always babies. That's like saying a baby baby.”

“Come on. Didn't you always use to say he had a crush on you?”

“Yeah, a million years ago. Before he started telling me I had a stick up my ass on a regular basis. Anyway, that's not what this was about. He just knew that I’m sick of killing rats, that's all.”

“So he got you a pet that kills rats.”

“It made sense to me.”

“What'd you name it?” Sari asked

“I’m not sure yet.” Lucy wasn't about to tell Sari the kitten's name was David, after everything Sari had just said. She knew Sari would try to read something into it.

“Well, congratulations,” Sari said. “What does James think of it?”

“I haven't told him yet,” Lucy said. She put David back into his little bed on the floor. “He hates pets even more than cut flowers.”

There was a quick rap on the door, and Kathleen walked in, hand in hand with Kevin Porter. “Hey!” she said. “Kevin wanted to come up and say hi to you guys. He's dropping me off.”

“Hi, Kevin,” Sari said with a wave. “Want a bagel?”

“No, thanks,” he said. “We just went out to breakfast. I’m stuffed.” He stayed by the door and surveyed the room. “So this is the famous Sunday morning knitting circle, huh? Kathleen's always rushing out on me to get here on time.”

“That's funny,” Lucy said. “She's never actually on time.”

“It moves around from place to place,” Sari said. “But we've been doing it for a while-a couple of years now.”

“I think that's great,” he said. “Wish I knew how to knit. It looks like fun.”

“You could learn,” Lucy said.

Kevin laughed. “I don't think so.”

“Why not?” Kathleen didn't seem to be as full as he was; she had gone right to the bagels and was tearing into one with her teeth. “Why wouldn't you learn?”

“You know,” he said. “It would be weird. A guy knitting.”

“Lots of guys knit,” Lucy said.

“Straight guys?”

“Sure.”

“Not that there's anything wrong with not being straight,” he said. He put his hand on the doorknob. “Well, maybe one day you guys can teach me. But right now I’ve got a date to play golf with my father. Kathleen, are you okay for a ride home?”

Kathleen looked at Sari.

“You're covered,” Sari said and sneezed.

“All right, then,” Kevin said. “Bye.” He slipped out, closing the door behind him.

“He couldn't leave fast enough, could he?” Lucy said.

“It's the knitting,” Kathleen said. “Guys like Kevin get freaked when things get too girly. Like it might be contagious.”

“’Guys like Kevin’?” Sari repeated. “What kind of a guy is he exactly?”

“Just your average American male.”

“You're madly in love with him, aren't you?” Lucy said. “Who wants coffee?”

“Do you need to ask?” Kathleen said. “And what the hell is that furry thing moving around over there? You bring one of your rats home?”

While Lucy was introducing her to David, the phone rang, and when Lucy answered it, it was James saying he'd left a book he needed at her place and could he come by now and grab it?

Lucy hung up and said, “It's bring-your-boyfriend-to-work day here at the knitting circle. James is stopping by.”

“Oh, good,” Sari said. “Maybe we can scare him off the way we scared Kevin off. And then we can scare off my boyfriend- oh, wait, I don't have one.” She rubbed her eyes savagely. “God, they're so itchy I could scream.”

Kathleen pointed to her magazine. “Did you find something to knit?”

“Yeah. This.” She showed her the picture. It was a red, yellow, and black striped sweater.

“I like that it's cropped,” Kathleen said. “Very chic.”

“It won't look cropped on me,” Sari said. “Not unless I make it like five inches long.”

“You're lucky you're so small-you can knit a sweater for yourself in a couple of minutes. Takes me forever.”

“What are you working on now?”

Kathleen had finished the tube top at their last get-together. She grinned at Sari, and pulled out her own knitting magazine. “This.” She opened it to the marked page and pointed.