I came upon an absurd scene. Some ahjumma in a corner of the home goods section, holding a broom pointed at a colorful bird perched 5 feet from her. The worst part was when I noticed the bird poo on her shoulder. I winced. She was shouting things in Korean that I could only imagine were expletives.

And when I thought things couldn't get worse, they did.

Around one corner came Mr. Ahn, looking as stern as ever, and around the other corner ran Ricky.

Oh oh oh this is bad. I didn't even know Mr. Ahn was here today!!

I watched the nightmare unfold before me. The parrot was squawking away in Korean at the woman, repeating back the foul words she was yelling at it. Mr. Ahn stood bewildered for a moment, then ran to try to aid the woman but ended up slipping on some bird poo. I admit, if the situation was less horrifying, I would have LOL'd.

He tried to grab the bird, but it flew away before he reached it, and he knocked some mops over instead. I looked around and realized that a crowed had gathered now to watch the spectacle. I think if this act were in a circus, it would be a hit. It looked ridiculous enough.

I turned to look at Ricky. He looked like he just found out he only had x amount of hours to live. He was probably right...

Mr. Ahn apologized to the cranky ahjumma and I heard something about giving a discount in his brief discussion. She nodded and her sour face turned to a grin. Ew.

Then he saw Ricky watching from behind a shelf. He started to walk away, until Mr. Ahn yelled. "NOT SO FAST, RICKY."

Ricky winced as Mr. Ahn came storming over. I left before he saw me. He was so loud when yelling at Ricky, I could still hear him when I was 5 aisles down. 

"You have been VERY irresponsible. Do you realize how much money I just lost? Not to mention the mess that was made. And what would have happened if the bird had been hurt? How much money I would have lost THEN? I don't know if I can put up with your immaturity anymore! … I don't care that you're sorry! Sorry isn't going to pay for the damage, is it?" 

I frowned a bit.

Noooo Alice, you can't feel bad. He's getting what he deserves. What goes around comes around! 

So I headed to pick up my snacks. Since I still had some in the box Niel gave me, I wanted to try some new ones. I turned a corner and saw little beady eyes looking into mine.

"Oh. You. You've caused a lot of trouble, you know."

"YOU. YOU'VE CAUSED A LOT OF TROUBLE, BRAAAACK." it parroted.

I blinked, and he cocked his head.

"It's not my fault Ricky's in trouble. He was stupid enough to leave the cage open. I was just trying to apologize, but he was just so rude."

"BRAAACK. Didn't you lose the ferret in the first place?"

I lunged back a few steps. Is that parrot actually talking to me...?

"Well yeah, but... No one told me there was any ferret. Plus I didn't even leave the cage open, Niel did. But it's not his fault, it was an accident!"

"And Ricky left the cage open on purpose? BRAAACK? How many accidents have you paid for before? It's not a nice feeling right?"

Samson cocked his head again. I got where he was going.

"... Okay, I get it. I've been a bit jerkish too. But I tried to help him earlier and he didn't want it!"

"BRAAACK well there is still time right? Hold out your arm. We'll get him to forgive you."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing OR doing. But I listened and did what it asked anyway. I held out my arm, and Samson hopped onto it. He looked at me expectantly.

"Oh." I said. And headed for the pet section.

"There, back in your cage. Here's a treat for the good boy!"

He ruffled his feathers happily and scarfed the treat.

"All is well, all is well. BRAAACK."

"Not quite. There's still something horrible I have to do." I said apprehensively. "I'll see you later."

I went to a section of the store that I had never been in... There was a sign that said "Employees only" but I disregarded that. I crept through a hall, and looked for the name on the door that I wished I didn't have to see, thinking of what in the world I would say. On my way, I looked through an open door and saw Ricky with a bag of stuff. He looked up at me solemnly. 

"Well. I got fired. By my own uncle."

I frowned. "Not if I can help it." I said confidently as I headed past the room toward a door on the end. I knocked, and I heard a Korean phrase that I hoped meant "Come in".

I creaked open the door slowly, and bowed immediately. He looked up from his paper and scowled. He opened his mouth to say something, but I interrupted. I didn't know what I was saying, but it all just nervously spilled out.

"Mr. Ahn!! I am so very sorry. What happened today with Samson was my fault. I was distracting Ricky and prevented him from doing his job properly. I was bugging him really, and because of me he didn't close the cage door tightly. I'm obviously the irresponsible one. So, you can't fire him. He just did his job and I messed it up. He's a very good employee, he takes such good care of the animals. He loves every one of them. I'm sure you couldn't find anyone better than him. So please sir don't fire him!"

I bowed again and didn't dare raise my head to see the look on his face.

"Alice..." came a small voice behind me.

"Ricky!" I whimpered as I spun around to see him in the doorway.

Mr. Ahn grumbled.

"I believe you." he said.

I gasped, then sighed a relieved sigh. It wasn't over yet, but at least we got that far.

"So then what is to be done now? That bird is still roaming the store. And if it escaped or was injured, then that is coming out of your paycheck Ricky."

Ricky nodded solemnly, but I grinned.

"You don't have to worry about that. You see, Samson is back in his cage already!"

"Are you certain?" Mr. Ahn asked.

I nodded. "Come see for yourself!"

I lead Ricky and Mr. Ahn to the pet dept. and showed them that Samson was safe.

"How did that happen??" Ricky asked.

I smiled. "I found him in the snack aisle. He just jumped on my arm, and I brought him back!"

Mr. Ahn looked a bit unsettled, seeing that I had done something right. "Very good. I expect you two will be cleaning up in home goods, correct?"

Of course there's some sort of punishment. 

"Uhhhh correct." I responded.

Then he walked away. I turned to Ricky and he looked a bit baffled.

"I thought you were leaving?" he said in a sheepish voice.

"I just couldn't bring myself to. I know what it's like to be blamed for something that was an accident."

He looked at his shoes. "It is a pretty bad feeling.... So, you know.... I guess I'm sorry. For not accepting your apology earlier."

"Apology ACCEPTED!" I said with a smile, sticking my tongue out.

"Hey, Alice. Do you think Perry is enjoying his new life? I- I just hope he has friends. Maybe he's met a pretty squirrel, or.. a possum!" 

I smiled. "I'm sure he's having the time of his life right now, Ricky. But I know that he'll always remember you and never stop loving you."

He sighed and nodded. "So... can we get over everything now?"

"Gladly! Except... there's still the bird poo all over the store to clean up. We're not completely over everything yet... You head over to home goods, I'll be there in a minute."

He raised one of his eyebrows suspiciously.

"Don't worry! I'll come. I just wanna talk to Samson first."

"You are really crazy, you know that? But fine, I understand that urge a person sometimes gets when you just have to speak to your feathered friends. I always do that when no one's around!" he paused awkwardly. "I'll be going then!"

As soon as Ricky was out of earshot, I scooted over to Samson's cage.

"Thanks for everything today, Samson. I have to admit, I didn't like you at first, but I'm glad you were around today. I couldn't have done this without your help. You're the best!"

"BRAAACK. Naega jaeil jal naga!"

I giggled and he winked. Then I skipped off to join Ricky.

"Hey, do you still have those cookies?" Ricky asked me.

"Yeah, in my bag here. But you're allergic, right?"

"Well..." he said with a nervous chuckle. "I kinda lied before."

I laughed and gasped at the same time. "You evil person!!"

He shrugged. "Sorry~~~~ But can I have them? They really sounded delicious."

I smiled and threw the bag at him.

We talked and laughed. 

He was a good person to confide in, too. I felt really comfortable. I talked about Niel with him a lot, looking around every 2 minutes to make sure Niel wasn't around.

"Dang, you really like him then!" he teased.

"Hey, I'm not as bad as Hanna though. She likes CAP actually. Wait did I just say that? Oops. That's a secret too. Don't tell him, kay?"

"Wouldn't dream of it!" he said while picking up a mop.

"But anyway, yeah. It's always like 'Oh my goodness. CAP has the muscleyest muscles ever!! He is so strong and amazing and just GORGEOUS. Do you think we would make a good couple? I do!'" then I giggled.

"That actually would be a cute couple." he agreed.

"It's just hard because he doesn't really socialize much. So it's hard to talk to him." I frowned.

"I'm sure things will work out!!"

"Oh man, I really hope so." I said with a sigh. I would love to see my best friend with a good guy. I just hope that CAP won't break her heart some day.

A few seconds later, Niel came down an aisle. I'm glad I wasn't still talking about him. Yikes.

"Niel!! Hi!" I said waving.

"Hey Alice. Ricky... What are you guys doing..?"

"Oh it's a looooong story. But Ricky and I are friends now!!"

He looked baffled.

"Well... that's... great! I was just on my way to do something important, but I definitely have to hear about that later!" he said, then hurried off.

"Hmmmmmmm~~" I dreamily said while watching him walk off. Ricky nudged me and grinned, and I put my blushing face into my hands.

Today was crazy, but I was glad that we could finally be done with everything. Ricky was actually fun to be with now. I think he learned some important things today. I did too. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, right?

After we finished cleaning, my mom called me and told me it was time to leave. I said goodbye to Ricky, and then I saw Niel pass by. I waved at him, but he didn't wave back.

He must not have seen me... But I can't wait to see him again on Friday! ♥