Reminiscing and A Bad Shopping Experience
Luz came upstairs from the basement.
"Okay, Mama." She announced. "I'm ready to go to the cemetery."
"And while you guys do that," Willow started. "Gus, Vee and I are going to go shopping for human things, so we can better blend in here."
"Are you sure you don't want to come along?" Luz wanted to know.
"We have cemeteries in the Demon Realm." Gus exclaimed. "So, we know how they are. No offense, but I think shopping will be a much happier experience."
"No offense taken." Luz responded. "You guys have fun."
"Do you think Hunter will want to come shopping with us? I'll go ask him."
"I think he wants to stay down in the basement. He's punishing himself."
"I hope he doesn't stay down all day." Camila spoke up. Luz looked at her.
"I think he will if we let him. He's taking it pretty seriously."
"Well, maybe we'll let him stay down until we all get back home."
"I'll go down and ask anyway." Gus stated. "Then we can go." And with that, he went downstairs while the others stayed upstairs.
"Hunter," Gus said to him when he was downstairs. "…you want to go shopping with Willow, Vee and I, or are you going to go to the cemetery with Camila, Amity and Luz?"
"Neither." Hunter told him. "I'm staying here as punishment for what I did at that human restaurant."
"Luz said that." Gus said. "But I wanted to make sure. Camila thinks you shouldn't be here all day. She said you should maybe come up when we come home."
"I was thinking of staying down all day, but I guess that's reasonable."
"Well, I'm going to go up now. Do you need anything before I go?"
"No. You just go and have fun shopping for whatever."
"Okay. Bye!"
"Bye." And with that, Gus walked back upstairs. Hunter looked at Flapjack.
"You can go with them if you want, Flap." He told him. "The fresh air will do you good. You're not being punished." Flapjack shook his head and chirped. This confused Hunter.
"You'd prefer to stay here and keep me company?" Flapjack chirped again. Hunter smiled, then shook his head.
"That's nice that you would do that for me, but no. I can't let you do that. You didn't do anything bad. I did." Flapjack chirped again. The little bird flew up and landed and rested on Hunter's head. Hunter chuckled and smiled.
"Okay, you win. You can stay. Just please, don't poop on me." Flapjack chirped yet again. "I know you can't help it and go whenever you have to, but, just please, try not to. I just used a human shower for the first time in my life this morning, and I don't want my head wet. I don't want to smell like bird droppings."
"Okay, I'm ready." Gus said to the others when he was upstairs again. "Let's do this thing!" And so, he, Camila, Vee, Luz, Willow and Amity went to the car.
"What are you kids planning to buy?" Camila asked as soon as she dropped off Vee, Willow and Gus in front of the mall.
"Don't know." Willow admitted. "We won't know until we find the perfect item that we want to buy."
"I gave Vee money. So whenever something catches you eye, tell Vee and she'll see if you can afford it."
"Will do, Camila!" Gus told her.
"And you listen to Vee. She's been here longer than you two, so she's in charge."
"Again, will do, Camila!"
"Okay, you guys have fun! Adios!" The car drove off. The kids waved after them.
"I wish I was going shopping with them." Amity said with a sigh.
"Well, it's not too late." Luz said to her. "I can tell my mom to turn the car around and…"
"No, that's okay." Amity said back. "If we are going to go dating sometime, I should get to know your father, even if he's not on this earth anymore." Luz smiled.
"Thanks, Amity. I just know he would've loved you." Amity smiled back.
"You were his daughter, Luz, so I think he would too. So, maybe while your mom drives us there, why don't you tell me about your dad? What was he like and how did he die? That is, if you want and if you're up for it. I don't want to upset you."
"Sure. And it doesn't upset me at all. He died a few years ago, so, I'm good. Well, I'm not good that my dad is gone, but you know."
"Yeah, I know."
"First off, my dad was kind and loving."
"You're lucky that you had two loving parents and still have a loving mom, instead of one loving parent." Luz knew that she was thinking about her parents and felt sorry for her. Amity then smiled. "But, we're talking about your dad, not my dad and my awful mom."
"Right, so anyways…" So Luz talked and talked about her late father.
"Where do you guys want to shop first?" Vee asked as she, Willow and Gus entered the mall. "There are hundreds of stores to choose from." This confused Gus.
"There are hundreds of stores here?" He wanted to know. Vee shrugged.
"I don't know. Maybe yes, maybe no. That was an exaggeration. I don't know exactly. I didn't count how many stores are in here. I have only been here once or twice."
"Let's walk around the mall and see what stores pique our interest." Willow suggested.
"Okay. Let's do it." The three of them began to walk around.
They were in the 100 Cents Store when Willow noticed a scrapbook. She picked it up.
"Hey, it's a scrapbook!" She observed.
"I didn't know you were into scrapbooking." Gus said to Willow.
"No, but I could get into it."
"What would you put into it then?" Willow thought about this, then came up with an idea.
"Our memories while we're here."
"I don't know, Willow. There are a lot of pages in that thing and we are not planning to stay here for long."
"True, but it doesn't hurt to buy it. Plus, I can write and draw different types of plants here. The plants here might be different than in Bonesburroh."
"Yeah, you're probably right about that. You and your plants." Vee then came up with an idea.
"You can take pictures of memories and of the plants."She suggested. "You could buy two scrapbooks, one for plants and one for memories." Willow smiled.
"That's a great idea, Vee!" She grabbed another scrapbook. "I'm going to be busy."
"You could also get your own camera for picture taking." Willow looked at her.
"But isn't a camera expensive? Do we even have enough human money?"
"Probably not. But we can still look at them. If you find a camera that you like, you can ask Camila about it later. I'm sure she'll buy one for you if you ask and if she has the money for it." Willow smiled.
"Sure. We can do that."
"Come on. Let's find a directory and we can go to a store that sells cameras." Willow and Gus followed her.
As they neared the front counter to pay for the scrapbooks, Gus noticed a display of keychains. But one row of keychains sparked his interest. They were giraffe keychains. He smiled.
"Cool! Giraffe keychains! I bet my backpack will look cool with this thing on it!" He took one. "Plus, I want at least one giraffe related thing while we're here."
"Not so fast!" They heard someone say. Gus looked and saw a lady approaching him. He saw on her name tag that her name was Karen Henda. He smiled and waved to her.
"Hi, Karen!" He greeted her. "You must work here. How do you like working here at a hum…store?" But Karen didn't answer.
"I knew you looked suspicious." Gus was confused. "Good thing I followed you without your knowledge."
"What?" He wanted to know. "You followed me? That's a bit creepy." Vee and Willow came up to both of them.
"What's going on here?" Vee asked. Karen looked at them.
"Do you know this kid?" Karen asked them.
"He's our friend, Gus." Willow informed her.
"Well, your friend, Gus, was about to shoplift this giraffe keychain." The kids were all shocked to hear this, especially Gus.
"No, I wasn't." Gus protested. "I would never do that,"
"That's what they all say." Karen argued. "But I know your kind, your people never change." This confused Gus even more.
"My kind? My people? What the heck are you talking about?"
"Oh, don't be dumb, kid. You obviously do."
"No, I really don't." Karen sighed.
"You're making this really difficult."
"Me? You're making it difficult by not explaining what's going on. I never felt so confused in my whole life before. I'm being honest here."
"I'm tired of your acting. You're coming with me." And with that, Karen started dragging him away. Gus tried to pull away, but Karen was too strong.
"What?! No! What are you doing?! I swear, I wasn't going to shoplift the giraffe keychain! I never stole anything in my life! Let go of me!" Both Willow and Vee were mad now. Willow wanted so much to use her plant magic on her, but didn't want to make it worse. So instead, she took a deep breath to calm down, and stepped up to them.
"Excuse me, ma'am!" She called after her. Karen looked at her. "How do you know that he stole anything?"
"How do you know he didn't? Just look at him! His people are always causing mischief and making it worse for everyone else!"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Don't play dumb with me too."
"I'm not. I just know that Gus would never steal. That's not him at all. I trust him. If he said he wasn't going to do it, then he wasn't going to do it. So please, let him go and let him be." Karen sighed again.
"You're just saying that because you're his friend. Look, you're just a kid, so you don't fully understand. But I'm an adult, so I do. Now as you excuse us, I'm taking this troublemaker to the mall jail." She started taking off with Gus again.
"Willow, Vee!" Gus cried out. "Help!" Willow looked determined and took off. She stopped when she noticed that Vee wasn't following. She looked at her.
"You go on ahead." Vee told her. "I'll catch up once I pay for the scrapbooks and the keychain. Don't worry, I'll find my way there. Gus needs you right now." Willow nodded, and took off after Karen and Gus while Vee went to the back of the line.
Camila, Luz and Amity looked at Luz's father's grave. 'Manny Noceda-a loving father and husband' were written on it as well as his birth and death dates.
"Hi, Manny." Amity said to his tombstone. "I'm Amity and I'm in love with your daughter. You really raised her well. You must be really proud. I wish I could see you." Luz smiled and put her arm around her girlfriend. Amity smiled too. Now, it was Camila's turn to talk.
"I know it's a little late." Camila said to his grave as well. "But so much has happened in a short period of time, Manny. Somewhere, out of the blue, I'm taking care of six kids, instead of just one. Five teenagers and one preteen, and the eldest one has really bad PTSD and has come from a really abusive home. I really wish you were here right now. I really need you."
"Don't worry, Mom." Luz assured her with a smile. "You will do great at raising six kids as a single mom; I just know it." Camila smiled as she wiped away her tears.
"Thank you, mija."
"And we really appreciate it." Amity told her. "You really saved us. If it weren't for you, I don't know where we would have gone. You didn't have to take strangers into your house, but you did it with kindness in your heart. I thank you for that, and there's no doubt in my mind that the others feel the same way."
"You're so welcome, Amity. What kind of person would I be not to let you guys in from the rain? You're all of Luz's friends, so I trust you guys. I just wish Manny was here to help."
"I know, Mama." Luz said. "I do too."
After looking at Manny's grave briefly. Camila's cell phone went off. She took it out of her purse and saw it was from Vee.
"It's Vee." She told the kids. She answered it and temporarily left the two alone. "Hello? Vee, slow down! What happened?" This concerned both Amity and Luz.
"What do you think happened?" Luz wanted to know.
"Don't know." Amity admitted. She then changed the subject, "Luz, I'm really glad I came here. Even though it's sad, I feel closer to your father now." Luz smiled.
"No problem."
A short time later, Camila came back. The two looked at her and noticed by her expression that something was wrong.
"Mama, what is it?" Luz asked. Camila looked at her and took in a breath.
"We have to go." She told them. "Gus has just been arrested." Both kids gasped.
"What do you mean Gus got arrested? Why would he get arrested?"
"Apparently, he got arrested for shoplifting."
"Shoplifting?"
"Gus is a nice kid." Amity said. "He would never steal and break the rules. It's not like him. I don't think that kid has a criminal record."
"I don't know the details." Camila admitted. "All I know is he's been arrested and is in the mall's jail. That's why we have to go and figure out this whole mess." They all ran for the car.
"Wait, human malls have mall jails?" Amity asked as they ran.
"They just hold people there until the police come and take them to real jail." Luz explained to her.
"Then we have to get there before the police do. I don't think Gus will survive."
"I don't think anyone can. I don't know how jails work in the Boiling Isles, but I hear the jails here are really boring."
"Well, they committed crimes. They don't deserve to have fun."
"I guess you have a point there."
"This isn't fair!" Gus protested as he was in the mall jail. Karen was in front of his cell. "I told you I wasn't going to steal!"
"Life isn't fair, kid." Karen said to him. "For example, leaked episodes and movies days before their planned releases. The creators and crew work their butts off in making them only to have idiots leak the whole thing on the Internet for all to see. And what's worse is stupid people spread that information and spoil them for the fans, ruining their viewing experience. People have no respect for others."
"You can just stay off social media until you see the full thing."
"Oh, you would say that. But guess what? I'm not going to because I love them too much. People just need to have common sense and be respectful and have patience instead of ruining it for everyone. Leaking should be a crime."
"I agree, leaking should be a crime, but anyways, I want to call my lawyer because I'm not a shoplifter!"
"Uh, Gus…" Willow said to him. She also stood outside the cell. "You don't have a lawyer."
"Oh, yeah, I don't. Well, if I had one, I would like one so I can tell them that I've been falsely arrested and we can sort this mess out."
"Yeah, yeah! Are you even old enough for a lawyer?"
"Maybe. I don't know. I'm 12." She narrowed her eyes at him.
"It's not nice to lie about your age."
"But I am 12! I skipped a grade at my school back home and have gone through wit… puberty!"
"Still not buying it." She looked at Willow. "You can go. I can tell you did nothing wrong." Willow smiled at that.
"Well, I'm glad you think that because you're right, but Gus is my friend. I'm staying here."
"Whatever. You do you."
"I will." Karen looked at the mall cop behind the little counter.
"I'm going back to my store. Call for me when the mom arrives."
"Will do!" The cop said as Karen went off. Willow heard crying and looked at her now sad friend.
"You okay?" She asked Gus. Gus sniffed away his tears.
"What do you think, Willow?" He asked in a sad voice. "I just got arrested for a crime that I didn't do and nobody believes me."
"I believe you." Willow said. "Because I was there, so I know you didn't do it."
"And I was there too, so I believe you too." Said Vee who came back with a bag in her hand. They looked at her. "I paid for the scrapbooks, and Gus, I paid for that giraffe keychain you were trying to get." Gus smiled, but it was very brief.
"Thanks, Vee, but I won't be using it. I'm going to jail." Both Willow and Vee felt sad for Gus.
"Cheer up." Vee said to him. "I called Camila. She, Amity and Luz will come and Camila will sort this whole thing out." She thought of something else. "Maybe I should call Hunter and let him know of the situation. Hope he picks up the phone and doesn't destroy it like Amity and you did, Willow with the alarm clock." Willow smiled sheepishly.
"Yeah," She began. "…sorry about that. We didn't know and thought it was dangerous." Vee was about to dial the Noceda house when Willow spoke up again. "No! Don't call Hunter. He doesn't need to know about this. I'm sure we'll be there soon and then we can tell him, just not now. I don't want him to worry." Vee sighed and put away the phone.
"Fine, but if this goes longer than expected, I'm calling him. I feel like he should know."
"And I completely agree. Later, if necessary, but like I said, not now."
"I would normally joke about you clearly liking Hunter," Gus began. "But I'm too morose too." Willow broke into nervous sweats,
"What? Me having a thing for Hunter? I mean sure, he's a sweet guy and all and kind of cute with the gap in his teeth, his hair strand, and the way he calls me 'captain' instead of my real name. But he's just that to me, a friend, just like you are."
"Again, I'm too morose to comment, but yeah, sure. Whatever."
"Gus; Gus!" Luz cried out to him as she, her mom and Amity arrived, Gus stood up and looked at them.
"We're here for you, baby." Camila said to Gus.
"Luz!" He said, standing up. "Camila, Amity!" He couldn't help himself and broke into tears once more.
"Oh, Gus." A sad Amity observed.
"Camila," Gus began, still in tears. "I kept telling that lady, Karen. I didn't shoplift. I have never stolen anything in my life! Please, believe me!"
"I believe you." She told him. Gus stopped crying and looked at her.
"You do?"
"Sure. I'm sure it was a misunderstanding. Now tell me exactly what happened."
"I just saw a giraffe necklace. I took it off of the display and was about to go in line with Willow and Vee to buy it, as well as Willow's scrapbooks, when the store clerk, Karen, stopped me and accused me of stealing."
"What did she say exactly?"
"She said I looked suspicious." Camila was confused.
"Suspicious, how?"
"She said my kind of people never change and she knew my kind. What the heck does that mean? She also was following me around." Camila was now mad.
"Hate to tell you, but you were being racially profiled." She told him. Gus looked at her, confused.
"What?"
"What do you mean by that?" Amity wanted to know.
"He was accused because of the color of his skin." Luz told her. She was also mad. Amity couldn't believe it.
"What? What's wrong with it?"
"Nothing's wrong with it."
"Then why?"
"It's called discrimination. It's wrong."
"Discrimination? There's no discrimination in the Boiling Isles." Luz smiled.
"Then you guys are lucky. I wish that were true in the Human Realm."
"Excuse me." The mall cop said, who came by their side. "I couldn't help but overhear, did you say he was racially profiled?" Camila looked at her.
"Yes."
"Are you sure? Because we don't allow that. That's so wrong." She looked at Gus.
"Are you sure, kid? This is serious now."
"I guess so." He replied to her. The cop became mad then.
"You can't be this troublemaker's mom, right?" Karen wanted to know, approaching her. They all looked at her.
"I am responsible for him." Camila admitted. "Camila Noceda."
"Karen Henda. I work at the 100 cents store."
"Uh-huh. Say, Karen, Gus told me you were following him? Is that true?" Karen sighed.
"Yes, but I was making sure that he wouldn't steal."
"And did he steal?"
"Well,…" Karen began to sweat. "No, but…"
"Then why lock him up if he did nothing wrong?" Karen became firm now.
"Look, I'm sorry, I guess I jumped to conclusions."
"Is it because of the color of his skin?" The mall cop asked. Karen looked at her. "Because we don't allow that here."
"I know that. I was just being careful is all. You don't know these kinds of people like I do. There have been studies of his kind."
"What kind of studies?"
"That more black people steal more compared to white people." The cop folded her arms across her chest.
"That may be true, but not everyone's the same, Karen. This is the 21st century and things have changed if you didn't already notice. I can't believe you would put this poor boy into this situation and lock him up for no reason, wasting our time."
"But…but…." The mall cop looked at Camila.
"I'm really sorry about this, ma'am."
"Oh, it's not your fault." Camila told her. She narrowed her eyes at the store clerk."It's judgmental people like Karen."
"I agree." Camila walked up to Karen, clearly upset with her.
"You're a grown woman." She said to her. "You should be ashamed of yourself. We had to leave my husband's gravesite at the cemetery for this."
"He could have stolen that keychain, you don't know." Karen just said. "You are just going by his word. I'm sorry, but he could be lying to you. If I hadn't done what I did with him, he could have made his move."
"And he could not have had that thought at all in his head. I'm sure you have more important stuff to do than follow people around the store all day."
"I don't do it to everybody."
"I'm glad to hear it, but you need to have faith in everybody that comes to your store, no matter their race or background. Think you can do that?"
"I…I…" Karen couldn't think of what to say. The cop looked at Camila as she unlocked Gus' cell.
"You people can go now. I'll deal with her and we'll make sure this never happens again."
"Thanks." She, Gus and the others left. Karen glared after Gus.
"Thanks for saving me back there, Camila." Gus thanked her on the drive home.
"Don't mention it, Gus." Camila told him. "You may not be my kid, but for the time being, you are. You all are, and that includes Hunter." Gus sighed.
"Wish you didn't need to save me through. My first shopping experience started out great, but it turned out just plain awful." Everybody felt sorry for him.
"I'm sorry you had an awful time. But not every shopping experience is like that."
"Why are some humans like that, Camila? Why do they judge people for being different? They shouldn't do that. I can't help it with my skin color. It's how I was born." Camila sighed.
"I know. They should never do that and I know you can't control what you were born with. But, unfortunately, that's how some people are and how they were raised. But, not everyone is like that. I'm not. I will never do that to you, Gus. You just continue being you and I'll like you for just the way you are." Gus smiled.
"Thanks, Camila. I know you will never judge me like that. I feel safe living with you for who knows how long." Camila couldn't help, but smile.
"And I will never judge you for who you are either." Luz said to Gus. "You're my friend, Gus, and always will." Gus smiled at her.
"Thanks, Luz. You're my friend, too."
"Luz?" Amity asked her. Luz looked at her.
"Yes?"
"Is that why you told your mom not to be mad at you when you introduced me as your girlfriend last night?" Luz frowned.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Some people have it in their heads that two females or two males can't date and be together. They think it should always be a man and a woman." Amity was surprised by this.
"What?!" She was then angry. "That's bogus! You should be able to love whoever you want. The gender of the other person shouldn't matter at all."
"And I agree. It's not right. The good news is that some parts of the world are learning to be more open about it. But you never know how other people will take it. Some TV shows are banned just because they have people in the LGBTQ+ community. That's why I was scared."
"You should never be scared, mija." Camila said to her daughter. "I'm your mother, you're my daughter. I'll support you no matter what." Luz smiled.
"Thanks, Mama. I should have never had that thought in my head at all in the first place."
"That's right. You should never be scared of what people think of you. And if they do think differently, that's on them. It's your life and not theirs. You should be able to live it however you please."
"I know, Mama."
Gus saw that they were passing by a DMV. This confused him.
"Hey, Camilia?" He asked. "What's a 'DMV'?""
"It stands for Department of Motorized Vehicles." Vee explained to him. Gus looked at her.
"So, like, for cars?"
"That's right, Gus." Camila stated. "A DMV is where you register and get your driver's license. They also have people that give people driving tests."
"Hunter said that he wanted to drive. Maybe we can register him to take one."
"You have to take a written test first." Vee told him. "And before that, you have to learn the dos and don'ts of driving. It's hard and it takes time. But luckily, I aced both tests right away, I heard other people aren't so lucky however."
"Do they have driving books there? I feel bad for Hunter staying behind. So, I want to give him something."
"I think that's a great idea, Gus." Camila said. She turned her car into the parking lot. "Hunter will appreciate that so much." She parked in a spot and unbuckled her seatbelt. "And I think I better go with you."
"I think you should too. I don't want to have to meet another Karen." After Gus got out, Camila asked if anyone else would like to join them. They all politely declined.
"Okay, then. We won't be long then." She made sure the door was closed, and she and Gus went into the building. Willow then realized something.
"Titan!" She cursed. Everyone was surprised.
"Willow," Amity said to her. "I never knew you as the type to say the lord's name in vain."
"Sorry." WIllow apologized. "It's just that Vee and I were supposed to ask Camila to help us buy a camera for my scrapbooks, but due to all of the chaos that went on, we must have forgotten."
"It's ok." Vee told her. "We can always go back to buy one later, or maybe Camila has an old camera you can borrow." Willow smiled.
"Yeah." She agreed. "I suppose I can, Vee."
"Hunter!" Gus said as he and the others came down the stairs. He had the DMV pamphlet behind his back. "We're back!"
"Sorry we took so long." Vee apologized. Hunter looked at them.
"Oh, welcome back." He said. "Honestly, I didn't realize how long you have been gone. I just stayed down here, bored and doing nothing." Flapjack chirped. "Flapjack kept me company though."
"That's good." Gus said. "Guess what? I have a gift for you." Hunter looked at him, shocked.
"A gift? A gift for me?" Gus nodded "Why?"
"Because you're my friend, dude. Plus, I felt bad for you staying here the whole time that we were away."
"What is it?" Gus brought it out from behind his back. "Ta-da! I know you want to drive, and this pamphlet will teach you the dos and don'ts of the road." Hunter beamed from ear to ear and grabbed it with an excited squeal.
"Thank you, Gus! This is the best gift ever!" Gus smiled.
"I knew you'd like it. When I saw the DMV, aka, the Department of Motorized Vehicles, I was thinking of you. Now you can study for the written test, then take the driver's test and if you ace both of those, you can get your very own driver's license and you can drive to your heart's content!"
"I've been studying my whole life, so I was cloned to do this, to study I mean. I'll read it right away." He then frowned. "No, I'm sorry, Gus, but I can't accept this, at least not now." He offered the pamphlet back to Gus.
"You're still grounding yourself?"
"Yes. I guess I am."
"Don't you think you're being too harsh on yourself?" Hunter sighed and put the pamphlet next to him.
"No. No, I'm not. Whenever I was at the castle and I did something wrong by Belos, I went days without food and water. It was hard, but I did it. Oh, I won't be having dinner with you guys by the way."
"Hunter," Camila said to him. "I think you punished yourself enough. I say you learned your lesson and you can come upstairs now." Hunter looked at her.
"But I made you mad, Camila. I messed up."
"Look, Hunter. I know that you are really sorry. You're a kid and kids mess up all of the time. Heck, even adults mess up. But the important thing is that you learn from your mistakes and do better in the future. So, if you think that you learned your lesson, you can stop giving yourself a time-out. I really like you, Hunter, and don't want you to stay here all day."
"You really think I can stop my punishment?" Camila nodded. "Wow, Belos would never do that. He'd keep me in my room for days, even weeks on end if he was really mad with me."
"I'm not this Belos person. I care about you." Hunter looked like he might cry. He wiped away his tears, cleared his throat and went down on one knee to bow to her.
"Thank you, Camila. You don't know what that means to me." He realized what he just did when everybody just stared at him. "Titan; I did it again, didn't I?"
"You have to forgive him, Mama." Luz said to her mom. "He was Emperor's Belos' right hand man. It's just a habit of his to act like this." Hunter stood up.
"Luz is right. I'm sorry. I know it creeps you out, so I'll try not to act like that again. I also learned my lesson and won't punch another civilian here. You have my word."
"Good." Camila said with a nod. "I'm really glad to hear that, Hunter."
"Well I'm just glad that you are happy now." Gus stated. "After the awful shopping experience that we had at the mall, you smiling really cheered me up, so, thank you." Hunter was confused and stood up.
"What happened at the mall?" He wanted to know.
"I don't think I want to relive it."
"Someone named Karen accused him of stealing and he went to mall jail." Vee told him. Gus glared at her
"Vee! Don't tell him!"
"Sorry, I thought he should know."
"Accused you of stealing?" Hunter wanted to know. "Stealing what?" Gus sighed, took a deep breath and told him everything. "Oh, Gus, that's terrible."
"It was. I don't want that ever to happen to me ever again. It made me feel awful inside." Hunter grew mad. He balled his hands into angry fists.
"I would have protected you if I was there. I would have done something. Gah, this makes me so mad that someone would do that! I would have…I would have…"
"You would have punched her?" Luz asked. Hunter looked at her.
"No, I wouldn't have punched her, because that's wrong. I would have…"
"It's okay, Hunter." Camila told him. "I would have thrown the Chancla at her. I would have also had a few choice words with her. Doing things and saying what's on your mind are two different things." Hunter looked at Gus.
"You okay, Gus?"
"Yeah." He answered and smiled. "I will be. I can't be mopey forever. I have to move on with my life." Hunter smiled, then was confused.
"What's a keychain? And what's a giraffe?"
"I'll show you later."
"You kids should do something happy." Camila said.
"I agree." Luz said. "Let's all go upstairs and think of something we all should do. Maybe play a video game, watch a movie or something."
"We still have time to go somewhere if you guys want." Camila said. "It's still my day off, so I'm free to do anything." The kids agreed and they all went upstairs.
They went to the zoo for a few hours. Gus was disappointed that the giraffe exhibit was closed. Camila told him they'll try to come back and see them. This cheered him up a bit. The wolf exhibit was also closed.
"Kids!" Camila said, running into the room when they have been back for a while. The kids looked up at her. They were playing The Good Witch Azura Ultimate Brawl on Luz's Swap (Gus wanted to eat the game disc, but Luz stopped him before he could, telling him that it wasn't a cookie and he couldn't eat it). They were playing three at a time. Camila was holding onto her phone.
"What is it, Mama?" Luz asked her.
"That lady from the mall, Karen Henda, she just got fired from her job."
"Good." Amity stated. "She deserves it for what she did to Gus. Thanks for telling us, Camila." Camila nodded, then left. Willow saw that Gus was still sad about something.
"Gus, you okay?" She questioned. They all looked at him.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Let's just play." But his friends were still concerned for him.
"You're not okay." Vee said to him. "We can tell."
"Please, Gus." Willow said to him. "You should tell us. We're your friends." Gus sighed. Hunter looked sad for him. He knew that Gus didn't want to talk about his painful experience.
"It might be hard to talk about certain things sometimes." He piped up. "And you might not believe it, but talking about it might make you feel better." Luz was impressed.
"Wow, Hunter!" She marveled. "Who taught you that?" Hunter looked at her.
"That furry horned creature that's definitely not a rat or a bird."
"King? Since when did you talk to him?"
"When I ran away from the Owl House after I found out the horrible truth about Belos."
"Well, I guess he had a melt down about his identity recently too. So, it's good you talked to him and had a connection." Hunter smiled.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. We did have something in common. He knew what I was going though. So, it was nice in a way to have someone understand you. It makes you feel not alone." Luz smiled.
"You are never alone, Hunter." Hunter smiled again. He was glad about that,
"Please, talk to us, Gus." Vee said to him, changing the subject. Gus sighed again.
"It's just that I feel bad that I cost that lady her job, okay?!" He confessed.
"Well, she deserves it!" Amity said. "She was mean to you and what she said to you was not okay."
"Sure, it was mean and uncalled for, but did she really have to lose her job over it?"
"I know you think her losing her job was your fault, Gus." Luz stated. "But you did nothing wrong. She did."
"Then why do I feel so crummy about it?"
"Well, think of it this way, at least with her gone, she won't do what she did to you to another customer."
"I guess you're right. Do you think she'll get another job?" Luz shrugged.
"Who knows? Maybe."
"After she cleans up her act." Amity murmured. She got a few looks from her friends. "What? It's true. She can't keep on acting like that, otherwise she'll keep on getting fired."
"I'm sure she'll clean up her act." Luz said to her. "I'm sure the whole world will clean up their acts on how they view certain people. Hopefully, eventually. It'll just take time."