Welcome to the Jungle by Matt London Page B

That girl. She really is a nightmare.”
    Evie stopped short. “She . . . what?”
    â€œIt pains me to admit it, but Vesuvia has always been a rotten strawberry, ever since she was little. Maybe it’s the Piffle in her. Condolini women have always possessed impeccable manners. For a long time Vesuvia’s behavior wasn’t so bad, until last year when her mother disappeared. You see, I was retiring, to rest after so many years in the big chair, even bigger than my flamingo lounger, and to focus on my pet project,
New Boca Raton
.
    â€œMy daughter, Viola, had been groomed since birth to take over for me when the time came. You see, a Condolini woman
must
run Condo Corp. That is the way it has always been. That is the way it must be. And then one day, my daughter vanished. I had hoped that once she was in control of the company, my daughter would raise Vesuvia to be better behaved, to be like one of us, so that one day she too could claim the crown of Condo Corp. But when Viola disappeared, I had no other choice. A Condolini woman
must
run Condo Corp. And so I made my granddaughter the super-secret CEO. Now, I know Vesuvia is . . .”
    â€œCruel?” Evie offered.
    â€œEvil?” Rick suggested.
    â€œPure evil?” Evie amended.
    Grandma Condolini sighed. “But Condolini women have served the ideals of our family for generations. When the big earthquake flattened San Francisco in 1906, who made houses on the cheap? Us. After the
blitzkrieg
, who rebuilt London? We did. When the sea level rose and drowned Venice, who built New Lido
pro bono
so that every refugee had a place to stay for free? That wasn’t Lane Industries, children. That was me.”
    â€œSome would call that profiteering,” Evie said.
    The old woman glared. “Some would not be the millions of people who wouldn’t have roofs over their heads if not for Condo Corp. We intend to house the whole human race one day. No one is pure evil, children. I suggest you do not harbor that assumption.”
    Evie looked into her brother’s eyes. Everything he wanted to say was written all over his face, as clearly as the time he fell asleep watching TV and she took a black permanent marker and actually wrote all over his face. He wanted to believe her story, even if he didn’t. He wanted to trust Grandma Condolini, even if he couldn’t. They needed her help if they were going to get the super root.
    Evie, for one, wasn’t buying what Grandma was selling. Sure, she seemed like a sweet old lady, but she was the mother brain of Condo Corp. How sweet could she be?
    Rick told Grandma Condolini the story of how Vesuvia’s Piffle Pink Patrol attacked the eighth continent and knocked it onto a collision course with Australia. He described the super root they needed to anchor the continent, and the location of the glade where it grew on Condo Corp’s property.
    Grandma Condolini listened carefully to everything he said and at last nodded. “Children, it is my sincerest pleasure to help you. Vesuvia must have programmed her robots to attack you if she was out of contact for a given amount of time. Just dreadful. Well, I hope by giving you access to this super root, it can go a little way toward making up for all the trouble my granddaughter has caused you.”
    Sprout grinned. “I reckon that’s the best news we’ve heard all day!”
    â€œBut . . .” Grandma Condolini said.
    There was always a
but
.
    â€œBut if I am going to give you a plant from my private property, I am going to need you to give me something in return. Something very precious.”
    Evie looked over at 2-Tor, who was still chained to the fake palm tree, chowing down on earthworms. “You can’t keep 2-Tor.”
    â€œNo, not him!” Grandma Condolini said. “You see, my granddaughter may be evil, but she is still my granddaughter.”
    A look of clarity, followed