Diane and Amelia waited outside the apartment door while Gabriella disappeared inside with King Kong. When she came back, she flashed her megawatt smile, which faded quickly when she saw Diane’s tight lips, and said, “There. King Kong is locked in the bathroom. He cannot escape. And now, please come in.”
Gabriella rushed Diane through the kitchen (“Excuse the dirty dishes,” she apologized. “Did not hear the alarm this morning”), past the plastic bin of turtles and into the living room.
“Why are there ribbons hanging from all the doorways?” Diane said.
“Duke keeps hitting his head. The ribbons remind him to duck. But we are not complaining,” Gabriella added hastily. “It is Duke’s fault that he is so tall, not yours. And now, please sit down.”
“I can see everything standing, thank you very much.”
The living room wasn’t too scary, Amelia thought. Zak and Lysander, peering through the wire mesh of their cage, weren’t at all how one imagined rats would look. The ferrets were asleep in their hammock, Mary was hiding behind her plastic bush, and Georgia was Georgia—fluffy and adorable.
“Duke and Gabriella rescue animals, Mom. Mostly reptiles. Duke says you wouldn’t believe the terrible things that people do. And they don’t keep them all—they find homes for them. It’s like adopting, only it’s animals. And they were going to tell you, honestly they were.”
Diane stuck her head in the doorway of the bedroom closest to the living room.
“No time to make the bed.” Gabriella sighed. “And Duke, he is not remembering to pick up his clothes. Men! They are impossible…”
“Mom, are you listening? These animals would die if Duke and Gabriella didn’t take them! Duke says—”
“Open that door,” Diane said.
“What door?” Amelia said. “The bathroom door? King Kong—”
“I do know where the bathroom is in this apartment, Amelia. I seem to recall that I own this apartment. I also recall that there is another bedroom, behind that door, and I want to know what is in there.”
“Bien sûr,” Gabriella whispered. “Of course.”
Gabriella opened the door. Amelia waited for her mother to explode.
But Diane didn’t say a word. Her lips grew even tighter as her eyes swept the room.
Amelia quickly assessed the situation. Bill was asleep, and all the snakes were hidden away under their towels. Kilo was splashing happily in her pool, Apollo was grinning at them, and even her mom would have to like a red frog. “Mom, look at Winston—he’s that tortoise, see? He’s looking at you! He’s so cool, and—”
“I’ve seen enough.”
Gabriella sent Amelia a desperate look and closed the door.
“It is not as bad as it looks,” Amelia said quickly.
“You’re right. It’s worse. You do know you’re breaking every bylaw in the city, Gabriella.”
“Pardon?” Gabriella frowned. “I do not understand.”
“There’s no way it can be legal to do this in the basement of someone’s house. This is a residential neighborhood. We’ll have the police here before you know it. Arresting all of us.”
Gabriella’s face brightened. “Oh, no. You must not worry about that. We have a—a paper that says we can do this.”
“I suppose you mean a license. I can’t imagine how you managed to get one. If you even did.”
“That’s a really mean thing to say,” Amelia said. “Gabriella wouldn’t lie. And a license means that this is okay, right?”
“No, it is absolutely not okay. Do you really think I’ll be able to sleep a wink with all these creatures in the same house? You can hardly expect to keep a snake locked up in a bathroom. It’ll be crawling up the pipes into our toilet. And you can close your mouth, Amelia. I’ve heard of that happening to someone.”
“Who?” Amelia demanded.
“Someone. That snake has got to go. All of these animals have got to go.”
“That is impossible,” Gabriella said quietly. “They are our family.”
Diane stared at her. “Then you and Duke will have to go.”
“What?” Amelia cried. “That’s not fair!”
“I’ll tell you what’s fair. I’ll give you one week, Gabriella, one week, to find another place. That’s more than fair. Anyone in their right mind would make you go tonight. July 1, you’re gone! Then maybe I can get some proper tenants in here.”
“Nobody else wants to live here, Mom!” Amelia shouted. “Did you forget that?”
“Amelia, I want you upstairs now.”
Diane stormed through to the kitchen.
“Beaker. Beaker. Beaker,” Beaker said from his cage in the corner.
Diane stopped.
“Beaker. Beaker. Beaker.”
Diane walked over to the cage and pulled back a pink hand towel draped over the front. “Good Lord! What is that?”
“It’s a bird, Mom. It’s Beaker. He’s a cockatiel. He can’t help the way he looks. He got burned. He got under a hot tub.”
“He looks bizarre. My god. Why hasn’t someone put that poor thing out of his misery?”
“He is not miserable,” Gabriella said stiffly. “He is just… Beaker. He has courage.”
“Courage?” Diane said. “A bird?” She stared at Beaker without saying anything. Then she turned and headed to the door. “One week. That’s final.”
Amelia heard voices in the night. Her mom and Duke. They were by the front door, and Duke was doing most of the talking.
She had been on her way to the bathroom. She sidled down the hallway and parked herself just out of sight.
“So you see,” Duke said, “I know my rights as a tenant. I’ve read the BC Residential Tenancy Act.”
“Very impressive,” Diane said. “This has obviously happened to you before. Why am I not surprised?”
“You have to give us a month’s notice. It’s required by law.”
“Is there a section in this act on tenants misrepresenting themselves?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Or how about a section on tenants harboring dangerous animals? I won’t allow it, Duke. Not in my house. I don’t care how many acts you’ve read.”
“The law is the law,” Duke said. “We’re not going next week. We’re entitled to a month’s notice. I didn’t want to say this, but there are penalties for landlords who break the rules. I looked it up. You could go to court. You could get fined even.”
“Good one, Duke,” Amelia whispered.
Silence.
She held her breath.
“I can print you a copy of the Act off the Internet if you want,” Duke said.
Amelia heard her mother sigh. “Don’t bother. Oh, all right. You’re persistent, if nothing else.”
“That’s settled then? We have a month?”
“July 23. Not one day longer. And the deal’s off if even one of those animals gets out.”
“I’ll tell Gabriella. She’s been crying her eyes out. She’s so emotional. And thank you, Diane. I really appreciate it.”
“Good night, Duke.”
The front door closed, and Amelia scooted back to bed.
One whole month to make her mother change her mind.