Page 40 of Saving Little Jenna
I giggled. "The birds would have to be chirping out of a megaphone for you to hear them from the zoo."
"Now, listen." He put his hands on my ear and began whispering loudly. "Here's what we're gonna do to get our revenge."
I nodded and felt my heart skip a beat. It would be the naughtiest thing I'd ever done but the rush it gave me was so exciting. It was probably the same rush that Kristen sought, but she was the one who started it all.
As part of our plan, we waited until it was completely dark outside. Soon I was by the main switch looking at the watch Michael had given me. When it was time, I turned the power off to the house and tiptoed my way back to the living room in pitch darkness. Kristen was still sitting on the couch and she looked confused.
I continued tiptoeing my way to a spot by the stairs, where I could get the perfect view of all the action. To set our plan in motion, I jingled a set of keys in my pocket before throwing them on the floor.
"Who's there?" Kristen asked loudly, turning on the flash on her phone and moving it around.
It was Michael's cue, whom I now saw entering through the front door in dark, dressed in the gorilla costume. If I hadn't known it was Michael, I would be wetting my diapers right then and there.
When Kristen shone the light on him, he was standing on his legs and closing the door with his hands like a human. I shook my head in disbelief. He was supposed to act like an animal but instead, he seemed to still be in his Little headspace.
Thankfully, when he turned around and saw Kristen, he slipped into his role and instantly began beating his chest wildly. Swiftly getting down on all fours, he roared and screamed deafeningly before charging at a horrified Kristen.
The distance between them was enough for Kristen to realize what was going on and quickly react. She just sat there screaming at the top of her lungs for a moment, then jumping out of the couch and running up the stairs like her life depended on it.
When I saw her run into the nursery and lock herself in, I felt slightly bad for what we had done. She probably went in there thinking we were still in the nursery, possibly trying to save us from a threat like a good babysitter. It made me wonder if being mean and cruel was truly part of her middle personality, or if it was just an act to mask deeper issues.
Michael rushed to the main switch and turned the power back on. When he walked into the living room and crawled up to me, I sat on the floor. When he removed the head of the costume, he was smiling ear to ear. He gave me a high-five and then took a seat next to me.
"God, it feels so good to be naughty." He giggled and then put the back of his hand on his forehead dramatically. "Why should I be a good boy when being naughty feels so much better? It's like a hundred degrees in this costume, but it was so worth it."
I laughed at his antics and shook my head. "This is totally a one-off thing, though. Revenge felt so good, but if we continue down this path, soon we won't be able to distinguish between good and evil just like Kristen."
He rolled his eyes. "As if I'd ever go this extreme with my pranks if she wasn't such a jerk. Now, do you want to help me hide the evidence?"
We rushed up to Michael's room where he got out of the costume and hid it under the bed. Then we practiced our lines once more for when our Daddies arrived. There was a lot of time before they would come home, so we went downstairs and watched cartoons on the TV.
Michael lay on his tummy with his head in his hands, unconcerned and singing a lullaby when the ads came on. He was used to being naughty, but it was my first time.
Despite it being a perfect crime, I couldn't help but worry about getting caught. "I'm not very good at lying, Michael. Do you think we can get away with this?"
"Oh?" he said, pushing off the floor and sitting next to me. "You could read off a script if you're worried about forgetting your lines. Do you want to go over the lines once more? Or do you want me to do all the talking?"
Before I could reply, our Daddies barged through the front door with concerned looks on their faces.
"Oh, Jenna!" Daddy ran towards me and scooped me up in his arms, laying dozens of kisses all over my face. "Thank God you're safe. I was worried sick that something must've happened to you. We drove here as fast as we could when Kristen called us. Where's the gorilla? Did you call 9-1-1?"
By then, Michael was in uncle John's arms, gently being rocked back and forth. We hadn't taken into account the possibility of Kristen calling them up and worrying unnecessarily. I felt horrible for worrying them for no good reason. If the tables were turned, I would've cried my eyes out worrying about Daddy’s safety.
"We saw it leave after Kristen locked herself in the nursery," Michael said when I was too lost to say my lines. "I would've said hello and fed it some bananas, but it was in a hurry. It looked like it just needed some hugs and pets, but Kristen scared it away. I would've made friends otherwise."
"You'll do no such thing, young man," uncle John scolded. "We've talked about this a hundred times, Michael. When a wild animal approaches, you run."
"Where did the gorilla even come from?" Daddy asked as they carried us upstairs. "There aren't even any zoos around here."
When Michael cleared his throat and looked at me expectantly, I robotically spoke the lines he had prepared for me. "We were so worried about Kristen when we saw her run upstairs. We're just glad she's safe and nothing happened to her. We wouldn't be able to live with ourselves had we failed to protect her. Thank God I had Michael right by my side where I could see him, so I didn't have to worry about his safety too."
By the time it was Michael's turn to show some sympathy and imply that we were each other's alibi, Daddy pushed open the nursery door. Kristen stood in the middle of the nursery. We expected her to look scared, reflecting upon her rude behavior and how it was all karma for being mean to us, but instead, she looked furious.
"Oh, Kristen." Michael extended his arms toward her to give her a hug but she stood there giving us both cold glances. "Thank God you're alright. I know this is the second time you've been chased by a gorilla, but you've got to give them a third chance. They probably just want a hug, so try cuddling one the next time a gorilla comes charging at you. All I ask is that you give wild animals another chance. They’re just looking for a friend to hug."
Kristen scoffed and slapped Michael's hands away, rushing to the walk-in closet and returning with a life-like bear costume. "The walk-in closet was open when the power came back on, so I walked in and found a bunch of animal costumes. It was you, wasn't it? You knew I'm scared of gorillas so you dressed up as one to scare the daylights out of me."
Busted! Our Daddies looked at each other in disbelief.
