Jo Jo and Brooks
by Jem Big Sky III

Part Two
Nobody noticed a frightened, but excited Brooks peeking through the opening of the red cooler and Jo Jo put the cooler under the bench where he usually set aside his lunch. Luckily for Jo Jo, Brooks had a barely loud enough to hear squeak for a meow and only occasionally heard a faint noise coming from his red cooler. The receptionist, Donna, walked by Jo Jo’s cooler right before going to the restroom and thought she heard a squeak, but just thought it was her new shoes and kept walking. During lunch, Jo Jo fed pieces of turkey through the opening of the cooler for Brooks and took him outside to the back of the bakery, near the railroad tracks to let him go to the bathroom. At first Brooks was frightened by his unfamiliar surroundings, but he decided to stick his head out, then his neck, front legs, and finally his backside. He roamed around the place where empty bread trays are placed and eventually found enough soft dirt to dig into. Jo Jo looked at the large puffy clouds in the sky and thought about his mother who lived far away and about his brother Theodore who moved back to Europe to “find his roots”. He thought many things and then looked at some of his co-workers through a window and realized that they were all going back to work, so he thought that he’d better go too. So, Jo Jo grabbed Brooks and put him into the cooler and went back to finish preparing the trays for the next batch of muffins.
Jo Jo found it surprising that Brooks would be as comfortable as he was with his new “home”, but thought maybe Brooks would jump out and break a health code violation or two, but he didn’t and even fell asleep right before it was time for Jo Jo to go home.
On the way home, Brooks pushed open the lid a little more and peeked his head out just enough that Jo Jo’s neighbor, Cindy, saw Brooks and shouted “What’s your cat doing in there?” “this is my new cat carrier”, said Jo Jo as he just giggled quietly to himself.
The next morning, Jo Jo made sure he left Brooks inside the house, but somehow, as he usually does, Brooks found a way out and followed Jo Jo to work again. Jo Jo just could not believe it and still doesn’t know how Brooks gets out. He has checked every window and has even locked the bathroom door in case he found a way out through the air vent. Jo Jo emptied out the cooler once again, placed his pastrami sandwich in his coat pocket and put Brooks in the cooler. Brooks was now able to keep the lid open with one of his paws and by poking his head out just enough.
It wasn’t long before someone at the bakery noticed Brooks and Jo Jo’s friend, Dave almost choked on his raisin clump when he noticed him on his lunch break. He said that Mrs. Beckley better not see Brooks or Jo Jo will get in trouble. Jo Jo told Dave about his problem and Dave responded with “Brooks just doesn’t like staying home, does he?” “No” said Jo Jo, “When he was a kitten, he got stuck in a hole in the screen door while trying to get out”. “Have you checked to see that all the screens are fastened tightly on the windows?”, asked Dave. “Well, not really, but I haven’t seen any open when I am at home.” Dave and Jo Jo both just shrugged their shoulders and then, without warning, the fire alarm went off really loudly, which startled Dave, Jo Jo and especially Brooks, who jumped out of the cooler and ran down the hallway of the break room towards Mrs. Beckley’s office. Jo Jo got up quickly like a father whose child has run into the street. “Brooks!” said Jo Jo, as if it were possible to yell and whisper at the same time. Brooks darted through an opening in an air vent and ran inside. Just as Brooks was out of sight, Mrs. Beckley came out of her office shouting “Everyone get outside through the emergency exit door!” and just then both Dave and Jo Jo, who were trying to gather Brooks, were told by the security guard, Mr. Rosewood, t turn around because the exit is the other way. “But…” started Jo Jo, when Dave grabbed his arm and started him going towards the exit. It was obvious to both of them that this was not a drill because there was a strong smell of smoke coming from the oven room. “But Dave…” shouted Jo Jo. “I know…” said Dave, “Brooks is still inside!” yelled Jo Jo, as the two made their way outside. “Hopefully, Brooks’ knack for getting outside will save him”, said Dave. “I hope so.” Replied Jo Jo in a weeping voice.