Maurice & Friends

Lachlan was working so I went alone to Ralph and Mildred Lyon’s new abode in the Lyon Pride Compound. There I found my dear friend and former boss, sitting in a most comfortable recliner and reading to a group of young cubs. He stood to greet me; Mildred coming down the stairs, did the same. He introduced the cubs. A Somali houseboy brought a bottle of Chivas on a silver tray with glasses and ice. Ralph, Mildred and I chatted for awhile before Ralph said:

“Maury, let Millie take you on the house tour. I have to get these youngsters back to their houses.”

The cubs followed Ralph out the front door into the waning sunlight. Mildred led me upstairs to see the house.

“Ralph is enjoying his grandchildren, eh?” I inquired.

“Yes, those too, Maurice, but the little ones tonight are Ralph’s own offspring,” she announced in a blithe manner, throwing me back on my heels.

“You mean those little tykes are Ralph’s, Millie?”

I’m afraid I squeaked.

“Yes, Ralph has some young lionesses that are in the pride. He impregnates them when needed.”

“And you’re okay with this?” I squawked.

“Of course I am, Maury. Ralph is a pride male. I was in a state of denial for years, wanting him to be all mine. After the bout with cancer, I woke up and began to smell the roses. He did a remarkable thing for me, letting me be his first lioness all this time in the State House.”

“You were his mainstay, Millie. He told me often.”

“We complimented each other. It was a wonderful time, those years.”

We went downstairs to find that Ralph had returned. I realized that my dear lion friends had come to a serene and wonderful time in their lives. I was so glad for them. We ended the delightful evening by them telling me not to be a stranger and to feel free to drop in at anytime.

Cameron Caracal stood in the door of Steven Simba’s new office at Lyon & Associates law firm. Steven stood with a pair of large nail clippers working on a niggling claw. He had torn it on an office machine. He ignored her presence, though aware.

“I’m free tonight. Do you want to invite me to dinner, Steve?”

“No.”

Cameron was a bit blown by this. She had thought the lion attorney to be at her beck and call.

“May I ask why not?”

“I have plans of my own, Cameron,” he said, placing the clipper on his desk and putting on his jacket to leave.

“Sorry I asked,” she growled.

He heard the clickety clack of her high heels on the polished hall floor as she left the building.

Caitlin Cougar was in her yard as Steven pulled up to her house. She was trying to move a heavy piece of statuary. He jumped out of the car and moved it for her. She had invited him to dinner in thanks for his buying her latest sculpture straight from her studio at home. This evening they had drinks in her attractive and colorful sun room. He had bought steaks and fine wine from Margaux for the occasion.

“How is baby progressing?” he asked.

“I had some premature pains the other night. Uncle Bernard and Aunt Sylvia were in Mombasa so I just drove myself to the clinic. It turned out to be nothing at all. I have had a miscarriage in the past so I get nervous when I feel a bit of pain,” she laughed.

“You can always call me, Caitlin. You have all of my phone numbers. I’ll be glad to drive you there if there are any more scares.”

They were standing in the sunroom.

“Steve, you have been so kind to me,” she said, placing a paw on his arm.

He took it and put it to his lips. Then he put a paw behind her head. She felt he might kiss her but he didn’t. He suddenly backed off.

“I think that grill is ready for the steaks,” he told her, grabbing the tray of marinating meat and carrying it to the patio.

As was usual with them these days, they whiled the evening away in pleasant chat. They were beginning to gain an amazing amount of knowledge about each other. They knew their dreams for the future as well as their pasts. Steven left around eleven, giving Caitlin a kiss to her cheek.

Caitlin and Steven in an almost moment.....

Cameron Caracal was very perplexed as to why Steven Simba, who had dogged her every step, now adopted such a blasé stance. There is nothing like rebuff to fuel the flames of desire. Cameron dressed for dinner with her sister, who had just returned from drug rehab in Nairobi. Suddenly she realized that she considered Steven a very desirable and sexy male and wanted him badly. She called her sister and changed the venue of their dinner to the Watering Hole Pub. She hoped she would catch Steven there.

The pub was thronged, as usual. She and Karen made their way through the reek of stale smoke and the sounds of reveling animals to a table where Cameron had a view of the bar area and its inhabitants.

“Who the hell are you looking for?” asked Karen, who was still on edge from drug withdrawal and had noticed her sister’s craning neck.

“I thought maybe Steven Simba would be here this evening,” answered Cameron, trying to appear nonchalant.

“Since when did you get interested in him, party boy that he is?”

“He’s a colleague of mine at Lyon & Associates,” snapped Cameron.

“I ran into his brother, Sloane. He says Steve is seeing his ex-wife.”

This caused Cameron to choke on her wine, spewing it toward her litter mate’s pretty features.

“Oh my, I see you do have a case after all,” remarked Karen, dabbing a napkin to her face.

Karen left early, feeling jittery. Cameron made her way to the bar where she looked for Steven Simba. She ordered a Cosmopolitan and sipped it, lighting a cigarette. She saw him enter the main door and head her way. She looked at her watch. It was already 11:30. He ordered a Scotch and asked her how she was.

“I thought you’d be in here earlier,” she purred, stroking his arm with a slim, lacquered paw.

“I had a dinner date.”

“May I ask with whom?”

“You can ask, but I won’t say.”

“Was it Sloane’s wife?”

“Who’s your detective these days, Cameron? And she’s Sloane’s ex-wife with the emphasis on the ex.”

“Do you like her?”

“That’s absolutely none of your business.”

“Want to have sex with me tonight?”

“I might consider it with a ‘no strings’ clause.”

She swallowed her considerable pride at that remark. She hoped a roll in the hay would re-engage him. If he consented to it, this wife of Sloane’s couldn’t have made that much of a mark. With that as a premise, they headed toward the Salt Lick Condos where they both lived. Steven Simba gave his usual top of the mark sexual performance but instead of asking if he could remain the night with Cameron, he got up and dressed.

“You can stay here tonight. I don’t mind,” she cajoled. She had never allowed this the few times they had screwed at her place.

“No thanks, I have an early day tomorrow. It’s Saturday and I’m moving to my new place.”

“New place?” she snarled. “Why are you moving? You have a perfectly wonderful condo.”

“Too far from the office; I rented a Watering Hole Condo.”

“Shit!”

The lights were bright in the garden and main rooms of the State Mansion. Waiters and houseboys bustled, about with drink and canapé trays. The occasion was a large bash for engaged couple, Stella Simba and Vice President, Daniel Lyon. The Lyon pride and the Simbas roamed about enjoying the excellent drink and finger foods. Later was to be dinner in the main dining room. Pretty Staci Simba was allowed to attend her first grown up party. I noticed she imbibed a good bit of champagne out of view of her father and Betty. Daniel looked handsome and the bride-to-be radiant. A string quartet played softly. Bertram Baboon, Lachlan and I attended together. Maude Lyon, the groom’s mother, seemed rather content. I noticed her speaking with Shane. Maude has never taken to the Simba pride. Sarah Lee and Leander Simba were in attendance. I saw Alexander and Lucy (Cougar) Simba as well as Steven, who came alone. The rest of Leander’s sons were no-shows. Roy Lee and Janice shone in their first big gathering since their marriage. Betty and Shane had invited Sylvia and Bernard Cougar but they were still on their boat in Mombasa. Ashley Lyon managed to drop his shabby chic for an Armani suit. It was a brilliant party and a first for Betty and Shane in the State Mansion.

“There’s a big party tonight at the State Mansion. Weren’t you invited, Sloane?”

Sloane was mucking around in Caroline’s kitchen, making drinks and cutting cheese for crackers.

“Yeah, but I didn’t want to go. I don’t want to see that prick, Shane.”

“What have you got against him beside the fact that he didn’t consider you for his vice president? I don’t quite get the gist of your shitty attitude toward my son’s father,” said Caroline, lighting a cigarette.

Sloane tossed the cheese knife on the counter, making a loud clattering noise. He placed paws on hips.

“Excuse me, Caroline, but you act as if this is the beloved dad of your bastard kid. He wouldn’t have even acknowledged him if his wife hadn’t made him do it,” growled Sloane.

“Where do you get your kick ass information, Sloane?”

She stubbed out her cigarette in a temper.

“I am a member of the Simba pride. My Aunt Sarah Lee, the prez’s mom, told me this. Betty made him acknowledge your kid, Caroline. He wouldn’t have without her prodding him. These are the facts– like ‘em or blow ‘em out your ass.”

“My take on your absence from that party is that you didn’t get an invite.”

He took his drink and stalked from the kitchen. She followed him to the den where her son lay sleeping in a small corner crib.

“I got that right, didn’t I, Sloane?”

“You want to get laid tonight, Caroline?”

“I wonder if I do or not. Nothing like getting fucked by a social outcast.”

“I don’t see you donning sequins and attending your love daddy’s fest either. If there’s a social outcast in the Mara, I think you rank first.”

“Get the hell out of here, Sloane Simba.”

He left without further prompting, forgetting to take his expensive Scotch with him. The echo of her dismissal rang in his ears while he waited for the elevator. He seemed to remember another similar one. Oh yes, it had been Caitlin. It dawned on him that he was hearing these decrees for too much recently. He drove by Caitlin’s house on the way to his own. It was dark with no cars in the drive. He was relieved.

The next big party for the engaged couple was a banger at Roy Lee and Janice (Jaguar) Simba’s home. Roy Lee has built himself one hell of a house on Leoparde Drive. The grounds are estate material as is the house, itself. Roy Lee and Janice are two of my favorite animals. This party was less formal than the one given by Shane and Betty. There was a Mexican theme with a mariachi band brought from Acapulco. The evening was lovely and the Mexican food said to be authentic by those who had ventured there. Janice had put a very large piñata for the engaged couple to smash. Once done, small wrapped packages fell to the grass containing trinkets for the couple. It was one of the more ingenious and original parties ever given in the Mara. Roy Lee, being a superstar of world celebrity, had gone to most places on the globe. He had taken Janice and his young children to film in Mexico, during their first marriage. She told us later that it was a sentimental gesture on their part.

Shane saw Betty, along with Mildred Lyon, Lisa Lyon Leo and Linda Cougar, off on an AIDS jaunt to a rather lawless village in eastern Kenya in close proximity to our border with Somalia. Somalia, being one of the most anarchic nations in the world, its violence spills over our borders. Shane sent extra guards. Ashley Lyon took the time out of his busy schedule to pilot them there in one of his planes. He was to stay the entire time, not wanting his mother, sister and ex-wife to come to harm. Shane Simba was most grateful for this.