Chapter 41
The Lobo-Rojo Family
The next morning, Michael arrived at work at his normal time of 0230. As he rounded the corner of the hallway to his office, he noticed a red wolf leaning on the wall next to his office door. Michael smiled as he recognized Raul and called to him. “Good morning, Raul. Is everything all right with you today?”
In his mild Mexicat accent, Raul said, “Yes, Michael. I am doing quite well. Consuelo and I have been so happy since you brought us back together that we can hardly stand it. Even though she might be pregnant, she has wanted sexual relations almost every night since then.”
Michael was smiling at that thought as he arrived at his office door and unlocked it. He opened the door and ushered Raul inside. Still smiling, he said, “I’m very happy for you and Consuelo, Raul. Oh! And if what I remember reading back when I was growing up is true, this early in the pregnancy, sexual relations won’t bother the baby, uh, pup.
“Aren’t you a little early arriving at work? I thought you didn’t have to be here until 0300.”
“Nor do you, Michael. Actually, I arrived early today because I wanted to invite you and Amanda to my mother’s house for dinner Friday evening. Well, my mother wishes to invite you.”
Smiling, Michael said, “Oh, and here I thought you and I had grown close enough to be considered friends.” When he saw the look of confusion on Raul’s face, Michael added, “I’m just kidding, Raul. I’m sure you suggested the invitation to your mother. Why does your mother wish to invite Amanda and me to her house for dinner?”
“When Consuelo and I told her about how you helped me with getting a job here and helping me win Consuelo back, she demanded that I invite you to her house for a thank-you dinner.”
“Hmm. Let me call Amanda and ask her if she’s got any other plans for Friday evening. Hold on a minute.”
Michael picked up his telephone and dialed five numbers. After a few seconds, he spoke. “Hello, sweetheart.”
“Michael!” Amanda said. “Why are you calling me?”
“I’ve got Raul in my office. He says his mother wants us to come over to her house for dinner Friday night.”
“Why does she want to invite us over for dinner?”
“She’s happy that I helped him get his job here and that we helped him win Consuelo back. It’s her way of thanking us.”
“I don’t know, Michael. I was thinking of going to the Blue Deer for dinner.”
“Did you like the Mexicat dinner we had at Juanita’s Cantina?”
“Oh, yes. I loved it. Why?”
“Well, I believe a home-cooked Mexicat dinner would likely taste better than one from a restaurant.”
“In that case, I’d be more than happy to join his family for dinner Friday, Michael.”
“All right, sweetheart. I’ll let him know. I’ll see you later.”
Michael hung up his telephone, turned to Raul, and said, “She said she’d be happy to have dinner with you and your family Friday, Raul.”
Raul shook Michael’s hand and said, “Muchas gracias, Miguel. My mother will be so happy to meet the two of you.”
“You’re welcome, Raul. Just remind your mother that we’re just a couple of gringos and we can’t tolerate too much spice in our food.”
Raul laughed and said “Gringos? What does that word mean?”
“According to tradition, over 200 years before I was born, a group of Americans who were living in what was known as Texas rebelled against the Mexicat government who owned Texas at the time. The Texans holed up in a Spanish mission called The Alamo.”
“Alamo? Why would it be named after a tree?”
“Who knows. The Spaniards who had conquered the Aztecs of Mexico built many Catholic missions and gave them interesting and unusual names. Anyway, the Mexicats decided to wait the Texans out but, the Texans had enough supplies to continue to defend the Alamo. Every night, the Texans would play a song that was popular in America at the time. The name of the song was “Green Grow the Lilacs.” So, the Mexicats started calling the Texans and, later, all Americans, Gringos because that’s what the Mexicats thought the song said.”
Raul laughed and said, “Michael, we do not call Amuricans gringos. That is ancient history.” Raul laughed again; Michael joined him in his laughter.
**********
At 0930 Friday afternoon, Michael was sitting at his desk doing his normal day’s paperwork when he heard someone knocking on his door. He looked up and saw Amanda’s smiling face looking through the window in his door. Michael smiled back and motioned her inside.
Michael stood and walked over to Amanda. He gave her a hug and a kiss and said, “What are you doing here at this time? You don’t get off work until 1100.”
“Mr. Blaidd said he didn’t need me any more today and told me to go home and get ready for my date with you tonight.”
Michael quirked an eyebrow and said, “Is our personal life that common knowledge?”
“Michael, you are one of the most popular people here. Naturally, everybody is going to keep tabs on you. Since you and I are going to be getting married, they want to make sure that they know every intimate detail of our life together.”
“Well, so long as you don’t get too intimate with the details, I guess it’s all right. Are you excited about meeting Raul’s mother and family?”
“Yes, I am. I never got to get to know too many people as I was growing up. You know how my mother is.”
Michael slowly shook his head as he said, “Oh, yeah. I do know how your mother is. Well, you go home and get yourself all gussied up and I’ll be over to pick you up by 1200.”
“All right, Michael. I’ll see you a couple of hours.” She hugged and kissed Michael before she left.
Michael watched her leave. He smiled as he noticed how she seemed to be deliberately swinging her hips more noticeably than she normally did. He thought, “I know she isn’t in heat so, she must know I’m watching her walk away and is being as seductive as possible.”
**********
Amanda arrived at her apartment building and checked her mail: three pieces of junk mail (into the recycling bin), two bills (wish I could recycle them), and a square, light blue envelope. When she saw the square envelope, Amanda smiled happily. Ever since Michael had accepted having a relationship with her, he had sent her cards twice a week to express his feelings for her. Despite her happiness, she frowned because Michael had sent her only two cards a week since they had returned from Jaguarville, never more, never less, and this was the third card this week.
“He must have forgotten that he had already sent me two.” She thought, smiling.
“Good afternoon, Amanda.” A female voice said.
Amanda looked up and saw Angelique Protelo. “Oh, hello Angelique.”
Shortly after Amanda had met her, Angelique had told her that, because of Angelique’s family’s attitude toward Oskar, she had decided to take his name rather than keep her family name or incorporate her family name with his name when they got married. “You’re happier than normal.” She observed.
“Oh, Michael sent me another romantic card.”
“Wow! I wish my man was that romantic.” Angelique laughed.
“How romantic, Angelique? Who are you talking about?” A masculine voice said.
Angelique smiled at Amanda as she said, “Michael. He sends Amanda romantic cards twice a week.”
“Michael? I need to remind him about setting the bar too high for the rest of us guys.” Oskar, a tall, muscularly slender Aardwolf, appeared in the doorway. He was smiling as he spoke.
“Oskar, you are as romantic a man as I could ever want.”
“But, you wish I was more romantic?”
Angelique slipped her arms around Oskar’s waist as she said, “Well, every girl wishes her man was more romantic. Right, Amanda?” Thinking Oskar didn’t notice, Angelique was nodding her head slightly.
“Oh, most assuredly. I tell Michael that all the time.” She looked at Oskar and added, “It’s a woman’s way of keeping her man in line. If he thinks she’s satisfied, he’ll become complacent and forget the romance.”
Smiling, Oskar removed Angelique’s arms from around his waist as he kissed the top of her head, nodded to Amanda, and said, “Ri-i-ight.” Then, he kissed Angelique again this time on her forehead, turned, and re-entered the apartment.
Smiling, Angelique said, “I don’t think he believes us. I better go and show him I think he’s plenty romantic enough. I’ll talk to you later, Amanda.”
Amanda smiled as she watched Angelique enter her apartment saying, “Baby, come on. Let’s go to bed. You can show me again how romantic you are.”
As Amanda climbed the stairs to her apartment, she was thinking, “I’m glad I don’t live directly above or below those two. I’m surprised she hasn’t gotten pregnant by now.”
**********
Still smiling, Amanda entered her apartment while looking at the envelope. “What am I going to do with him?” She thought as she opened the envelope. She removed the card and read it. As she read, the smile faded from her face and a look of surprise and concern took its place. The card was an invitation to a party. It was sent by someone that she had seen only once in her entire life and that was four years ago, shortly after her fourteenth birthday.
“Why is he sending me an invitation to his engagement party?” She thought. “We barely know each other.” She shook her head and carrying the invitation with her, went to her bedroom to get ready for her date with Michael.
**********
At 1200, Michael was climbing the stairs to Amanda’s third-floor apartment. He paused on the second-floor landing as he heard a soft moaning coming from Angelique and Oskar’s apartment. Smiling and shaking his head, he continued to Amanda’s apartment. He was somewhat glad that Angelique and Oskar were busy reacquainting themselves with each other. He still had a hard time believing that Oskar didn’t mind Angelique answering the door in the nude. He arrived at Amanda’s door and his knock, one rap, a short pause, and four more raps in quick succession, was well-known by Amanda since no one else knocked on her door as he did.
“Come in, Michael.” She called from her bedroom.
Michael opened the door just as Amanda stepped into the living room. Before he could react, she ran up to him and kissed him. As she kissed him, Michael closed the door with his heel. After several seconds, Amanda broke the kiss and laid her head against his chest.
“Amanda?”
“Mmmm?”
“Why don’t you have any clothes on?”
“I’m wearing a bra, panties, and housecoat.”
“Yes, but they are all flimsy and the housecoat is untied.”
“Don’t you like my body?” She asked as she spun around and leered at him.
“Of course I do but, that’s beside the point, Sweetie. We’re going to be late for dinner if you don’t finish getting dressed.”
Amanda smiled sweetly, turned, and walked back to her bedroom, saying, “Spoilsport.”
She returned a few moments later wearing a loose denim blue skirt that reached about ¾ down her thighs, a short-sleeved powder blue blouse with Byzantine blue sleeves and pockets, black sandal style shoes with two-inch heels, and, over her shoulder, she had a small black purse. She was carrying the invitation. She, once again, had a perplexed look on her face.
“What’s wrong, Princess?” Michael asked, using one of the numerous affectionate nicknames he had given her since they had started officially dating.
“When I got home today, I found this in my mail. It’s an invitation to an engagement party. I thought it was another card from you.”
“Obviously, it wasn’t. Who do you know that’s getting married?”
“No one. Although . . .”
“Although?”
“The envelope’s return address is from Reginald Francis Reynard, III.”
“Oh, my,” Michael said sarcastically. “Rubbing elbows with the high fluting, are we?”
Shaking her head slightly, she said, “I know I’m going to regret asking this but, high fluting?”
Michael smiled and said, “It’s an ancient nickname for someone wealthy.”
“Okay, where does it come from?”
“About 200 years before I was born, there was only one safe and fast way travel to the interior of the country and that was on the rivers. The method of travel on the rivers was steam-powered paddle-wheel ships. Normally, they burned coal and a thick black smoke came out of the stacks because of it. The breeze would catch the smoke and make it flow down to the deck of the paddle-wheeler. The openings of the stacks were called flutes. Rich people could afford to stay on the upper levels of the boat away from the smoke and near the flutes. Therefore, they were called high-fluting people.”
Amanda looked at him and said, “I’m sorry I asked.”
Smiling, Michael said, “Well, let’s go to dinner the Lobo-Rojos are waiting for us.” He put his arm around her waist, escorted her through the door, and, after she closed and locked the door, led her down the stairs and to his car.
**********
Ophelia brought a small light blue envelope to Jacob and said, “Look, Jacob. We got an envelope from Reginald Reynard, III.”
Jacob raised his eyebrows and said, “Why is he sending us a letter?”
Ophelia opened the envelope and withdrew a small card. She opened the card and read it. “Oh,” she said, trying to sound surprised. “It’s an invitation to his engagement party.”
“His engagement party!? Who did that whore dog find that he wants to marry? She must be exceptional in the sack.”
Ophelia glared daggers at the back of Jacob’s head. “I couldn’t tell you, Jacob. What makes you say that?”
Jacob laughed uproariously. “Don’t you remember reading how that Mexicat red wolf woman claimed he’s the father of her pup? The judge said that there was no evidence that he was the father despite the blood test and DNA test proving he was. I wonder how much that cost Reginald’s grandfather.”
Ophelia looked away changing the subject as she said, “It’s on the 14th day of Desiaty Mesiac(1). Why, that’s four weeks from now. We should go. I’m sure Reginald’s father will be happy if we are there.”
Jacob looked at Ophelia for a couple of seconds before he said, “What’ve you got up your sleeve, Ophelia? You’ve never been overly fond of the Reynard family in the 20 years since we met them.”
“Well, I just thought that maybe we should be friendly with other fox families, Jacob.”
Once again, Jacob gave Ophelia a look before he replied, “Uh-huh.”
**********
Michael and Amanda arrived at the address that Raul had given them. While the neighborhood wasn’t a slum, it wasn’t upscale by any imagination. It looked like any normal middle-class neighborhood. After getting out of the car, Michael walked around to Amanda’s side of the car, opened her door, and helped her out. They turned around and Raul was standing there giving both of them a bit of a surprise.
Raul was smiling as he said, “Welcome to my mother’s home, Michael.”
“Good evening, Raul. You walk as quietly as a cat.”
“Well, I was in the Army. They taught us to sneak up on the enemy.” Raul replied, laughing.
Laughing softly, Michael said, “So, I’m the enemy now?”
Raul gave him a friendly glare as he said, “You know what I mean, Michael.”
Raul put his arms around their shoulders and led them toward his house. The three of them entered the house and Raul led them to the living room where six pups ranging in age from 7 to 22 were seated. One, a young wolf woman around 19 was seated on the floor playing with a pup around 3 years old. As Michael, Amanda, and Raul entered the living room, an older wolf man wearing overalls, a red and blue plaid flannel shirt, and a straw hat, entered the living room from the back of the house. From the kitchen area, a middle-aged wolf woman walked into the living room. When she saw Michael and Amanda, she walked very quickly to Michael, grabbed him in a hug, and kissed him on the cheek. “You must be Miguel. Raul has told me so much about you.”
She turned to Amanda and repeated the hug and kiss. “You must be Amanda. You are even more beautiful than Consuelo said you were.” Michael and Amanda thanked her.
After the woman hugged and kissed both Michael and Amanda, Raul put his arm around her shoulders and said, “Michael, I am sure you have figured out that this is my mother, Araceli.” Putting his arm around the man’s shoulders, Raul added, “And this is my father, Alejandro.”
Araceli said, “Michael, Amanda, dinner will be ready in about 30 minutes. Why do not the two of you sit, relax, and get to know the family before dinner.”
She introduced her pups. “You know my oldest, Raul, this is Juaquin. He’s visiting before he returns to college for his senior year. This is Rosa and her son, Hernando, Thiago, Adella, Catalina, and Lorenzo. When we saw how mean Lorenzo was, we decided that seven pups were enough.” Araceli laughed as she made fun of Lorenzo.
Lorenzo said, “Aw, mama. I am not that bad compared to Catalina.” He laughed as his older sister punched his arm and glared at him in a wolfish glare.
Michael and Amanda sat on a love seat and started talking to everyone. After a couple of minutes, the pup playing on the floor climbed up onto the sofa where Raul, Consuelo, and Felipe were seated. He crawled over the Raul, hugged his neck, and, in a toddler’s high-pitched voice, said, “Dio Waoo. Who dat?”
“Hernando, say it in Anglish.”
After thinking for a few seconds, Hernando said, “Ahca Waoo?”
“Good, Hernando.
“They are my friends, Hernando.” Pointing to Michael, he said, “That’s Michael”
“Mica?”
“No, Hernando, Michael. Say it correctly.”
“Mah-ca?”
“Hernando. Listen. Mi-chael.”
“Mah-cle?” He put extra emphasis on the -cle syllable.
“Yes, Hernando. Michael.” Raul pointed to Amanda and said, “Her name is Amanda.”
“Ah-manna?”
“No, Hernando. Ah-mahn-dah.”
“Ah-mahn-dah?”
“Yes. That’s great, Hernando.”
Michael said, “Raul, is it that important to you that Hernando pronounces our names correctly?”
“Yes, Michael. We live in your country so we should use your language and pronounce it properly. Hernando will not learn to pronounce words and names correctly if we do not correct him when he mispronounces them. If you lived in Mexico, would you not want to speak Spanish properly? You would not want to be misunderstood. Right?”
Michael smiled as he said, “Yes, that’s true.”
Hernando climbed down off the sofa, toddled over to the love seat, climbed onto it and into Michael’s lap, hugged him, and said, “Mah-cle.”
Michael hugged him back and said, “Thank you, Hernando.”
“Mah-cle, you no wuff.”
“No, Hernando. I’m a human.”
Hernando looked back at Raul as he said, “Hoo-ma?
Raul said, “Human. Mahn, Hernando.”
Hernando, still looking at Raul cocked his head slightly as he said, “Hoo-mahn?”
Michael replied, “Yes, Hernando. Human.”
Hernando touched Michael's cheek. Then, he pulled Michael’s shirt away from his body and looked down at Michael’s chest causing a slightly embarrassed smile to cross Michael’s face. Afterward, Hernando said, “You gots no fuh.”
“No, Hernando. Humans don’t have fur.”
“Oh.”
Hernando then moved into Amanda’s lap, hugged her, and said, “Ah-mahn-dah.”
Amanda hugged him and thanked him for the hug.
Hernando looked at her and said, “You no wuff, too. You gots stwipes. You tiguh?”
Amanda said, “No, Hernando. I’m a fox.”
“Fah-ts?”
“Yes. A long time ago two of my ancestors married tigers and that’s why I look like I do.”
“Oh.” He smiled and snuggled in Amanda’s lap. A few seconds later, everyone could hear a soft snoring sound as Hernando fell asleep in Amanda’s arms causing a slightly embarrassed look to cross her face.
Michael looked at Alejandro and said, “Senor Alejandro, are you a farmer?”
“Oh no, Miguel. I have a small garden in the back of the house. When I lived in Mexico, my family was farmers. I enjoy growing things, plus, it helps feed the family. My full-time job is in construction. I also build cabinets as a hobby.”
Raul said, “Michael, you should see some of the cabinets he builds. He has built cabinets for some of the wealthiest families in Catlanna.”
Alejandro said, “Perhaps after we eat. You know your mother, Raul. If we are not waiting to eat when it is ready, she will be upset.”
“Oh, yes. After we eat, you will look at daddy’s cabinets.”
“Of course, Raul.”
**********
A few minutes later, Araceli walked back into the living room and said, “Come, come. Dinner is ready. We will eat and then we will sit some more and talk.”
They entered the dining room and Michael was amazed at the dinner choices, pozole (2), tacos, carne asada (3). Name a Mexicat dish and it was represented on the table.
When Michael saw the size of the family and remembering how Raul had said that he had joined the Army and his sister had quit school early to help the family financially, he and Amanda hesitated to help themselves with the food until Raul’s mother said, “Please, help yourselves. We do not stand on formalities here. Besides, as guests, you are expected to help yourselves first. Eat, eat.”
Michael and Amanda looked at each other and each took one item of each of the dishes. Araceli said, “Miguel, I know that, as a human, you can eat more than that. Please, take what you wish.”
“Please, Mrs. Lobo-Rojo, I doubt very seriously, I can eat all of what I’ve taken. I just wanted to sample everything here. Besides,” he said as he looked at all the wolf faces sitting around the rather large rectangular table, “I’m sure everyone would also like to enjoy what you have here.”
“Ah, do not worry, Miguel. We have plenty more in the kitchen. I just ran out of room on the table for it all.” Maria said as she laughed heartily. “When we finish what’s here, I will bring more out. Do not worry. Besides, we Mexicats always make sure there’s plenty of food so, no one goes hungry in a Lobo-Rojo household.”
As they ate, Michael turned to Amanda and said, “Is this better than a Juanita’s Cantina?”
Amanda smiled happily and said, “Significantly better, Michael.”
Araceli said, “Juanita? Did you eat at Juanita’s Cantina? Did you like it?”
Michael said, “Yes, ma’am. But, it wasn’t anywhere near as good as this meal.”
“Juanita is my oldest friend. We knew each other in Mexico. I even helped her open her cantina. She loves my Raul as if he was her own son.”
“Well, mama, if things had worked out differently, I could have been. I just wouldn’t have been a full-blood red wolf.”
“Ah. Do not remind me.” She glanced at Alejandro and continued, “Your papa, chose me and I am glad he did. Sometimes, I think Juanita is glad he did, too.” This set off a round of laughter. Alejandro just grinned in a wolfish manner causing Michael to wonder if he was laughing with his family or if he was growling at what Araceli said.
In answer to Michael’s concerns, Alejandro said, “Now, mama. You do not want to give our guests the wrong idea about me. Do you?”
Looking lovingly at her husband, Araceli said, “Of course not, mi amor. You are the best husband a wolf could ever hope to have, a jaguar, on the other hand, might not agree with me.” Once again, Araceli laughed.
**********
After dinner, the adults retired to the living room while the pups headed to their bedrooms and baths. During dinner, Michael had noticed how lovingly Rosa treated Hernando. She made sure he had all he wanted to eat before she ate her dinner. After he ate, he started showing signs of getting sleepy so she took him back into the living room and placed him on the rug to sleep.
When they sat down in the living room, Hernando had awakened and was playing quietly with a few toys. Rosa joined him on the floor. When he saw her, Hernando crawled over to her and got into her lap. He pointed and asked for a few toys which Rosa got for him. He played with them which included chewing on a couple of toys that reminded Michael of chew toys for puppies.
Amanda said, “Rosa, you seem to enjoy having Hernando. Is it difficult having your pup and his father deny him?”
Rosa shyly said, “It is difficult. But, he is a good pup. He does what he is told to do and he loves everyone and everyone loves him. I do wish his father was in his life but, I have a good family and they do not mind assisting me with taking care of him. I am lucky that, after Hernando’s great-grandfather had me removed from his home, I got a decent job at a daycare center and one of the benefits was free daycare. That takes one bit of trouble off of my mother’s shoulders.”
Michael said, “Yes, I’m sure it does.”
“By the way, Michael, I am glad that you helped my brother get his job. Whenever he and Consuelo come to visit, he constantly talks about you and how you helped him.”
“You’re quite welcome, Rosa,” Michael replied.
Alejandro took Michael, Amanda out to his workshop and showed them his handiwork. Michael and Amanda were visibly impressed with the cabinet work that they saw. Michael even said that the Pantheras had mentioned needing new cabinets for their home. He said that he would suggest to Dr. Leo that he contact Alejandro about a quote for the new cabinets.
After they returned from Alejandro’s workshop, they saw that four of the family members were engaged in playing a card game. The others were watching and enjoying the game. The game was called Choso. According to Raul, three, four, five, or six players play the game. To begin the game and each hand, each player cuts the deck. The player who picks the highest card is the dealer. The entire deck is dealt so that each player has an equal number of cards. Everyone then removes all pairs from his hand. The player to the dealer’s left then calls someone’s name and selects a card. If it matches a card in his/her hand, he removes that pair. Then, the next player calls a name and selects a card from that player’s hand. Play continues until one player has paired all the cards in his hand. The first person to clear his hand then gets all the cards from the other players and totals the points. The first player to reach 1,000 points wins the game. (4)
After the game being played when they returned from the workshop ended, Michael and Amanda were invited to join the next game. Michael gladly joined and was quickly beaten by the others. They all laughed at his bad luck but, as he looked at Amanda, Michael responded with, “Well, when I was growing up 20,000 years ago, we had a saying, ‘Unlucky in cards, lucky in love.’” Everyone laughed at his explanation for his loss.
**********
Around 1500, Hernando stood up and walked to everyone in the house. He hugged them and kiss and bid them good-night. He even gave Michael and Amanda hugs and kisses. Finally, he walked over to Rosa and told her he was ready to go to bed. When she returned from putting Hernando to bed, Michael asked her about Hernando including him and Amanda in his routine.
“We taught him that, in our home, everyone is his family. That includes people he’s never seen before. So, he’s basically adopted you and Amanda into our family. If you return, he’ll treat you like an uncle.”
“That’s wonderful. I’ve got a baby sister who did the same thing when she first met me.”
“Sister? I thought you said you were born 20,000 years ago.”
“I was. When I was awakened from stasis, Drs. Leo and Tigresa Panthera adopted me. They have six cubs and the baby, Anne, adopted me the moment she laid eyes on me. In fact, she did the same thing that Hernando did. She touched my face and laughed because I don’t have fur. Now, she expects me to visit her at least once a week. I do love her like the baby sister she is.”
Catalina asked Michael, “I’ve got two questions. First, what is stasis? Second, why were you in stasis?”
“Stasis is a type of suspended animation except you continue to age but, at a significantly slower rate. For example, I believe the doctor who put me in stasis said I would age at a rate of one second per week I was in stasis. So, I aged a total of about 12 days during the 20,000 years I was in stasis.”
Adella said, “Wow! Why were you in stasis?”
“Well, there was an eco-terrorist group that thought humans had ‘owned’ and raped the Earth long enough. They wanted to cause humans to go extinct so a ‘more enlightened’ species could evolve and take better care of the Earth. So, they genetically engineered a virus called the Human Immunodeficiency Virus to make it airborne so every human on Earth would contract it, develop a fatal disease called AIDS and die. It didn’t work the way it was planned because the Human Extinction Virus as it became known didn’t work the same but, the death rate did increase, I believe it was something like 0.025%, causing humans to slowly, painfully start to go extinct.”
Catalina said, “I do not understand. What do you mean 0.025%?”
“Well, for every person who died from natural causes, disease, old age, etc., 0.025% died as a result of the HEV.”
Thiago said, “Wow, that doesn’t seem like a lot.”
“It isn’t. But, it has been enough. The HEV still exists and every living human has it but, most aren’t affected by it.”
Thiago said, “Are you saying I have it?”
“No. For some reason, the animal genes in your body prevent you from contracting it. That’s why the Humanimals were created.”
“Oh, good.”
**********
Finally, at 1600, Michael and Amanda said their goodbyes and, after hugging everyone that was still awake, they left. Michael opened Amanda’s door and let her get into his car. Then, he got in and they drove home. When they arrived at Amanda’s apartment building, they quietly climbed the stairs to her apartment. When they arrived, they hugged and kissed. Amanda did her best to convince Michael to spend the night with her but, as he normally did, he managed to circumvent her plans although he did agree to stay and visit with her for a few minutes. During this time, Amanda looked at the invitation again and realized that the engagement party was in four weeks. Even though she didn’t want to go, Michael convinced her that they should since she was invited.
Finally, after sitting and talking with her for about 15 minutes, Michael stood and said his goodbye. He promised to visit her the next evening as soon as he could after going to Max’s Gym and doing his regular workout. Then, he left, drove home, got undressed, and went to bed. During the night, he had many pleasant dreams about his future with Amanda.
******************************
1-Desiaty Mesiac – Tenth Month in Slovak.
2-Pozole – A Mexicat soup made with corn(maize) and pork meat topped with radish, onion, and cabbage or lettuce.
3-Carne Asada - Grilled meat (usually beef steak), accompanied by beans, guacamole, onions,
and often also chorizo (which is a sort of condimented sausage).
4-The Humanimal Choso deck of cards doesn’t have any “Royal” cards, i. e. no Jacks/Knaves, Queens, or Kings. It also doesn’t have an ace. The deck starts with a 1 and goes through 10. The deck also doesn’t have suits. It has 6 colors: Violet, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, and Blue.
