Baby and the Boa
by Christine
Dorothy
I did not hear
of this incident until years later when my mother
finally got the courage to tell me. Let me
explain. My mother was known as ’Nonna’
to the grandkids. Since she often said and
did things that were bloops and faux pas, the
kids came up with an explanation they called the
‘Nonna gene’. Whenever they did
something dumb, they would exclaim, “Oh no!
I’ve got the Nonna gene!” Here is a
case in point.
One time Mom came to babysit Tyson when he was
about five months old. Tyson’s quiet
and accommodating character came through even at
this age. He rarely cried, but he cooed. He
was such a good baby. I was sure Mom could
handle him and he wouldn’t give her any
grief. She took him to visit her good
friend Lois, her partner in crime and drinking
buddy. Robert, Lois’ son, lived at
home, but had left for a few days, leaving his
Mom in charge of his Boa constrictor in the
basement. Lois worried that it would get
out, but Robert assured her that this was
impossible.
When Mom arrived, she put Tyson down in the
upstairs bedroom for a nap. Since she didn’t
want him to fall off the bed, she put him
comfortably on the floor and left the door open.
She then joined Lois in the bright and sunny den
that looked out onto the back yard and pool.
There they sipped on a glass of white wine and
got caught up on their news.
After a couple of hours, Lois invited Mom to have
a look at the Boa in the basement. Mom was
nervous just thinking about it. But down they
went into the dark to see this most unusual snake,
They could see the looming outline of the cage
which became clearer when Lois turned on the
light. They crept noiselessly toward the cage so
as not to startle it, and peered in. Where could
it be now. Don’t quite see it. When they
surmised the cage was empty they could feel their
blood cool as the horror of the situation
gradually dawned on them.
They raced up stairs, dreading what they might
find. The bedroom door was still ajar, and
much like touching a hot stove, they pushed on
the door wanting, but not wanting, to discover
what they might find. Much to their relief,
Tyson was all in one piece, still sleeping on the
floor. But where was the Boa and what were they
going to do with it?
They carefully and gratefully closed the door and
nervously crept about the upstairs checking for
the whereabouts of the creepy beast.
They found it in the next room slithering up on
the curtains. They closed the door, picked
up Tyson and gingerly went back to the den. It
was time for stiff drink and a silent
promise to be a more vigilant grandmother and
keep the Nonna gene at bay.
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