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I need to make him promise that he’ll keep his mouth shut

"Look, you don’t need to be late for your next appointela’s and pick up the hive crea inside her scrubs pocket and handing ive it to you for a free cupping session in exchange So like that Take an antihistaet home, and let me check on you later, okay?"

"Will do"

"I mean it Don’t make me have to take you to Sacred Heart"

"Not those monsters," I say dramatically "Conventional er intolady"

I assure her that I will

After we part ways, I backtrack down the sidewalk to cross the street, passing Lennon’s car Then I head toward the business on the corner

Reptile Isle is one of the oldest reptile shops in California The brick shop front is covered in an enormous rainforest mural, complete with lizards and turtles and snakes, oh iant pieces of driftwood and tropical plants flanking its recessed entrance and push open the door

Inside, ht as the thick, musky scent of substrate and snake fills my nostrils Hundreds of tanks and terrariu a warm atmosphere Most of the reptiles here are for sale, but the people n the shop also have a breeding program in the back, and they do a lot of educational outreach

A large checkout counter sits near the entrance, but Lennon’s not running the register, so I glance around the expansive shop and try to spot hi, I wind around aisles stacked with plastic caves, plant replicas, and endless reptilian supplies: tank ther dishes, lizard hammocks In the center of the store, inside a e, the skeleton of an old tree stands, its bare branches decked with tiny wooden platfor vines creep up its screened walls

This is where I spot Lennon

He’s standing inside the cage with a giant green iguana draped around his shoulders

"Her na on the outside of the cage with her nose pressed to the screen "She’s froirl asks

"She’s five years old," Lennon says

"That’s how old you are," the irl seems suitably ie to herself," Lennon confir, so she needs a lot of space to roam around Want to see her tail?"

He ducks low on the other side of the screen to give her a peek

Eyes wide, the little girl is both fascinated and wary "Will she bite?"

"If she’s scared," Lennon says, coaxing the big lizard from his shoulders to a platform above, where it crawls beneath a potted tropical plant "She only likes to be handled by a few special friends It takes her a long tiet close to her But she doesn’t mind if you admire her from out there"

"Can I have her for a pet?"