“Okay, whatever you say.”
May squeezes me around my shoulders as we walk side by side. “So, are you excited to be here?”
We head toward Sammy. “Do you want my honest answer or my playing-nice answer?”
“Be honest. I can handle it.”
“Well . . . I would say that I’m grateful to be here. I’m grateful for the job, even though it’s just a one-time freelance thing. If Ozzie could give me a letter of reference when it’s all over, it could really help with my new career.”
“What’s your new career? You have a new career already? What did I miss?” She laughs, but not at me, so I don’t take offense.
“My new career as a freelancer.” I try to smile, but I’m not sure I pull it off, because May is looking at me funny.
She pats me on the back. “That’s the spirit, babe. You’re going to be fine.” She shifts her attention to Sammy. “Hey there, little man, are you ready to see some super cool stuff?”
Sammy’s hand is reaching up toward a piece of gym equipment, his fingers hovering just inches away from it. His eyes are big and round. “Yeth, I’m ready.”
“How about if we look at that gym equipment later? I have other things to show you first that are way cooler.”
Sammy points at a stack of weights. “Cooler than that?”
“Yes.” May is nodding. “Way cooler. Like ninja-stuff cooler.”
My eyes pop open at that. “You’d better not let him touch . . . those things that are up there.” I don’t want to say ninja swords; that’ll only pique his interest more.
May rolls her eyes. “Give me some credit, Jenny. You know I’m not going to let my nephew cut a finger off.”
“I can cut a finger off?” Sammy’s eyes are practically falling out of his head at this point.
May laughs. “No. Didn’t you hear me? There will be no cutting off of any fingers today.”
I feel the very strong urge to emphasize this point. “No cutting fingers off, Sammy. No fingers, no toes, no nothing. No cutting of anything.”
Sammy nods vigorously. “Okay. I won’t cut anything off.”
I’m not nearly as excited about this job as I was ten minutes ago.
“Come on, guys,” says May. “Let’s go upstairs so that Mama can talk to Ozzie and the team and find out what they need her to do.”
We walk up the stairs together, with May holding Sammy’s hand. At the top of the staircase we’re faced with another keypad. May enters in a code, there’s a click, and she pushes the door open.
“Now, Sammy, you can’t touch anything in this room. You can look at everything, but you can’t touch it. No matter what.”
“Okay.”
Her voice goes stern. “You have to promise me, Sammy. You can’t touch anything.”
Sammy’s a little breathless. “I promith. I won’t touch anything. And I won’t cut anything off.”
“Okay, little man. I’m trusting you.” Auntie May puts her hand on his back and pushes him toward the opening. “The light will come on as soon as you step inside.”
Felix runs past all of us and disappears into the darkness. Seeing that tiny dog be so brave makes me realize how silly I’m being, acting nervous about entering the ninja room and then the meeting area or kitchen or whatever they call it in there. I made a bit of a fool of myself the last time I was here, and I don’t relish facing the music, but damn . . . if that tiny excuse for a dog can walk around in here like it’s no big deal, so can I. I’m as brave as a chihuahua, at least. I think.
The light goes on in the room as Sammy steps inside, and he stops so suddenly, I walk right into the back of him. I barely keep my laptop from swinging forward and knocking him unconscious.
“Sammy, what’re you doing?”
“Whoa. Doeth a real ninja live here?”
That brings a smile to my face.
“Kind of,” May and I both say at the same time.
She looks at me funny, probably because my cheeks are turning red as I imagine the man who owns these swords. I can’t meet her eyes, so I focus on Sammy instead.
“You’ll get to meet him later. His name is Dev, which is short for Devon.”
“There’th a girl named Devon at my thchool.”
“We don’t have to tell Dev the ninja-man that, though, right?”
Sammy looks up at me. “Why not?”
“Because . . . sometimes men don’t like to think that their name is a girl’s name too.”
Sammy thinks about it for a second or two and then nods. “Okay.” His attention is back on the ninja swords in seconds. “I could cut a lot of thingth off with theethe thords in here.”