Chapter 24
Rani's heart was racing at the sight of the middle-aged woman who approached her without any regards to the fact that she just woke up from her blackout. She kept telling herself that there was nothing to be afraid of since she was already an adult with her own responsibilities.
Only this time, she wasn't alone with a snake under her sheets and a tarantula in plain sight.
"Mama, I-"
"What the hell is this?!" her mother demanded, cutting off what she needed to say. Rani internally rolled her eyes, trying to predict what her mother would say in this scenario. One of her hands was holding onto Mr. Snake's tail under the blanket. She could feel his tongue flickering briefly as a way of comforting her.
"Do you know how badly this will affect me and the family?" she asked, taking out her phone to show Rani what was going on. Apparently, it was a video of the police with chief Misty Luggins raiding the skeletal man's home along with two paramedics carrying both her and Mr. Snake onto a stretcher. A few photographers and reporters were gathering around the premise, wanting to get the scoop of the house while a few stayed to get a word out of her or Mr. Snake, only to be blocked by a few police officers.
"I was kidnapped, Mama," said Rani, feeling her voice getting smaller. It was either the medication or just the sound of her mother's voice was giving her a throbbing headache. Her free hand gripped the rail of her hospital bed. "I must've passed out before I knew where I was. So, are you the only one here to visit me?"
Her mother pinched the bridge of her nose, a common habit she had seen growing up whenever she felt frustrated. "I don't know how I ended up with a delinquent as my oldest daughter. You are lucky that both Mira and Ayu made up for everything you have. Then again, better keep an eye on your brothers and Farah while at it."
Rani wanted to bury her head under the covers, hoping that this woman would go away. Instead, she sat up straight, eyes narrowed at her mother's direction. It wasn't easy doing this but it was for those little snakes, Mr. Snake and her own sake.
"Mama," she began, holding onto Mr. Snake's smooth scaled tail that wrapped around her hand under the cover. "I-"
"YOU listen to me," her mother cut her off with a finger. "It's bad enough that we wasted money on your university course but this?! You getting yourself on the news for the whole world to to see and with a snake! A disgusting worm that the Devil spawned?!"
Rani leaned forward to face her mother, wincing slightly at the pain throughout her body. "Aren't you a LITTLE bit concern that your eldest daughter almost died and ended up in hospital? Sure, you have my siblings but one day, they will know. Pretty sure Mira and Ayu already have..."
Her mother's laugh gave her chills. It wasn't warm but the cruel, harsh-type when one publicly humiliates someone in school where the teachers would join in the 'fun'. "Know what? How much of a cow their sister is? Honestly Rani, no one you're still single in your mid-twenties and still not making a lot of money."
"Times are different, Mama," she reminded her, touching her temple from the sudden headache. It felt like as if someone had sliced her head with a sword made of icicles. Her mother rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, snap out of it! I was never this dramatic when you and your siblings came out of me. Your father does nothing but lay around in bed and what use can he do now that he has stumps for legs?"
"Papa-"
"'Papa! Papa!' You're not a little girl anymore!" her mother mocked her tone of voice. "Bad enough that miserable man kept whining about going back to Jakarta or where ever the hell those stumps would take him. Learn your place, Maharani, and stop all of this attention-seeking."
Just then, Mr. Snake popped his head out of the blanket, causing her mother to scream as if she was being murdered. From her mother's perspective, Mr. Snake's sudden appearance under the covers reminded her of that one scene from Aliens. Rani stroked Mr. Snake's head, letting the serpent flicked his tongue out.
"WHY IS THAT THING HERE?!"
"He saved me from my kidnapper! He may be scary to you but he's good! In fact, he's been my saviour ever since we met," Rani argued, holding back due to the pain. She could feel Mr. Snake tensing up, a low hiss was emitted out of him. Her mother wanted to come close but was too afraid of the serpent that was in her hospital bed.
With her thick long hair frizzled out and the redness coming from her face, her mother could fit the role of the witch in fairytale. Rani stared at her, trying not to blink once they locked eyes onto each other. Last time she had done this, she got herself two red ears as trophies from the stare down.
She may be terrified of her mother but she must think of what's best for her and the whole situation she had gotten herself into.
"I think it's best that you leave, Mama," Rani told her firmly. Of course, her mother looked like she had sucked two lemons in her mouth to express such disgust and anger at the instruction. No one in the family had ever told her off before due to her temper. "WHAT?! YOU DARE DISRESPECT YOUR OWN MOTHER?!"
"You're stressing me out!"
"I'll give you something to stress about!"
Mr. Snake hissed lowly, body formed into an S-shaped, a defenced position. He was ready to strike at her mother and Rani was mentally debating whether or not to just let him do it. "If you try to lay your hands on her, I'll make sure you experience things from my perspective."
Her mother's aggressive demeanour was so intense that she wasn't aware of the door opening behind her, with three members of the Bad Guys, Chief Misty Luggins and governor Diane Foxington. Rani's heart was thumping fast while her mother was still mouthing off on how ungrateful she was and bringing up the difficulty of her birth.
"Uhh, are we interrupting something?" Mr. Wolf cleared his throat, causing her mother to whirled around, face slightly paled.
"Oho, hello officier!" her mother greeted the chief cheerfully, laughing a bit. "Sorry that my daughter is making a fool of herself and almost had this disgusting reptile attack me. And Madam Governor, beautiful as always. I wished my daughter learnt more from you than wherever her wild mind had taken her to."
Rani could only hold Mr. Snake close to her.
...
Mr. Snake's warning radars were going off inside his head, screaming at him to do something. This whole scenario reminded him of the twist that Marmalade was the mastermind behind the meteor, causing Mr. Wolf to bare his fangs at him.
He was prepared for the worst until-
"Ma'am, calm down," the police chief told Rani's mother in a firm voice while her body was in a defensive stance. "We're here to check on Rani and clearly you're not supposed to yell at her when she just woke up from her blackout."
The woman brushed it off with a laugh, grabbing Rani by the shoulder. "I'm just educating her. Really, you think she could handle things herself when she's here in hospital? It's this snake that was trying to attack me when all I want to do is see my own daughter!"
Mr. Snake was ready to strike until Mr. Wolf pulled out his phone. He tapped something before hitting the 'play' button. He winked at the serpent's direction, causing Mr. Snake to rolled his eyes and held back a smile.
Ms. Tarantula had recorded the whole thing in secret and sent it to the gang!
He mentally noted to himself to buy Monster energy drinks for her later. But now, he wanted to know what had happened to that psycho and the outcome of those little snakes that were trapped in that hellhole of a house.
"Mama, please leave," Rani told her, hand gripping onto his body tighter than before. Clearly, her mother was not the kind to let go until she gets what she wants. "I need to discuss a few things with the gang."
"Fine," she spatted, moving toward the door. Before she left, she turned her head with such scorn at her daughter. "If you get discharged, don't bother trying to come back home or contact any of us. You are now banned and out of the family. If you ever try to call any of your siblings or father, I won't be as kind as I am now."
"And let's keep it that way," Rani retorted, her voice wavered slightly. "Shame me all you want online, gab away at every relative until they turn a blind eye on me or even tell my siblings how shitty I am as a role model. At least it gives me a peace of mind that I won't be a burden to you or any of your wishes."
With that, her mother slammed the door on her without saying a word. Mr. Snake wanted nothing more than to comfort this poor woman and everything she went through. He immediately rests his head on top of hers, tail rubbing her back.
"So," Mr. Shark began, holding his fins together. Mr. Piranha stepped up and asked,"Do you want us to come back later-"
"No! Please, tell me what's going on. Leave no detail behind and I'm sorry all of you had to see a real-life reenactment of a soap opera." The Eastern brown snake could tell that Rani sounded tired but her eyes were determined to know about the whole situation just as much as him.
Her resilience to pick herself up after her bereavement from her mother made him want to coil around her even more.
Diane shook her head. "No need to apologise. I actually wanted to meet you once you're awake since I got the message from Webs over there. In fact, both you and Mr. Snake got my attention."
Seeing the confused expressions the both of them exchanged, the governor laughed. "It's not like everyday we get to see the grumpiest, most sinister member of the gang being interested in someone, let alone go out of his way to help her and exposed the most disturbing crime of the year."
"Is that why you are here?" Mr. Snake asked, clearly not amused that both Mr. Shark and Mr. Piranha were giving him 'thumbs ups' and sniggering. "Am I also getting the news of how doctors are using mouse bile to get rid of ticks?"
"Snake!"
But Diane Foxington, graceful as ever, smirked. "No. I'm here to invite you to the next gala for the Good Person Award. You and the gang deserved it."
He blinked in disbelief. Last time, it was a heist on his birthday but now, they were invited? 'The world has gone crazy after Marmalade,' he thought to himself. However, his tail was tingling with excitement at the idea of not getting caught for once by the authorities or go with Mr. Wolf's harebrained ideas.
He felt Rani squeezing him into a hug before kissing him on the cheek. "Oh my god! I'm so proud of you, Snake! Now they'll definitely see you as a good guy. Imagine that!"
The serpent blushed, not at the kiss but the fact that the gang were giving him looks that were suggestive. "H-heh. So what happened to that creep? Don't tell me he's gonna have a light sentence and what about the little snakes?" Rani also nodded, holding his tail to listen as well.
"Well, he's currently being interrogated," the police chief began, crossing her arms. "What's weird was that there were a few protestors outside of the station. Those people kept begging us to release him or sentenced him to a year because and I quote: he looks hot."
"WHAT?!" both Rani and Mr. Snake exclaimed, caught off guard by the statement. Don't these people know that the creep not only stalked his woman, but turned most snakes into wine?! He shook his head in disbelief. "There has to be those kinds of people. Bad enough there are those that think they could fix Ted Bundy or damned Dahmer."
"But what happened to the snakes?" asked Rani, petting Mr. Snake's back. The chief continued, "they'll be transported to the vets to get treatment. They're still deciding whether to place them in sanctuaries, zoos or even released them back into the wild."
"Can we see them?" both Rani and Mr. Snake said it at the same time. However, the rest of the gang, the governor and the chief pondered. The serpent arched a brow. "Whaddaya need?"
"I want to know if you are as good as you were at the gala," Diane challenged him. He shot back a challenged smile before coughing out an acoustic guitar. The chief wrinkled her nose in disgust while Rani wrapped both of her arms around him as he began tuning "Fine, since you asked soooo nicely about it and I'm never going to hear the end of it from Piranha. Gather around, folks and listen:
You can't hold me
I'm too slippery
I do no sleepin'
I get lonely
You can touch me
If you want to
I got poison
I just might bite you..."
He smirked when Mr. Shark and 's jaws dropped while the rest stared at him with awed. His expression softened when he felt Rani touched his cheek, making him close his eyes.
"Yo, how come he's been hiding his pipes from us?!"
Fun fact: Mr. Snake and the rest of the Bad Guys have a Spotify playlist if you search them online. I don't mean the soundtrack of the movie but a Spotify list that fits each character!
Mr. Snake apparently likes classic and modern rock
The song is called Snake Song by Townes Van Zandt. Pretty sure The Doors sang something similar...