As she entered 'Karl's Animal Kingdom' with its caws and barks and chirps and meows and hisses and door chimes ringing, with its fur and feathers and fins and scales and colors, along with the cages and aquariums and pet food and squeaky toys and scratching posts and chains and books amongst a wide assortment of other odds and ends; her blue eyes instinctively sought out the dark gaze of her conspirator ringing up a sale behind the cash register and handing a young woman, with a diamond nose stud, her newly acquired Angel fish viva a small, water filled Ziploc bag.
Immediately, her step lightened, her will fortified, her faith in fair play renewed for Kevin smiled back inclining his head ever so slightly her way.
The plan was a go.
Without giving Kevin a second glance, Chloe pulled Brady off to the back of the store where the puppies were kept in a separate room that could be viewed through its glass wall. There she made the appropriate 'ooooos' and 'ahhhhs' and 'isn't that one soooo cute, look, how adorable, it sneezed' noises. Masterfully, she pretended that the puppies were the real reason that they were in the store, and not the snakes-more specifically not the scarlet king snake which bears a striking resemblance to, and in fact is often mistaken for, the highly poisonous coral snake.
"Is there anything I can help the two of you with?" Politely, Kevin inquired while adjusting the nametag on his atrociously blue and red polka dot speckled shirt, his previous customer long gone from the store.
"I like that one, can you tell me how much he is?" Brady asked; his tone light and excited as he watched a tiny Siberian Husky happily munch on the newspaper lining its cage.
For some unknown reason, this made Chloe feel bad.
Out of nowhere, she experienced a slight twinge of guilt as Kevin informed them that the dog had already been sold, Brady's crestfallen face tugging at some tender place in her heart; perhaps because even as annoying as he had been, she couldn't help but recognize his fundamentally innocent and good spirit or that for all his self-assuredness how at heart he was no more than isolated--never to be quite understood.
From under her black, thick-rimmed glasses, she could relate.
But she could also relate to taking a shower without someone checking to see if the water was too hot or liable to scald her 'creamy delicate skin, so smooth and fine as the butterfly's wing.'
With that particularly embarrassing memory in mind, she turned to Kevin, squashed her guilt, and exclaimed on cue, "Oh that's horrible, poor Will, that puppy would have been perfect for him!"
To which Kevin responded (as they had earlier discussed he would over the cell phone, from which Chloe had called him while she was supposedly going to the ladies room), "Will? You mean you want to buy a puppy as a gift? How old is Will?"
"Five."
"Five. . .hmmm, a lot of little boys come in here looking for snakes or chameleons. If you don't mind my suggesting, I think that's the way to go. Reptiles are all the rage with that age group. I think it has something to do with dinosaurs or maybe the Crocodile Hunter. And, Cickey, the parents love to buy them too; probably because they're so easy to take care of."
At the mention of the Crocodile Hunter, Brady beamed, his interest obviously piqued.
"Show me the snakes." He commanded enthusiastically while Chloe made the appropriate 'ick, gross' response and Kevin guided them over to the reptile section where he commenced to point out the various types of snakes (from the garter to the python) lecturing on their diverse feeding habits and temperaments and statistics as if he was a PBS documentary speaker.
But Kevin stopped short at one particular aquarium. "That's odd." He commented almost to himself.
"What's odd?" Chloe asked.
"Ummm. . .there must have been a mix-up. This snake shouldn't be out on the floor. It's a most deadly species: Micrurus fulvius, the coral snake, one bite from it's fangs can cause drooping eyelids, slurred speech, double vision, drowsiness, disorientation, hallucinations, continuous, aimless physical activity, convulsions and even death! Its venom acts as a neurotoxin paralyzing the heart and respiration. We usually keep them in the back room for the University Hospital. It most assuredly shouldn't be out here! I better quick return it to its proper place; if you'll excuse me?"
And thus, Kevin picked up the aquarium causing Chloe to sigh, mentioning to Brady that she thought 'that one was pretty with its yellow, red, and black stripes, too bad'. Likewise, Brady shook his head in sad agreement. But then, he turned his attention on to a brightly colored garter snake and smiled thinking that Will was going to be thrilled.
It was at this point that all hell broke loose.
Because just as Kevin 'accidentally' (on purpose) tripped, there by 'accidentally' (on purpose) releasing the scarlet king snake which he had 'accidentally' (on purpose) identified as a coral snake, Chow Lee, Ling's right hand man and most deadly assassin, entered the building motioning for Brady to come and 'dance' (fight).
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Ok, I'm psyching myself up for the next chapter, definitely dual fights, thanks for being patient
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