MANHATTAN
Pain reaches the heart with electrical speed, but truth moves to the heart as slowly as a glacier.
Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams
Betty settled in to her hotel in Manhattan. The Plaza, which was around the corner of an entrance to Central Park, was Betty’s choice. In the way she always had, Betty pulled herself together from the misery of her failed marriage to Shane Simba and concentrated on her book. She helped design the cover and consented to title it A Time of Courage, instead of her original choice. As she worked in her editor’s office, many stuck their head in the door and told her how exciting the book was. They expected a major bestseller since top celebrities and politicians had already put a focus on the AIDS problem in Africa. .
Betty, with a guard, crosses the street in front of the Plaza in Manhattan..
In the evenings, she would shop and then dine in the hotel since there was a great deal of media interest in her. It was obvious that international word had gotten around that the Simbas were strained with each other. The publisher held a press conference to announce to all that the First Lady of Kenya was in New York to see her book through to publication. The reporters had been reminded that the proceeds would go to the Masai people. One afternoon, Betty bought a blond wig and dined outside the hotel. She wasn’t recognized. She emailed Staci and apologized for their altercation. Staci, a sweet hearted soul, wrote back telling Betty that it was already forgotten.
“What’s going on in your dad’s life, Staci? I’m hearing all sorts of rumors,” asked her grandmother, Cynthia Cheetah.
“It’s pretty bad, Mama Cyn. Daddy and Betty are not even living together now. But you won’t say anything, will you?”
“No, darling, it will remain with me. I’m sort of glad that you live apart from them now so all that tension won’t get to you.”
Cynthia and her granddaughter went to the back porch of her new townhouse; just a short way from Staci’s, and had a glass of wine, some cheese and warming conversation. Shane Simba was not the only one filled with pride at his oldest daughter. Cynthia and Dorian Cheetah thought she hung the moon.
Staci went the next day to the hangar where Luke Leoparde awaited her for a flying lesson. The morning was bright and clear; the sky was cloud free.
“Where to today, Staci?” he asked.
“Can we go to the Serengeti, Luke?”
“Let’s take her up. You’re driving,” he laughed.
Staci put the single engine bush plane down in a grassy area in the southwestern corner of the Serengeti which is a conservation region adjoining the Masai Mara. She and Luke got out of the plane. They walked around a bit, Luke waving to a lion pride not too far in the distance.
“I see you made the news with your dinner date with the lion doctor.”
“Yeah, I guess because I am Daddy’s daughter, they are interested in what I do. There are paparazzi staked at my house some days.”
“You’re very beautiful and accomplished as well as being the daughter of the President of Kenya, Staci.”
They sat under an acacia tree.
“I work with Juma at the hospital when I leave my classes at the nursing school.”
“You two got a thing going?” he teased, willing the anxiety from his voice.
“Noooo, not at all,” she giggled. “What about you, Luke? Sometimes I feel sad that my dad is with your wife. What does that leave you?”
“Staci, I’ve already told you that I knew about this whole thing before we married. Jane and I are best friends and that is absolutely all. I have my room and she has hers. She creates a warm home for my kids and hers - and for me.”
“Yes, I remember you saying that you didn’t like a conventional marriage,” she giggled, tickling the end of his nose with a stalk of bush grass.
“I could be faithful some day to one I truly love.”
“Any chance of your finding her, Luke?”
“I probably already have,” confessed Luke, growing uneasy at the thought of showing his hand too soon.
He gazed at the sky where thunder clouds were forming.
“We’d better get back to the Mara, Staci. Look at those thunder heads beginning to form.”
They returned to the plane and Staci took off to the east to avoid the clouds and gathering storm.
“That was fun and a change of scenery, Luke. Let’s do it again.”
“I’ll bring a picnic basket next time.”
“And wine?” she giggled.
“And, of course, wine.”
That evening, Staci ate dinner with Shane and stayed to spend the night in the bush house. Snuggled cozily in her comfortable bed in the room that was once hers, Staci dreamed that she and Luke Leoparde were running across the savanna in the Serengeti. He was keeping pace with her, his emerald green eyes gazing on her with wild delight.
The Masai Mara’s main business district was clogged with traffic. Cars were honking in exasperation, animals and people shouting. This was the day of the gay pride parade. Many citizens were mistakenly calling the State House in complaint. I was about to take some papers to his office when I heard Shane shout to one of his secretaries.
“Tell those idiots to call the municipal office. We don’t handle fucking traffic jams.”
His mood had been tenuous lately. He was always careful not to let me catch the brunt of it, but I fear his secretaries were not so fortunate. The good news is that they are both madly in love with him, helping matters immensely.
The ones leading the gay pride parade were Maude and Harold Hyena’s two lesbian daughters. Dressed in Oshkosh overalls and plaid lumber jack shirts, they were vocal and in charge. The television was on in Shane’s office and he was watching as one Hyena daughter got in her defiant and protracted sound bite.
“Shit, those damn hyenas are so freaking ugly, I guess only one hyena could love another. Have you ever heard of other species intermarrying with hyenas, Maury?” he asked as he took the papers from me.
“I really don’t believe I have. Lachlan can’t abide them either,” I chuckled.
He laughed. “No lion can stomach the sight of them.”
A Hyena daughter in the gay pride parade....
The weather was unseasonably cold in Manhattan but in spite of that, Betty bundled up and took a long walk in Central Park. It was her last day in this city she had learned to love. She walked slowly, savoring a hot dog she had purchased from a street vendor. She wore a wool cap pulled down low on her brow. So far the media hadn’t found her. She sat for a while on a very chilly bench over looking the Sheep Meadow. Maybe I’ll move here if Shane and I are completely broken…..I would certainly never be able to live in Kenya and risk the heart break of seeing him on the news or with someone else. Her thoughts disturbed her and tears rolled down her cheeks unchecked. She sat until the sky began to darken and the street lights came on. Then she walked back to her hotel where she packed for an early morning flight back to Kenya.
Shane had kept his nose to the grindstone for an entire week, working with diplomatic and state matters. He was planning a future guest visit from American democratic candidate, Senator Barak Obama. He had taken Sean and Solly to Mombasa for a quick weekend of water sports and deep sea fishing with Ashley Lyon, who continued to apologize about his role in the Jane/Betty fiasco. Leah had winked at her uncle as Ashley apologized for the fourth time. Shane had assured him that it was in the past and no fault of his.
Betty was welcomed home by a skeleton crew of late night staff. They took her bags to her room. After a drink, she made her way there. When she opened the door she was startled by a tall presence standing at the window gazing into the gloom of the deepening night. With a start, she realized it was Shane. He turned slowly toward her.
“You’re back, Fifi?” he asked.
She wanted to weep at the sound of his pet name for her. It had been so long.
“Yes. New York was very cold but my book is with the printer now.”
She turned on the soft light of the lamp next to the bed. It cast ghostly shadows in the room.
He turned back to the window and lit a cigarette.
“What are we going to do about us, Betty?”
A chill went through her. She crossed her arms and shivered slightly. She feared to speak and break the spell of his sudden gentleness. She walked toward him but stopped short of what he might consider his space.
“Shane, I have loved you almost from the first moment I saw you. I want to keep our marriage together- whatever that might entail.”
He faced her once more and stubbed his cigarette into a porcelain ashtray. He stood there and looked at her fixedly.
“There has been a great deal of damage from both of us – I certainly won’t deny my part – but we are the first couple of what is becoming an important emerging nation. I’d like for us to stay intact.”
“I would hate to think that Kenya would be the only reason for our continuing existence as a couple, Shane, but I will do what is needed.”
“Let’s start trying to repair some of the damage, Betty. Are you up for that?”
“Yes,” she said, trying to hold back the flood of tears that threatened to swamp her at this unexpected turn. “I didn’t sleep with Montecore. I lied to you about that.”
He smiled, faintly, and said, “I knew that. You didn’t have to tell me.”
They were brought a light snack and drinks and sat before a fire in their bedroom. They spoke like a couple on their first date, measuring, skirting any further discussion of their past errors. She told him of the high expectations for her book and what she wanted to do for the Masai with the money. He told her of the coming visit from Obama. She also learned that Solly was down the hall sleeping soundly and looking forward to her coming home. She undressed in the bathroom and donned her gown. He was already in bed when she joined him. He didn’t make love to her but when she placed a hand on his paw, he held it. They slept the full night like that.
Suddenly there was an easing of the tension. Betty came to her office in the State House, bringing Solly and gave the staff in our offices a big and very cheery hello. Shane seemed content and we worked together on some pressing issues of the day. In the early afternoon, Betty went to the Masai Village to give them the news that her book was about to be published. She worked with Lisa (Lyon) and Larry Leo in planning some improvements to be made when the profits from the book started arriving. Then it was home for a pleasant dinner with her family.
The following day, Shane had Caroline Cheetah, his new press secretary; call a press conference for that afternoon. He and Betty stood side by side and spoke of her coming book with the profits to benefit the Masai people. Shane also announced the future visit of Senator Barak Obama to the land of his father. The first couple seemed relaxed as they jovially fielded questions. They refused comment on a few cheeky queries regarding their relationship. Nevertheless, it was obvious that a change had come about with Shane and Betty.
Cate Ocelot, who had been seeing Sloane Simba before Caroline Cheetah reclaimed him, was now seeing his brother, Simon – the look alike for superstar, Roy Lee. Cate was a psychiatrist but it didn’t seem to make her immune or wiser to the charms of this very conceited Simba brother. Simon was an attorney, making big money with the Simba Brothers law firm. His was a handsome physique and looking like a younger Roy Lee did him no harm at all. He also had a blatant disregard for fidelity. Cate, always refused a threesome and upon rejection, spent a lonely evening. Simon simply thrived on them.
Caitlin Cougar, after a first big rush by Dick Simba, had not been seeing him that much. He was in Nairobi a great deal, overseeing that branch of Simba Brothers. Caitlin continued her quiet existence with her two children. She was becoming even better friends with her ex-husband, Sloane Simba. Having realized that Sloane simply adored their daughter, Georgy, she had relaxed about his moral values and past grievances. Steven Simba, the father of her son, had finally acquired visiting rights to young Carl. Carl would go with Steven the same weekend that Georgy went bouncing out the door with her dad. This situation left free weekends for Caitlin to be with her extended family, putter in her sculpture studio or visit her good friend, Jane Leoparde, at her exquisite bush home. Caitlin was not one that was privy to the journalist’s secret life with Shane Simba. On one such weekend, she drove to the Masai Village and met with Lisa and Larry Leo who had devoted their adult lives to the vibrant tribe’s welfare. She had met the couple when they purchased one of her sculptures from the gallery in the arts center.
“I want to do something that would help these people and I have a bit of free time on the weekends,” she told Lisa.
“You’re a sculptress, why don’t you give a class to anyone who wants to learn. These are talented people. There’s a fund that will provide the materials. We will find the room for you,” suggested Ralph and Mildred Lyon’s oldest daughter.
“It would be a great thing for you to do, Caitlin,” added Larry.
“I do want to do this,” she said and meant it.
“Good, we’ll get started next week,” stated Lisa.