A piece of chicken flew out, but not before part of it was swallowed. That was his favorite. The can rattled more while pieces of half eaten food of various shapes and sizes and colors were launched out and onto the dirty cement. Then it stopped. Renfro, the mini-tornado, poked his pointed ears up and stuck his gray furry head out of the can. The gray tabby looked nervously from his new-found stash of treasure to the end of the alley and back to the food. Quickly, he had a brilliant idea. He leaped out of the trash can and started eating as fast as he could anything that would fall into his mouth. Part of the delicious cuisine ended up on his tattered, gnarled fur. A couple times he choked and had to cough it up before trying to snarf it down again.

He stopped suddenly and picked up his head, already realizing that he was too late. They were already there. Dusty, the smoky gray short-hair; he did much of the beating. Fluffer, a long-hair mix-breed of unnamable color; he usually just looked stupid, but got in a few good hits, too. And , of course, there was Tiger. The red tabby was the core of the trio. Without him there would be no group, and Renfro probably would have kept his food and his sanity and maybe he would not be as weak and thin as they were making him.

"Hello, li'l Ren," Tiger said. The other two almost never spoke, at least to Renfro.

"Um... howdy Tiger," the kitten said.

"What do you have for us today, squirt?" Renfro looked down at his food. "You weren't trying to eat any of it, were you? You know your job is to find it, not eat it."

Renfro wiped off his chin and stared at his food. He started to cry but knew he couldn't show it or else the beating would be worse. So he just continued to stare at the food. "Just take it," he said shakily.

"What's that?" Tiger said as they began to laugh. "Are you crying?"

Oh no, they heard it in my voice. "No, I'm not crying. I'm used to this by now."

"It looks to me like you're crying. Poor thing!" And it started.

The beating was over as fast as it had started. Renfro lay in the dirt and stared at the cement under his face. That was all he could see. The other cats had gone and, with them, his food. Well, he thought, at least I got some of it. At least I won't totally starve this time.

The thought was quickly overshadowed by four mice taking away the scraps that the cats had left. Renfro didn't even have the energy to try to catch one of the mice. He looked up slowly, as that was all the pain would allow, and noticed a black and white female standing at the end of the alley. He recognized her as one of the girls that walked around with those mean cats. This one did not have a white spot on her back, that was Gemini. But before the thought fully crossed his mind, she walked away, out of sight. He plopped his head back down on the ground with an audible thunk. They even took the chicken!

Renfro was smacked again, this time by Dusty. He noticed the sun was a bit higher than it was the last time he was beaten. The two girls were with them this time, Gemini and Strawberry, the one with the white spot on her back. He liked that one. Somebody asked him something about food. He didn't fully understand them. All he could think to say was, "You took it all."

"Well, we just thought we'd see if you found more."

More? They want more? They took all my food and beat me senseless and they want MORE? This is only the thirteenth time in the last week that they've done this and now they want more? First the people-things throw me against the walls and then put me outside and forget to bring me back in. Then I'm stepped on and nearly crushed by those huge, loud, metal beasts. And then along comes Tiger and his band of hitmen who pound me into oblivion and steal all my food and leave me with nothing and now these little freaks want more? "You even took my chicken!"

"Your chicken?" Fluffer said.

Renfro looked at him, then to Dusty, and finally to Tiger. A flash of light entered his head and he heard someone say, "Yes, you stupid felines, my chicken. You took my CHICKEN!" Renfro felt something against his paws and in his mouth and thought they were trying to beat him again. When he came to his senses he noticed Tiger lying on the ground bleeding from his mouth and neck. Everyone stared at Renfro with wide eyes and open mouths. Finally he realized what had happened. And he disappeared.

He darted for the back of the alley, found his little hole under the fence and squeezed through it. He paused just long enough to look behind him and see all the cats leaping over the fence, portly Fluffer following slowly, but determinedly, behind. Renfro turned back to continue running, but they were too fast for him. He jumped length-wise over a tremendously warped board, landing on the far end of it. The opposite end popped up while Dusty was over it, launching him three feet in the air. Dusty came crashing down on top of a trash can, knocking the lid across the alley. Renfro leaped to the lid, sliding across the sidewalk, through the street, hearing screeching and screaming all around him and feeling the wind from the metal beasts as they rushed by him or swerved into other beasts to avoid him. He would have thought this somewhat humorous if he was not being chased by demented felines from Hell. He slid to a stop in the next alley and turned to see the other cats quickly gaining on him, this time with Dusty trailing. Renfro turned and bounded off the lid, kicking it back into Tiger's face. Renfro ran toward the wooden fence at the end of the alley. He jumped and grabbed hold of the fence with his claws, but he was too weak to climb. The lack of food for the past week had drained him of any strength. He couldn't figure out how he had made it this far without collapsing. He half-thought to himself as he unsuccessfully scrambled up the fence, It's amazing what adrenaline will let you do.

He gave up on going over the fence and tried to find an escape route underneath or to the side. This fence, unlike the one in his normal alley, was in good repair. The only holes in it were the ones that were too small for even his scrawny body to fit through. He started clawing out the dirt from underneath the fence when a claw dug into the back of his neck and yanked him backwards.

"It's over Renfro," Tiger growled, "now you're going to pay for that, rodent."

"A contest!" Renfro yelled, cringing, waiting for the blow to come.

Tiger stopped, claw in midair. "A what? A contest? Between you and me? What could you possibly be able to do better than me?"

Renfro thought for a moment. He didn't know and, indeed, had no idea he was going to say that until after he had already said it. What could he possibly do better than someone who was healthy and strong? The only way this would be anywhere near fair was if he were to become strong and healthy, too. And the only way to do that would be to eat more.

The idea struck him like Fluffer had done many times, slowly but with a massive amount of force. "How about a game of catch?"

"Catch?" they all asked at once.

"If you win, you continue to beat me and steal my food. If I win, you let me go and don't bother me, ever again."

Tiger stared deeply at Renfro. Finally he nodded. "OK, you scraggly rat, I'm game. Tell me the rules."

Renfro looked around and spied a small board and a small box nearby. He set up the board so that the box was underneath the middle creating a see-saw. He jumped into a trash can and threw out a bunch of pieces of oriental chicken, stealing a few pieces for himself before jumping out of the can. He placed a piece on the lower end of the board.

"I'll launch this into the air, you catch it. Then you launch a piece into the air and I'll catch it. All you have to do is catch more than me." He bounced on the higher end of the board sending the chicken straight into Tiger's mouth.

"Hmmm...." Tiger said around his food, "sounds pretty good."

Dusty was chosen to be the launcher. Renfro went first since Tiger just caught a piece. They actually decided to count Tiger's catch toward the contest. Renfro didn't care. He wasn't actually trying to "win," he was just trying to eat. Hopefully, he would gain some strength from this and if it worked he might even be able to get these goons off him.

Dusty launched a piece of chicken in the air and Renfro had no trouble grabbing it, since that was his favorite food and he was so hungry anyway that he focused on it unconsciously. Tiger grabbed his piece without even jumping. Dusty started getting into the spirit and decided to try aiming his launches in different directions. He launched a piece away from Renfro, who was totally unprepared for that and ended up missing it. For the first time, he thought his plan could fail. His heart sank into his aching stomach.

Dusty launched a piece in the opposite direction from the last one, throwing Tiger off. Tiger missed the piece, but ate it anyway. Renfro laughed. Tiger glared and growled at him. Renfro stopped laughing and cringed. Note to self: Keep your mouth shut unless you're catching!

Renfro caught the next four, keeping right up with Tiger. Tiger leaped for his last piece and landed, instead, flat against the fence, the chicken bouncing off the fence and landed behind him. He got up, shook his head, and ate the piece anyway. Dusty launched the last piece toward the same fence. Renfro chased after it. It bounced off the fence, just like the last piece, but Renfro was ready for that. He jumped at the fence, also bouncing off it and his mouth closed around the piece.

Before he could swallow it, however, Tiger tackled him in midair, knocking the piece out of his mouth and pinning him against the fence. The beating was over quickly. Renfro lifted his head up to see what had happened, and instead saw Fluffer's paw come straight down on top of his head, knocking his jaw into the gravel. Tiger's face blurred in his sight and Tiger's voice was fuzzy as well.

"You beat me fair. Your reward is that I let you live. See you tomorrow." He gave Renfro one last smack on the head and walked off.

Renfro lazily watched a cat walk up to him. He was too weak to care whether it hit him or not. It didn't. A female voice said, "That was very brave." He vaguely noticed a white spot on her back. This was the beautiful Strawberry, the one he dreamed about. "I'm glad you did what you did. You're a great little kitten." And she walked away.

Kitten? I'm not a kitten. I'm a cat! I'm just as good as.... He stopped in his thoughts as reality seeped into his rattled, bruised brain. He suddenly noticed that they left the last piece of chicken in the middle of the alley. If only he had the strength to get up and reach it. He lost hope with that, also, when a mouse ran by and carried the last piece off in its mouth, out the end of the alley.

Renfro plopped his head back down. There was not a single thought in his battered mind. He heard another cat approaching and did not move. It stopped in front of him. Still he didn't move. A female voice spoke.

"Are you hungry?"

The voice was different than Strawberry's voice. He slowly looked up and noticed Gemini standing there with the mouse in her mouth. She dropped it in front of him.

"Sorry I couldn't get it before it ate the chicken." He looked at her, disbelieving. "Go ahead," she said, "you can eat it, I won't take it away."

He pulled it aside and almost swallowed it whole. She laughed at him, but in a very pleasant way. She watched him for a short time, then laid down against him. "At least," she said, "you found a really nice sun spot to lay in."

He lay for a while in shock at the non-threatening body against his. He heard her purring and thought it must be OK. Somehow, the events of the first half of the day seemed so distant, as if they had happened five years ago instead of five minutes ago. He felt the warmth of the sun spread throughout his body, and he closed his eyes and waited for the next day to come, as it always did.

Renfro sighed. "Yeah," he mumbled. "It's a really nice sun spot."