The day began at six in the morning, with Jason getting up first and showering, then getting Jo up to get dressed and have some breakfast.
Randall was awakened when the lights came on in the room. Jason had gotten him up too.
Jason made some eggs and bacon, and pancakes.
Randall was grateful for the big breakfast. And surely he could even earn his own keep around here. He could keep the place clean.
"Now Jo, even though Randall is here, it probably isn't wise to tell other people about him." Jason said.
"Why?"
"It just isn't, Kid. It's for my safety." Randall agreed.
"Okay. We can still do stuff right?"
"Of course." Randall said.
"I'm sure he'll find things to do around here while we're gone." Jason said. "You won't make messes around here, right?"
"I'm not a child. No, I won't."
"Good. I want this place clean when I get back. You look like you need a bath too. We'll worry about it when we get back tonight. Go get ready, Jo." Jason said.
Jo and Jason finished getting ready. Jason had on his uniform when Jo was ready. She gave Randall a hug goodbye, then they went out to the car. Randall watched from the window.
After they were gone, he went back out to the tree to get the supplies he had and brought them into the house. He hung up the coat and hat in Jo's closet. He put the dolls on her bed that he had gotten for her, and he put the pillow and blankets in the laundry room.
For Randall, it had been a good while since he had last had a shower, or a bath. He didn't need help taking a bath. He went into the bathroom and examined the soaps that were in there.
The soaps were a kid's and some for adult men. He chose the men's. A bath did sound good right now.
He got the water running and added the soap. He found where the towels were and got one out. When the water was deep enough, he got in and began to just relax in it while cleaning the goop off his scales that had been on him for so long. The warm water was so relaxing. He almost fell asleep in it.
When he let the water go down the drain, it was amazing how much dirt and grime went down the drain. He dried himself off with the towel and now that he was clean and looked in the mirror, Randall saw that his scales had a new shine to them. He was a bright, shiny purple and blue again instead of the dirty one.
Randall kept himself occupied with a bit of cleaning that day and watching TV when he was done. He made himself a sandwich for lunch. It was nice to be staying in a home again. But how long was he going to be welcome?
When Jo and Jason got home that night, they were surprised at how clean the place was. And they both saw that the lizard looked way different than how he did this morning. His scales were more shinier than before.
"I know how to give myself a bath." Randall said. "It's just been awhile."
"I see. There's a better shine to your scales. I can see the natural designs on you now." Jason said.
Jason some paler marks on the lizard now that he was clean. He smelled like his soap. The marks must have been scars of some kind.
"I talked to my boss today and he said that I was welcome to take Joanna on for the summer."
"It's going to be so fun!" Jo said.
"Some of it will be. But there are still responsibilities to do." Jason said.
"Is she going to be home schooled or going to public school?" Randall asked.
"For the summer, she'll be home schooled so she can get started on what she needs to know. At age seven, she's very behind in her learning."
"I can help teach her too." Randall said.
"Like how?" Jason asked.
"I know how to read and write too. Homework can be fun and rewarding too. Not just the hard parts of it." Randall said.
"Mrs. Gonzalez will have her learn at her home more until she's ready."
"I can still help her too." The lizard said.
"We'll see." Jason said.
….
And so began the summer learning for Joanna. She was a quick learner. Randall did try to find ways to help out. He also did house chores during the day while Jo and Jason were out of the house. Then he would relax by watching TV or movies. Sometimes he would go hunt something in the woods too when he didn't need to clean.
Jason had watched how close Randall and Jo were for the past few weeks and Randall had made learning fun too. Even though she hadn't brought homework home yet, Randall was just trying to help her get ready for the school year.
Randall and Jason had come to an understanding of things. Randall hadn't told him of his past either, other than that he was a monster meant to scare little kids. But he had moved on from that. Jason had resented him at first, but saw he meant no harm to Jo, so he let him stay.
At the end of June, Jason had a whole weekend off, and he said he had an idea how Randall could come with them to town.
"How's that?" Randall asked.
"You would have to be quiet, but you could be our pet lizard in disguise." Jason said, "but there is one condition."
"What's that?"
"I got a harness for you, Randall. There are some people that do like to keep exotic pets and they even take them for walks." Jason said. "It's a dog harness for medium sized ones, but it should fit you. I've noticed you have gained weight since being here and eating all this time."
Randall had gained weight in the month and a half since he came to stay here.
Jason showed him the harness. "It would just go on your upper body. In order to convince people that you're a pet, just stay quiet and down on all your limbs."
"I know what you want me to do. No! I won't do it! I can still go, but I prefer to stay out of site of humans I don't know."
"Well, you can still change your mind. Don't you want to fit in with society instead?"
"Yes, but not like this."
"It might have to be that way though, Randall." Jason said.
"Please, Randall? I want you to come and be with me." Jo pleaded. She gave him a hug and gave him the biggest, sad eyes that she could. "Please?"
He sighed. "I'll think about it."
"Good." Jason said.
Later, Randall tried the harness on. It was purple like his skin. It did fit. He still felt that this was dangerous to do. But his friend was going away for a weekend and she wanted him to come. It was possible this could work, but he wasn't going to do it all the time. Just this once. He gave in.
Randall was just glad the harness was not on his neck. It was down more on his chest.
They left that Friday morning. Randall had to keep his harness on for any rest stops they took. New Orleans was a great place to live in, but Jason wanted to get away for a little while, for a weekend. He was wanting to experience what it was like to have a family, at minimal with a girl and her pet lizard.
Jason had his gun with him, but he didn't carry it on him.
They passed through some towns and had to stop at rest stops They were headed for the northern part of the state. Jason walked Randall on a leash. Randall didn't really like this, but he wanted to be like a part of the family. He was still concerned though of anyone seeing him. Most other people weren't around.
It always felt good to get out of the car and stretch their legs after so many miles.
There were some humans though that were amazed at seeing a large lizard on a leash though. It was unusual and did want to pet him.
"It's not a good idea. He's only comfortable with us." Jason said. Jo was currently in the bathroom while the guys waited on her.
One kid didn't listen and got too close. Randall was watching him. He opened his mouth at the boy and hissed.
"Hey!" The boy shrieked back in response.
"Brandon!" A woman came up and grabbed him by the hand. "You were told not to go near the lizard!"
"I just wanted to pet him, Mom!" The boy said.
"You were told you couldn't. This is what happens. You were lucky he didn't bite you! Is he poisonous?" The mother asked.
"No, he's not, but yes, you're right. He could've tried to bite in self defense." Jason said.
The mother pulled her son away from them. "Lizards should be in cages anyway." She said as she walked away in disgust.
"Don't take it personally, Randall."
"I know what she meant. This is why I didn't want to be seen as a pet." Randall said.
Jo came out of the bathroom she had been in. "Okay, I'm ready to go."
"So am I." Randall said.
At a gas station that they stopped for an afternoon, keeping Randall outside, Jo and Jason set up a stand where Jo could sell lemonade to customers with the store owner's permission. Jo even started to dance, something even Randall hadn't seen her do before.
It was a busy gas station. There were many customers there. Randall just stayed next to the wall, out of the way. Other humans asked about him, but Jason kept them away from him and had them concentrate on Jo instead, with selling lemonade or dancing. Some customers gave them money for both.
There was a man that happened to come into the store and get a soda for the rode and he came out and talked to them. He had seen them go in, but he was more impressed by a certain lizard by the wall than the little girl dancing or selling lemonade. You saw kids dancing and selling lemonade a lot, but not a lot of pet lizards around.
The man was a zoo biologist. He went up to Jason. This man was in his 30s, wore a blue t-shirt and jean shorts, he had blue eyes and brown hair. He was about 5'5.
"Excuse me, Sir, but I couldn't help notice your lizard over there. Where did you get it?" The man asked.
"That's classified." Jason said.
Randall just laid on the sidewalk on his belly, watching things go by, staying calm, and watching Jo.
"What kind of lizard is it?"
"A special monitor lizard." Jason said.
"Never seen anything like him before, and you're sure it's a male?"
"Yes."
"I'd like to buy him from you. How much?"
"Sorry Sir, he's not for sale. He belongs to the little girl here. He's her friend." Jason said. Jo was busy dancing for some other customers to notice at the moment.
"I just want to look at him." The man said.
"He won't let you."
The man tried to walk up to the lizard he wanted to know about.
Randall knew better than to go to sleep right now. His eyes shifted to his right and he saw a man approaching him. His head was down, and it made him raise his head to focus more and he saw the man was coming toward him. This made him nervous.
The man stopped within a distance. The lizard was looking at him. He noticed the eyes squinting at him, much like a chameleon's just about.
The lizard seemed calm enough. The man then stepped more toward him again.
Randall began to get up. He gave a warning hiss at him.
The man saw the teeth on that lizard. Impressive. He knew he could outwit the lizard.
"Here, boy. I won't hurt you." The man said.
Randall then upgraded his warning to a growl. He began backing up. The man kept advancing slowly.
Jason was watching. He just wanted to see what he would do. He saw Randall was threatening to bite. He had to stop him before he got hurt though.
"Sir, just stop. He's trying to tell you to stay away." Jason came to the man.
"I've handled tough lizards before." He said.
"Not like this one."
The man saw the leash on the ground. He was just going to grab it. It was just ahead of the lizard and dragging.
"It's amazing he hasn't run off on you." The man said and he made a fast movement and grabbed the leash, making Randall pull back. He growled and began charging him.
The man was taken by surprise. The lizard jumped up on him and knocked him down, getting a grunt out of him. Then Randall got off him and he took to the roof.
The man was surprised at what had happened. The other people standing around were shocked at what happened. Jo was even watching now.
"You were warned not to go near him." Jason said.
The man got up. "That's a dangerous lizard, Mister. He should be caged."
"You pushed him. You didn't heed the warnings. He could have done much worse than just knock you down." Jason said firmly.
"I'm going to see to it that that lizard is taken from you. You have no business with him!"
The man now stood up.
"Yes, I do. He's the girl's, not mine."
"And even more so. It doesn't belong around kids."
Randall was watching from the roof. He could hear it all. He would not allow himself to be taken.
The man got up and left, but he took note of Jason's license plates. He wrote them down.
After that, the store owner said it was time for them to leave. He didn't want any further disturbances.
"I am a police officer, Sir." Jason said. "I promise my lizard won't harm anyone without cause. But I'm only on vacation and just wanted to show my girl a good time. We'll leave shortly. Jo, call him down."
Jo called him. "Randall, let's go. You can come down."
Randall looked down at the other humans. They were staring up at him. If he wasn't wearing the harness, he could have vanished.
He came down at Jo's request, but warned other ones away by hissing.
They packed up their stuff and got back in the car. The other humans were amazed at how well the lizard was obeying the little girl.
The man also watched from a distance. Maybe the lizard was imprinted on this child?
He watched the lizard climb into the car with the kid and the man.
Randall and Jo rode in the back seat. "I knew me acting like a pet was a bad idea." Randall said. "That can't happen again."
"Alright, it won't." Jason said.
"Jo, take the harness off me." Randall ordered.
Jo unsnapped the harness.
"I'm not a pet. I'll get out and walk around without being seen by humans." Randall said.
"Alright, but stay close to us whenever we get out." Jason said. "You were lucky that man wasn't going to sue me for something much worse than you knocking him down."
"Yeah, but I heard him too, he said he was going to make sure I was taken from you. Not without a fight he won't." Randall growled.
"Randall, you could even be shot by authorities for doing that."
"No! He's my friend! He is not leaving me!" Jo cried out.
"Lucky I'm a cop and I can stop any of this." Jason said. "We won't do anymore of that stuff. We'll just go camping out in the wild."
They soon arrived at a camping spot. Jason made sure there was no one around. It was for Randall's safety most of all.
….
The man went back to his office at home to track down the owner of the license plates he had written down. He knew how to get information. In all his life, he had never seen such a lizard.
He wanted to study that lizard, his DNA, and of the possibility of breeding him. He was going to get him for himself.
He found out that the car owner was a police officer named Jason. That girl was not his daughter, and he did not even have a permit for the lizard. He could win this case real easy. He also found he lived in New Orleans. This was going to take some further planning on how to get the lizard away from the cop and girl.
