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Chapter 13

Sticky Situation

          "I had to hide and run like a cockroach for a while and all

ya can say to me is 'hello'?!" I ask incredulously with a flicking tail.

          I was sitting at a table across from James and Lance who

smirked at me as I shook me muzzle amused. Me tail flicked at the door as Mr.

Lawton brushed by it chasing Annabelle around the apartment playfully. And as I

spoke earlier, Laura was busy with tonight's dinner for the Lawtons.

          James smiled cheekily like a hippo. "Yes, Peter," the human

boy said, turning to Lance. "He's told me that you could survive Gavin and his

Goons, so we didn't worry. Much."

As I

ignored the duo, me nose smelled the food cooking behind me calming tail,

turning me neck to spot Mrs. Lawton, Laura, sprinkling a batch of bread with

fried chicken and jelly made from the market down the street. "Smells lovely,

Laura. That dinner for tonight?"

          "Yes it is, Peter," the Mrs. wiped her brow of sweat and

onto her plain clothing, and then placed the uncooked chicken in the oven. A

second later, her hand slipped and touched the metal, her groan mixing in

rather well with Annabelle's happy shrieks in the other room. "Oh God, Henry,

can you keep it down please before our neighbors complain to the landlord?"

          Mr. Lawton emerged from the room with a giggling and squirming

young baby girl wearing a yellow dress. "Sorry love, but it's my day off," he

leaned forward and smiled as he kissed Laura's pinkish cheek, "and who knows

when I'll come home without a headache of my own again?"

          Laura just simply chuckled and jumped slightly when a

knocking sound came from the door. "Oh Lord, who can that be?" Laura walked

across the room

          I was sitting at a table across from James and Lance who

smirked at me as I shook me muzzle amused. Me tail flicked at the door as Mr.

Lawton brushed by it chasing Annabelle around the apartment playfully. And as I

spoke earlier, Laura was busy with tonight's dinner for the Lawtons.

Near

the end of May did I finally concoct a plan to deal with Gavin. It was

brilliant, almost too much for even me mind to comprehend and me tail to nearly

fall off wagging. I was gonna prove to every furson in Five Points that I

wasn't a thief, a scoundrel, or a flea-ridden wolf that crawled in the sewers

like an alligator.

          I smelled a whiff of sugar and grinned. But first...

I

eyed the small jar that was sitting on the counter, and noted that Laura

borrowed a recipe for cookies from a neighboring tenant (I didn't know the name

nor species), and cooked a dozen baker's dozen of 'em tasty things for James'

thirteenth birthday for the street. Sad thing was, that occasion of heaven (and

getting meself free meals) was back when Gavin and Friends were after me hide

like hunters after deer, and I missed the party.

          Luckily, I could smell the remaining cookies in that thing

like a musk down the street. And as Laura stopped at the door to open them, I

had me paw just a mere fur hair in when-

          "Hello, Mrs. Turner. What a lovely surprise for you to be

here."

          I swiftly hid the cookie in between me knees under the

table and smiled heartedly.

          Raccoon musk filled the apartment as Mrs. Turner, Lance's

mother, nodded to Laura. "Of course, Mrs. Lawton," she spoke kindly to Mr.

Lawton playing with Annabelle. "I was just wondering if I could have that

wonderful recipe I gave you, if I can?" As she shifted her stance, me tail

froze in place when her eyes fell on me. "What is that thief doing here, may I

ask?"

          Lance groaned silently. "Mum, when will ya stop calling

Peter a thief?" he asked with flicking ears. Me fur stood on end as the stolen

cookie fell from me lap and onto the floor, and Mrs. Turner eyes me wearily.

"Uh, that was mine."

          As Laura went back to the kitchen area and rifled through

the recipes, I folded me ears as I did me best to hide the frown on me muzzle.

"Hello, Mrs. Turner," I said to the raccoon giving me a frown. "I hope yer day

is going well like the weather?"

           Thank the Lord that

Laura handed her the recipe and Lance's mother left just like she arrived.

After a couple minutes of silence, Laura told me, James, and a smirking Lance

to go outside and play.

          "Try to stay away from trouble, Peter?" she asked me.

"Okay?"

          "Can't promise ya that, ma'am."

          "Then try to stay out of jail, dear!" she tossed me the

cookie from the floor. "And next time you take something, as permission first,

or you will end up in a jail cell." She chuckled, and I did too before nibbling

on the cookie ravenously.

As I

finished it off and happily chewed the sweet food down in one gulp, we went

down the stairs and out the door onto the smelly, cobblestone street. The

moment we were outta earshot, I turned to me friends and grinned wickedly. "Ya

wanna help me get back at the 'yote?"

I

almost expected Lancie to back away and pull James away, saying we shouldn't

'antagonize Gavin anymore'. But to me surprise, the raccoon grinned back at me

and asked what I planned to do. As for James, I had to promise the human he'd

choose where to go next time we went out to play.

"If

ya don't find yourself in a cell first, Peter," he mumbled under his breath as

we walked to our destination.

Instead

of joining Harry the fox in playing a game of kick-the-can or chasing other

boys free for the afternoon on this marvelous Saturday, I dragged me two best

friends through Five Points until we found the Hudson River. As always, the

river was busy, and I couldn't stop meself from chuckling at James' awe at

seeing the vast waters, as well as the Brooklyn Bridge up the river.

"It's

so big, Lance,"

Lance

nodded

Suddenly,

the human let go of me paw. "Whoa, easy there James," I grabbed it and pulled

him with through the musky crowd of fursons. Some were immigrants, others steel

workers on break, and even a couple of gentlewolves in fancy attire. "Keep

holding or ya'll be lost."

Lance

groaned and pulled his paw away from mine in annoyance, and followed me until I

stopped in front of a shack tucked in between a stove shop and a blacksmith's

building. It smelled like liquor, rotten tomatoes, and a musky wolf smell as

old as the bricks and wooden boards held together.

I

knocked. "Old Man Holler?" I shouted. "Ya in there?"

As I

knocked again, the door opened inwardly, and I yelped before falling inside as

a familiar chuckling appeared above me. "Ah, young Peter!" he chuckled, pulling

me up to face me muzzle with a cloud of awful breath and yellow teeth. "Do ya

finallies have de pleasures of taking mes whisky again?" The old wolf cackled

and dropped me vest, and I wiped me knees of dirt before clearing me throat.

          "Can I have a batch of that glue ya claim 'God' gave ya?

Please?" I asked in a grave voice. "I'll give ya money for more booze if ya

want?" I reached into me pocket and pulled out a dollar's worth of coin.

"Here."

          Old Man Holler took the coin and started counting them with

each clawed fingernail. But as I started to wag me tail, the old wolf grinned

at me. "Yer a dime short, boy," Holler said, chuckling. Lowly growling, I

reached into me pocket and gasped at it all being me last coin. "We crud, I'm

outta money, mister."

          Right before Holler was about to close the door (and not

gimme back me money!), James said, "Wait! I gotta dime here!" The young lad

pulled a dime outta his trousers and quickly gave it to the grey wolf.

          After another counting, Old Man Holler wagged his tail

after counting. "I wanna thanks ya fer the $1.10 ya gave me, boys," the old

wolf choked with laughter and rushed inside his shack while Lancie, me, and

James stood there dumbstruck.

"Gotta

give him credit for being clever," I chuckled.

Old

Man Holler then came outta his shack and dropped a vial of clear liquid into me

paws after chugging half a bottle of his shine down. "Be carefuls with de

stuff, boy," he croaked while drinking the bottle his paws wrapped around.

"Water is yer friend with it, but don't gets too cocky with its stickiness."

The wolf paused a moment and turned right and left before leaning down at the

three of us and whispering, "What are ya's doing with its anyway?"

          I chuckled and flicked me tail happily. "Well..." I stood up

and whispered me plan in his overgrown ears before we went on our way with Old

Man Holler howling with laughter from his prime.

          "Uh Peter, why did I have to pay an extra dime for this?"

James asked a moment later. He pointed to the vial in me paws, and I had to

grin like a lunatic.

          "This," I held it out proudly, "is me plan fer getting back

at that 'yote, me friends!" When a gentlewolf passed by us with his lassie wife

in tow, I lowered me voice. "This 'ere is a dose of Holler's glue. Personally,

I don't know how he makes the stuff, but it'll stick to things like Holler on a

bottle." I chuckled softly and grinned. "It washes off with water, but think of

the things we can do with it to a certain 'yote with tan fur and a smug grin as

big as his mother?"

          James and Lance's eyes turned into a duo of saucer plates,

and a pair of smug grins formed on their muzzled while mine did too. Wagging me

tail gleefully, I informed them of what I hoped to do, and the whole idea made

James wanna jump up and down like a child and Lance say, "I gotta see the whole

thing!"

          "And ya will, but I want ya to be watching from afar,

please?" I asked Lance, then facing Jame's confused blue eyes. "You too,

buddy."

          We eventually stopped beside a cart carrying cabbages, and

James asked, "Why can't we be with ya, Peter?"

          "It's cause ya prefer to be alone, ain't it?" Lance

flourished his bushy tail and looked at me skeptically. "Ya wanna do this on

yer own and not with yer friends, right? Right?"

          I shook me muzzle and smiled. "Ya both are me friends, but I don't wanna watch ya get in trouble with yer

folks fer this," I stated, causing the raccoon and human to pause surprised.

"And I wanna give ya a show." Again, their smiled made me tail wag like a wild

animal.

          After half an hour of laughing and walking, the three of us

appeared outta an alleyway next door to the 'yote's residence. As always, the

smell of rotten fruits and fur burned me nostrils, but I kept meself together

while eyeing for Gavin.

          Fortunately, the noise of Mrs. Flint's voice found us

first, and I had to throw meself and James behind a barrel as the plump female

'yote strutted past a smiling Lancie with a waving paw and a nodding innocent

James.

          "Excuse me boys," Mrs. Flint walked past them heaving some

bags in her large arms. For a wee second, I wondered how she even got fat in

the first place while everyone else in Five Points was starving more than me.

"Gavin, where are you?!"

          I held down a giggle at the look on Lancie's frozen face,

but managed to keep it down when I heard the familiar voice I knew and loved,

coming a few wooden doors down.

          "I'm here, Ma! What is it with all the yelling?!"

          James ran beside me with Lance and smiled. "Good luck,

we'll be watching from afar if ya don't mind," the human boy spoke quickly and

hurriedly before me raccoon friend added, "Don't get pummeled again, honey."

          I folded me ears and turned to them racing across the

street and up a flight of fire escapes. Now, they could see the spectacle I was

about to do, and I grinned at them while peering round the corner.

          "Will ya shut up, mother? Just do dinner, wench!" Gavin

grunted before closing the door of shouting. "That little..." Couple of

swearwords later, he sat down on the stairs and I grinned at me chance.

          What could I use along with me glue? I looked around the

alleyway for anything and everything. The gaps between buildings were great

places for common folk to throw away their garbage, whether it be whole foods

or even the most useless (and useful) of things. Some sappy fursons were even

dumb enough once in a while to drop money like a crumb of food.

          At last, I found the perfect item, and someone was kind

enough to wrap it in a bag no bigger than me ears and head.

          Oh ho ho ho, this is

gonna be me best work yet! I giggled like a cub about to win a round

of kick-the-can. I might wanna make this me new favorite hobby.

          Carefully climbing up a nearby ladder, I tried me best to

be quiet as a fox and quick as a thief while holding the bag with one paw. By

the time I got to the top of the ladder, I climbed up a nearby fire escape and

pretty soon loomed over the 'yote above his head on the rooftops of his own

tenement!

          I reached into me pocket for the glue, and set the bag down

aside. I had to wait a bit for the wind to be still as a board, and Mother

Nature became me friend a mere second later.

          I spotted the two faces of the curious raccoon and human

boy in the alley across, and smiled. I

gotta impress meself with this one! I smiled over the unknowing 'yote. Taking

the tial of glue, I poured it down over the 'yote!

          "Augh! What the 'ell?!"

          Quickly, I poured the bag's contents over Gavin, and peered

over to laugh at me work. The 'yote was now covered in a splattering of watery

glue and a whole bagful of white and grey pillow feathers, becoming less of a

tan coyote boy and more like a giant chicken with fangs. Everyone on the street

noticed this as well, and a huge circle formed around Gavin while I jumped down

the fire escape, almost falling over with laughter before landing on the ground

like a giddy cat.

"Peter!"

           Passing by other

people gawking at the sight, I waved at the 'yote with a bigger grin. "Ya look

good Gavin! Did ya get a new coat of fur?" I called out. "Or did ya become a

chicken?"

          Laughter filled the crowd of people, and I reached into me

pocket to check the time. According to me pocket watch, it was barely 3:00, and

I turned to try and find me friends, an unseen force pushed me muzzle into the

ground.

          "Chicken, huh?!" I rolled over to see a feathered Gavin

snap, "Yer dead, mutt!" I staggered back while onlookers behind us still

laughed and gasped at the 'yote's actions. "Stay still, ya mutt!"

          "Try a new insult and I will!" I dodged his fist and

tumbled to me footpaws before running for it. "Ya'll hafta catch me first,

chicken-'yote!" Again, he tackled me, but I staggered like a drunk sailor pushed

meself up from his sticky shoulder.

          I wish I hadn't done that.

          "Let go of me, ya mutt!" Gavin, still feathery as a

chicken, tried to push me shoulder away.

          "Stop!" I shouted, making the 'yote freeze. "I'm glued to

ya shoulder, and does ya mother wanna see us stuck together, Gavie?"

          His eyes widened with mine, and I tried to pull me paw away

from his soft and sticky shoulder, but all I did was send us tumbling on the

street and other people laughing at us. Luckily, the rest of the glue was dry,

but me and Gavin were still in our predicament. I tried to pull and pull and

pull with all me might, did me best to pull away.  

          After several minutes, me and Gavin laid on the ground,

panting and beat.

          "Somebody slap me for doing this..." I mumbled. Next thing I

knew, Gavin's fist hit me cheek, and I grumbled, "Not like that, ya dumb

'yote!"

          Suddenly... "What the 'ell is all this?!" someone snapped. Me

ears perked up, eyes turning to the last person me and Gain wanted to see. "Son,

what are ya doing with that boy-is he that Gray feller ya been talking about?!"

He trudged toward us.

          Gavin widened his eyes and pulled himself up along with me,

me arm still stuck to his shoulder. "D-Dad...we can e-explain!" he said

desperately.

          I dropped me gaze and wanted to crawl in a dirt hole deep

enough for me to forget the look on the coyote's face. Almost as tall as a lamp

post, Gavin's father was almost skinny and stock as a gorilla too. Today, he

wore a set of dirty overalls and a pair of dark green eyes, almost like a

snake.

          "Then explain fast, boy!" the 'yote grabbed Gavin's

overalls (luckily the one not covered in drying glue), and glared at me

stumbling forward. "Are you glued together?" I sheepishly nodded and curled me

tail after smelling alcohol linger in his stench breath.

          "Mr. Flint, I can get us outta this, but we're gonna need a

bucket please," I said slowly. The coyote in front of us was known to be angry,

and the last thing I needed was to get the 'yote a reason to punch me.

"P-Please?"

          The green eyes stared at me for a moment of a century, and

left to come back with a bucket of water (I hope so). After pouring it all over

me and Gavin, I pulled me paw offa the 'yote and laughed happily at it coming

off.

        "Now, come with me!" the older 'yote pulled our collars and

dragged us across the cobblestone ground, ignoring the spectators as me and

Gavin were pulled into the Flint residence of Five

Points.