Free Gator on the Loose! by Sue Stauffacher Page B

garage. Razi and Grandma stood on the other side, talking about what would happen.
    “Shame about your mama’s petunias,” Grandma said, scratching at a scab on her knee. She was wearing her “skort,” which made her legs look longer.
    “That should be the alligator’s new name.” Razi pushed a flower between the slats of the crate. “Pumpkin is a boy’s name, but Petunia is a girl’s name.”
    The alligator snapped at the flower.
    “Razi! We’re supposed to keep her calm.” Poor thing, Keisha thought. Alligators shouldn’t have to be crammed into dog crates—or any other cage or aquarium that was too small—for too long. Besides, this little one had been through trouble enough. She deserved some rest.
    Daddy walked over and Keisha reached up to wipe the dirt off his chin.
    “Time for your nap, buddy.” Technically, Razi was too old for his nap, but Daddy still made him go upstairs and play in his room when the family needed a rest.
    “Is not!”
    “Is. It is a quarter past naptime, to be exact. Grandma, will you read Razi a story?”
    “Only if I can pick it. I’ve had it with stories about trains. I need more excitement than clickety-clack.”
    After the others left, Keisha tried to make her thoughts calm for the alligator’s sake. She wondered what a reptile thought about. Did Pumpkin-Petunia feel better that Keisha was there?
    The alligator
was
cute, like Mr. Malone said, in a scaly sort of way. Her eyes were following Keisha. She knew that what looked like Pumpkin-Petunia smiling was just the way her jaw was formed, but secretly Keisha felt that Pumpkin-Petunia, or whatever her name was, might be having some feelings for Keisha, too.
    The alligator squiggled in her little space, swishing her tail back and forth. Keisha stroked the side of the crate. Pumpkin-Petunia snapped her jaws.
    “Shhhh,” Keisha said. “It’s going to be all right. I’m your friend.”
    “Keisha, my lovely girl,” Mama called from the window. “You have to wash your hands for dinner. I am making
egusi.”
    Egusi
was a spicy yellow soup made with meat, red chilies, ground dried shrimp, pumpkin and vegetables.
    Mmmmmm. It was Keisha’s favorite.
    “And
chin-chin.”
    Mmmm again. Keisha loved to dip the sweet fried
chin-chin
bread into her soup.
    “Will Petunia be okay out here by herself?”
    “I thought she was Pumpkin…. You know what your daddy thinks about naming the animals….”
    “She’s Pumpkin-Petunia Carter,” Keisha said quietly.
    “We’ll be right up here. I’ll keep the window open so you can check. I need you to set the table. I invited Mr. Sanders and the twins.”
    “PetuniaPetuniaPetunia.” Razi came running down the steps with a fistful of flowers. So much for his rest.
    “She’s Pumpkin-Petunia now,” Keisha said. “You’re holding those too tight. You’re crushing the stems.”
    Razi took Keisha’s mister and started to spray the flowers. They were already drooping. If only he could learn not to hold so tight.
    “These need to be put in water, Razi. Come on. I’ll be right back, Pumpkin-Petunia.”
    Inside, the kitchen was filled with the smell of fried
chin-chin
. Mama made the dough in the afternoon and fried up squares while grinding the pumpkin seeds and making the paste of onion, tomato and pepper for her
egusi
soup.
    Baby Paulo had taken a long nap. His big brown eyes took in all the activity around him. Daddy was sitting next to the baby, and when Paulo was ready for another spoonful of mashed yams, he pounded the high chair a few times and then opened his mouth like a bird. Razi darted under the table with a set of keys and Daddy’s toolbox.
    Keisha washed her hands.
    “I’ve got it!” Grandma said. She was waving a bunch of papers and almost walked right past her chair. Grandma had the oldest bones, so she got the chair with the biggest cushion.
    “Got what?” Zeke asked, pushing open the back door.
    “A place in Alabama that takes in lost alligators. I found it