by Coco Simon
They had Naga with them.
“Chill, Sierra,” said Isabel, all cool. “It’s fine.”
“Isabel! That’s not fine! That’s like when two species collide! Like, this could turn into an episode from Animal Planet at any moment. You’ve got to put her away! I’m serious! Right. Now!”
Raven had Naga and was letting her crawl all over her shoulders and down her arm. The kittens weren’t right next to her. Snakes move fast, and kittens can be clumsy, so it was not safe.
Allie and Tamiko followed me into the living room, and I braced myself for an awkward social interaction. But Tamiko said a friendly, “Hey, Isabel! Hey, Raven!” and Raven smiled and waved back. Isabel looked surprised that the two were friendly, and I quickly introduced Allie to Raven.
Isabel had a defiant look on her face, as if she were daring my friends to say something about the snake. She said to Raven, “Here, let me hold her for a minute,” and she took Naga into her hands and allowed the snake to roam on her arms. She kept looking up at my friends, almost taunting them with the snake. But I was relieved to see that they didn’t freak out.
“So this is the famous Naga, huh?” said Allie.
Tamiko squatted down next to Isabel. “Can I hold her, please?” Tamiko asked.
Isabel looked shocked. “Uh, sure! Just take her like this. . . .” She showed Tamiko what to do, and Tamiko took over.
“Hey! Do you mind if I get a photo?” Tamiko asked Isabel.
Isabel actually smiled. “Sure. Where’s your phone? I’ll take it.”
I was frozen in the doorway, though. “Isabel, do you really think this is a good idea?” I asked. The kittens were wandering closer and closer; they were interested in all the people suddenly on the floor.
“Sierra, I said to relax. It’s fine.” Isabel stood and snapped some photos of Tamiko.
“Allie, do you want to hold her?” Tamiko asked.
Here comes the squealing for sure, I thought, but Allie surprised me too. “Sure. Just show me what to do. I’m scared. I don’t want to drop her.”
Isabel looked incredulous for a moment. Then she gave Allie a little lesson and transferred Naga from Tamiko to Allie.
My nerves were jangling as I watched the kittens and snake nearly interacting on my living room floor. It was as if Isabel and I were playing a game of chicken, trying to see who would back down first.
Isabel won.
I scooped up the kittens and brought them back into the kitchen and shut the door. Then I joined the circle on the floor around Naga, just like the one we’d had when my parents had first brought home the kittens.
Isabel was the happiest I’d seen her in weeks. Allie and Tamiko oohed and aahed over Naga and how beautiful she was, and Raven was pretty knowledgeable about snakes. She was also really nice. For about a half hour we all hung out and chatted and had a great time. It felt like the old days, back when Isa and I had been pals and had shared friends.
I didn’t want to be a killjoy, but we had work to do. I finally suggested that we go in and use the kitchen table to do our posters, but Isabel nicely offered to put Naga away so we could stay in the living room and use the coffee table. Raven even offered to help, but Isa dragged her off to listen to some horrible music up in her room.
After they left, Allie and Tamiko looked at me with raised eyebrows.
“That was fun!” said Allie.
“That was the Isabel we know and love, back from the dead!” said Tamiko bluntly.
“I know,” I said, shaking my head in wonder. “And all it took to get her back was a little snake-handling!”
We all cackled at that and got to work, but I did think about it later that night as I was going to sleep. Isabel had been civil to me at dinner. Maybe she just wanted someone to be excited about her new pet and her new friends and her new interests.
Maybe that someone was me.
CHAPTER NINE
ISABEL HAS A HEART!
Saturday morning Isabel and I were up super early to go to work with our parents. I dawdled at the kitchen table, drinking my hot chocolate slowly and letting Marshmallow play with the string of my hoodie. I was about to start getting sentimental about the kitties leaving us, when Isa walked in.
She was grumpy in the mornings, so I usually didn’t try to speak to her, but today there seemed to be visible waves of grumpiness rising off her. I watched her thunk her bowl down onto the counter, shake cereal into it, splash milk over the cereal, and then slump at the table to eat. She pulled her hoodie up over her head and out, like the brim of a cap, so that I couldn’t see her face.
Okay, whatever, I thought.
Cinnamon was trying to play with her foot, but Isa kept impatiently shooing the cat away. Finally I caved and spoke.
“Why don’t you want her playing with you?” I asked.
Isabel glanced at me and shrugged.
“Is she annoying you?”
Isabel sighed and kept chewing.
“What’s the deal?” I asked. I watched Isabel scoot her foot away again and lift her leg onto her seat. Cinnamon looked around, perplexed, like, Where did my jungle gym just go?
“Here, Cinnie!” I said.
“It’s ‘Monster’!” growled Isabel.
I lifted my chin. “I can call her whatever I like. And anyway, who made you the boss of her?”
“I picked her nickname when I named her.”
“Okay, mis amores!” said my dad, hustling into the kitchen. “We need to head over now.”
I stood, dumped my cocoa into the sink, and, in a rare moment of neatness, rinsed the mug out and put it into the dishwasher. I put on my sneakers, grabbed my phone, and went to sit in the car. I just wanted to be away from Isabel. As I sat there, I scrolled through all the posts that Tamiko had worked on. She was getting tons of likes for the photos of the kittens, fewer likes for the pics of the posters announcing the details of the adopt-a-thon. I suddenly had a pang. What if no one comes tomorrow? Or worse, what if people come to play with the kitties but no one wants to take them home? Especially Honey, the grown-up cat.
The tailgate of the car opened, and I could hear my dad and Isa maneuvering something. Of course! I’d forgotten! We had to bring Naga and all of her things to the clinic that day for the reptile guy to pick up. No wonder Isabel was in such a bad mood.
Once Naga was safely stowed in the back and everyone was in the car, we set out. My dad lectured us the whole way about helpfulness and willingness and cleanliness and all the “-ness” we needed for our punishment/job that day.
At a certain point my mom said, “Andres. I think they’ve got it.”
My parents’ busiest day of the week was Saturday because they had a double whammy: appointments for people who couldn’t come in on weekdays, and then drop-ins of sick animals who arrived without appointments. The clinic had a front desk manager, Flor, who kept everything under control. She was able to manage aggressive people and animals, as well as scared and weeping ones, because she was tough—with everyone but us, that is. She’d been with our parents forever, so she had a soft spot for me and Isa. She was almost like an auntie to us.
“¡Niñas!” she cried, throwing open her arms as we arrived. I dove into them and let myself be squeezed and rocked back and forth. She took her name “Flor”—“flower” in Spanish—quite literally and always dressed in floral patterns, wore floral accessories, and decorated her entire desk area with flowers, both live and artificial. Her earrings and bracelets jingled as she released me and dove for Isa. Isa did not tolerate hugs and kisses, but she leaned in headfirst and allowed Flor to give her kind of a one-armed hug around her neck. This was Isa’s version of an all-out hug-a-thon—the most she’d ever tolerate from anyone.
“¡Ay, mami!” teased Flor, wagging her finger with its inch-long purple nail at Isabel. “Still no hugs?”
Isabel smiled shyly and shook her head. Flor patted her on the shoulder and sent us to the back to find Miguel, the vet tech who’d supervise us for th
e day.
Miguel was kind, but he was overworked and not great at sharing his job. He actually did not know how to ask for help; it just didn’t occur to him. So Isa and I spent the next hour chasing him around with mops and buckets and rags, trying to see what needed doing. We had one puke cleanup and one cat pee and then had to package up two poop samples from sick puppies. I gagged on that one.
Around ten we went out to do a sweep of the waiting area. It could get a little hairy in there, literally, and it was packed. As we opened the door and dragged our cleaning gear in, I spied two identical twin girls sitting on the love seat, clinging to each other and crying softly. Between them was a big cat in a carrier who looked really unwell. I glanced at Isa to see her reaction, but she was looking away, as if scanning the room to see what needed cleaning.
I immediately felt a bond with the twins and felt so bad for them and their sick cat that I crossed the room to say hi.
“Hey,” I said quietly, bending down. “Is your kitty sick?”
One of the girls nodded sadly. “She ate something bad.”
“She’s throwing up,” said the other.
“Do you think she’ll die?” the first one asked me.
“Oh! What? I don’t work here. I mean . . . I’m a volunteer, just for the day, so I wouldn’t know.”
Suddenly Isa was beside me, and she squatted down too. “What did she eat?” asked Isa.
“A whole chicken salad sandwich,” one of the girls said. “I left it on the coffee table in the living room when I went to the bathroom and I forgot about it.”
“Oh dear,” said Isabel. “That’s not good.”
“Mom always tells us not to leave food where the cat can get it,” the other sister said. “And you always forget.”
“I didn’t mean it!” the first sister cried.
“I’m sure the doctors will make her better. Don’t worry,” I said.
A man came out of the bathroom and crossed the room to rejoin the girls. He smiled at me and Isa. “Twins?” he asked, pointing at us.
That hadn’t happened in a while. When we’d been small, it had happened all day long. But since Isa had changed her look, most people didn’t notice.
I grinned at the girls and nodded. “Yup. Just like you two.”
“Identical?” asked the dad.
Isabel nodded. “Technically,” she said.
The dad smiled. “I bet you two got into a lot of trouble when you were little, just like these two.”
Isabel and I looked at each other, and she finally broke into a smile. “Yup,” we said at the same time.
Isabel squatted back down. “You have to be nice to your kitty. Kitties like people to take good care of them and look after them. Just like you do with your sister. You take care of each other, don’t you?” The girls didn’t say anything for a moment, but then they both shyly grinned at each other and nodded.
“Well, we hope your kitty feels better soon,” I said. As we walked away, I whispered, “OMG, that is totally something that would have happened to us. I’m always leaving snacks around the house.”
Isabel actually smiled. “It definitely would have happened to us. If we’d ever had a pet!”
“Right?” I crowed, and we laughed.
As we were cleaning the waiting room, mopping the floor around people’s feet, I saw a man come in without a pet. He approached Flor, and she interrogated him and then told him to wait. She scooted away from her desk, which is something Flor never does, and disappeared into the back.
“Isa?” I nudged Isabel. “I think that’s Naga’s new dad.”
Isabel whipped her head over to look. “Really?” Her face showed a mix of emotions: anguish, concern, and hope.
We stood leaning on our mops and waited for Flor to return. When she did, she beckoned me and Isa over to the desk.
After Flor introduced us, the man said, “Hi, girls. I’m Herb Miller. Coming to adopt . . . is it Naga?” He smiled, and his eyes crinkled kindly, as if they got lots of smiling practice.
Isabel gulped nervously and nodded, while I stuck out my hand, as my parents had always taught us.
“I’m Sierra Perez, and this is my sister, Isabel. She’s the snake lady.”
“I’m happy to meet you both. Tell me about Naga,” he said to Isabel. The two of them started chatting—Isabel tentative and shy at first, but then opening up and really talking with the man.
“And she really just loves to be held,” Isa was saying when my dad came out.
He ushered us all back to his spotless office, where Naga’s tank sat on his desk, with her heat lamp and humidifier all plugged in. She was curled up in her cave, and Mr. Miller squatted down to see her.
“Oh, wow, she’s a beauty!” he said softly. “I can see why you picked her.”
Isabel beamed. “Actually, I rescued her from a friend who couldn’t keep her anymore.”
“Kind of like he’s doing for you,” I said.
“Right,” agreed Isabel, giving me a glance. I knew she was relieved that someone was taking Naga, but she’d never told Mr. Miller that she didn’t want the snake anymore.
I wondered if Mr. Miller knew the real reason why we weren’t keeping Naga.
My dad smartly moved things along. I knew he had a lot of patients waiting. And Mr. Miller had come from far away and had a bit of a drive home. Plus, I think Dad knew that Isabel was going to be sad. Even though Naga was going to a nice home with someone who would love her and who could care for her better than Isa could, it still didn’t make it any easier for Isa to let Naga go. Saying good-bye was going to be hard.
Before we knew it, we were helping Mr. Miller load Naga into his truck. With the tank in the front seat, he asked Isabel if she’d like a moment alone to say good-bye to Naga, which I thought was super-nice. We all waited on the terrace of the clinic while Isabel stood on the running board of the pickup and whispered into the lid of the tank. When she stepped down, she quickly wiped a tear from her eye. I felt so bad for her just then. My dad had that look on his face that he gets when one of us is hurt, like he’s hurting too.
Isabel gently closed the truck door and walked back to us, her head hanging.
“Hey, you can come visit anytime,” said Mr. Miller. “And maybe when you’re older and the time is right for you, you’ll come get a new snake from me!”
Isabel nodded, unable to meet his eye. Dad wrapped his arm around her, and she buried her face into him.
Mr. Miller pulled out his wallet and peeled off a bunch of bills. He folded them and tried to hand them to Isabel.
“Oh, no. Thanks. I’ve thought about it, but I just couldn’t. She was free,” said Isabel, looking up now with her tearstained face.
“Well, you’ve had some upkeep and food and whatnot. Why don’t you take half, and if you feel uncomfortable, you can donate it to the World Wildlife Fund for reptile protection.” He handed her a bunch of the money and kindly patted Isabel’s shoulder. Then he smiled at my dad and nodded. “Off I go.”
My dad walked him to the truck, and we called our thank-yous after him.
When I turned back from waving, I saw my mom holding Isabel in a full-body old-fashioned hug. That was a new one.
I left them alone and went back inside to mop up more poop.
“As you girls know, when Papi and I have had a tough day at the clinic, we like to do something special to cheer ourselves up,” said my mom early that evening. “We have to balance some of the sadness with fun at home. You girls worked so hard today and then came home and did your homework. And, Sierra, you looked after the kitties again. And, Isa, mi amor, I know how hard it was for you to give up Naga. What would you two like to do for dinner that would be fun? We could go out.”
“Ooh! I know! Let’s go to the mall and get bubble tea!” That was my favorite food treat in the area.
My mom nodded her head from side to side, considering it. “We could do that. Isa?”
Isabel shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said
.
My mom and dad exchanged a worried glance.
“Sweetheart, we know you’re upset about Naga . . . ,” Mom said.
Isabel was more upset than I’d seen her in a long time.
“I have a plan,” said my dad. “Let’s go. Everybody, in the car.”
“Where are we going?” my mom asked.
My dad leaned over and with a sly smile whispered into her ear. Her eyebrows shot up, and she said, “Good call.”
As we drove away from the house, my dad said, “First stop: JumpOn.”
“No way!” I cried. “Thanks, Papi!” JumpOn was an awesome indoor trampoline park that Isa and I had loved ever since we were little. It had tons of trampolines and then a room that was entirely bouncy, so you could throw yourself against the wall or floor and bounce back. Plus, it had a whole soccer-trampoline room, where you bounced and shot, which was where we’d had our birthday party in fourth grade.
The best thing about going was that my parents didn’t just sit and watch. They jumped too.
“Is there a second stop?” I asked, getting excited.
“Yes. After JumpOn, we’re going to Sid’s.” He looked in the rearview mirror at Isa, trying to catch her eye. It was her favorite place to eat, so she should have been grinning from ear to ear.
I snuck a glance at Isabel and could see that she now had a pleased look on her face. It wasn’t quite a smile, but it was good enough for me.
To say that we jumped would be an understatement. We jumped and bounced higher and for longer than we ever had before. Even Dad, who usually called it quits early, was jumping so high that I thought he was going to hit the ceiling. We did tricks and showed off for one another, and invented challenges and dares. We played two-on-two soccer, with Isa and me facing off against my parents, and Isa and I won.
When we got home, we were all exhausted but happy. Isabel seemed much better.