The Cat Thing - Bentley 1

Bentley set the cat food down and scratched Covid behind the ear. She purred a little but was mainly intent on feeding, rather than appreciating the company, a fact which Bentley knew too well and was fine with all the same. Indeed he usually agreed with her. He hadn’t always called his cat Covid. Up until a week ago, the cat hadn’t answered to Ginger Spice either, but then you could never tell if cats understood their names. But that was before. Now, Covid was the name she wasn’t answering to.

Naming the cat after the reason for his almost solitary confinement was admitted a small joke but it was this kind of thing that kept Bentley going. At the end of the day – and he by no means secretly hoped this wasn’t the end of the day – you had to find humour somewhere, even if it was just in the name you gave to your domestic other half. Despite the messages, video meet-ups, multi-channel TV and other intrusions on his solitude, Bentley knew it was just him. Him and Covid.

The flat where he lived was a compact affair. A kitchen diner – posh name for a kitchen with a table in it – a sitting room, well, enough room for the TV and a bedroom and bathroom just off that. Even in his advanced years, Bentley could cover the Lino, red and white patterns carpet and bedroom rug in fifteen paces and 25 seconds – although the time seemed to be getting longer, despite the impact of the daily chair-based activity session the over-50s club had pushed his way early on in the crisis – before the lockdown prevented him from going out for a stroll along the concrete walkway outside, or for the over-50s club to actually send around a human being to sit in his kitchen, drink his tea and read the newsletter for him, as if he were an idiot.

Chaired-based activity seemed a bit of a contradiction in terms, if Bentley were honest with himself. Fine, his knees may not be up for the more frenetic lunges of some of the keep active pillocks on YouTube, but they did still work. He didn’t feel his knees should be neglected or given this time off, especially as Bentley was damned certain he would need to use them again in the future.

After all, he was quite able to make it to the lift, sustain the impact of the lift stopping abruptly at ground level and walking, at some pace mind, to the local pub for a swift half and a drag on the e-cig. He’d want to do that again. Stuff might shift and change and maybe everything wouldn’t ever quite be the same again, but he was pretty certain he'd need to do that again, just like before.

To be honest with himself, Bentley enjoyed the solitary life. But that had been before. Yes he lived alone, but he’d still felt connected. He had a place in the world and the world sometimes recognised him – the over-50s club being just one case in point. People knew him, talked to him and seemed to enjoy his company. He’d developed quite a rapport with some younger people and made quite a name for himself as a specialist expert on the running of the local and national train service from this city into London and beyond. 

Yes, trains were in his blood and when he met a fellow enthusiast the stories, anecdotes and timetable details flowed effortlessly. ‘Jones the Steam’ someone had called him, and the name had followed him online where he’d established an interesting if erratic presence on Instagram using a similar name. Five hundred odd followers was fairly impressive, he felt, for a man of his age. And so even when he was alone, he never really was. He knew that the things he thought would be appreciated by someone, would garner a series of likes and follow-on comments. But that had been before.

Covid licked her lips and looked up at Bentley. He hoped she looked up at him appreciatively, perhaps even lovingly, but if he was honest with himself she just looked hungry again. He pressed his mouth into a straight line, sighed down his nose and headed back into the TV room. That was there problem, he thought. Real life. It was fine when he was solitary because it was his choice, but now he had no choice and it included everyone else it wasn’t so hot. That had been before.