Every candy store had a cat and the cat had a name and the name was always wrong. You would walk in and the man behind the counter would say that is Tiger and Tiger was the fattest most docile animal on the Lower East Side. Tiger had never hunted anything in his life. Tiger's job was to sit on the counter next to the penny candy and judge you. The candy store cat was the first critic most kids ever met.

The candy store cat knew the schedule. He knew when the kids came after school. He knew when the old men came for the newspaper. He knew when the delivery truck backed up to the curb and he knew to move from the counter to the windowsill when the boxes came in. The candy store cat had mapped the day by routine. He did not need a clock. The clock needed him.

The health department came and said you cannot have a cat in a food establishment. The man behind the counter said the cat is not in the food. The cat is on the counter. The counter is not the food. The health department said that is not how it works. The man behind the counter said that is exactly how it works. The cat stayed. The health inspector came back six months later and the cat was in the same spot and the inspector pretended not to see him. That is how regulation works on the Lower East Side.

I knew a candy store cat on Avenue C who would walk with you to the door when you left. He would sit in the doorway and watch you walk down the block. He did not follow you. He watched. When you turned the corner he went back inside. The candy store cat was not a pet. The candy store cat was a host. He welcomed you and he saw you off and he remembered you the next time you came in.

The bodegas have cats now. They even have Instagram accounts. The bodega cat is famous. But the candy store cat was not famous. The candy store cat was local. He belonged to the block and the block belonged to him. Nobody photographed the candy store cat. Nobody needed to. You saw him every day. He was part of the furniture of your life. The bodega cat is a celebrity. The candy store cat was a neighbor. Those are different kinds of love.

See also: Bodega Cat, Candy Store