Lets Play Hookie!!

Amelia stumbled out of bed as she went towards the main door, where the incessantly ringing doorbell was reckoning to her. She opened the door and yawned as her friend Bianca stuffed a big object in her hand. “Ames, Sweetie am off to Mike’s for a few days can you please handle this?” Before Amelia realised what was happening Bianca was out the door and into her car revving away, leaving a trail of smoke behind.

Amelia kicked the door shut juggling the huge package in her hand. It was covered with cloth so she couldn’t tell what Bianca wanted her to handle. She gingerly placed it on the dining table and slowly pulled the cloth away. “AAAArrrrrr! Goooooood morning!,” bellowed the parrot sitting in there. “No…No….NO…BIANCA!!!,” Amelia screamed in horror. She hated birds, especially Bianca’s foul mouthed parrot Hookie. She always wondered why she called it by that name.

“AAAAArrrrr, Good Morning Bianca!!!,” Hookie chattered. “I am Amelia you Dodo! And Bianca is going to die for pulling this trick on me!” Hookie hopped from its perch onto the floor of the cage and looked at her keenly, as if trying to make sure that she wasn’t Bianca. “Wherrrrre’s Bianca, Wherrrree’s Bianca!,” it began flapping its wings in anxiety. “AAAH, she dumped you on me and took off! I work and am out most of the day, how am I suppose to take care of you?,” Amelia whined. She sighed and plugged her ears as she walked over to her bathroom and the little bird kept repeating ‘where’s Bianca’ like a broken record.

The next day was a day before christmas and Amelia had no choice but to take Bianca’s parrot to work. It was festive season and a lot of locals dropped into her little book shop for picking gifts. She drove to her little bookshop, while Hookie sang morning songs, perched in his cage in the back seat. Amelia had to hand it to the bird, it’s mouth didn’t tire nor did its spirit.

She placed its cage on the reception counter, as she opened for business. Her first customer was a handsome guy looking for a gift for his girlfriend. As soon as he turned, the parrot whistled, “Holy Moly Guacamole check out those buns!!” The said handsome man with the aforementioned ‘buns’ halted midstride and looked at Amelia with wide eyes. “It’s the parrot! It belongs to my friend, am keeping it just for a few days,” she croaked guiltily. The man burst out laughing when the parrot continued, “Looking for a date hotness!” and Amelia wished the earth would open up and swallow her. She just about throttled the little menace in her mind, whilst keeping a smiling face to her customer, who chuckled and settled his payment

One crisis averted! Amelia sighed, as she sat at a stool, arranging a row of books. Just then the bell at her door chimed and an old lady walked in. She banged her book on the counter and said, “This book has a bad binding! I want my money back, I am not spending a precious penny on this pile of tatters!” Amelia took a deep breath and said, “Ma’am there is a no return policy on books once sold. I can help you get the book rebinded but I cannot refund the purchase, I hope you will understand.” The old lady huffed and pointed a finger in Amelia’s face as she scowled, “Young lady do not cheat me, you sold me a bad book!” Amelia still pasted a smile to her face as she insisted that the book had been in proper condition when sold to her.

Just then the parrot squawked, “You lying old Coot! Yaw got guts coming back here!” The old lady was about to burst a nerve as her face went red with her mounting temper. “Oh! You wouldn’t dare put that bird up to this? You know I can get your shop shut in matter of minutes!” Amelia widened her eyes at the parrot and tried her best to pacify the woman, but the old lady went away, screaming profanities at her and her parrot. Amelia came back to the shop and sunk into her chair as she put her head in her hands. It had been just two hours and Bianca’s parrot had already managed to tick two customers.

As she looked at the parrot, it tilted its head to one side and said, “AAARrrrr Lets play Hookie!!” Amelia stomped to its cage and put a cloth over it and cursed the moment that Bianca had placed him in her hands. As she sat steaming over the parrot issue, a boy and his mother walked into the shop. As Amelia helped the mother, the boy had moved closer to the cage. He lifted the cloth and was intrigued to find a parrot under it. The l;ittle boy felt it was wrong that the parrot was caged and he opened the door. As soon as the cage was open, the bird flew out and started flapping all over the shop.

Amelia looked on in horror as the parrot flapped and squawked, “yo lets hit the party bitches!!” The mother gathered her son in her arms and gave Amelia a scathing look before she escaped out the door.

With the shop door open, the parrot flew away singing songs, while Amelia watched helplessly. Having cursed the parrot all day, she was now worried what she would tell Bianca who was due next day to pick her beloved parrot. That evening she closed the shop and drove home with an empty cage. She walked into her house and kept the cage by the window. She felt sad that the bird was lost. Where would he have gone? What if he got chased by a cat or eaten by a dog? She thought hopeless thoughts and sunk into her bed, as she fell into a fitfull sleep.

That very night a robber broke into her apartment. As he entered the living space, he started collecting the valuables lying on the shelves. As he picked up a blender from the kitchen, he heard a croaky voice, “Is that you Michael!” He froze in surprise, wondering how whoever that was, knew his name. “Oh you are a bad bad Boy, take it easy! Don’t touch my goodies!” The robber nearly dropped the radio he had in his hand. “You gona be bad then I gotta call the Police!!,” the voice screamed. The robber dropped all his things and scrambled to the door. “No not the door you idiot, they will be watching,” the voice said again. The robber paused and moved to the window. “Yes, Do it you rascal!!” the voice said and the robber jumped down two storeys and took off running.

Next day morning Amelia had two surprises waiting for her, one Hookie was back in his cage and two there was a bag of stuff lying in her living room and most of it didn’t belong to her. Her broken door told her that someone had broken in and she called the police. They cordoned of the area and she sat feeling jittery that someone had managed to break into her house.

As the police questioned her, Hookie squawked loudly, “I got that sucker!” The policemen halted in that work as they stared at the parrot. “Is that you Michael,” Hookie squealed. “You gona be a bad boy I gotta call the police!!” he continued. The Inspector laughed as he finally understood what happened. He looked at Amelia with mirthful eyes and said, “Madam your parrot just saved you from being burgled. You are truly lucky. I think his chattering scared the robber and he dropped his loot in his haste to get away. We will get him but you be careful now on.”

Amelia looked at Hookie with tears in her eyes. The little foul mouthed bird, who had probably leanrt all the nasty dialogues from the constant movies playing at Bianca's apafrtment, had saved the day and she couldn’t thank Bianca enough for the little mishap. That week of Christmas she and Hookie actually played hookie as she took him on her cycle tours and down to the beach to fly. She knew now that the little parrot had grown fond of her and they had forged a bond of friendship so strong that now they were partners in crime, setting onto a new adventure in life. Ofcourse Bianca didnt know that her parrot had changed loyalties!! But hey she could go figure!!