The Great Hendowski

It was very dark, and breezy as I walked up to my apartment's front entrance. I fumbled with my keys until I heard a soft voice come through the intercom.
"Just come in, I see you. I've got a question." Following the words, came a familiar buzz that wafted through the lonely air.
The confusion left my face as I recognized my neighbor -- Madison Kaine. I felt an uneasy twist in my stomach, wondering whether she had been watching the security monitor for hours, keeping an eye out for me. My schedule was the same every week, so it was easy to keep track of my routine.
My neighbors were not the type of people I'd ever hang out with, and the reason was simple. They just weren't nice... and I don't mean nice like, they never volunteered to carry in my groceries or whatever. I mean not nice in the sense that we lived in a crowded, run down area of Boston, Massachusetts. You had to be tough to get along, and I was still slowly learning that bit.
"In, quick. It's chilly out there," she said as she began to descend from the stairs. She looked haggard, with small holes in her black tights, and a large slit in her skirt. It traveled to midthigh and I could make out the tiny yarn, pulled at the seams. Her blouse had a chocolate stain, the light color of chocolate milk (I guessed from her kid). The only thing sensible on this woman was her hair, pulled tightly into a ballerina bun, a beautiful golden color. She snorted and I stopped scrutinizing her appearance.
"Just wondering, since you're probably lonely all the time, and I've noticed you hardly have any visitors..."
I bit my tongue. Compared to the "visitors" you have and allow your child to see different potential fathers each night?
"... Would you take a kitten?"
"What?"
"Yeah." She waited for an answer, her impatience reeling it's ugly head as the heel of her boot tapped against the linoleum.
"What kind of kitten?" A weird question, but I just wanted to stop that annoying click.
Madison squinted and began thudding down the last few steps, keeping her eyes on me. "What kind? What kind of question is that? It's a baby of a fucking cat. An adult cat had babies. Don't tell me you've never seen a kitten before?"
She stopped dead in her tracks before me, and folded her arms across her chest. I wondered if any of the neighbors on the bottom floor had gotten a piece of her crap when they got home. Maybe they weren't home, maybe they left. I bet some of them had poked their heads out of their front doors to watch. I resisted rolling my eyes, instead I gripped my keys a little tighter.
She popped her hip and said, "listen Zoey, I know you're kind of a loser, but if you really don't know what a kitten is, I think--"
"I know what a kitten is!" I snapped, cutting her off. "I asked what kind, not what a kitten is."
Her brown eyes widened and she turned for the stairs. "Nevermind then. I was trying to be nice."
"Yep."
"If you won't take one, then that's fine. I can't find homes for the other ones anyway," she started her walk back up. "So they'll be going in the trash tomorrow morning."
My breath hitched, and I felt my face heat up. More than once tonight, a new record. Too bad this wasn't in a good way.
"You're not actually thinking about throwing kittens in the dump, are you?"
She ignored me, her heels digging into the cold floor. If she was going to ignore me, I was going to follow her and be a whole lot more annoying. But she didn't, surprise, surprise.
"Well, I'm not keeping a shitload of kittens!"
"Then get Sabrina fixed so it won't happen again," I said through gritted teeth.
"She's an indoor cat anyways. She shouldn't be out doing that--"
"If you made sure she didn't sneak out, you wouldn't have this problem right now." She closed her nasty mouth to my reply. "Those kittens did nothing wrong. If you do anything to them, I'll call animal rescue, or whoever! I don't care. What a way to come home, huh?"
Madison's eyes narrowed, and then lifted into a somewhat mutual understanding. "Fine, take them. Do something with them, but keep them away from me."
I nodded, and she turned away, heading to her own apartment, I assumed. I heard a door slam a few moments later, and took it as my cue to finally make way to my own. What did I just agree to? And I had no idea how many kittens were born. Were they all fed? Where was I going to keep them?
No. What do you even do with kittens when you're not going to keep them? (Besides toss them away like they were garbage?) They would have to stay with me for the night. It was too late for a Humane Society. My legs ached as I walked in, setting down my purse onto my purple armchair, questioning if I was ever going to have a pleasant night home for once. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to look for another place to live. But this was all I could afford. A one bedroom, with everything included. And it wasn't that bad of a place, either. Small, but comfy, with the occasional leaky faucet.
I covered my face with my hands as I landed on the couch, and groaned. Who did I know that might know what to do with newly born kittens? I felt around in my apron and pulled out the tainted napkin. Austin's numbers were a bit smudged, but I could still make them out. But was eleven thirty too late to call?
I texted instead, "hey! It's Zoey, from Rino's tonight. Uh, sorry if I woke you. Just a quick question... How much do you know about cats?"
My phone buzzed no more than a minute later.