A concerned pet owner living in a southside Chicago apartment building is going door to door hoping someone has seen is beloved pet rat, Mincy.
When one Mr. Johnson finally gets to the Thomas's, his neighbors in the adjoining apartment, he cheerfully knocks, trying to hide the alarm and fear at which he feels that something terrible might have happened to his pet.
But no, surely they would notify him if they spotted his beloved pet.
Early this morning the neighbor had heard such a clamor—the crashing of dishes, the screaming of female voices, the obscene cursing—that he was sure Mincy might have accidentally gotten into their apartment.
But no, surely they would notify him if they spotted his beloved pet. On several occasions they must have seen him holding Mincy in the hallway, or better yet, he knows that the younger son, Buddy, has actually even asked to pet him!
Yes, knocking on their door is more out of worry, just one more location to check off his list before he sets out to look for Mincy on a different floor or other common space in the apartment complex.
The door is answered by Mrs. Thomas, the matriarch of the household. In her care are three children: the obnoxious Buddy, the tightly-wound Vera, and the strange and solemn Bigger.
"Hello, Mrs. Thomas," he begins. "Just wondering if you guys saw Mincy this morning. He must have gotten out of his cage somehow."
A peculiar look washes over her, and she quickly goes from polite to panicked. She gives a look of caution to Vera who is still perched atop a beat-up looking couch.
Man, do all four of them just sleep in this one tiny room, he asks himself, glancing around their apartment.
"Mincy...Mincy?" she asks, almost rehearsed.
"Yes, Mincy. My pet black rat. I haven't seen him since last night. Maybe I could talk to Buddy? He seems pretty fond of him whenever he sees him."
She steps back, almost in pain. She shouts in a direction concealed behind the door.
"Buddy? Mr. Johnson from next door wants to know if you've seen..." she pauses, "Mimzy?"
"Mincy," he corrects her. He shouts inside to the hidden Buddy, too. "The rat you asked to hold last week. Have you seen him?"
Buddy comes to the door, an innocent look on his face. "Mincy, no, hmm..."
Suddenly, the other boy, Bigger, passes in a flash behind him and now Mr. Johnson can hear the faucet running.
"Yeah, he got out of his cage, I think. You haven't seen him?"
Buddy stares out past Mr. Johnson and focuses his eye on a stain on the hallway wall behind him.
"Nope, no Mincy," he says.
He's lying, Mr. Johnson thinks. "Are you sure?"
Just a quick nod “no” from Buddy this time.
"And what about you in there?" Mr. Johnson presumptuously cranes his neck past Buddy and peers directly into the apartment, focusing his gaze on Bigger.
"And you...let me guess, you haven't seen him either."
Bigger doesn't look up from the sink but just continues to scrub a skillet, frying pan. He meticulously scrubs, holding it up every once in a while to get a better look at the iron.
Mr. Johnson, looks him up and down and notices some holes in his pants and that he is only wearing one shoe.
"Look, if something's happened here..." Mr. Johnson trails off before he chokes up. His voice cracks. "Just tell me."
He looks back to Mrs. Thomas, who is now cleaning a big murky puddle in the corner of the room. She doesn't look up this time to meet his gaze, but stares intently at the reddish spot on the floor she is trying to clean.
He scans the room to try to meet eyes with any member of this family. Vera is still standing on the couch, her hands in a type of prayer, and Buddy, still holding the door open but slowly closing it in increments, giving a sheepish smile.
The silence is awkward.
Finally, Bigger passes by him without saying excuse me. He is carrying a garbage bag that doesn't seem quite full. In fact, it's such a small amount of trash for such a big garbage bag.
Bigger chucks it into an empty trash can near the stairwell. The loud thud seems strangely familiar.
Before he lets himself back in the apartment, Bigger pats Mr. Johnson's back before physically moving him to one side. "If we see or hear anything, we'll let you know," Bigger assures him.
Once Bigger has re-entered the apartment, Buddy looks down in shame, slowly closing the door on Mr. Johnson's face.
"See ya," he says weakly.
Mr. Johnson stays still for a moment in the hallway and puts his ear up to the door. He can hear scattered footsteps and the muffled voice of Mrs. Johnson whisper-screaming at the two boys.
Before turning to leave, Mr. Johnson clicks his tongue in succession, rapid-fire, trying to get the attention of his lost rat.
"Here Mincy, Mincy..."