Sam Simba felt that he had been misunderstood by Betty and ultimately his litter mate, Shane.  He had loved Betty and felt that he was misrepresented as having been a restrictive mate.  He also felt, which was in great part factual, that he had not put a ceiling on any of Betty’s career objectives.  Sam had been abused by Betty throughout her two bouts of postpartum depression and psychotic episodes after the birth of their sons, Joshua and Jason Simba.  

            He finally snapped out of his shock at her marriage to Shane after speaking frankly with his wife, Allison, about his grievous marriages to Betty.  Allison, who is a very soothing female, at last put an end to Sam’s sorrow at being so misread by his brother as a result of Betty’s reportage.  Allison also convinced Sam to let go of his bitterness toward his ex-wife and let her see Joshua and Jason.

“Sam, those boys need to see their mother.  You are only hurting them and yourself with this grudge.  Josh and Jason won’t love me any less because they see their mother.  Let go, Sam. I’m afraid you will become cynical and that won’t be my darling Sam at all.”

“How did I get so lucky as to find you, Ali? I am a very blessed.”

“I’m the lucky one, Sam.”

            Sam wasn’t ready to see his brother yet, so he sent his secretary, with a note, down to Shane’s office suite on the first floor of the State House.  The note indicated that Betty could make arrangements through his secretary to see Joshua and Jason. 

            On the appointed Friday evening, Shane’s Masai driver came for Jason and Joshua to take them to Shane and Betty’s home.  Jason clung to Allison bitterly weeping.  He cried so piteously that even the driver asked Sam to leave the little cub with Allison.  Joshua, on the other hand, scampered to the car with enthusiasm, overjoyed at the chance to see his mother again.  Sam wrote a note about the absence of Jason.  The driver repeated Jason’s distress at having to leave Allison.    

            Betty’s frustration at not seeing Jason was subdued at the sight of Joshua running toward her in the hall and almost knocking her down with his affectionate greeting.  Adding to Joshua’s happiness was the chance to see his half-brother, Arlon, again. 

            Later, when all the children were upstairs enjoying Arlon’s state of the art room with the videos, game tables and other delights of youth, Betty and Shane kicked back on the patio.

“I’m afraid I’ve lost Jason, Shane.”

“You haven’t really lost him, Betty.  When he’s older, he’ll want to know you.  He’ll be close to Joshua and he will tell him of you.  He’ll follow Josh to your door.”

            There was a certain advantage to having your new stepfather also be your dad's brother.  Joshua was already so familiar with Shane that there were no hurdles to get past concerning their relationship.  His mother's new husand had always been ‘Uncle Shane’ to Josh.  He remained that way.  Staci and Sean didn’t have to make adjustments either.  Joshua was their first cousin that they played with at their grandmother’s Sunday brunches.  So the Simba offspring, those of Shane and Sam, joined together in seamless fashion, ignoring the new technicalities and acting as they always had with one another. 

            A small lion cub came to the orphanage in the Mara from Botswana - orphaned as a result of poachers.  Leah Lyon brought him home.  She announced that they were adopting him.  After a trifling attempt at protest, Ashley gave in.  He had grown to love his leopard adopted daughter, Kitty.  He figured he could do the same for the little cub they named Brad.  Leah was an eager fan of Brad Pitt.  The couple was in the process of adding an entire wing to their home on Leoparde Drive for the children.  Leah had become so adroit at running a flawless household, that Ashley no longer suffered from the noise and commotion when he’d arrive home, tired, from a long safari flight.  The children would have eaten and be watching television or otherwise occupied when he got there.  Leah made sure they had plenty of quiet time when her husband was home.  She would spend the occasion indulging Ashley – which he simply adored.

Ashley, Leah and newly adopted son, Brad Lyon. 

            An untidy situation was brewing in the Cougar family.  The shit hadn’t hit the fan as yet but was certain to any day now.  Alexander Simba and Linda Cougar were engaged in a pungent affair.  The chaotic component to this situation is the fact that Lucy Cougar, Alexander’s pregnant wife, is Linda’s aunt.  Alexander and Linda, in spite of the fact they had not planned to, were falling madly in love.  They gravitated to each other any time they were free to do so.  Furtive bouts of lovemaking were held any place they felt wouldn’t be detected and at any hour he could free himself from his wife.  Lucy knew in her hypersensitive, pregnant gut that her husband was up to no good.   

Linda, the intense love interest of Alexander Simba....

            Linda Cougar had a rough day of showing properties for Jackal Realty.  She settled in her condo and made herself a drink.  She had been feeling delicate lately, with dizziness and brief bouts of queasiness.  She went to her balcony.  She sat relaxed on the chaise and smoked a cigarette.  Her phone rang.  It was Alexander. 

“I’m hungry to see you.  Can I come over? I can’t stay long.  Lucy is planning a special dinner.  I think I’m supposed to grill or something."

    When he arrived they went straight away to her room and made love.  When he got up to put on his clothes, she lay back and smoked another cigarette. 

“I’ll try to call you later, Linda,” he told her as he leaned over to kiss her goodbye.

“I think I may go out tonight.  I’m restless, Alex.”

“Go out?  Where?”

“The Watering Hole Pub.  Some friends are going there this evening.”

“Don’t take anyone home, Lin,” he appealed, sitting down on the bed again.

“I’m not, Alex.  It’s just that you have a life with Lucy.  I only get the part of you that’s left over.  I’m beginning to be miserable about that.”

“I know. I am too.  All I want is to be with you.  We’ll work things out.”

“I think that will be a bitch to do.”

            Betty Chimpo Simba took charge of the Arts Council for the government and did wonders with it.  After asking my permission, she started fundraising for a creative writing school to be added to the roster connected with the Lawrence Leoparde Center for the Arts.  She started with a generous endowment from her own funds, especially those obtained from the monumental sales of her book, Pride and Fury.  She added Cynthia Cheetah, a fellow author, and Christine Cheetah, who had replaced Catherine as director, to the arts council.  In addition, she also invited Micah Mbube, Janice Jaguar Gorilla and Chelsea Cheetah to join the group.  We worked to put together a major fund raising event.  It was decided that the Predator Club would be the spot for the 1500 dollar-a-plate dinner and dance.  The council took on new life.  Betty was getting her teeth into her new role as the vice president of Kenya’s wife and as is her customary practice – excelling.

Betty Simba caught by the paparazzi as she goes to a meeting of  the Kenyan Arts Council......

Roy Lee Simba began rehearsals for Death of a Salesman, along with Micah, on a stage at the arts center.  Bertram Baboon kept the fires going at Baboon-Simba Studios by directing Chloe Cougar Simba’s new movie, a light comedy co-starring the two leopard comedians that had starred with her in Some Like It Hot. 

            The media, who were in town to cover Betty and Shane, also covered the event of the major superstar’s introduction to the theater.  As Roy Lee began to get his sea legs on stage, his excitement grew at the potential of branching out in this element of acting he had always wanted to try.  He felt he was good and Micah, playing his son, reinforced that thinking with his responses. 

“I just have to ask you this, darling.  Will you be sorry not to have more children?”

Betty and Shane were in their bed, the ceiling fan humming in lazy circles above them. 

“No, I don’t want more children.  I never had the urge, like so many males, to spread my seed,” he said, leaning over her and laughing quickly.  “Before you begin to titter, because I certainly did an abundant amount of seed scattering, I never did it with that particular purpose in mind.  It happened when I married Catherine so I made no objection.  And I love those that I have.  I also love yours too.  But as for more, I don’t want them. Aren’t you forgetting your problems with postpartum lunacy, Fifi?”

“No, I’m not.  That’s really why I asked, Shane. I would never want to risk losing you with my post baby antics.”

“I did get the nuclear umbrella effect at times,” he laughed.  “And Betty, if you are having quixotic notions of bearing my children, remember that our DNA doesn’t mix. It would just be some lion cub that would spring from somewhere in my genetic makeup.  It wouldn’t mean a thing in the scheme of things.  Let’s just raise the ones we have and get on with our lives.”

“Suits me, darling,” she said, kissing him and setting off another round of lovemaking.

            Later, in the inky darkness of their room, she lay awake and rebuked herself for envying poor dead Catherine whose genes did mix with his.  She lit another cigarette, listening to his easy breathing that indicated sleep.  She finally stubbed out the cigarette and sought slumber, realizing that she would always worship him to the point of wanting to share every particle of his life and being. If she was smart, she would have to rein in some of that yearning.  She finally fell asleep remembering that tomorrow was Saturday and she would have a full day to take pleasure in him.