CHAPTER 3: TALKING TO ANACONDA

The next day after school, Lucy, Cobra, and Rattler waited for Anaconda to come out of the school so they could talk to her about everything that had happened from the shooting to their last meeting when the Lizards ran amuck around town. They wanted to clear the air with her and see where they stood and if she was still going on the straight and narrow.

Anaconda came out of the school carrying her backpack on her shoulders. Cobra walked up to her.

"Anaconda," she began, "first of all, welcome back. Also, we want to chat for a bit. Can you join us at Ace's for a bit?" Anaconda nodded. "Okay, let's go."

Later at Ace's Ice Cream Shop, the Serpents enjoyed ice cream sundaes. After eating their sundaes, Cobra got down to business.

"First of all," she said, "we just want to know if you are still going straight after getting released from juvenile hall." Anaconda nodded. "Good. Now I know you apologized to Mamba about what you tried to do and felt remorse for it. And you paid your debt by helping us defeat the Lizards once and for all. The next question I want to ask is are you willing to be loyal to us again?" She nodded again. Turning to Lucy and Rattler, Cobra said, "Girls, what say you?"

"I think we should give her another chance," said Lucy.

"Sure," added Rattler.

"Okay, Anaconda," Cobra finished. "Welcome back to the Serpent Sisters." The girls hugged Anaconda. At that moment, Black Widow and Orbweaver from the Spiders walked in.

"Do my eyes deceive me?" said Widow. "Is that Anaconda?"

"It is, Widow," said Cobra. "She moved back to town and going to our school."

"What brings you girls in today?" asked Lucy.

"Well, Mamba, I'm getting some ice cream," Widow replied. "Weaver here is coming to visit her man!"

"I forgot you were dating Rudy, Jr., Weaver," said Rattler.

"Yeah," said Weaver. "Junior and I are still going strong. Speaking of, I need to see my guy now." And Orbweaver made her way to the back to say hello to Junior.

"Well, I'm going to get my sweet tooth fed," said Widow. "And welcome home, Anaconda." And she got in line to get some ice cream.

Later, Lucy was with Schroeder, who was doing some practicing on his piano. He had upgraded to a real piano which was an upright piano. While he wished it was a grand piano, any piano was better than none. Lucy sat beside him as he practiced Beethoven.

"I do hope things will be different this time around with Anaconda," said Lucy. "She seems to be remorseful for what she did to us and killing Python."

"Well, she seems to be doing better, so that's something," said Schroeder.

"Yeah, we all decided to wipe the slate clean. But this will be her last chance at redemption. It had started when the Lizards trashed the town a few years back."

"Maybe she'll stay on the straight and narrow for good."

"We can only hope, babe." And Schroeder continued to play. Lucy laid her head on his shoulder and watched. She really did hope that Anaconda would be better this time around.

NEXT CHAPTER: THE SCORPION MAKES HIS MOVE