Chapter Five: House of Queens:

Noiz awoke the next morning to total silence. She looked all around her. Five in the morning now. Still in New Orleans and still all alone. The cigarette smell wasn�t as bad as yesterday. The kitty felt out of place. She still couldn�t go home yet. Louise would twat any plans of escape. Noiz wished that at least she had her laptop with her to kill off some time. Was *that* too much to ask for? Noiz looked over at Gigi. The bear looked as happy as ever to be in New Orleans. Made the cat want to puke a bit. Oh well! Not much to do, but to make the most of her stay.

Noiz climbed out of bed and looked beside of her. Louise had set out a cute little yellow sundress for her on the dresser. �No Asian clothes!!!� the note read. Noiz made an unsavory face to herself. �Oh how cute!� she thought. The kitty rolled her eyes to herself, took the dress, and headed into the bathroom. After a few minutes of getting washed and dressed, she began to wander around the old townhouse. Amazing restoration work done for post-Katrina. Noiz really felt as if she had stepped back into time. Gold and white invaded everything. Liberty and Marcus had really good taste. Noiz�s history buff mother would be in Heaven here. The kitty closed her eyes to take in the smell of ancient culture.

However, the smell of cigarette brought her back to reality. Noiz quickly opened her eyes and looked up. Pelagie stood near the window smoking. She had on a black silk robe tightly clinging to her plump-curved body. Her long red nails filled Noiz was a petty sense of envy. The cat slowly walked over to her. The older woman looked up at the hostage. A sneer came across her otherwise old-charmed face.

�Oh, it�s you!� she said in slight disappointment. Noiz raised an eyebrow at her.

�Is that a� bad thing?� she asked. Pelagie shrugged at her flatly.

�Not really,� she replied. The older woman looked Noiz up and down again. Another sneer came onto the woman�s face.

�Still looking like every pedophile�s wet dream, I see!� she called out. *Sweat drop on Noiz�s head*

�Yes�� she replied uneasily. �She really knows how to cut someone down!� the kitty thought uneasily. Pelagie took another puff of her cigarette.

�Come and look at the view with me,� she said. Noiz looked at her uneasily still. Pelagie signaled her again. �Well come on!� she called. �I�m not going to bite you or anything!� The kitty nodded at her and walked closer. The older Creole woman smiled at her. �There, you see!� she called out. �Nice and friendly, huh?� �Yeah, until you say something cutting to me!� Noiz thought unhappily. Pelagie acted just like Louise, only much crude and louder. Speaking of which�

�Hey, where are Louise and them?� Noiz spoke up at that thought. Pelagie took another puff of her cigarette.

�Lou and momma are still sleeping and daddy is out with the men folk for the whole day,� she replied. �Why are you up so early?� Noiz shrugged at her.

�Just felt like,� she replied. �You?�

�I needed a smoke!� the older woman said aloud. *Sweat drop on Noiz�s head* �Figures!� she thought. Both women looked outside. The neighborhood hadn�t woken up yet. The sun had just come out to work its daily shift. Pelagie took another puff of her cigarette before finishing it up. She crushed the butt between her fingers and threw it to the deeply moss-colored carpet below.

�So what the devil would possess you to leave your husband and daughter to come here for the summer?� Pelagie asked aloud bluntly. Noiz tried to keep herself from screaming out loud at that question.

�I didn�t have a choice,� she replied. The older woman looked at her confused on that one.

�What do you mean?� she asked. Then, Pelagie slowly put it all together in her head.

�Oh-ho!� she called. �You ran away from your family, huh?� *Noiz falls down on that one*

�No!� the kitty said aloud. �Your daughter kidnapped me!!!� Pelagie laughed at that one. Noiz glared at her there.

�What the hell is so funny?!?� she snapped. Pelagie looked up at her smiling.

�Nothing,� she admitted. �Just amazes me how you of all people could be taken against your own will from your family to here!� Noiz looked at her crossly.

�And what�s that supposed to mean?!?� she hissed. Pelagie shrugged again.

�Nothing,� she replied. �It just floors me, that�s all!� Noiz looked at her sharply. This woman knew how to get under someone�s skin too well. Time to return the favor. Noiz looked at her sneering.

�Tell me something,� she spoke up. �What exactly do you have against marriage and family? Is it because you failed at both?� Pelagie looked at her coldly.

�I beg your pardon!� she hissed. Noiz shrugged at her innocently.

�I�m just curious,� she spoke up. �You seem so anti-marriage and offspring. I just thought it had something to do with your own life.� Pelagie slowly became pissed.

�*That* is none of your business!� she snapped. Noiz looked on harmlessly. She could see that she was pushing the limit here. Just a little more for revenge for all of those times this old bitch made her feel smaller.

�And whatever happened to your darling husband?� she asked aloud. �Force him to change and he�ll love you forever, yeah?� That really did it. Rage flared up heavily in Pelagie�s eyes.

�You little bitch!� she hissed in that angry version of her elegant Creole accent. Noiz stood there smiling at her. �Yes, that�s it!� the cat thought. �Feel the bitterness I feel when you cut me down about my family and our bonds!� Pelagie stepped forward about to slap the kitty right to the ground. Noiz just stood there waiting. She knew that the violence wouldn�t come at all.

�Momma! Noiz!� a voice called out to them. Both women paused and looked up. Louise stood on the staircase looking down at them. She was already up and dressed for the day. Yet another cigarette hung out of her mouth perfectly lit. Yes, she took to had to get her morning smoke on. The other women parted and stood up straight. The third one eyed them pretty closely.

�What were you guys talking about here?� she asked them.

�Nothing!� both women lied quickly. Lou didn�t seem to believe them at all. But, she said nothing.

�Whatever!� she said aloud. �Keep it down, would ya? Grammy is still sleeping!� She looked over at her boss with a stoic look in her eyes. �Noiz,� she said. �Come on, we have to get going!� The kitty looked at her confused.

�Why?� she asked. Lou grinned at her proudly.

�Cause,� she replied. �We�re having a family dinner tonight and I need to get the ingredients for tonight�s meal.� Noiz became even more confused.

�*You�re* cooking tonight?!?� she asked highly confused. Louise looked at her as if she had just lost her ever-loving mind.

�No!� she called aloud. Pelagie snorted at that very idea.

�Ha!� she said aloud. �Like my daughter ever got off of her lazy ass and cooked in her sad sorry little life! Even when she was married, her and her husbands just went out to eat! You�ll see Lou-Lou in a kitchen cooking when Amy Winehouse actually gets off of drugs!� Louise glared coldly at her mother. She turned her attention back to her boss.

�Grammy�s cooking tonight,� she said. �We all manage to stay nice through Friday night dinners together as a family. It�s a small traditional with us Hardy-Ayo-Wilcox folk!� Noiz managed to smile a little bit.

�Okay,� she said easily. Louise grinned at her on that one.

�Great!� she called. �Let�s get moving!� She hurried down the stairs, grabbed Noiz by the arm, and dragged her out the door.

�Whoa!� the kitty cried out. �Slow down! Don�t drag me around like that!� Louise didn�t listen at all. She kept on dragging her kitty boss right out the door. Noiz looked back over her shoulder at Pelagie. The older woman looked over at her coldly.

�I will get you for this!� she mouthed at her. �I won�t forget! I swear to you!� Noiz didn�t seem to care or believe at all. She had other things on her mind at the moment. At all, this was only day the New Orleans summer break. That means a whole month of being the willful dog to this crazy backwoods people. Oh geez! Could she even last that long without going crazy? She didn�t know.