Cold Blooded Snake

I don't know if I told you that Calvin had a friend live with him for a few months.

Apparently Calvin had offered said friend a place to stay when the friend 'moved back' to town. The friend decided to stay with his cousin and her boyfriend (cousin's boyfriend not Cal's friend's). When that didn't work out, Friend took Calvin up on his offer and subsequently moved in. Calvin has a two bedroom house. Friend used the spare bedroom / Office. They have been friends since they were kids (Calvin and Friend not spare bedroom and office haha).  Friend always runs errands over the weekend; like that's what he always says when you ask if where he's going or what he's up to. Anyway, someone's gotta run them, hadn't they?


Months into Friend living in, Calvin had asked me to move in but I, well, didn't say yes. I wasn't ready, plus, three's a crowd. Right?

Calvin has a friend whose home is being renovated. That friend bought a pet snake. He had nowhere to keep the snake, so he asked Calvin to take care of it for him. Calvin agreed. I was talking to Calvin over the phone one night when he told me that he was petting the snake as we were talking over the phone. I was like, you mean the spider? He told me no, he was pet sitting for his friend. Awesome! His place was slowly becoming a zoo!

I was looking forward to seeing the snake, I hadn't come in such close contact with snakes in a while. I have helped kill one before, with my nephew at our old home in Umtata, South Africa. It was a baby green mamba. I also once picked up what I thought was a dead puff adder, in Uitenhage, South Africa. It had been ran over by a car. People freaked out when they saw it, cried and went the other way. I laughed and ran towards the sake, telling them that it was dead. I picked it up by its tail and swung it back and forth at my sister's then neighbors. I had been staying at my sister's for school break. One of the neighbors yelled, 'Isaphila le nyoka, Babalwa!' (The snake is still alive!). I looked down at the snake and saw its head facing up towards me. Talk about the joking being on me! Snakes will always be snakes!

We had plenty of experiences with snakes growing up in the farm. One of my older sisters, I have three (and brothers); is deathly afraid of snakes. She used to be the first one to spot snakes, especially after she had her

Calvin's friend's snake was a python. The smaller pythons that don't get too big. It's called corn snake, I believe. It's orange and black, thin and long. They had it in a cage that was tightly closed at all times, thank goodness! I got to see it the following weekend. Everyone was playing with the snake, there were like four guys, playing with this snake. We, three were playing with the snake, one wanted no part of it. I wanted to feel it against me.

The snake with its owner

 I was terrified, the head is just so flat! I didn't like the head at all, I didn't want it facing me at all! I was like but I wanna touch it! It was a now or never type of moment for me! So....

Touching the snake!

It silky smooth and ice cold! Of course I took a deep breath before touching the snake because they told me it can feel people's vibrations. My vibration was OMG! This is freaking scary! Haha. Even after I took a deep breath.

I was and still am glad I touched it. I conquered a fear! I was proud I did it. Everyone was like, hold it, Brook! I was like, errr, nah thanks! Ima have to pass on that! 

See how the snake is slithering all over this guy's arm?

Calvin was doing the same thing, the Friend, house guest, tried, but the snake kept biting him. Everyone thought that was funny. I didn't. That scared me even more.

Calvin playing with the snake

Oh Lord, why did I wait until so late to finish this blog!I hope I don't dream about snakes tonight, yuck!

Because I was so scared of the snake, whenever it was in the cage, I would tease it; knock on the glass, and do things, which made it crawl the other way. 

Baby Python in it's cage

Anyway, long story short, Calvin told me one day over the phone that he didn't know what to do because the snake had disappeared. They looked everywhere. The cage was still locked and the snake was nowhere to be found. They had recently fed it. They bought tiny mice or rats from the pet store and fed the snake with one per week or something. It was still full wherever it was, so it's not like it escaped in search for food. Was it out for blood? was it out for revenge from me?