Sarah Lee tattles.....
A lifetime of happiness! No man alive could bear it: it would be hell on earth.
George Bernard Shaw
Shane Simba stretched his long, strong limbs in the noon day sun. He was on a chaise lounge in what was quickly becoming his favorite place – the bush house. His cell phone rang. It was his mother, Sarah Lee. He spoke for a few minutes, ended the call and smiled to himself. He rose and sought his wife. He found her in their room.
“Fifi, Mom just called and said you paid them a visit yesterday. Want to tell me about it?”
He sat on the side of the bed and stroked her leg.
“I just wanted to discuss with her Solly’s death and see if you two can patch your differences. I didn’t mean to pry, Shane. I just want you to be happy.”
He leaned down and nuzzled her face with his.
“Betty, I know you want everything good for me. I am so aware of this but my mother is a strange female. She can be so caring with everyone except Tookie and me. Nevertheless, with us, she is a no-show emotionally. It can’t be helped. Just leave it alone. I can’t tell you how much I love you for caring so much.”
“Oh, Shane, I do love you so greatly. I just wish you could be totally happy with everything and that I was more exciting to you.”
“Betty, what makes you think you’re not exciting to me? I make love to you most nights.”
“I know you desire others, Shane.”
He lit a cigarette before saying anything. He exhaled unhurriedly, leaving her apprehensive
“Betty, I am a male who gets excited over a female with good tits, ass and outward appearance- the perquisites of sexuality. I always have been and will remain that way for a long time, I would imagine; but you are my homeland, my nation, my hearth, my ballast – the center of my universe. You are everything to me. You tend my children, create my atmosphere. You are the very heart of me and I love you beyond measure. I am all yours, never to be torn from you unless you desire it and if that’s the case, I’ll fight you tooth and nail because I can no longer survive without you.”
She sat up slowly, relishing every infinitesimal detail of what he has just said to her. Her eyes filled with tears which slowly splashed on to her face.
“Shane Simba, I think that is the most beautiful thing a male ever said to his wife.”
“I mean every word of it, Fifi, and then some.”
Shane and the Masai guards during a jogging session at the bush house....
Sam Simba was working late at his the law office. Tawny Tigeres sat opposite him at the conference table. Before them were spread papers and briefs concerning tomorrow’s trial. A few objects necessary to the case lay in neat order. They had been working for two hours overtime.
“Tawny, you’re working your ass off. Let me take you to the Watering Hole Pub for dinner. We can come back after that and put the finishing touches to this project.”
“That’s a great idea. I’m famished.”
The pub was crowded with the usual Wednesday night singles crowd. A jukebox blared at one corner of the main dining and bar area. Sam called his house and spoke to his wife, telling her he was going to be even later. He ordered a Scotch for himself and vodka shot for Tawny. The juke box carried a favorite of Tawny’s.
“Sam, this is a song I love. Will you dance with me, please?”
Sam had almost forgotten the long ago days when he had been carefree and made a specialty of dancing, becoming known as a smooth and terrific partner for the females.
“Good, idea, Tawny, but mind you I’m rather rusty. My wife doesn’t like to dance.”
They went to the dance floor, Tawny towering over Sam. He didn’t seem one bit undone about the matter. He put his arms around her and held her close. They danced smoothly to the music. One song melded into another and still the lion and tigress held to the floor in perfect union. Tawny had always loved to dance. She had many partners but never one like Sam Simba. Sam pulled her almost indiscernibly closer, his paw lowered to mid back. The waiter bought their food. It cooled as they were lost in a series of very emotive love songs. At last they pulled apart and returned to their chilling meal. Both were rather silent, lost in thought. The meal over, they returned to the office. Sam was about to get out of the car when he suddenly stopped. He leaned his face toward Tawny. She began to kiss him. The parking area was remote and empty behind Simba Brothers. He put a paw on one of her perfect and very generous breast. She continued kissing him while her paw undid his fly.
“Not here,” he breathed into her neck.
They rearranged themselves as best they could and went inside. The lounge had a chaise in it. They undressed each other. Tawny, who was very adept at roughhousing sexually with the males she had bedded, didn’t react this way to Sam. He was not at all dismayed by the fact that she outsized him. She let him lead with an astonishing tenderness that, looking back; she knew was unusual for her in a relationship. He was a marvelous lover and excited her to new levels of passion. When they were spent, they rested beside each other on the floor. Around midnight, they rose from their inertia and returned to the conference room. They worked thirty minutes more before deciding that all was in order for tomorrow. Sam opened the door to Tawny’s car for her to enter. He leaned over and kissed her deeply. She watched him to his own SUV. Then she drove home in a state of dreams. Her parent’s light was on in their kitchen. She knew that her dad and mom would be talking over their day, Frank having just come home from the Exotic Animal Clinic after night duty. She decided to join them.
Alexander Simba was leaving the bed of Cameron Caracal. They had gone to her Salt Lick condo to find a bit of solace in each other’s bodies. Alexander was putting on his slacks.
“When are you going to divorce that ninny you married, Alex?”
“She’s not a ninny, Cam. She’s just young and spoiled. And the answer to your question is probably never.”
“And what about us, Alex?”
“Nothing about us. We’re having an affair.”
Luke Leoparde was not seeing much of Jane the lioness anymore. Her primitive parents had rejected him and that was okay with him. He missed her but Luke, being Luke, didn’t dwell on affairs of the heart for any great length of time. He had always found that ineffectual and frustrating. But being a horny male, he did like a good squeeze he could rely on for sex and a female that cleaned up good and could be seen out in society with him. Being a Leoparde family heir, he had been born into the social scene that counted. He called Caroline Cheetah and asked her out. Caroline was from a good family. She could also screw the horns off a Billy goat. He took her to OKAPI’S which is a restaurant where most females enjoy being seen. They ordered a top wine with an entrée of Beef Wellington. Caroline had another great advantage. She was gorgeous and dressed like a fashion icon. Luke had also observed that she was a caring mother to her illegitimate son but abstained from that state of delirious mommy hood that could be so irritating. He determined that Caroline was a pretty breezy female with a cutting edge wit and humor. He liked being in her company.
They entered Caroline’s apartment in Lyon Towers. She had left one dim light in her living area. The nanny and her cub were asleep. She made drinks from her liquor cabinet in the quiet, very handsome dining room. The phone rang in the library where they sat to sip. She let it ring. Suddenly a male voice came on the answering machine.
“Caroline, Caroline, where are you tonight? This is Sloane and I want you badly….call me when you come in.”
“He seems to be horny this evening. Are you still seeing him, Caroline?” asked Luke, lighting a Marlboro.
“Yes. I’m in love with him actually.”
She took a cigarette from Luke’s pack and lit it.
“So why did you go out with me?”
“He is a Simba and you know how they are, Luke.”
“No, thank God, I don’t have to know about them. The only decent Simba is Leah Lyon and her dad, most probably. I can’t stand that crowd. They’re always banging each other’s females. They’re a pack of hyenas in lion costumes if you ask me.”
“Jealous?” she purred, getting close and unbuttoning his shirt. She stoked his chest with lacquered claws.
“I probably am, Caroline. I find you very attractive too. If you weren’t in love with him it would be okay with me if you just shagged him from time to time. I’m not a guy who wants a steady.”
She stood up, took of her clothes and stood naked before him, her taunt body exquisite in the soft light of the room.
“Okay, you win. Take me to your room,” he said, grabbing her shapely rear with both paws.
Luke dressed for his
date with Caroline Cheetah....
Betty and Shane took the train to the Lake Turkana region in northwest Kenya. It was stocked with all manner of charming foods and liquors. Since it wasn’t a high profile trip they had relative privacy with only a few reporters joining them. Their destination was the western shore of Lake Rudolf (Lake Turkana) to a village called Lodwar. The first day was spent walking about the town and speaking with the various neighborhood dignitaries. The second day consisted of Shane meeting with local farmers and cattlemen consisting of tribal members and descendants of Colonial families who still owned large spreads of land and were hogging the sparse water supplies. For three days, Shane met with those concerned to hammer out a plan where both groups could coexist and farm or raise livestock in peace. In the evenings, he and Betty would attend local gatherings in their honor enjoying the appetizing local fare. At night they would return to the train flanked by the Masai moran. In their sleeping car they would rehash the day’s events, Shane sharing with his wife the details of the talks he had with the farmers. It was a time of closeness and companionship of the sort that bonds couples. The young president had made great strides in alleviating the dissension between the farmers. They returned to the Mara refreshed and very contented with the way things were going in their marriage.
Lachlan sat at his desk, scribbling on a note pad despite the fact that, with permission, he usually taped counseling sessions. Betty Simba sat before him, her face relaxed with no sign of the tension and weariness that had invaded it lately. She was telling Lachlan of her talk with Shane after his mother had phoned him reporting her visit.
“Betty, he’s turned a corner with you. This is quite remarkable. I counseled Catherine for a long time before her death. She would tell me all about him. He never said anything to her like this as far as I know. He is telling you that he honestly gets excited by other females but not to your detriment. This is really a change. With Catherine he was always back stepping and side tracking, never admitting a thing. I think he honestly is benefiting from letting it all out about his brother’s death and being blamed for it.”
“I think you’re right, Lachlan.”
One day Sidney Simba got out of bed in the unkempt trailer behind his mother’s home in the Simba pride territory. He looked at his wife sleeping and snoring loudly due to the drugs and booze ingested in their last coup. His head ached. He padded to the tiny kitchen, pushing aside debris as he walked. There was no coffee so he decided to go to his mother’s home and beg some off of her. Leander opened the door to see her messy and worn son. In the kitchen she made him a pot of coffee. He looked haggard and terrible. It broke the lioness’ heart. They went to her parlor where Sidney shook so badly he had almost spilled his coffee. He lit a cigarette with shaking paws.
“Sid, you can’t go on like this, you’re killing yourself,” said Leander.
“I know, Mom. It’s true. I’m a mess. I’ve lost my license to practice law. I’m ruined, a fallen soul,” he agreed.
“Is there anything you’ve ever wanted to do beside practice law?”
“I had no interest in the law. It was decided for me because the Simbas started a law firm. I’ve always wanted to grow things, Mom.”
“Oh, Sid, if you will go back to the mental health center and get straight, I’ll speak to Shane about getting you started in something like that. This pride is rich now.”
“But Mom, everything is under Shane, Roy Lee, Sam and Sefu’s control and I’m a wastrel. They’re not going to lend or give me anything.”
“Shane will hear me out, Son. I know that. Will you get clean again?”
“Yes, Mom. I promise if Shane will help us, Cary and I will both clean up our acts.”
Sidney finished his coffee and with a new feeling of determination woke Carey and told her to get dressed they were going to the mental health center. She did so reluctantly and Bubba Simba drove them in his police cruiser. They had to convince Lachlan that they were sincere. Lachlan, being a very shrewd psychiatrist, sensed a new purpose in Sidney but not his wife. With Cary, Lachlan felt there was only resignation to her husband’s will. Nonetheless, he took both in with strict admonitions that with one sign of disingenuousness and misbehavior they would be kicked out and barred forever from his facility.
Leander spoke with Shane the next day. He sent a car to bring her to his office. There he and his aunt drank tea and mulled over what to do with Sidney. I happened to pop in the door while Leander was there. Shane asked me if I thought the Mara would sustain two garden centers, Aurora Cougar already owning one.
“Aurora is selling her garden center. Sylvia told me a few days ago. She and Nat have adopted two cubs and are planning on adopting another. Aurora wants to be a full time wife and mother. Want me to check on it for you?” I asked.
“Yes, please, Maurice and thank you so much,” answered Shane.
The deal was closed a week later. The Simba Pride Corporation bought the Masai Mara Garden Center. Now it was up to Sidney Simba to make good on his word and start a new life.