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Hunter feeds Flapjack another vitamin-fortified gummy worm and pours a third helping of Cookie Crisp for himself. The little cookies rattle against the bowl. Showering them with a curtain of lactose-free milk, he howls, “Cooooookie Crisp!”
Willow and Gus have noticed that he’s gotten taller. The new height has to have come from somewhere.
“You know,” Luz says, her mouth full of Frosted Flakes, “I think Tony the Tiger would be a good influence on Chip the Wolf.”
She squirrels away another two spoonfuls, rushing to savor the crunch before the milk sogs the cereal. “Because you always see him playing sports with kids. Chip is just trying to commit petty theft.”
“The pettiest of thefts,” Amity says, “since a box of cereal is how many snails?”
“Okay but consider,” Willow interjects. “Isn’t it weird that Officer Crumb would also be enemies with Chip the Wolf? They repped the same cereal!”
“You know, it is weird.” Hunter pauses to bask in the satisfaction. His fixation on wolves spread tendrilously to the history of a cereal that happened to have a wolf as a mascot. By sheer force of will and gift of gab, he’s made sure everyone knows something about nineties media beyond Cosmic Frontier.
The microwave beeps. Out of habit, Vee positions herself in front of it to guard it against Willow and Amity. The alarm clock incident was not a one-off, rest in peace hallway smoke detector.
Gus brings bowls and spoons to the table and starts the chorus of mondongo . Camila had delighted in making a giant pots of “food with meats Luz never liked.” They all practice rounding their mouths and pushing back their tongues so the sequence of o’s almost echoes.
Vee dons mismatched oven mitts, one with a soulfully sad African elephant and the other with a Dominican flag, and ferries the warmed soup to the table. Very seriously, she allots equal amounts of tripe to Gus, Willow, Amity, and herself.
“Speaking of animals,” Gus says, shaking drops of hot sauce into the soup, “Hunter and I watched a documentary last night and now we want to go to the pet store.”
“Was it the one about what happens when dogs are home alone? Or the one with the elephant going the wrong way?” Luz sniffles. “I was so moved.”
Gus shakes his head. “No, it was about this weird creature that could survive almost anything.”
“Love in the Time of Tardigrades?” Amity guesses. “A personal favorite.”
“Hotel Cockroach-ifornia?” Willow tries. “Not a very lovely place, but it did get bombed twice.”
Hunter and Luz slurp milk from their bowls. After making eye contact, it turns into a competition. Hunter wins.
“Neither of those,” Gus says, “it was about a rat.”
“Like the echo mouse!” Luz gulps with the last of her milk. “Which is a rat, right? Thicker, hairless tail. Weird, now that I think about it. Rat-mouse. Mouse-rat?”
“So how are we getting to the pet store?” Vee says.
“Someone got his driver’s license.” Willow winks at Hunter.
“It’s just a learner’s permit,” Hunter scratches his neck. “I’m not supposed to have passengers.”
Willow and Luz pout at him.
“Okay, just don’t tell the Connecticut State DMV Center for Safe Teen Driving.”
“Are you nervous?” Luz nudges.
Hunter stands and pushes in his chair. “I’m done being a bad but sad boy. I want to be a good and happy boy, and that does include driving by the rules.”
“What if,” Luz thinks. “I buy you the Cosmic Frontier graphic novel.”
“Which volume?”
Luz smirks. “Yes.”
Hunter’s eyes sparkle. “I’m a bad and glad boy.”
*
His bravado erodes like marble in acid rain once he gets behind the wheel. “I was the law and now I’m not. This is illegal, this is illegal.”
“Well,” Amity says, “I watched the Gravesfield town council meeting— if we’re still here when we’re eighteen, I’d consider running— anyway, the police department is severely understaffed. It’s like, imagine the Emperor’s Coven having a recruitment problem.”
Hunter’s ears burn. “That’s how I met Willow.”
“No— not this story again.” Gus pounds his fists against the back of the passenger seat where Luz sits. “I was there!”
“I want to hear it again.” Willow reaches for Hunter’s shoulder and gives a squeeze.
His whole face turns red. “Don’t distract the driver while he’s driving! Distract me later!”
In the third row of seats, Vee tries to nap.
Luz directs, “Next left and then you can parallel park up there.”
“You mean, I can park somewhere else.” Hunter says.
“Fair.”
They have to walk a block, but Hunter finds a beginner-friendly parking space.
The Gravesfield Pet Emporium is in an old brick building. It smells like animals, which is a good sign. Brightly colored birds, gerbils, fish, bugs, dogs with only four legs— they have everything, but Gus doesn’t find what he seeks.
“Hi, how can I help you?” A worker whose name tag identifies them as Masha followed by a winky face asks with no hint of interest in their voice.
“Hello, where are your Jelly Belly gummi pet rats?” Gus asks with misplaced confidence.
“I don’t know that I get paid enough to put up with this.” Masha says.
“Gus.” Luz wipes her face with her palm. “Documentary? You should have told me you were looking at twenty-teens internet. We need to go to the candy store.”
Vee and Amity shrug at each other.
“Candy store! Candy store!” Gus, Hunter, and Willow cheer.