Ever make a sketchy parking lot drug deal? Yeah, me neither…until April 2018

(PS – If you said yes, that’s totally fine, I’m not here to judge!)

Growing up, I always had a siamese cat. As an adult, I’ve learned finding a rescue siamese kitten is quite difficult to come by. I tried many years back to rescue one, but was unsuccessful. In early 2018, I lost both of my babies back to back within a month. Even though I said I would never get another animal, I adopted Finley only a week later (that story will come later). About a month after I got Finley, I stumbled across 5 siamese kittens at a rescue located in Broward County, FL.

I immediately emailed the rescue, and filled out ALL of the required paperwork. I supplied them with my name, address, copies of my drivers license, names and species of all pets in the house, etc. A few days later, more was required. I needed to photograph my entire household. After that, it was requested that I video the entire inside of my home along with a video of my neighborhood and me interacting with Finley. I was even asked to show the inside of closets. This is when I started to get skeptical.

This rescue now had ALL of my information. Where I work, when I work, when I’m home, when I’m not, what my neighborhood looks like and what the outside AND inside of my home looks like.

Yet still, I persevered. Cat lady’s don’t mess around. Lol. It was a Friday night, and the woman had agreed to meet me after work so I could come see the entire litter and pick out a kitten. She was located near my work, which was over an hour and a half from my house. I brought all the necessary things to bring a kitten home with me, and waited for her to text me after I left for the day. I waited. And I waited. And I waited some more. At this point, it was 9PM and she was still saying that she was “almost home” and that she would text me when she got there.

Finally, about 9:30PM I got this LONG run on sentence about how the kittens were going to an adoption event the next day (that I let her know I was unable to make it to) and even though she promised me a kitten she didn’t think it was fair to the others who may or may not show up the following day if I were to get first choice of the litter (even though I was the IONLY person who had completed her absolutely ridiculous list of things I needed to complete in order to comply with the adoption requirements)

I finally gave up. The entire universe was telling me this wasn’t the opportunity for me. So I went home and continued on with my life.

(Side story, my coworker actually found an injured kitten with spina bifida that night and I was able to transport her to a specialty rescue up near my house where they not only saved her life, but also rehabilitated her and adopted her out! I assumed maybe this was the reason I had a cat carrier with me that day…)

Fast forward to the Sunday after the adoption event. I follow a lot of rescues in the area and one of them posted an interview from the event. It was a lady, holding one lone siamese kitten. When they asked her why she still had a kitten left over, she said the cat was on hold for Marissa and that she would be going home on Monday (so she literally took the kitten I thought I might want, and used it to gain attention at her event before she let me have her)

The next day, the woman reached out to me and let me know she had the kitten and I was approved for adoption. She gave me a time and location to meet her. Upon googling the area, I borrowed pepper spray from my coworker and had my police officer friend track my location on my phone.

I showed up to the meeting spot. It was an abandoned church with a halfway house attached to it. I backed into a spot in the far corner of the lot so I had visibility of everyone who was coming and going. Sure enough, I witnessed 3 drug deals and a few pick up and go transactions.

Just as I’m getting ready to leave, since it was getting dark, in pulls a Jeep Cherokee with heavily tinted windows. The car pulls up directly next to me so that our drivers side windows line up. The woman rolls down the window just enough to stick an 8 week old kitten out the window and hand it to me.

So I take the kitten, not entirely sure what I’m supposed to do next. I’ve never done this before! Lol. The woman asks from her half rolled down window “Do you want her or not” So I responded “Ummm. I guess so?” This poor kitten was TERRIFIED. She wouldn’t even look at me. The lady says “Great. Do you have the cash? Don’t lose the cat in your engine on the way home” I hand her the cash through her STILL only halfway open window. She counts it, says thank you and drives off.

Makena made the entire 2 hour drive home curled up in a ball in the back of the carrier not making a single sound. She then spent the next 5 days in my bathroom hiding behind the toilet. She was SO scared of me, and I was afraid I had chosen a kitten that I would never bond with.

Fast forward to today, Makena is now my velcro cat. If she could live under my skin, I’m certain she would move in and never look back. She is the most amazing little creature and I’m so happy I chose to keep my drug deal kitty! She is a master of parkouring, and her hashtag is #FlyinHawaiian. I named her after my favorite beach on Maui (Makena Beach, Big Beach) and her middle name came from my first cat, Gracie Mae. She seems to always be in the air, so this nickname is quite fitting for her. She loves her brother, gets the zoomies every night at midnight and it sounds like a gremlin has taken over the house. For a small gal, she packs a big punch! 7 years later, I can’t imagine a life without this little cross eyed spunky tornado!

Moving forward, I highly suggest you research your rescues and follow your gut instead of your heart!! Looking back, I made several poor decisions. But it was worth it 🙂