Maurice & Friends

When Lewis Lyon begins to gnaw on the bone of an idea, it is usually in shreds very quickly. When it dawned on the powerful, multi-billionaire son of Ralph and Doris Lyon that he wanted to import football into Kenya, it was just a matter of a few days before he acted on it. He got together with his half-brother and head soccer coach, Junior Lyon. Lewis had an offer that was hard to turn down. He was going to start a professional football team in Kenya. He wanted Junior to be the head coach with a significant salary in the seven or eight figures.

“Charley can take your place as head coach for the Masai Mara All Stars Soccer Team,” suggested the enthusiastic Lewis. “You can head my team. I’ll give you all the money and support you want, Junior. I’ll even build a new stadium. You’ll have the best headquarters.”

“I just induced Sean Simba to leave South Africa and join my soccer team. I don’t want to desert it now,” muttered Junior, in deep thought.

“Sean Simba is a perfect example of a young guy who is precociously muscled and can be a star player on your football team, Junior. You can have all the talent money can buy, Bro,” insisted Lewis.

Junior was beginning to like the idea. He had long been watching American football games on satellite television. It didn’t take much to fire up this natural athlete where football was concerned.

“Lew, let me mull this over with Charley and Sean. I’ll get back to you in a short while…and thanks, Bro.”

In Mombasa the following weekend, Lewis spoke with Shane Simba about the matter.

“I’m going to start a professional football team in Kenya, Shane. I think it will be just the ticket for your son, Sean. He is an impressive athlete,” began Lewis.

“Lewis, that’s a great idea. Do you want investors?” asked Shane.

“Yes, do you know any?”

“I may tell Roy Lee about this. He might want the Simba Pride Corporation to invest. I will also. I daresay the Leoparde family will invest in this one too.”

“Splendid, Shane, but I don’t know about the Leoparde family though. They’re pretty pissed at Ash for dumping Lucy Cougar.”

“The Leopardes are not zillionaires for nothing, Lew, they will know a good investment when they see it. Pro football is a trillion dollar business in the USA and expanding rapidly to Europe.”

“I plan to call the team the Kenya Lions unless there are too many protests. I believe the main player will be your Sean.”

“Sean is half cheetah, Lew, he just looks like me and not Cathy as Staci does.”

“He is a magnificent athlete, Shane – the toughness and muscle of a lion and the swiftness of a cheetah. Junior is going to head coach the team and he thinks Sean will make the perfect quarterback.”

“I had wanted him to be a lawyer,” chuckled Shane.

“No, no, that lad’s too strapping to be a lawyer. The sport’s world needs him.”

Solly was relaxed and happy as he bounced into Jack Tarzan’s house and greeted his beloved friend and mother. Betty gave him a big hug and asked him how things were going. Jack had planned a weekend of fishing in Mombasa for Betty and the cubs. Tarek and Jalil Simba were still living with Betty and Jack.

Before they left on Friday, Betty received a phone call from her former stepdaughter.

“Betty, I wanted to make sure you and Jack got your invitations to my wedding,” said Staci Simba. “I hope you are coming.”

“Yes, of course we will be there, dear. We wouldn’t miss it for the world and I hope you know what a great guy you’re getting in Ashley. He’s also a lucky one to be getting you.”

“I know, Betty. Ashley is a very special animal.”

“Yes, he certainly is and you are too.”

“Sylly, I have to go to the States for the holidays. I am to be a guest of the Detroit Lions. Their coach is going to give me some training and share his films and play books. .Do you think you could take some time off from the hospital and go with me? I’d sure love that,” said Junior Lyon the newly appointed head coach of the Kenya Lyons.

“Oh, Junior, this is so exciting for you. I’ll bet I could. I’ll speak to Frank and Ted tomorrow and ask them to cover for me. I am so proud of you. I know how much you’ve been devoted to watching American football,” said Dr. Sylly Cougar Lyon, throwing her arms around her husband of long standing.

“We can have some fun while we’re there too. We might even stay for the super bowl.”

“I am sure I can do this. Count me in, darling.”

Sylly and Junior discuss plans for the trip....

Ashley Lyon spent the week before his wedding on a safari to Namibia. He flew three couples there. He had asked his ex-wife Leah to find a suitable tuxedo for him at JAGGERS. His fiancé spent it in a fit of nerves, driving everyone around her crazy. Shane threw up his hands and left everything involving his oldest child’s second wedding up to his wife, Alexandra. Alexandra, in her usual cool and unruffled manner filled with a sense of humor, dealt with the last minute details and soothed Staci’s nerves with hot tea and martinis in the evening. Staci was staying in the mansion, wearied of her brother Sean’s constant phone conversations involving his new contract to play professional football. They were sharing a rented home on Leoparde Drive.

Christine Cheetah Mbube looked at Chloe Cougar across her desk in the arts center. She noticed that the actress had put on a good deal of weight since her last performance on the stage in the center. .

“Christine, I wish you would find a play for my sister, Lucy, and me,” requested Chloe, inspecting a lacquered nail on one of her new hands.

“Is your sister an actress, Chloe? I thought Lucy was a housewife with cubs.”

“Lucy wants to try her hand at acting. It’s a fun thing to do,” chirped the air-headed leopard-cougar mix daughter of Sylvia and Bernard Cougar.

“Chloe, I can’t produce a play for Lucy to ‘try her hand’ at acting. Maurice Monkee would be horrified and the play would fail. This is not amateur hour in this center,” admonished Christine who was rapidly getting her highly efficient back up.

Chloe got up and slung her oversized Marc Jacob’s bag on her shoulder.

“Just make an effort to find us a play,” snapped Chloe. “Ciao.”

The day had dawned with all the signs of beauty. We were now assembled at the home of Lewis Lyon in Mombasa for the wedding of Staci Simba and Ashley Lyon. The guests were not dressed in extreme formality. This was the bride’s second marriage in less than a year and she was pregnant to boot. Leah Simba, Ashley’s ex-wife and a guest, had brought him a morning suit from JAGGERS. She was now tapping on the door of one of many bathrooms which were upstairs in Lewis Lyon’s impressive mansion overlooking the Indian Ocean. Luke Leoparde opened the door, gave Leah a brief peck on the cheek, thanked her and closed the door again. Leah could hear Ashley’s groaning beyond the heavy teak door. In another bedroom, Alexandra Simba was helping Staci dress. Down stairs in the game room a small group of males had gathered and were getting rather tipsy. Among them was their host, Lewis, his dad Ralph Lyon, Roy Lee, Shane and Sloane Simba and Junior and Daniel Lyon. In a small powder room to the back on the first floor was bridal attendant, Imani Lyon and her cousin Georgy Simba, getting high.

At last, it was time for the ceremony. Lachlan and I put down our champagne glasses and along with Betty Chimpo and Jack Tarzan walked to the lawn on the bluff. There a lovely gazebo had been erected where the wedding party would gather. The Reverend Saul Serval was already present donned in his most impressive high church robes. There was a hush as the musicians struck their first note. The wind was whipping the waves about on the bright ocean. Sea gulls sounded and circled the fishing boats below. It was a beautiful place to be married – surely it should auger well for the couple. Ashley and his best male, Luke, stood on the platform and awaited the bride. She came on the arm of her father, Shane Simba. Staci looked deliriously happy as she was placed next to her soon-to-be husband. Shane then took a seat next to his wife and the service began.

Alex, Shane, Staci and her new husband, Ashley Lyon in the reception area after their wedding.....

Shane and Alexandra at the evening party for the wedding and Lewis Lyon's view of the Indian Ocean....

It was one hell of a blowout. Lachlan and I didn’t make our way to our beach home until almost 4:00 am. Shane Simba, among many others, let down his mane and got drunk as a lord. When Lachlan and I left, Shane had one arm draped across Mildred Lyon’s shoulders in a show of affection for his fellow in-law. Mildred was feeling no pain either which is most unusual for the former first lioness whose favorite beverage is usually herbal tea.

Fortunately for the bride and groom, a sexually charged wedding night was not imperative. The bride was already pregnant. The groom, having been drunk all day and into the night, fell on the marital bed and was asleep almost instantaneously. The next morning, suffering from a terrific hangover, Ashley flew his bride to Nairobi where they were to catch a Kenya Airways flight to Paris.

Roy Lee Simba was only too happy to have the Simba Pride Corporation invest in the new football team. The Simba pride had many young males who could eventually be picked to be on the team. Roy Lee was now head of the pride’s business, Shane having bowed out of involvement in the financial plans. Roy Lee had his son (with Chloe), Troy, who would most probably be picked for the team. Sam Simba had many sons who might be potential picks. Therefore, the Simba pride went along on the investment. The Leoparde family, knowing a lucrative proposition when they saw one, also chipped in. Excitement ran high among sports fans. When the news hit the airwaves and papers, there was a good amount of carping over the name ‘lions’. Lewis Lyon went on television and assured the populace that many species of animals as well as humans would make up the team of players. He noted that the name Kenya Lions was in honor of the team in Detroit that would assist Junior Lyon with his coaching, training and tactics.

Sean Simba suited up for a football career.....

Leah Simba was invited by Lion Lion to travel with him for a weekend in the Serengeti. He had built a wonderful home on the plains in his homeland and wanted to show his female of the hour his digs. Lion was now working full time in the Masai Mara for Lewis Lyon Construction. Lewis had long wanted his own architect to design the buildings he was erecting throughout Kenya and other countries. Lion had been given a very elaborate pad in Lewis’ newest apartment complex. Like Lyon Towers, it had a stunning view of the bush and savanna areas. Lion’s only problem seemed to be the fact that the fetching Leah was so absorbed in her career that she had little time for anything beside that and her children. Leah had finally confronted Juma Mnyama and officially broken their engagement. Juma, not having seen his fiancé in some time, was neither too horrified nor shocked at the final break.

Georgy Simba was sick and tired of dealing with her stepmother, Caroline Cheetah Simba, who disliked the cub. All Georgy wanted to do was return to living with either Sister Leonine or Imani Lyon. Imani was out of the question as far as Sloane Simba was concerned. Georgy asked her father to take her to the Serengeti where her mother now lived with Sloane’s half brother, Chris Simba. She wanted to visit with her mother. Sloane phoned Caitlin and the arrangements were made for the following weekend.