“What is that?” I asked.
“Mrs. Tolbert said someone needed to take home Sir Stingsley. I raised my hand and she picked me!” Braxton said with a broad smile on his face.
“Aren’t you a lucky boy? What kind of pet is Sir Kingsley?”
“Not Sir Kingsley,” Riley corrected. “Sir Stingsley.”
“He’s a scorpion!” Braxton exclaimed.
Suddenly, an uneasy feeling washed over me. “Does your mother know about this?”
Braxton nodded his head exaggeratedly. “Yes, she does. I asked her and she said yes.”
I highly doubted that. Braxton and Riley both had a bad habit of asking for stuff at the most inopportune time, resulting in Avery agreeing to something without realizing it or remembering it. In any event, the teacher should have spoken with an adult directly before sending a four-year-old home with a scorpion. “Does Sir Stingsley live in the box?”
“No, he lives in a glass box, but Mrs. Tolbert put it in this box because some of the other teachers are scared of him. And she put his food in the box, too. The other teachers don’t like that either.”
“I don’t even want to know,” I mumbled as Copper laughed.
“Do you want me to go back to the school?” he asked.
“You can’t take him back!” Braxton cried. “No one else’s mom said they could bring him home. And if no one takes care of him, he’ll die!”
“Fuck,” I cursed. I didn’t know what to do. I knew there was no way in hell Avery agreed to allow a scorpion with scary food to spend Christmas break at her house, but Braxton was adamant that she said yes.
“If it turns out she didn’t agree to this, Sir Stingsley can hang out at the clubhouse with Slither and Squeeze. Bronze won’t mind feeding it whatever it eats,” Copper said quietly.
“You sure? Because I’m almost one-hundred-percent certain Avery didn’t consciously agree to this.”
And I was proven to be correct moments after we walked through the front door. “Mommy, tell Kellan and President that you said I could bring the class pet home for Christmas,” Braxton demanded.
Avery’s forehead wrinkled. “I don’t remember agreeing to that.”
“Uh-huh. You said ‘yes, fine, whatever,’ when I asked you.”
“What was I doing when you asked me?”
“You were in the bathroom putting those sucky things on your boobies.”
Avery’s face turned bright red and I could tell things were about to go south fast. “Braxton, go upstairs and play while I talk to your mom.”
Avery whirled around to face me. I held my hands up in a placating manner. “Hear me out, sweetness. I didn’t think you’d be okay with this, but when I mentioned going back to the school, Braxton got really upset. Copper said Sir Stingsley could stay at the clubhouse with the snakes. Bronze can feed him and take care of him during the break.”
She exhaled slowly. “Okay, can you take it over there now? I cannot handle having a scorpion in my house. I just can’t.”
I laughed, as did a few of the brothers. “Yes, we’ll take him over right now. Do you think Braxton would want to tag along and see the snakes?”
“I’m sure he would love th—”
Avery was cut off by Riley’s panicked scream. It didn’t even occur to me that I was supposed to be taking it easy. I bolted for the stairs, taking two or three at a time, and ran as fast as I could to Riley’s room only to find it empty. “Riley!” I bellowed.
“Help! Get it out!” she screamed repeatedly.
I found her in Braxton’s room, screaming and running in circles while she wildly swatted at her hair. I caught her and lifted her flailing body into my arms. She was screaming and crying and I couldn’t understand a word she was saying, but then my eyes landed on the dark mass in her hair and I knew what the problem was.
“Riley,” I said sternly. “Be still so I can help you.”
“What is going on?” Avery demanded as she entered the room and reached for Riley.
