A TIME FOR HEALING
When our perils are past, shall our gratitude sleep?
George Canning
Having recovered from a conflict followed by a declared war, Kenya once more let down her collective hair and fur. A gala reception was held in the mansion for the Boston Marathon winner Robert Cheruiyot and his fellow runners. Kenya took the top four spots in the men’s race and its 15th victory in 17 years. Shane commissioned Caitlin Cougar to cast runners in bronze for our local heroes. When the President presented it to Robert, he alluded to his statement in Boston shortly after winning: “When the lion is chasing the antelope, he doesn’t look back. He has to eat. So when I run, I don’t stare at my time.”
“President Simba, we human natives of Kenya know the power of you lions,” Robert had chuckled.
Shane laughed and clapped him on the shoulder before presenting statues to the other Kenyan runners. The first couple looked relaxed and comfortable with one another. I noticed that Jane Leoparde sent a young reporter from the Masai Mara Daily rather than cover the event held in such close proximity to Betty.
Runners from Kenya....
Shane Simba had grown immensely in the estimation of the Masai and other indigenous peoples of Kenya. Although a lion, he had bonded with the predominantly human military during the two major conflicts. The Masai began to call him Vitchua, the name of the legendary god of the lions in their culture. A rather romantic aspect to his last name is the fact that Simba is the Swahili word for lion. Kenya has fallen in love with her tough, unfathomable and glamorous young leader. Both human and animal females would have loved to take Betty’s place at his side. Little did they know how fragile was her hold on him aside from his not wanting to damage Kenya’s emerging image with a divorce.
Jane was summoned to Europe to launch her biography of Shane that she had titled: SIMBA: The Making of a Legendary Leader. It was beautifully written in the elegant prose that had made Jane a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. Betty, utilizing her clout as the First Lady of Kenya, had commandeered a copy up front. She read swiftly and broke down in tears in the privacy of her room when she had completed the entire book. She realized that the lioness had more knowledge of her husband in the short time she had known him than Betty would ever have if she lived with him till the end of his days. Jane’s was a sure knowledge of what made Shane Simba tick and she wrote, with the precision of her certainty, of whence he came and where he was headed. She had written of the murder of his small litter mate by the hyenas as if she had been there herself and witnessed his agony.
Shane at the book signing in Paris (above), (below) with President Chirac in Paris and the German Chancellor with Bill Clinton.
It was no surprise to Betty when Shane accepted an invitation from three heads of state in Europe and traveled at the same time Jane would be in Paris touting her book. She lay back on her pillow, lit a cigarette and mourned the fact that another female knew her husband’s heart and mind so intensely.
Four days later she also lacked amazement when she picked up a Parisian newspaper and saw where Shane had been at the book signing in Paris alongside his lover to the great thrill of the book buyers. That evening on WMM-TV news, Betty watched while the females of Paris treated her husband as if he was a rock star, snatching at his clothing and fighting over the last autographed copy of his biography.
Lucy Cougar and Staci were becoming great friends as they attended classes at the Masai Mara branch of Nairobi Nursing College. Knowing that Staci was a close friend and pupil of her cousin, Luke Leoparde, Lucy asked if she had any romantic interests in the handsome leopard.
“I dream about him a lot…..many nights,” admitted Staci. “And we kissed for a few minutes in the Serengeti before Luke put a stop to it.”
“I’ll make a deal with you,” giggled Lucy. “I’ll throw you more together with Luke if you will do the same for me with your dad. I have a tremendous crush on him.”
Staci threw her pretty head back and laughed. “I wouldn’t wish Daddy on any female, Lucy. He doesn’t tread easily on the females in his life.”
“He seems so superb and strong….so sexy.”
3“And hard to handle, sort of akin to nitroglycerin.”
However, there was one female who never caught Shane’s ire or discontent. His lover, Jane, always remained impeccable in his eyes. For Shane Simba, hers was the soothing touch and temperament that melted his heart, giving his troubled soul a degree of peace.
Lewis Lyon was asked by Shane to build a home for him at the foot of Mt. Elgon near the town of Ktale, close to Kenya’s border with Uganda. An additional request was made that the contract be kept under wraps, spoken of to no one except Shane. The President asked for a modest structure of four bedrooms, a great room, kitchen and two baths. There was to be a bungalow out back for the requisite guards. Lewis promised to make the home as low key in appearance as possible.
Lewis Lyon put his head together with his Aunt Maude, a definitive decorator of Africana at CHANGING SPOTS. They decided on an interior ceiling covered by tenting under a thatched roof. The home was rustic and simple in addition to being easy to construct and on the front burner for completion.
Jane’s biography was an immediate best seller. It was printed in all the major languages of the world. He went one evening to her bush home, driving down the long winding path in the gardener’s purloined truck. Luke was flying a safari to Botswana.
“Janie, I’ve taken the liberty of having Lewis Lyon build a very rustic home at Mt. Elgon, near Kitale. It is to be in the bush county and completely private -unknown to anyone but us. I wanted it as a get away for our immediate family – Andy, Catherine and the two of us.”
“Oh, Shane, what a divine idea. I loved that place, it is so peaceful and out of the way.”
“I have to find ways to be with you, Janie. You’ve become my lifeline. I can barely breathe the days I don’t see you.”
Little Georgy Simba arrived after school one day in a lion costume. It turns out that the last day of her elevated class had been costumes involving the student’s favorite animals. Little Georgy was encased in a outfit that was obviously meant to be a male lion.
“This is because you’re my favorite, Daddy,” she squealed as he picked her up and took her on a tour of our offices. Shane laughed so hard he almost choked at the sight of the small cub engulfed in a mane and giant feet.
Suddenly, as is the way of big cat young that make very fast changes in their anatomy the first year or so, Imani Janice Lyon began losing the jaguar spots that so plagued her and took on the looks of her lion father, Ashley. After all, the young granddaughter of Mildred and Ralph Lyon was full lion from her father and from her mom, half lion and jaguar. Except for a slight smattering of spots below her eyes, which made her mother, Leah, so appealing, she had no more spots to speak of. She was delighted at the changes and asked for more clothes which her parents afforded her. Her demeanor began to alter from one who fancied herself an ugly duckling to a young female seeing a very fetching image greeting her from the mirror in the frilly bedroom on Leoparde Drive.
Imani Janice Lyon and her new look minus spots.....
The time was approaching for our annual Kenya Day Festival. This had begun under the auspices of Cynthia Cheetah as Tourist Appreciation Day. It had grown into a full week of festivities this past year. Cynthia Cheetah still headed the committee. She came to the State House for a meeting and Shane asked her to join him in his office. He stood up to greet and hug his former mother-in-law that he still revered.
“Cyn, it’s so good to see you again,”
“You are too much a stranger these days, Sir. You need to visit us sometimes. Dorian and I miss you. Of course I know that Kenya keeps you very busy.”
“Please don’t call me ‘sir’, Cyn. I still feel too close to you for that formality to hold. Seldom a day goes by that I don’t think of Cathy. I still miss her. Staci is the image of her.”
“Staci is such a lovely young female. Catherine would never have had a normal life and family if it hadn’t been for you, Shane. You have raised her children so beautifully too.”
Shane sat, with a lump in his throat, and discussed the past as well as the coming event with Cynthia. It was a very pleasant interlude cherished by both parties.
Shane's former mother-in-law, Cynthia Cheetah....
Shane spent the weekend in Mombasa with Betty, Solly and Staci whose houseguest was Delilah Dik Dik. She and Delilah went deep sea fishing with Ashley, Leah Lyon and Luke Leoparde. Jane was on a story assignment in Tsavo East and didn’t join her husband. Shane took Solly riding on the wave runner and windsurfed with Staci. Things with Betty were cordial though definitely not impassioned. He was still using the excuse of her pregnancy to avoid sex with her.
The following week he went to Mt. Elgon to check on the progress of his new home. He found it nearing completion, Lewis Lyon having put it on the front burner for the President.
Rehearsals began at the arts center for the new production, A Streetcar Named Desire. Christine Cheetah Mbube, director and wife of leading male, Micah, kept close watch during rehearsals. She was taking no chances that her husband would have another affair with Chloe Cougar.
Micah and Chloe as Stanley Kowalksi and Blanche Dubois in Streetcar.
On a Thursday evening, bright with stars and promise, Jane Leoparde joined Shane at the new home in the savanna near Kitale beneath the shadow of Mt. Elgon. Luke flew her there with the two cubs, Catherine and Andrew. The lovers spent an idyllic long weekend with their two cubs. Shane got to really know is new son and daughter for the first time.
Shane and Jane's retreat near Kitale...
The next flight Luke took was one with Staci Simba piloting. They were headed for Mombasa and Luke’s home. There they made love for the first time. This was Staci’s introduction to sex and Luke was a tender and caring lover. Their days were spent fishing and windsailing. They avoided public areas – this husband of Jane's and the President’s daughter. They were not caught by the paparazzi but one time and that was boarding the deep sea fishing vessel with Ashley and Leah Lyon. Everyone knew that Ashley Lyon’s wife was Staci Simba’s first cousin so nothing of note was attached to that outing.