It had been a full month; an entire month of hiding Randall from their father. They had managed to keep him a secret from the adult for so long, that by now it was becoming quite tiresome to hide him. They had no more problems from their neighbor, thanks to the fact Jacob Barrow had been declared guilty of breaking and entering and attempted murder within the court system. So now the only threat remaining (assuming Jacob's mother didn't know) was their dad.
It was a Sunday when Anne decided to give it up. "Dad," She said "remember all those times you said you felt like y'were bein' watched? N'when stuff fell over, fer no reason? And when y'came in our rooms, askin' us to be a little quieter when we were talkin' 'to ourselves'?"
He didn't see where this was going and shrugged. "Yeah?" He replied suspiciously. "Why?"
The raven haired girl was nervous."Well, it's done cause we gotta- we gotta-" She paused for a second, as if unsure how to word it. "a pet! Yeah, we gotta pet." Randall wasn't their pet in any way or form. In fact, Randall hated when one of them would treat him like an animal and not an intelligent being like themselves. It was rare, but sometimes Mercy joked about it to get on his nerves.
"A pet? Without my permission?" He scowled down at his little girl, crossing his arms on the couch. "And when did y'decide this was a good idea? Where is it? WHAT is it? How come I haven't seen it?"
Anne, who was sitting on the floor twiddling her thumbs, said "'Bout a month and half a go." She droned sadly, hating the feeling of his angry eyes upon her. She craved approval. "N', he's Mercy's pet too! She took him ta th'store with her. He's like, a uh, chameleon or somethin'."
Her father sighed loudly and rubbed his temple. "She took it to th'store wi- when she gets back, we're having a little talk! A chameleon. Hmph." Mercy had gone to the store to pick up a few things, Randall (who had complained about boredom) had gone with her. The two were in for a surprise when they returned.
Anne nodded, looking down at the carpet as if it held the answers to the universe. What did she just do?
"Yo! Anne! Help me out here!" The teen yelled from outside, taking out bags from the inside of the truck. Randall couldn't help her, after all floating bags would sort of cause panic.
The lizard crawled out from the passenger seat, shutting the door gently behind him. "That was jus' as boring as laying around th'house!" He said quietly, though the sentence came from thin are as he dare not be visible in the front yard. Especially with their dad at home.
Mercy shrugged. "Your idea to come along." She had four bags- two in each hand- grasped by the plastic straps and headed towards the door. She climbed up the steps and awkwardly turned the knob. Before she could swing the door fully open with a foot, Anne threw it open and looked up at her sibling with a horrified expression.
"I did a bad thing." She whispered, her tone painful.
"Huh?" Mercy asked, shoving two of the bags at her sister. They moved into the house to set the bags in the kitchen.
The little girl glanced around nervously, then back up at Mercy. "I done told daddy!"
The door, which they had left open, shut as an invisible Randall sneaked inside silently. Mercy shook her head. "Told him what?" She asked.
Anne squirmed, as if she needed to pee, and forced herself to answer guiltily. "'Bout Randall."
Mercy stood frozen, straight faced beside the kitchen table with one hand on a gallon of milk she was beginning to remove from a bag. Her eyes were wide and she was speechless. She didn't know whether to be scared, or pissed off. "What the Hell did you do that for?"She hissed. "Where is he?"
Anne opened her mouth but before she could plead her innocence, their dad called from his room. "Mercy, you home?" He yelled. They could hear his door open and close from the hallway.
"We're going to have some trouble." The low voice of Randall said from behind Mercy. She could feel him nuzzle her shoulder. "Should I run now?"
"No!" Mercy whispered harshly as her father walked into the joined living room and kitchen. Anne had her head lowered in shame. She was just so tired of lying to her daddy. Hiding Randall was so tedious.
"Well, good, you got some milk." The man said, smiling for but a second. His arms crossed and he seemed to be judging the girls with his eyes. "Your sister told me about th'pet. Y'know we discussed 'bout brin' home stray animals or animals from th'swamp." He glanced down at Anne, recalling the day she had brought home a large toad some months ago. "Y'can't have a pet without talkin' to me first. N'we don't take in strays. Especially," he lowered his head, as if he would be looking over invisible glasses. "lizards."
Mercy sighed and rubbed a hand through her hair. She was a thief who had been caught in the act. She looked at her sister a moment. Anne had told their dad Randall was a pet; maybe she could work with that? "It's not that big of'a deal." She tried. "I feed him."
He shook his head. "With the gas money and grocery money I give you?"
Mercy shrugged. "He eats human food?"
There was an awkward silence, both waiting for the other to speak. The adult was looking back and forth between the girls sternly. Suddenly, there was a whine, and it took less than a few seconds for them to realize Anne had begun to cry. "Oh please oh please," She begged, finally looking their father in the eyes. Tears streamed down her red cheeks. "don't make Randy go away!"
The man sighed, looking pitifully at his daughter. He hated to see his children cry. He sighed again and nodded towards them. "Where is the lizard? This Randy?" He simply asked.
Mercy hesitated, before choking out a scared- "Randall, show yourself, please?"
Their dad looked confused a moment, before he gasped. "What the Hell is that- I thought you said it was a chameleon!"
Randall, in full color, was still standing behind Mercy. He had his first pair of hands carefully grasping the middle of Mercy's arms, and his head leaned over her shoulder as if he were sneering at the man before him. He had made Anne cry, so Randall was upset.
Anne was sobbing too much to be able to answer.
"Well," Mercy coughed up a chuckle, "he can change colors like one?"
Their father was debating on how to react. He leaned to the side so he would be able to see directly behind his oldest daughter, being she was standing in the way. He had never seen or heard of such a reptile like Randall. Never in his life. "We can't keep it." He said. "It looks. . . weird."
Mercy glared at her dad. "It? Randall is a him, dad!" She spat. "He's been here for more than a month and hasn't been any problem! Y'can't just try to toss him out now jus' cause he looks a little different!"
Randall grinned a little, his second pair of arms slid down Mercy's sides then wrapped possessively around her waist. He didn't seem as stirred up by his reveal as the humans did. "Yeah," he hissed out with fake sweetness, eying the adult. "don't toss me out like you would some mutt who wet the carpet."
The man shifted his weight and opened his mouth. Then he swayed dizzily and fell back onto the floor, knocked out cold in shock.
Mercy sighed in exasperation. "Shit."
He was settled comfortable in his bed, door closed behind him and lights out. When he had fainted, the girls panicked, Randall letting Mercy go so she could try and heft her father off the hard floor. She needed help from her sister, and the monster was glad to assist as well.
After chewing Anne out, Mercy finally sighed and slumped into the couch. The house was quiet; Anne nibbled her lip, feeling ashamed of herself. "I just thought, well, he's all we got 'sides Randall, n' I felt bad sneakin' him 'round. It was getting' so hard to pretend Randall didn't exist. Cause, he does exist!" The little girl pleaded, stroking her short black hair back.
Mercy sat leaned on the side of the couch, a hand covering her face. She wouldn't let her father put Randall in any danger, no matter what. The monster laid stretched out on the couch, making it so he fell over Mercy's lap. His head was comfortably supported by the arm of the couch, though he had slipped two hands beneath his head anyways. "Y'don't seem too scared, Randall." Mercy noted.
He shrugged at her, looking up into her face. "Knew it would happen eventually." He said. "But, I am kinda scared. I guess." His tail curled as Mercy stroked his belly softly, sending tingles to his stomach.
Mercy removed the other hand from her face."You don't look scared." She said.
Anne continued to bite her lip. "Whadda we do now?" She almost whispered, awkwardly sitting on the couch (making sure not to sit on Randall).
"Wait for Daddy to wake up." Mercy said flatly.
Some time went by in silence before Mercy could no longer take the quiet. She grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, idly flipping through stations. She just needed to hear the noise; something to distract her until her father came to and everything went down hill again. Anne had been right. It was time to get her father involved; what, did she think she could just hide Randall forever? That she would go off to college one day with him? He'd always need to be locked away or invisible. At least this was more interactive. Randall existed and that was reason enough to stop hiding.
The teenager left the TV on some nature show, staring blankly at the screen. She couldn't focus on it.
"Hey, Mercy," Randall asked almost dreamily, as the girl spayed her fingers out and continued to rub his stomach. He seemed almost sleepy, now. "y'never told me about your mother in the time I've been here."
"Hm." She hummed in acknowledgment. "She's no better than Jacob was."
Anne didn't add anything. She snuggled into the corner of the couch opposite of Mercy, holding Randall's tail and fiddling with it in boredom.
"What'd she do?" The lizard asked.
"She abandoned us, is what." There was a long pause as Mercy watched a sloth clamber slowly over a tree branch on the TV. "She used to work at a gas station when I was real little before Anne was born. But sh'got fired for going to work drunk." The girl's face contorted into disgust, not that Randall could see as he had closed his eyes. "After that, she was always spendin' Daddy's money to go out with friends'n get wasted. She wasn't mean'er nothin'. Just stupid."
"Mama got pregnant." Anne piped up from her corner, rubbing Randall's tail over her cheek.
"Yeah, pregnant with who knows whose baby!"
Anne nodded. "N'Daddy divorced her, cause they was yellin'."
The monster nodded slightly. "I'm sorry." He said, sincerely.
"Don't be. We're better off." Mercy hissed. "Haven't seen her in 'bout three years."
He opened his eyes again. "Don't you worry about her?" He asked.
Mercy shook her head. "She was never a mother to me or Anne. She just took Daddy's money and then broke his heart. Never offered a lick'a love t'us."
Anne squirmed. "She tucked us in."
"Uh-huh, then went and puked all over the bathroom." Mercy quickly contorted.
Anne tried not to remember this."But we love Daddy."
"Mhm." Hummed Mercy in response.
Randall frowned deeply. He removed one of the hands holding up his head and reached up towards Mercy's face. Her eyes widened when she realized his hand was touching her. He pushed a lock of hair behind one of her ears affectionately, then dropped his hand back down lazily. She smiled and seemed comforted by this, and the topic was forgotten.
Trying to get loose ends tied up. Remember when I said there would be at least two more chapters after the last one? There may actually be another. That would be this one, then two others. One a follow up to this, then the last to settle things and end it.
Thanks for reading. (also, I got a new laptop today!)