I ran through the door and looked for BaBa. He wasn’t there, but I knew he wouldn’t be. BaBa was always at work until I was asleep, and MaMa always went straight back to work after sending me home. PuoPuo was always there though, so I ran towards her.

“PuoPuo! PuoPuo! Look what I won today!”

I lifted up the plastic box with a red lid like a fiery trophy. I think Ms. Gwoom called it a tup-something, but I forgot. It was a thick plastic box with a red lid, and what was inside was way better than the ribbons we got for doing well at field day. Ribbons didn’t move on their own and have pinchers. Clink Clink!

Grandma opened the lid and smiled. I knew she would like it too. Their hard claws scratched the bumpy plastic and made a really cool sound. Kkkkk. Nothing else sounded like that unless it was crabs in a box. Crabs in a box were awesome! They weren’t like cheatdahs though. Cheatdahs were awesomer because they ran so fast. Faster than cars! Mom said that we couldn’t have cats though. Stupid Mady was allergy to them.

“Ohh. Did you get it from school?” PuoPuo asked.

I nodded hard until my forehead hurt.

“Uh, huh! We had a project for Science and after we finished Ms. Gwoom said that one of us could take them home. I won rock-paper-scissors, so I got to keep them!”

I pointed to the small one, then the one with a darker blue back, then the one eyed one.

“This one is Bob. Billy. That one is Jeff. I finally have pets now!”

I was really happy to have pet crabs, and PuoPuo was smiling too, so that made me happier. Today was the best! I put the tuppy box on the table and looked inside. Billy was scratching at a wall, and Jeff climbed on top of him and scratched him too. Kkkk. KKkk.

“Haha! Look at Jeff!”

PuoPuo stared down at the bin and looked at where I was pointing. PuoPuo always pointed to cool things that I didn’t see. Bob was lifting sand to his mouth.

“At school we learned that’s filtering. It eats the small bits of food inside the sand and spits out the sand. Isn’t that cool? The sand has food in it, so we didn’t have to feed them.”

“You’re such a smart boy,” she said with a smile. “Thank you for teaching me.”

“Of course!” I beamed. “I’ll teach PuoPuo everything I know!”

PuoPuo always told me how smart I was compared to her, but I always thought PuoPuo was really smart too, so I taught her what I learned at school. We talked about how cool the crabs were and how easy they were to take care of before we got hungry. PuoPuo decided to make my favorite egg soup and some rice. Even though we didn’t need to, we put a scoop of rice and egg into the plastic box. The crabs didn’t eat it, which sucked because I would have.

FursDay, we tried spinach and celery. They still didn’t touch any of that, and I understood why. MaMa always said that vegetables were healthy, but they tasted pretty bad. Especially celery. If celery wasn’t healthy I would never eat it. Mangoes tasted better anyways and they were healthy too. We wanted to try meat, but MaMa stopped me. She said meat was expensive and she didn’t want the box to smell bad if they didn’t eat it. The crabs are still eating the sand though. I wonder if Mini Earls taste good. Then TwosDay came.

“PuoPuo! Do you have to go back?” Something hurt in my throat, and my eyes started getting blurry. There was so much more I wanted to teach PuoPuo. We finally had pets.

“Yes. I have to. I’ll come back someday though,” Grandma said with a smile. China was so far away. She would be gone for days or weeks! That was so long. “Be a good boy in the meantime okay? Be sure to listen to your parents.”

“B-but they’re never home for me to listen to. I can’t listen to no one.”

Grandma looked a little sad and mad, but I was also sad and mad, and we both knew it was true. Mady and Jane never played with me, and MaMa and BaBa were almost never home. If PuoPuo was gone, I would just be alone. It would just be me and the crabs.

“I’ll come back someday, don’t be too sad.”

BaBa sent her to the airplane and she didn’t come back. I pointed to every plane that flew in the sky and screamed that PuoPuo was coming by, but soon I started to realize MaMa and BaBa started to look uncomfortable about that. I did it anyways.

FryDay Billy stopped moving. BaBa was at work, MaMa went back to work, and Mady and Jane were with friends. I took a toothpick out of the drawer and poked Billy’s claw. The claw closed, and I lifted him up. He swung a bit and his arm fell off. I yelled and threw the arm back in. It hit the wall and cracked. Kkkk Kkkk. Bob and Jeff scratched at the bumpy plastic. It didn’t sound cool anymore. Just scary and angry.

I didn’t tell Mom and BaBa about Billy, and they didn’t ask. I don’t know what to do, so I ate my dinner. When I woke up, I looked into the tuppy box. Bob and Jeff were tearing apart Billy. Crabs have clear meat. I never knew that. There was a crack and Bob tore another leg off. That sounded cool. I felt weird though, and a little scared.

Everything was back to normal the next day, and the next, and the next. Billy’s empty shell was buried in the sand and Bob and Jeff just ate sand. I guess they were eating Mini Earls again. BaBa was talking about a business trip today. He said that he would be going to China for a week. I asked if he would see PuoPuo. He said he would, so I asked him to tell her to come back. BaBa said he would. Mady and Jane still wouldn’t play with me today. They said I was annoying, so I got mad and cried. I wish Bob and Jeff would rip their arms off too.

SunDay. BaBa came back today. PuoPuo couldn’t come back, so I cried again. I’m still mad at Mady and Jane. They won’t talk to me, and MaMa and BaBa are at work again. I open the red lid and stare into the plastic square. Bob and Jeff aren’t eating sand. They stand still and and circle around. Then, Bob quickly runs, but not as quick as a cheatdah would. A cheatdah would have run away from Jeff’s claw.

There’s a rip. Then a tear. There’s a snap. Then a crack. Jeff loses a leg, but Bob lost everything else. Jeff eats. Bob doesn’t. I watch, and Jeff watches me. I stare into that one eye and feel happy. Jeff understands that I feel lonely, because Jeff is alone.

Everyone is gone again today. It’s just me and Jeff, and Jeff is weakly scraping the wall again and we stare at each other. Kkkk. Kkkk. Kkkk. Jeff is my friend, but I know Jeff will be like Billy if I don’t do something. My eyes blur as I open the clear door and hold onto the plastic box with one hand. I have to let Jeff go. I can’t take care of Jeff.

I dump the plastic box into the stream, and Jeff stumbles a moment and stares at me. The one eye shinyed before he scurries into the murky pond water. I’m alone again. Good luck Jeff.