*~The Snake~*

It was an ordinary morning at the Juvenile Detention Center - except something extraordinary was about to happen. The other young men had just gotten undressed for their morning showers when Todd and Jason released a snake into the shower room. "This better work," Todd said as he let the king snake out of the burlap bag.

"That snake is over five feet long! There's no way this won't work," Jason remarked.

"Good, because we need to distract Kurtz and everyone else so I can call Marty."

Todd had a number where he could reach her on the little slip of paper she had given him at the dance. Her note had said he should pretend to be her uncle.

"You go do your thing, and I will stay and watch the chaos in here," Jason said with a grin.

After setting the snake free, Todd sneaked out of the shower room. Jason stayed behind to hear the men scream like scared little girls when they saw the snake slithering on the floor of the shower room. They were running around naked, screaming as Officer Kurtz tried to discover the source of the problem.

"Sir, there's a snake loose in the showers!" said one frightened young man.

"No, there's not; you're all acting like a bunch of scared little babies! Get your asses in there and take your showers!" Kurtz ordered.

"No way am I going in there!" said another teen who was quivering in fear near the sinks.

Just then the snake meandered out of the shower room and made an "S" shape as it curled up on the floor near Kurtz's feet. "Holy SHIT!" Kurtz quipped when he saw the snake. "Someone call an exterminator!"

Jason said nothing as he peeked around the corner and saw a couple of brave young men trying to apprehend the intruder. Luckily, the snake was giving them a difficult time. Todd's plan was working perfectly, just like a charm.

Meanwhile, Todd had broken into the office of the facility and he was placing a call to the convent. An elderly nun answered after a couple of rings. "Sister Mary-Catherine's School for Young Girls," she said.

"Hi, this is Marty Saybrooke's uncle calling. May I talk to her please?" Todd replied as he did his best to disguise his voice.

"Do you mean Margaret? I didn't know she had an uncle. But yes, she's here. I will get her at once. Hold on," the nun stated.

Todd's heart was pounding in his chest when time passed and there was a fairly long pause on the phone. Finally, Marty answered.

"Hello, this is Marty."

"Marty, it's Todd," he said urgently. "I don't have long to talk...but I wanted to tell you where you could meet me. The guys and I are doing some landscaping and upkeep at St. Joseph Cemetery tomorrow. We're gonna be there most of the day. So, I was wondering if you could meet me there around noon? You'd have to be careful though, so no one sees you. I wouldn't want you to get into any trouble."

"That sounds wonderful," Marty said as she was glanced over at the nun who was watching her take the call. "I can't wait to see you again, Uncle Henry."

"I can't wait to see you either, babe," he stated. "I gotta go now."

"Alright. Good bye."