Family || Sweet Pea [1]

14

Chapter 14 || Trials

The next morning, way earlier than I would've liked to be awake, Sweet Pea let Hot Dog loose in Fangs' trailer. I grabbed a hold of his collar with a yawn and greeted the excitable dog. I quickly got dressed and put Hot Dog's leash on him, walking with the other Serpents to present Jughead with the first part of his initiation. The second Sweet Pea moved out of my way, I let Hot Dog loose, letting him jump right onto Jughead's bed.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Jughead sighed as I walked out of the trailer. I yawned, heading back to Fangs' trailer for another hour of sleep, but I was stopped by Sweet Pea.

"No," I whined, reaching longingly toward Fangs' trailer. "I'm tired, baby."

"That's why I'm taking my girl out to Pop's for some coffee before school." Sweet Pea said, pulling me out of the trailer park.

"This is a really cruel way to tell me you love me." I whined again.

"How so, baby?" He asked with a laugh.

"Making me wake up this early to deliver Hot Dog to my asshole brother and then taking me for coffee. Two wrongs don't get cancelled out by one right, Sweets." I yawned.

"You already take care of Hot Dog, so your first part of initiation was to wake up early and drop the dog off. Easy." Sweet Pea laughed, wrapping his arms around me.

"You're lucky I like you, Sweets." I yawned. He leaned down and kissed my cheek, making me smile wide.

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After coffee at Pop's, I made Sweet Pea carry me back to the trailer park. Without objection, he carried me all the way back to the trailer park. We didn't go to school, seeing as I made him cuddle with me so I could get more sleep. When we did wake up, hours before Jughead and I needed to recite the laws and retrieve the knife, Sweet Pea started testing me on my Serpent knowledge.

"First law?" Sweet Pea asked.

"A Serpent never shows cowardice."

"Second law?"

"If a Serpent is killed or imprisoned, their family will be taken care of."

"Third?"

"No Serpent stands alone."

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"What is the fourth law?" Tall Boy screamed in my face.

"No Serpent is left for dead!" I recited, Jughead's voice echoing my own.

"What is the fifth law?" Tall Boy screamed in Jughead's face.

"A Serpent never betrays its own!" I recited. Again, Jughead echoed me.

"What is the sixth?" Tall Boy yelled.

"In unity there is strength." Jughead and I chorused. All the Serpents repeated the sixth law before falling silent.

"You know the laws." Tall Boy rasped. "Now it's time for the next trial."

Sweet Pea and Fangs moved, revealing a tank with a rattlesnake in it. Next to the rattlesnake was a knife buried in a stone.

"Retrieve the knife." Tall Boy said. I moved forward, rolling up my sleeve as Tall Boy and Jughead spoke. I reached in and grabbed the knife, not even flinching as the snake bit down on my hand. Blood dripped from my hand as it left the tank, making the Serpents cheer boisterously.

Next, Jughead reached in to get the knife, flinching slightly when the snake bit his hand.

"One more trial, baby." Sweet Pea smiled, sitting beside me as I wrapped my hand up.