Maurice & Friends

Shane Simba got two pride phone calls the week he returned from the Congo. The first was from his mother, Sarah Lee.

“Shane, when are you coming to see me? After all I’m your mother.”

“I invited you to my wedding and you didn’t attend, Mom. I decided that you didn’t want to see me anymore. That was a slap in the face not to attend my marriage ceremony.”

“I’m inviting you to come to dinner tomorrow evening, Shane.”

“Does that invitation include my wife too, Mom?”

“No, it does not. I don’t ever want to see that terrible monkey again in my life,” moaned Sarah Lee.

“Then you won’t be seeing me either. Not until you accept my wife.”

The second call was from his aunt, Leander. His mother’s sister had always had a soft spot for Shane, despite the ragging she gave Sarah Lee about his shenanigans. Leander had always felt that Shane should have been her son with his laissez-faire personality, so similar to hers.

“Shane, I’m rather upset. Alexander has gotten in a great deal of trouble with the Cougar family. They are too important to muck over.”

“Auntie, why don’t you join Betty and me for lunch? We’ll be at OKAPIS at noon tomorrow. Can you get there?”

“Yes, Shane, I have my car. I’ll meet you there. We can discuss the matter then.”

OKAPI’s was crowded when Leander made her way to Shane and Betty’s table, escorted by Ossie Okapi, himself. No courtesy was too great for the Vice President was Ossie’s conclusion. Betty and Shane both rose when the lioness reached their table. Leander first gave Betty a peck on the cheek, followed by one for her nephew. Shane knew his aunt’s liquor druthers and ordered a triple martini for her. When the pleasantries had been exchanged, Leander got on the subject that was causing her distress - her son, Alexander and his rift with Lucy, Sylvia and Bernard Cougar.

“Leander, Lucy is working for me part time, dealing with my correspondence. She’s never spoken to me of her troubles with Alexander. I know Syl and Bernard are not vengeful sorts. They won’t go after Alex with cleats on if that’s what you fear,” said Betty.

“So Alex is planning to marry Linda?” asked Shane.

“He tells me this, Shane. I just don’t know,” answered Leander, who had finished her triple martini and lit her third cigarette.

Shane beckoned the waiter for another martini.

“I’ll see what I can find out from Roy Lee. He’s very tight with the Cougars,” said Shane. “How is my mother faring, Auntie?”

“Sam comes over with his wife constantly. Sarah Lee listens to him,” replied Leander. “What more can I say on that subject?”

The meal went pleasantly, with Betty telling Leander that they would invite her to their home soon. All three parted company, Betty going to the television station, Shane the State House and Leander home for additional martinis.

Lucy Cougar Simba, instead of routing Micah Mbube out of the apartment she had leased him, opted to rent an apartment of lesser size in Lyon Towers. As happenstance would have it, she ran into her ex-hubby in the elevator.

“Lucy, are you visiting someone here?” asked Micah who was carrying a shopping bag of prime steaks from Margaux’s Steak and Vine.

“No, I live here now, Micah.”

“Did you and your husband decide to move from that great house on Lyon Avenue?”

“Alex and I are getting a divorce, Micah. I rented a smaller one than yours. It’s just me now and eventually my cub.”

“Damn, Lucy. That’s bad luck. Christine Cheetah is joining me for dinner. Steaks are on the menu. Why don’t you come too?”

“Are you sure, Micah? If you are, I’d love to. Life is very lonely these days.”

“Of course I’m sure. You know the place, after all it’s yours,” he laughed as he got off on his floor. “Come at seven for drinks first.”

Lucy and ex-husband, Micah, at the elevator in Lyon Towers…

“Shane, if you want to see your mother, please don’t worry about me. I know how these things are. After all, I messed up Sam’s life according to him and maybe I really did.”

“No, I will not go there without you, Betty. Sam and my mother think that goodness and virtue only came into this world when they were born. They seem to think they have a monopoly on ethics. They are both utterly self-righteous. Sam was always a mama’s boy. I wasn’t Mom’s type. I was always getting into trouble when I was a cub. Sam was very proper and well behaved. He has always been Mom’s pet. And by the way, you may have mussed Sam but you’ve been the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“Oh, Shane,” she gasped. “What a wonderful thing to say to me.”

Her dark eyes glistened with unshed tears. He came close and folded her in his arms.

“Did you doubt that, Fifi? If you did, you haven’t translated the signals very well. You make my kids and me utterly happy. I feel as if I am in a safe harbor after some very rough seas.”

“Oh my darling, Shane, I love you more with every passing moment. Every time I think I’ve reached the max out, I only delight in you further.”

“Fifi, we seem to be on the same page.”

Staci Simba approached her father, making sure that he was alone. She had a mission.

“Daddy, you need to take Betty on a honeymoon.”

“We had one, Staci. We included you in it, remember?”

“No, Daddy, I mean one where you two go alone - a romantic honeymoon. Betty deserves that. She’s been so good to Sean and me. We have a happy home.”

“Staci, you may be right. I think I know just the place too.”

Shane told Betty that he was taking a week off and wished she would too. He secretly booked them into Manda Bay Resort close to Lamu Island. It is one of the more glamorous vacations places on the coast of Kenya. Betty complied, thinking they would spend the week between the Mara and Mombasa.

Shane Simba went to see his brother, Roy Lee, as he had told his aunt he would.

“I know that I’m no one to talk with my seamy past but Aunt Leander is worried about the fact that the Cougars asked Alexander to leave their home. Do you know anything of this, Roy Lee?”

“Yes, I do. Syl and Berns asked Alex out of their home. Did you know that their granddaughter, Linda, had to get an abortion because she was pregnant by Alex? And then Lucy is pregnant too. Berns and Syl are the nicest of cats. They would never do anything to seek revenge on Alex. Auntie can relax there. Lucy is in the process of divorcing Alex. She took an apartment in Lyon Towers. She didn’t even ask for monetary support for the cub that’s coming. I think she should have. We, Simba’s are wealthy now.”

“I agree.”

Betty paid extra attention to Lucy these days. She did inform her that she was divorcing Alexander and to make her pay check to Lucy Cougar. Shane never saw Lucy. She was long gone from the house by the time he returned in the evening. She worked with Betty during the morning hours before she left to broadcast her evening news at WMM-TV. Betty tried to get Lucy to talk of her problems but to no avail. Lucy was very tight lipped on the subject of her grievous second marriage.

The night before Shane and Betty were to begin their week off, they were on the veranda with their ritual sundowners.

“So, it’s Mombasa next weekend?” asked Betty, lighting a Kool.

“No, Fifi, you and I are going on a belated honeymoon tomorrow. It’s at the suggestion of Staci and firmly approved by Arlon and Sean. I’ve made reservations at Manda Bay Resort for just the two of us. I’ve booked a cabin there. They are all open to the sea. It’s supposed to be the zenith of romantic.”

“Oh, Shane, my darling, how wonderful of you.”

“We’ll leave tomorrow with my driver and I have to take my guard but he won’t be obtrusive, I promise.”

Shane and Betty pulled from their drive very early in the morning heading for Manda Bay. The children waved them off. They were to be in the care of Babs, Miss B and the new housekeeper.

Manda Bay where Shane and Betty are headed……

If Lucy Cougar had failed to share her woes with Betty, she loosed them in the company of Micah and Christine Cheetah during the steak dinner. In one of those anomalous things that sometime transpire, Micah was becoming a good friend to the young female that he had been so opposed to during their brief marriage. Christine, being a very warm and caring cat and neighbor to Lucy’s parent’s, also was becoming an ally. Micah and Lucy would visit back and forth. There was no need for jealousy on Christine’s part; she knew that her lover felt nothing for Lucy but concern and sympathy.

Carson Cougar, being the last to find out, was very concerned about his daughter Linda’s affair with his youngest sister’s husband, Alexander Simba. He dressed Linda down, causing his wife to have to comfort the sobbing Linda.

It was not a good week for Alexander Simba either. He had to face Lucy and her parents in court. Judge Bo Bonobo, having no love for lions in general and the Simba’s in particular, denied Alexander visiting rights to his unborn cub. He tried to convince Lucy to ask for child support but the young heiress was adamant. She was very close to her great grandmother, Lucretia Leoparde, who had told her to have nothing to do with the Simba’s and their recently acquired wealth. She had promptly given Lucy a check to buy another home, if needed. She had already gifted her with the money to buy the apartment she had leased to Micah. Judge Bonobo banged his gavel with added strength, thought those in court who knew him well. He declared the case of Cougar vs. Simba closed. He cast Alexander a very harsh look under furrowed brow as he left the bench.