A Story of Bobka

A fun story to illustrate how much Bobka understood me.

Sibling Rivalry / Love!

I was living in L.A. in this little West Hollywood bungalow. Bobka and Moksha loved being indoor / outdoor cats, and relished the time they got to spend out there as much as I worried about it.  My friend Conrad would sometimes housesit for me when I went out of town, and liked to say that when Bobka would sit at the door for what seemed like hours on end, staring at the door knob and rocking from his purring, he was chanting “I will this door to open. I will this door to open. I will this door to open…” I swear he was right. Anyway, one of the times they were outside, on a particularly lovely day, Ann, the friend I was staying with, was having a smoke down the stairs on the patio. I came out to join her, but on the porch where I was upwind of the smoke, to keep her company, chat, and let the boys out to play while we were there to supervise. Bobka was sunning himself next to me, looking lazily up at me through eyes squinted against the sunshine. Now, at this point, I should point out that Moksha is the older (non-genetically related) brother, but like siblings do, they occasionally had power struggles.

I watched as Moksha padded out into the garden and settled himself in what was Bobka’s usual favorite spot, a little patch of dirt where some plant hadn’t quite made it. I looked down at Bobka and said, “Moksha’s in your spot. Are you going to let him get away with that?” And Bobka rolled over towards the garden, got up, stretched out his claws, stomped down the steps to where Moksha was serenely trying to nap, and promptly bapped him on the head. Moksha shook it off, got up and acceded the spot to Bobka, who settled into it, then turned and looked up at me grinning smugly. Nope, I’m not going to let him get away with that.

I’d been watching silently, at a loss for words. I looked over at Ann to see if she had witnessed this. Apparently she had, as she was staring at Bobka, her mouth agape. I mean, her chin (as was mine) was practically on the patio. When we could pick our chins up off the ground, she turned and said to me, “If I hadn’t seen that with my own eyes, I’d never have believed it.” I’ve told that story a lot since then, and I think to this day, most people actually believe it, especially if they’ve met Bobka.

I miss you, my baby!