The Soup Incident
Note: to protect the name of my Ex, I have changed it slightly.
I remember that awful day: Saturday, April 13th, 2002. I was at my boyfriend (of a almost year & nine months) Jay’s house. I wanted Pizza; he wanted Chinese. I caved and he called the order in. I was watching cartoons (something he wasn’t into), so I agreed to stay while he drove into town to pick up the food. A short while later, he was back and we began eating. I ate my Sesame Chicken and Crab Rangoon and he ate whatever he ordered while we casually conversed (about what, I forget). When I finished with that, I opened my Hot and Sour soup and started eating. After a few bites, I stirred with my spoon in the bottom and felt something solid hit the spoon. I dug under the thing with the spoon and pulled out a piece of a small animal jawbone WITH TEETH STILL IN IT! I can’t quite recall my exact words, but I know I swore quite a few times. Before I could recover from the shock enough to throw up, Jay grabbed the bone and looked at it, saying something along the lines of ‘Chinese people eat exotic foods. It’s no big deal.’ Then I said something like ‘They can keep their exotic foods in China! (It probably wasn’t that snappy, but close enough.) I’m calling someone!’ As I reached for the phone, he slammed his fists on the counter and shouted, “YOU’RE NOT GOING TO MAKE A BIG DEAL OUT OF THIS!” Shocked yet again, I picked up the bone he had set back on the table and put it in a napkin. I don’t quite remember the next few words we exchanged; I just remember him shouting, taking the phone from me, and dumping the rest of the soup in the garbage. I hid the bone (in a napkin) in my bra because I had no pockets. We sat down and watched Hannibal (of all movies) as we had planned without further discussion. After the movie, he apologized for yelling and I left for my parent’s house, still shocked and confused. I showed them the bone and told them what happened. My Father was furious (of course, he’s a Father) and wanted me to call the police, but I knew that wouldn’t do any good. I stayed there that weekend, telling the story and showing the bone to anyone who came over to see if they could identify it. My Grandmother almost fainted, but said it looked like a little cat jawbone. She said she had a friend in the Health Department she would talk to about it for me since I had to work all day Monday (7am – 6pm) and wouldn’t have time to call them. When I got home Monday night, Grandma called and gave me the phone number and address of the Health Department with instructions to call and tell them the story and take the bone there for inspection. Later, Jay called and we discussed my crappy day at work. We made plans for him to come over to my house the next day. Before I was about to hang up, I mentioned that I was going to turn the bone in to the Health Department. He actually asked why, and I started to explain how nasty that was and he told me I was being RUDE and DISRESPECTFUL. Once again shocked, but now more like offended, I asked for him to explain exactly how I was being rude and disrespectful. He evaded the question and said that he would deny everything and would not talk to anyone about the bone. I replied with a disgusted ‘What?’ He changed the subject and said, “You’ve been rude and disrespectful on several other occasions and I’m getting tired of it.” He then proceeded to bring up an incident from over a year ago that I had been cranky and sick and remarked that I didn’t like the dish his Mommy had made for dinner. I explained that we had cleared that up a long time ago (or so I thought) and asked for a better example. He said, “I can’t think of any right now, but I’ve complained to my parent’s about them.” I sighed another ‘What?’ and he went on to say, “Maybe I shouldn’t take you out to dinner anymore.” Tired of his excuses, I realized how tired I was of our relationship and said, “Well, maybe we shouldn’t see each other anymore.” I then heard a sound like the phone hitting the wall, so I took that as an ‘I agree’ and hung up the phone. The next day, I sent the bone to the Health Department via a fellow courier and called the Health Department with my story since I had the morning off (only 12 to 6 on Tuesdays). When I got home that night, Jay had left a message on my machine saying ‘I don’t think I’m coming over tonight. I’m going to give you a few days to think about what you said.’ I just laughed and shook my head. Thursday I went to my parent’s house and typed up a long email explaining how he was acting like such a cave man (among other things) and basically broke up with him like that. I would have called him, but I knew he would just throw the phone again, and besides, I’ve always been a better writer than a speaker. I wasn’t altogether cruel; I did let him know how much I appreciated his love and devotion (but not his possessiveness and depravity) and that I did like his family (His Dad was so cool. He even waved at me when I saw him in his truck after Jay and I broke up.). I let him know what he did right and what he did wrong so he would know what to do and what not to do in future relationships. I only did that because I wanted him to (try to) do the same thing (he wasn’t much of a writer) because I’m always wanting to know what I’m doing right and wrong so I can fix myself (perfectionist, yes). But I never heard from him again. The next week, I learned that the bone was a SMALL CAT or KITTEN JAWBONE! I cried just thinking of what must have happened to that poor kitty. I had to call Jay’s house and ask him to call the Health Department to let them know his side of the story. I called while I knew no one was home and left a message. A few months later, I was called in to the Department of Agriculture for questioning about the Soup Incident. The man showed me pictures of the jawbone and told me he inspected the restaurant and found no evidence that they were using cat meat. He asked me questions about Jay and if I thought he might have done it. #1: Jay’s not that bright as to think up such an elaborate prank. #2: Jay isn’t a pranker to begin with. And #3: The bag was stapled shut when he brought it in. Still, I couldn’t rule out the possibility that it could have been his doing, although I don’t want to think of where he would have gotten a kitten’s jawbone. I told the man where Jay lived and gave him his phone number so he could get his side of the story. I then realized some of the questions he asked were also to determine if I was the one who did it (or if I was making it up). Jay would be the only one to clear this up. And he said that he wouldn’t talk. I went back home, afraid that Jay would tell the guy that I was the one who put it in there for some stupid reason. The guy from the Department of Agriculture called back the next week and left a message saying he talked to Jay, but he didn’t say what he found out. I tried calling his office a few times, but he was always away, so gave up and haven’t heard another word about it since then.
This is why I cry sometimes when I see a kitten.
Usually it's just live kittens, but cute pictures or videos affect me, too.
It just breaks my heart thinking about what must have happened to the poor little thing. U_U