Page 20 of Fish out of Water
I’d looked it over after reclaiming my flip flop from Grant, when it occurred to me I shouldn’t just take his word for everything. I was falling victim to the way his face looked and giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Maybe not just his face. Maybe it was his whole self that was distracting.
So far I’d gotten to see him dressed up and down.
And both made my brain go a little stupid.
But I was going to redeem myself now. I was going to be better.
I would be immune to anything Grant Servantes threw my way.
I checked the paper Mr. Frazier gave me last night, re-reading what I already knew was there.
I didn’t want to do this, but it was the loophole my rule-following brain needed to be okay with what I was doing.
“You’re fucked-up, Penelope. You know that?” I went to the smaller tank filled with tiny fish and grabbed the net from the side.
Not only did Penelope eat other fish, she ate them alive.
I cringed as I dipped out two fish, feeling a little like an executioner.
I opened the lid and dropped them in, quickly turning away to hook the net back into place before shaking all my limbs to work the guilt and the gross out.
“Ugh.” I rushed down the hall, ready to get as far from Penelope and her lunch as I could manage. That was the last thing I wanted to watch happen right now.
And I was on a schedule. Mrs. Sherling definitely helped me out, but even one of her lists wouldn’t take forever to fulfill, so I had to get a move on.
I started in the kitchen, going straight to the fridge. It was stocked with all the basics. Milk. Eggs. Butter. Nothing too unusual.
I opened the freezer. More normal stuff. Ice cream. A couple microwave dinners.
A random cardboard box wrapped in packing tape.
If ever a box contained a body part it was this one.
I pulled it out so I could get a better look.
Maybe it was just those steaks guys sell out of the back of their truck. That seemed like something Mr. Frazier would buy. Trunk steaks.
And they probably even came packaged just like this.
I set the box on the counter and opened a drawer, pulling out a pair of scissors.
If it was steak then I’d just tape the box back up and put it where I found it. No one would ever know.
I’m sure Mr. Frazier didn’t count the layers of packing tape stuck on there.
I flipped the scissors open and ran one blade along the edge, slicing through. I followed the line up the other side and across the middle, being as careful as I could. Then I set the scissors down and took a deep breath before flipping the edges open to see what was inside.
It wasn’t steak, that was for sure.
I shook the box a little, moving the contents around, trying to see what exactly was packed into the individual baggies stacked inside. After a few shakes I gave up and reached in to pull one out. I turned it over in my hand, trying to make heads or tails of it.
Holy shit. That’s what it was.
Tails.
My eyes went over the counter to where Penelope was slowly stalking one of the fish I’d dropped into her lair. I looked back at the bagged item in my hand.
