SOME SNAKES LIKE WATER Connie Edward This morning me and my friend Butch went up to the canal and caught water snakes. Usually we don't bring them home, we just play with them and then throw them back. But we brought one back today because my big sister Alice needed one for her Zoology class at college. She said she'd pay me a dollar if I caught her one. My big sister Alice is nineteen. I am twelve going on thirteen. College girls are supposed to be smart and talk neat, but she still calls me her "snotty little brother" and "the little monster." She doesn't act any different than she did in high school, except she needs more money. She was in the kitchen this morning when she asked me to catch a snake for her. Alice has short blonde hair, and she paints her fingernails and toenails red. The other night a boyfriend of hers told her she looked like Kim Novae, but I told her she looked more like Lassie. She has a very loud voice when she screams. She didn't scream at me this morning. She just smiled at me really nice and said, "Do you want ham or bacon with your eggs, Tommy?" She was cooking breakfast because it was Saturday, and she was home from school, and also because Mom and Dad were gone for the day and wouldn't be back until late. I wasn't hungry because I'd already had lemonade and chocolate cake for breakfast. She had on bermuda shorts, and her knees kind of point in toward each other. 6 I said, "I don't want either one." She smiled at me again and I could tell she wanted something because she hardly ever is nice to me like that. She said, "Tommy I'll pay you fifty cents if you'll catch me a water snake." I smiled right back at her and said, "A dollar." The smile on her face disappeared. She was going to act normal. I could tell because her face was getting red. "You little monster." she said loudly, "I'll pay fifty cents. One slimy little snake isn't worth a dollar." I just looked at her and said, "Okay, don't pay me a dollar." I started to walk out of the kitchen. "Catch it yourself." She grabbed me by the arm and said, I can't. I just can't stand those horrible things but I have got to have one for my Zoology Class or else." "A dollar," I said as I gave her my Perry Mason look. Money is money." "O.K. A dollar." She knew I had her. So I got dressed and walked over to my friend Butch's and got him and then we hiked up to the canal. I took an empty pickle bottle to put Alice's snake in. We threw rocks in the canal and messed around for a while and then we caught a cute little baby water snake. It 7