who would have thunk it

 Liam thought he was too old for this kind of thing, hanging out with a kid. What was Mannie expecting? He'd babysit?

Of course, these days were easy. He'd been worse off. He did owe Mannie. It was great to have such freedom even if he didn't have all that much but a place to sleep and to hang out. He could still be stuck at that camp where every day was a lesson. Every day was a battle to see who would stay and who would leave. One was afraid to leave, but he'd escaped with Mannie.

Here he was with goof-ball Bentley who was downright gullible, but Liam wouldn't prank him, even if he had half a mind too. It was good to smile. It was good to see his smile. Yet, even at this moment, his guard was up. One never knew who might approach.

Finally, they reached Sadie's apartment, before he could unlock the door, the girl next door with fiery red hair showed up.

"Whatcha doing?" Her voice was playful but somewhat scary to Liam who looked at her straight lipped hoping he could recite what Mannie told him.

"I'm Sadie's cousin," he told her. "I'm just here to check on her cat while she's away."

"She never mentioned a cousin." She was a bit nosy and came too close to Bent who Liam was afraid might collapse from her fragrance of Jasmine and sweet orange. 

"Who mentions a cousin?" He asked back and pushed in Bent first before the cat escaped and slammed the door behind him. Liam's heart raced. She made him so nervous.

"Who was that?" Bent was bug-eyed or in love.

Liam sighed and shook his head as he went to look for the cat. A knock came on the door. 

"Don't answer it!" Liam shouted as he took a peek in the kitchen to find the food and water bowl. But it was too late.

"Hi, I'm Penny," her voice was awful sweet which made Liam cringe more.

Penny was talking to Bent asking him a ton of questions. Of course, Bent was stammering about as if she might have drugged him.

"Bentley," Liam came back to the livingroom. "The litterbox is in the bathroom. Go clean it." He asked Penny to help him find Hilda. 

"Oh, she knows me," Penny called her and thankfully the fluffy ragdoll cat appeared at the bedroom door.