When Lowellâs plans for a solo apartment fall through, she's forced to find a last-minute roommate to help her make rent. Enter Ryan, a charming, free-spirited freelance book editor with a penchant for cleaning and an aversion to baseball. Despite their differences, Lowell and Ryan quickly form a bond over their shared love of Scrabble and their struggles to find their place in the world. But as their friendship deepens and their lives become increasingly intertwined, Ryan begins to realize that Lowell is keeping some dark secrets. As tensions rise and lines are crossed, Ryan must confront the truth about Lowell and decide whether to stand by her or cut ties before it's too late. "Cat People" is a gripping tale of friendship, loyalty, and the secrets that can tear us apart.
When Lowellâs plans for a solo apartment fall through, she's forced to find a last-minute roommate to help her make rent. Enter Ryan, a charming, free-spirited freelance book editor with a penchant for cleaning and an aversion to baseball. Despite their differences, Lowell and Ryan quickly form a bond over their shared love of Scrabble and their struggles to find their place in the world. But as their friendship deepens and their lives become increasingly intertwined, Ryan begins to realize that Lowell is keeping some dark secrets. As tensions rise and lines are crossed, Ryan must confront the truth about Lowell and decide whether to stand by her or cut ties before it's too late. "Cat People" is a gripping tale of friendship, loyalty, and the secrets that can tear us apart.
My neighbor poisoned my cat. Thatâs what I told Lowell, a sociable, bubbly woman I knew from around the neighborhood, that morning at the vet in mid-September. Iâd met her several times at Roberto Cappuccino, a much-loved cafĂŠ on Court Street. Lowell was at the clinic about her cat, too. But hers hadnât been poisoned, not like mine, which the vet confirmed, saying I was right to bring Paige Turner in to see him. He reminded me about her feline leukemia, which the poison had exacerbated. Iâd known about her weakened condition for a while and admit I was selfishâI wanted her to outlive everyone, especially my novelist ex-boyfriend, who had named her and then dumped her on me.
âShe only has a handful of days left, maybe less,â the vet told me solemnly, leading us back into the waiting room.Â
âMaybe fewer,â I muttered to myself.
Even in the face of death, it was essential to correct the incorrect, explaining to Lowell how Paige Turner was a stickler for grammar. Not so with Humphrey, she said, her ten-year-old, blue-point Himalayan who had late-stage liver cancer. He could not hold down water or food and struggled to lift his head. Despite their ailments, both cats opened their glassy eyes simultaneously, locked gazes, and then hissedâthe most energetic display of life I had seen from Paige Turner in weeks.
âStop that,â Lowell said, stroking the big Himalayanâs nose. âShush.â
âSorry,â I said, turning Paige Turnerâs carrier to face the potted fern and kneeling to check on her. âHave wild dreams of wild places,â I whispered and rubbed behind her ears. I couldnât believe we were where we wereâthe vet convinced me it was hopelessâand a part of me blamed my former boyfriend for choosing a dying cat and then dumping her on me.Â
âFirst, anyone who fucks with animals should be put down if you ask me,â Lowell said. âSecond, why do you think it was your neighbor?âÂ
âI call the cops on him constantly,â I said. âOn the weekends, he puts his speakers on the fire escape and blasts his crappy music all over the neighborhood. I live right below him. You can only imagine what it does to poor Paige Turner and me. She cowers in the closet in her carrying case and loses her shit, literally, until the cops come,â and I scratched her belly, hoping for a purr. âThey started ticketing him for disturbing the peace.â
âOh, thatâs awful,â she said, gazing at Humphrey. âWeâreâIâmâgoing to be lonely once this little guy isâŚgone,â and she sniffled. âI have a spare bedroom I keep meaning to rent out. My last roommate was a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed meth addict from Greenwich who worked at CBGB. She stayed for three years. Hers was a gradual decline,â and Lowell sighed.Â
Liz looked like a mermaid whoâd swum away from a rotten home life, got ensnared in a fishing net off Red Hook, and decided Brooklyn was it, according to Lowell, who told me theyâd found each other as exiled mermaids often did.Â
 âSee you on the other side,â she said once the nurse called Humphreyâs name.
Paige Turner's meows echoed through the waiting room, and my heart was filled with sadness. I held her close to my chest, her body trembling like it was winter instead of summer. The reverberating roar of the cars outside filtered through the slatted windows, and my mind drifted to my empty apartment and the windowsill where Paige Turner spent her days grooming herself. I pictured the flowering acanthus my boyfriend, Tieg, had brought over and vowed to move it into Paige Turnerâs spot when I got home.Â
The hallways beyond the waiting room echoed with the agonizing cries of cats. After we were called, I carried Paige Turner down the lonesome hallway, peeking into this or that room and finally coming to Lowell and Humphreyâs, his claws extended and scratching in vain at the stainless-steel table. I contemplated the procedure, picturing the gas chamber where he and Paige Turner would end their lives. She must have sensed my jitters because she managed to get out of her carrier, forcing me to chase her down.
âShe was the only person I never took for granted,â I said later after it was done.
âShe wasnât a person, Ryan. She was a cat, like Humphrey, who had a mishap on my pillow last night,â Lowell said, sighing again. âIâm not going to miss that.â
âPaige Turner thought every houseplant had her name on it,â I said, standing in the waiting room with her, each with our empty carriers. âI mustâve gone through a hundred varieties.â
âYou see, cats are evil, just as they say,â she said, smiling, but her eyes were full of tears. Â
When we stepped into all that brilliant sunshine, I felt sick, as if it were an enormous betrayal of our catsâ memories. âShouldnât there be lightning and thunder?â I asked. âShouldnât it be biblical?â
âI think our furry friends are in a better place,â she said. Â
I said goodbye and returned to my apartment, where I moved the flowering acanthus to Paige Turnerâs lonesome windowsill. It was Saturday, and like clockwork, my upstairs neighbor cranked his music, blasting it all over our little patch of Brooklyn. But this time, instead of phoning the police, I got out the scrap paper, called Lowell, and agreed to move into her apartment the following day.  Â
Lowell and Ryan meet at the vetâs office. As the title suggests, they both love cats, and they initially bond over that. It was supposed to be just a chance meeting, just how one meets random people almost every day, but the charactersâ lives soon get intertwined. One needing help with rent, and one needing a place to stay, Lowell and Ryan decide to start living together. Very quickly, it becomes clear that there are issues with boundaries and untold truths, and a tension begins to form between the very new friends â slash â roommates, who realize that they hardly know anything about each other.
As the story progresses, it becomes clear that lies have been told, and that the truth is not so simple to figure out or share.
Personally, I found the story to be all over the place. The synopsis of Cat People, as well as its genre and promised topics, had me expecting a lot more than what was actually in it. I understand that there is a vibe that the author was going for, and layers that he wanted to give his characters, and important themes that he wanted to explore, but none of that seems to work or show itself.
The story comes off as messy and confusing, with nothing particularly standing out. It feels almost as if the story was rushed or is a first draft of something that could have some potential. The dialogue is also weak and dull, which makes it very difficult to get attached to the characters or care about them or about what happens to them.
I believe the story requires more depth and a lot of editing to become what the author was hoping for it to be.
On the other hand, it is a pretty quick read for those who have some time to spare.