"I have another soccer game Tuesday night, Mum. Can you and Daddy make it?"

Jason Simba had just brought his younger half brother from school. Solly bit into a peanut butter sandwich with great gusto.

"When did you start calling me ‘Mum’? I sort of liked Mommy," teased Betty.

"Mum is more fashionable. So I changed to that," answered Solly with a dollop of peanut butter on his lower lip.

Betty looked at her growing son in amusement and love. He was her first born with Shane Simba and would always be special to her.

"I didn’t know you were a stickler for fashion and the current modes, Sol," she giggled.

He abruptly, as the very young are prone to do, changed course.

"Can we go to Jack’s this weekend, Mum? If you are not going to remarry Daddy - and there’s no chance of that - I want you to marry Jack Tarzan."

Betty pulled a large package of chips from her desk drawer and handed it to her son who pounced on it.

"I’m sure we can, Solly. I’ll have to call Jack first and ask."

"I want hands like Daddy’s," was his next topic.

"You can’t have hands until you are fully grown. You can ask for them then. I’m sure your dad won’t mind if you have them. You’ll have to wait until you have a full mane."

"I overheard Alex saying that Daddy did wonders with them," said Solly, attacking the last chip in the bag and going to the kitchen for additional snacks.

Nothing like the appetite of a growing lion cub, thought Betty.

Solly Simba, Betty's oldest son with Shane Simba.....

    Lachlan and I went to lunch at Margaux’s Fine Meats and Eats in the Lewis Lyon Mall. It was a bright sunny Saturday and the joint was absolutely popping. We ran into Shane and Alexandra, with Gina and Lewis Lyon, dining at a table near us. Lewis is always affable and Gina is wonderful. He tells me that Margaux (who happens to be my sister) has the best food in the Mara. I think Lewis gave her a break on the rental price on her recently relocated place. She tells me that Lewis either orders take out or dines there for lunch every day. He has a new office building in which he has taken over the penthouse headquarters for his Lewis Lyon Construction Company. Simba Brothers law firm has also relocated to the new and very plush building.

"I hope you don’t mind my new hands," roared Lewis happily as we greeted each other with a hand shake. "I just had to follow Shane to the surgeon’s office and get myself a pair. They are quite handy too."

Lewis reminds me more of Ralph than any of his sons - friendly, outgoing and totally charismatic with a lusty sense of fun and humor.

The First Couple with Lewis and Gina (Genet) Lyon at Margaux's Fine Meats & Eats....

    I met Bertram Baboon for lunch one day and he had Roy Lee Simba with him. They were already seated with martinis when I entered, late as usual. OKAPI’S was packed but Roy Lee had all sorts of attention as usual. I couldn’t believe that in that posh setting, Roy Lee was asked for autographs.

"Sorry I’m late," I apologized. "So much going on at the State House these days."

"How is Shane doing, Maury?" asked Roy Lee, his brother.

He took note of my raised and quizzical brow apparently and gave a loud guffaw.

"I don’t see my little brother anymore, Maurice. He seems to have joined the Lyon’s pride. Wouldn’t you say?"

"Well, he does see a good bit of Lewis," I admitted not wanting to really get embroiled in the affairs of the Simba pride.

"And is getting super rich with him too," laughed Roy Lee.

"They do have some business deals going," I said, taking a large gulp of my martini.

I could see that Bertram was miffed at not being the centerpiece of our conversational endeavors.

"I do believe I may win an award with Bop Boon putting such a great lot of pithy emotion into her role as Blanche Dubois in Streetcar," said he, chowing down on a cracker loaded with pâté.

"And what, pray tell, is Bop supposed to win, Bertram?" guffawed Roy Lee in a style I greatly admired. "After all it was she who put the ‘B’ in Blanche."

I seldom saw Bertram and his long time business partner, Roy Lee, together and interacting. I noticed that Roy Lee was totally friendly and affectionate toward the haughty baboon director but absolutely took no shit whatever from Bertram.

"She will get her reward, Roy Lee. Bop will have her due as you and I well know," said Bertram.

"Oh dear god, will she ever. She is one temperamental bitch," answered Roy Lee practically swallowing whole a big piece of the rare steak he had ordered.

It was a pleasant lunch and Roy Lee invited Lachlan and me to his Mombassa home to dine with Janice and him. We would all go this weekend to the beach resort where we had homes.

Me, Bertram and Roy Lee dine at OKAPI'S.....

    Solly padded ahead of Jack Tarzan and Betty as they took a walk about his home’s surrounding bush. The twins had gone with Shane and Alexandra this weekend to their bush house. Solly had asked to come to Jack’s and the lion writer had gladly invited Solly and his mother. Later they had supper with Patsy and Jack’s sister. Patsy had made thick stew and baked bread. Solly ate heartily. Jack, after dinner, allowed the cub to roast marshmallows over a roaring fire in the library. Solly fell asleep and Jack carried him to a guest room and tucked him in.

"He asked me to ask you about coming this weekend, Jack. He simply adores you," said Betty as Jack returned to the library.

Jack stoked the fire and sat down next to Betty on the overstuffed couch covered in Patsy’s favored chintz.

"And his mother - does his mother feel the same?" he asked, his eyes incredibly warm.

This was the first time Jack Tarzan had ever asked what her feelings were in regard to him or even broached a related topic. She felt the warmth flood her, her toes and feet tingling with a sudden flush of heat.

"I think his mother does....Oh, Jack, I do love you so but just haven’t wanted to scare the hell out of you."

He put an arm around her and pulled her close to him.

"Betty, I am past scaring where you are concerned. You have changed my life for the best and I marvel at you and your abilities. You are one amazing animal."

"So, that leaves us....where?" She realized she was trembling ever so slightly.

He reached over and kissed her until her toes tingled.

"It leaves me loving you too. Does that scare the hell out of you?" His voice was husky and deep.

"No, indeed, it leaves me breathless and very happy."

He carried her to his room as effortlessly as he had carried her young son earlier. He laid her on his bed in the brilliant moonlight from the opened balcony door. They made love until the cicadas and tree frogs ceased their night songs and the roosters took over with their morning call.

Betty and Jack in his room.......

    Shane Simba had a lot on his mind the weekend in Lamu when he took his entire family, including Stanley Morrison who arrived with Staci. It seemed as if everyone that had a home in the area was on the sand beaches that clung to Kenya’s Indian Ocean coastline. Lachlan and I were there and invited to Roy Lee and Janice Simba’s for dinner on Saturday night.

    But to get back to Shane, he had his young son, Solly, with him in his small sail boat. They were on a jaunt to pick up fish and take them to the house for a bake that night. Despite the fact of his presidency, Shane still loved to do these chores with his children. Solly was holding his baseball cap his on his head to thwart the strong winds off the ocean.

"Daddy, I think Mum is going to marry Jack Tarzan, won’t that be wonderful?" asked his son.

"Who is Mum?" asked Shane, never having heard Solly call that name before today.

"Oh, that’s what I call Mommy now....it’s a better name."

"Betty is going to marry Jack Tarzan?" asked Shane, a strange expression in his eyes that resembled the ocean’s hues.

"Yes, Daddy....Betty is Mum," he giggled. "Don’t you think that will be just great?" insisted Solly.

"How do you know, Solly?"

"Because we went to Jack’s house last weekend and they were making those fancy sentence and hitting each other’s glasses....you know those things...uh..."

"Toasts?" coaxed Shane.

"Yeah, Daddy, toasts...but isn’t that bread?"

"What did they say, Solly?"

"Oh, uh....to our love and the future...stuff like that," reported Solly with an air of growing importance.

His father was really taking note of this announcement and had a slightly skewed expression on his face.

"What’s wrong, Daddy?" asked Solly, suddenly alarmed that his father was wiping tears from his eyes. "Are you crying?"

"No, Solly....it’s just the wind...that’s all. I hope your mom and Jack will be very happy."

Solly sailing with his dad, Shane Simba.....

They reached their destination and Shane threw the ropes to a dock hand who didn’t know he was doing this service for the president of Kenya. Shane had brought no guards - just his young son. They jumped off the moored boat, Shane tipping the dock hand. He led Solly to a frantic dock area with fish mongers hawking their wares. they bought three large sea bass and had them wrapped.

    When they arrived back at the estate on Lamu Island, Solly went to join his brothers, Tarek and Jalil. Shane gave the fish to the houseboy and joined Alexandra on the porch overlooking the vast Indian Ocean. The sun was setting.

"You look a bit off kilter, Luv, is something wrong?" asked Alexandra, lighting a cigarette with one hand and pouring Shane a Scotch with the other.

"Betty is marrying Jack Tarzan," said Shane in a strange almost strangled voice.

"You should be happy for them, Shane," stated Alexandra, suddenly taken aback at the knowledge that he wasn’t.

"I am, of course."

She went and stood before him. She suddenly slapped him in the face - very hard. He grabbed her hands.

"What the fuck was that about?"

"You still love Betty and that is all well and good but why involve me in your life when you knew this?"

Tears were streaming down her face. "I shouldn’t have reacted like that....so sorry. I knew what you were before I married you."

She turned and went to their bedroom, closing the door behind her. He followed swiftly.

"Alex, I was just surprised is all. I love and adore you and no one else," he said, pulling her tightly against him.

"I don’t think I believe that, Shane.  Your love is just too mercurial for me."

 She removed his arms from around her and left him standing there.

    That night at dinner she was as cordial as usual, making gala conversation with his sons, Staci and her guest Stanley Morrison. One would have never guessed that Shane and Alexandra had a major tiff that day. But Shane felt the chill laced with the hurt he had caused his wife. She slept with him that night but begged a headache when he wanted to make love. The next morning when he waked up, there was no Alexandra beside him. He dressed and went to the porch over looking the ocean where they usually had breakfast. She wasn’t about. He inquired of the household staff.

"Mrs. Simba took the plane back to the Mara early this morning," reported the houseboy.

"Shit," muttered Shane to himself.

He was preoccupied at breakfast, barely able to keep up with the sprightly conversation between Staci, Stanley and her younger brothers. Everyone inquired about Alexandra’s absence. Shane allowed that she was back in the Mara to prepare for a State dinner that was in the offing. Everyone seemed to buy that bit of malarkey with the exception of Solly who cast his father a troubled look.

    Upon arrival in the Mara, Shane found no Alexandra. She was not at her plantations either. He hit the panic button.