“So, is all the obsidian there?” I teased.
“Seems like. Really need to get that scale fixed so I can make sure they’re not charging me more than I’m getting, though.” We paid for it by the pound.
“You’ve been doing business with Dwayne for decades. Why would he start screwing you now?”
“Because people are crooks.”
“Says the biggest one,” my dry reply.
“What I do isn’t theft but good business sense.”
“If you say so. I just wish this supposed good business sense actually paid enough to get our air conditioning fixed.” It broke three years ago, and we’d been getting by with fans since because Tutu refused to pay someone to repair it. In his defense, much of our earnings went to paying down debt.
“Bah. Air conditioning is a waste of electricity.”
“Says the man who can sleep in a gazllion degrees. Some of us would like to not wake in a puddle of sweat in the morning.”
“Your ancestors would cringe at your weakness.”
“My ancestors would have likely not been so stingy.”
The rebuke clamped his lips. “If you don’t like it?—”
“I can leave. You know, one day I will, and then what will you do?” I arched a brow.
Tutu scowled. “Ungrateful brat.”
“You know, maybe I should take a vacation. I’m long overdue for one.”
“Jameson is expecting his wares by the end of next week.”
“I’m sure you could handle it. After all, you taught me everything I know.”
His face went through a few emotions, panic, annoyance, more irritation. He’d never admit it, but I had more of a knack for working with the volcanic glass than he did. A project worth this much? He knew better than to handle it himself. Not if he wanted his new rich client to give us a referral and more business.
“You can take a break after the job is done.”
“A paid one.” I knew his cheap ass didn’t believe in paying me vacation time like a proper employee.
His face twisted as he spat out, “Fine, I’ll pay you, but if you go somewhere, you better take that lizard with you. I am not feeding or cleaning up after it.”
“Deal.”
I spun, lest Tutu see my wide smile. I’d actually won that round. My grandfather had backed down, and I was getting a paid week off. To do what? No clue. Maybe I’d visit O’ahu and see what my bestie was up to.
I spent the rest of that day dumping shards in the kiln and sorting the rest of the obsidian while they melted. Tigger alternated between riding my shoulder, sleeping in my breast pocket, and eating. I swear, every time I looked, it pointed at its mouth. Worried it would explode, I took it outside for a walk on the grass, cooing, “Poo for me. Come on, you can do it.”
Of course, when I sang the potty song my grandmother used to train me was when a deep voice said, “Why do I suddenly feel a need to ask to use the washroom?”
Chapter Four
My human startled as a man spoke to her. She fell on her bottom, and her cheeks turned red. Why the appearance of this male embarrassed her and not her ridiculous singing I didn’t understand. While I’d not understood all the words, I’d gotten the gist. As if I’d evacuate my bowels in front of an audience. A dragon rarely defecated in its growing phase, as pretty much everything it imbibed got processed for use by the rapidly growing body. We only ejected useless nutrients once they’d accumulated.
The man held out his hand and hauled the woman to her feet. I’d yet to decide if I would keep her or not. As a servant, she’d been mediocre thus far. While she’d been feeding me, the quantity, not to mention the lack of meat protein, left much to be desired. The whole placing me in a glass box, as well as daring to leash me? Completely and utterly unacceptable.
So why did I tolerate it? Because, for the moment, I had little choice. Hard to strike fear and inspire respect when you could be carted around with one human hand. At least the female appeared to want to protect me. One point in her favor. And while she might not realize it, she’d been teaching me about this world.
From the television we’d watched—which turned out to not be a scrying box but a way of disseminating visual entertainment—I’d absorbed much vocabulary, but I had a ways to go yet before I could properly speak and grasp nuances. The drama depicted by the actors had been entertaining. Then again, humans always were emotional creatures prone to strong emotion.
