Chapter Seventeen: Kirk

Kirk has been trying to fight me again.

He seems to like my hair though.

He likes the taste.

And the smell too.

If I look hard enough in the mirror I can see him inhaling it while his claws hold him tight to the back of my head.

That leaves marks.

Big ones.

They hurt.

But he looks cute doing it.

Until he breaks the skin.

But even then he looks sweet when he glares at me as I apply the disinfectant.

Kirk sighed and pushed open the front door.

Mother said that I had to tame him.

This angers Kirk.

Kirk doesn’t like being told what to do.

He bites.

Hard.

He turned around and pulled the leash, dragging the bundle of fur off the front stoop.

Mother said that to tame him I should take him for walks.

Like a dog.

Using a leash.

The cat attached to the leash gave Kirk a withering stare.

The possibility of the cat actually hating me is very slim to none.

So I am told.

Mother said that Little Kirk may just be having ‘nesting’ issues.

Although this doesn’t explain why Kirk repeatedly tries to cut my neck and my wrists.

Mother said that I must be aggravating him.

He yanked on the leash to drag the cat along the street in Stars Hollow.

I don’t think I aggravate him. I love all living creatures.

Even little Kirk.

And living creatures like me.

Toto liked me.

Until Louie kicked him.

Poor girl, she was never the same again.

I’d toss her something to fetch and she’d start to run after it and halfway there she’d forget what she was doing.

She’d just lie down and go to sleep.

Kirk let out a breath, sat down in the gazebo and tied Little Kirk’s leash to the bench.

If more people in Stars Hollow had pets, Kirk would have other cats to play with.

Then he’d be happy.

And maybe de-clawed.

He took a glance around the green and saw Rory and Jess sitting down near the ‘Stars Hollow’ sign, reading.

Mother never let me have a girlfriend.

She let my brothers and sisters have their significant others.

But not me.

Twelve brothers and sisters.

Not me.

He watched as they shared a tender moment, kissing softly in the sun.

It been five years since that hoodlum moved here.

Five  years.

That’s 1825 days.

43800 hours.

2628000 minutes.

157680000 seconds.

And for about 157649570 of those seconds he has been trying to get to Rory.

It must be true because Miss Patty said it was true.

THE Miss Patty.

He cocked his head to the right as he saw the Rory lay across Jess as he read to her.

To be her boyfriend.

He must like her.

Even followed her to Yale.

I was never allowed to go to college.

I had to stay and look after mother.

Every day.

The lump of fur on the floor had started using Kirk’s leg as a scratching post.

Kirk stared into space, not noticing the cat.

They were boyfriend and girlfriend for almost three years now.

That old boyfriend of hers had left town.

I would have done the same.

To be snubbed by a Gilmore would be embarrassing.

He turned around to look at a couple that were walking towards the diner.

The lady had dark flowing hair; the man had a baseball cap on backwards.

Both were wearing flannel.

The lady pummeled the man’s shoulder while laughing at him.

He heard her cry, “We’re like twins!! Except, you know, for the whole ‘I’m female and you’re male’ thing. But we can ignore that! We can be twins! I can wear flannel one day and you can wear a sparkly ‘Pornstar’ t-shirt and mini-skirt the next day! This is going to be SO much fun! OOOH and we can get you a wig for the Lorelai days and I can –“

The man forced her to be quiet by kissing her.

That is sexual assault.

I can report that.

She responded to his kiss by wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer.

Maybe it was consented.

Then again, you never know.

Those two are always fighting.

You never go through a week without at least two fights.

I should know.

I usually get hit with a doughnut when it flies through the diner.

I work there.

Luke doesn’t throw doughnuts at any other customer.

Although they always laugh after ever fight.

I don’t laugh after a fight.

Mother never kisses me after a fight, either.

He stared as the couple walked over to the two teens lying on the grass.

Lorelai put her hands to her cheeks and cooed.

“Awwwww they’re just so adorable! Still! They’re like Romeo and Juliet!  HEY! Romeo and Juliet… R&J… Rory and Jess!!! R&J – RORY AND JESS!!! How smart am I!”

Luke grunted, “Lorelai, they’re just initials. Just because our initials are L and L does not mean that we are – “

“Lucy Lawless? Lana Lang? Lois Lane? Lu-Lu? Lisa Loeb?”

“Lorelai!”

“No, silly! My surname begins with a G!”

Luke put a hand to his forehead and sighed.

Rory lifted her head up and intervened, “Mom, where’s Ben?”

Lorelai rolled her eyes.

“Mom wanted to take him ‘overalls shopping’ which is highly unlikely since he’s only two years old and he already has better fashion taste than that. I figure she’s taken him to hell to sacrifice his soul.”

Rory sat up straight, “She’s put him on the waiting list for Chilton?!”

Jess propped himself up and squinted at the two women, “What’s so bad with that, you went there and you turned out fine!”

Luke gave him a look and he lay back down.

Lorelai nudged Luke, “Anyway, we better go over to dinner now, or she’ll make us choose between the thanksgiving turkey and my baby,” she rubbed her stomach, “I’m not sure which one would win right now…”

They picked up their books and started walking down the road to their house.

Benji was a cute baby.

I got to baby-sit every now and then.

Mother supervised.

He watched them turn a corner, then picked Kirk off his leg, untied him from the bench, and began walking around the green.

Why do the Gilmores always get a happy ending?

Lorelai and Luke finally got married and had Ben.

Rory and Jess are both journalists, living in New York…

And engaged.

Its unfair.

Too unfair.

I never get anything.

Nobody cares what I think.

Nobody gives a damn about me.

Nobody…

Who is THAT?

He had seen a tall gawky looking woman, with curly pigtails and huge glasses, pulling -what looked like a cat in a leash – along the street.

She stopped and nodded at him.

He nodded back at her and walked up to her, held out his hand and shook hers,

“My name is Kirk, I have ‘Little Kirk’ here and I’m walking him with a leash to try and tame him. Because he bites me… hard. And draws blood. Welcome to Stars Hollow – I’ve never seen you before.”

The girl with the glasses nodded and said softly, “My names Gladice, this is my cat ‘Small Gladice’… I used to live in Comets Hallow.. in Harvard. But father never let me go anywhere, even when my fourteen brothers and sisters left town – I wasn’t allowed to go. I like it here. It smells nice.”

Kirk nodded back, hiding a small smile.

Perhaps happy endings aren’t just a Gilmore thing… but are a stars hollow thing.

I hope mother approves.