“That’s the difference between you and me. You want peace of conscience, whereas I aspire to be number one,” Leroy concluded firmly. He let out a huff of annoyance and walked away from his father with hurried steps.
“What kind of way is that to speak?” Absalom asked. He caught Leroy by the waist and lifted him off the ground. “You’re even laughing; you realize I’m supposed to be scolding you,” he continued, eyeing the young boy in his hold.
“Yeah, if you’re going to scold me, you might want to get some tips from Luna,” Leroy suggested, facing him squarely. “And speaking of scolding, you’ll soon have your own little puppet to manage, congratulations,” Leroy added with a tone of pride.
Absalom tousled the hair of his interlocutor with his right hand. “You know children aren’t puppets. In fact, I’m going to have a splendid ray of sunshine, or maybe a marshmallow, a kind of soft candy,” he corrected, bending down to Leroy’s level.