Maurice & Friends

A pleased Carson Cougar wrote a check to the Mara branch of the Nairobi School of Nursing. His daughter, Linda, sat with him. Carson’s sister, Dr. Sylly Cougar Lyon, had told them that Linda could fill a big nursing role at the Exotic Animal Clinic upon graduation. It was a different Linda Cougar who accepted her dad’s check for nurses training. Linda had done an amazing turn around after multiple trips with Betty, Mildred and that group to suffering villages about Kenya. Dr. Lachlan Lion had been dead on the money in thinking that a glimpse at reality would transform the troubled Linda, who had been rapidly descending into a debauched existence. The Nathan Leoparde Memorial Foundation was funding an AIDS wing to the Exotic Animal Clinic. Dr. Frank Tigeres and Sylly felt that with the proper education, Linda would be a big asset there.

Excitement rose in the country as our nation ascended to the pinnacle among countries in Africa that were on top of the game in the AIDS battle. Formerly, it had been Uganda and Nigeria, but with Betty pushing and Shane becoming dedicated to the issue, we had gone the mark. Kenya put out the call for more government medical personnel to man the AIDS clinics being built here. One that answered that call was a male lion of such physical beauty that he almost rivaled the Simbas and Lyons. He was a physician, educated in Germany with a specialty in HIV and AIDS related problems. He was from Amboseli, a former game reserve close to our border with Tanzania. Unlike so many male lions that tend to be frivolous in sexual matters, Dr. Juma Mynyama was made of stricter stuff. The name Juma is Swahili for one born on Friday. The last name, Mynyama is Swahili for wild animal. In time, the charismatic and powerful doctor would no longer require a last name. However, we are getting ahead of ourselves for the moment. He came to the Mara on a bright morning filled with excitement and hope of a national break through, striding into the Exotic Animal Clinic. Drs. Ted and Frank Tigeres were bowled over upon interviewing Juma. Now Ted and Frank are tigers and not easily blown away by lions. Here was one with such a sense of purpose and dedication that they simply couldn’t help themselves. Sylly was in full agreement with her partners’ assessment. He was hired on the spot to head the new AIDS wing which would be named for Mildred Lyon. In the interim, before the addition to the clinic was completed, they put Juma as head of AIDS and HIV matters and research.

Dr. Juma Mynyama, the new doctor hired to head the AIDS program...

This was a time of staying home for President Shane Simba. He was deeply engaged in internal matters for Kenya. He didn’t want to make visits to Tony Blair in England, wishing to keep Kenya out of the controversy over the war in Iraq. Ralph and Mandela had advised him to steer clear of the hapless prime minister who was bound to fall over issues of war. Ralph recommended that he stay in close touch with the Queen of England Shane shared Ralph Lyon’s opinion of the Bush administration and wanted no visits to America. In the meantime he and Betty were slated for short trips to Uganda, Nigeria, Namibia and South Africa. South Africa, under her last president had avoided the issue of HIV. Under their current leader, President Thabo Mbeki, things were looking up. He had asked Shane to meet with him. Shane asked Sloane Simba to check on South African legalities before going there. Shane wanted to know all of the laws blocking AIDS matters under the former administration in Johannesburg. Sloane was preoccupied with a very serious case in court so he sent Dina Myers, she being a native South African and former law student.

Shane, expecting Sloane, was surprised to see Dina walk in his office with her brief case. She sat down, crossing her legs in lady like fashion. Shane noticed the beautifully formed ankles with the becoming and stylish shoes. He was glad his face was not human so Dina wouldn’t notice the blood rushing to his head at the sight of her. Dina would only accept as refreshment a mineral water with lemon. Shane felt the need for a Scotch. She spoke intelligently of the former apartheid laws, some still on the books, as a hindrance to the AIDS problems in her native land. He listened on one level and took in everything about her bodily appearance on another. He was enthralled with the total package.

“What made you study law, Dina?” he asked, apropos of nothing.

She told him of her upbringing as a poor overseer’s daughter and an alcoholic one at that. As she spoke of her family and longings to raise herself above them, he noted the resemblance to his own circumstances as a cub. His longing for her in the flesh became suffused with admiration at her struggle and eventual triumph. When she rose to leave, Shane still sat behind his desk and thanked her for the information. He didn’t want her to see the condition her physical charms had inflicted on him. He asked the houseboy for another Scotch and realized that he was developing a serious fondness for the girl.

Betty was just emerging from her office and almost bumped in to Dina as she exited the State House. She felt the familiar heartsickness course through her. She was headed for Shane’s office and stopped dead in her tracks. She brought Lachlan’s words to mind and decided to go there. She found him sitting behind his desk with a cigarette and drink. He greeted her warmly. She sat down and the houseboy brought her a martini. It was the end of the work day and a Friday.

“Shall we go to the bush house this weekend, darling?”

“Good idea, Fifi. I could do with some tennis this weekend. I need the exercise.”

Chloe Cougar rose on this Saturday morning and stretched, yawning widely. She called Sloane Simba.

“What are you doing today, Sloane?”

“Going to the sporting club for golf. Why?”

“I’m a member there too. But I don’t like sports so I just use the bar and restaurant. Can I join you there?”

“I do like sports, Chloe. Caroline Cheetah and I are playing golf with Ted and Anissa Tigeres. Then Caroline and I are up for tennis later.”

“Well maybe we can screw afterward,” she said, with a big yawn.

“That’s up for grabs too.”

She slammed down the phone.

Steven Simba had called Caitlin Cougar and asked if he could spend the day with her. Her answer had been negative. She was spending the day sculpting. Georgy was with her grandmother, Leander Simba. Steven rung off and went to the Watering Hole Pub for a Starbucks coffee. While there, he spotted Cameron Caracal with her sister, Carey. Steven invited them to join him at his table on the deck. The morning was sunny and beautiful, filled with birdsong and the fragrance of blossoming plants and trees surrounding the deck. Steven noticed that Carey appeared haggard and on edge. He guessed her to be stoned on uppers. Cameron, on the other hand, was cordial and friendly but not terribly aggressive. Steven and Cameron chatted pleasantly while Carey bit her claws and gazed around in fretful paranoia. Finally, Carey got up and went to the parking area and a taxi that was sitting there. She got in and the taxi pulled off.

“She looks bad, Cameron.”

“She lost her job. She was smoking crack in Sidney’s room at the center. Lachlan fired her. Now she’s with me and still getting shit from somewhere.”

“Can’t you get her in rehab somewhere? She’s a psychiatrist. It’s a terrible waste of a life.”

“Steve, you know that if someone wants help they’ll seek it. It’s a matter of wanting to recover. Maybe she’ll seek help before she drops off the precipice.”

Steven paid the tab and invited Cameron to see his new condo in the watering hole group. She was only too delighted to comply.

Shane had slipped out of an early bed, not wanting to wake Betty. They were in the bush house. He grabbed a cup of coffee and left for the sporting club. Now he was in the middle of a compelling tennis set with Dina Myers. The two lobbed balls across the net at one another until the perspiration ran down their faces and dampened their clothing. After two more sets, their energy had been sapped by the intense heat of the equatorial sun. Shane jumped the net to Dina’s side.

“Those were great, Dina. I don’t think I will be able to beat you at all after a while.”

“You are too kind, Mr. President.”

“I’m going to shower here. Do you want to meet me for a drink in the bar afterward?”

“That sounds wonderful. See you in a bit.”

Dina came to the bar where Shane already sat waiting at a table in the corner. She looked fresh and lovely with her hair still slightly damp from the shower. She smelled of a good perfume. Shane ordered the gin and tonic that she requested. Heads turned among the club members at the sight of the president with a human female of unidentified origin.

“President Simba, you could have played professional tennis. You are an outstanding competitor,” exclaimed Dina.

“Please, just call me Shane.”

“But you are the president,” she protested gently, almost unable to breathe from the look in his eyes. It was a hunger that matched her own.

“I also have a name, Dina, and I want you to call me by that name.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.”

That same Saturday, a picnic supper was to be held in celebration of a happy event. Sylly left the clinic early and helped Mildred, Doris and Elsa Lyon prepare the tables for the food. The occasion was the first pregnancy of Stella Simba Lyon, Daniel’s wife and Maude’s daughter-in-law. Ralph Lyon was out and about praising the lionesses and speaking encouraging words to the assembled pride members. Lewis and Gina Lyon, Ashley and Leah and the other set of grandparent’s were to be present. Stella, after completing an arduous schedule of filming her first movie, had settled happily into the very pleasant life of the Lyon pride. She enjoyed Dodi Dik Dik Lyon, who had taken her yellow school bus full of lionesses the day before to pick up needed items at the super market. The spirit of the occasion was festive and fun. Stella adored her father, Roy Lee Simba, but didn’t really like to attend the pride brunches at Sarah Lee Simba’s home. It seemed to Stella that the more the Simbas rose to power the greater their contentious behavior toward one another became. She loved the more relaxed ambience of the Lyon’s pride life. Ralph, between trips with Mandela and Clinton, would don his straw sun hat and go about, coffee in paw, greeting the morning and his pride members. That night at supper, Roy Lee raised his Scotch glass in a toast.

“Once again, the blood of the Simbas and Lyons will mingle in a future generation,” he had roared.

All present had applauded this sentiment – even Maude Lyon, who was beginning to love her appealing daughter-in-law.

Ralph Lyon in his post retirement sun hat.....

Shane Simba returned home after the morning of tennis. He and Betty swam and relaxed around the pool. He was studying global news magazines in his daily effort to get a bead on the politics of the world. She was reading a novel. He was unusually quiet, thought his wife. That evening at the dinner table, Betty noticed that Staci Simba was very cool toward her father. Only Sean chewed the fat with Shane over every topic under the sun. After they turned the lights out in their room, Shane made love to Betty. She noticed no difference in his ardor. For once it was Shane who lay awake, worrying about the fact that he had envisioned Dina in his bed in place of Betty. That was what it had taken for him to perform with his usual sensuality and excitement.

In the household of Sam Simba, things had improved. Old Scar had been returned to the home of Oscar and Jerrilyn. Allison Scar Simba had been very unhappy, denying Sam her bed, at the rejection of her father. However, things had eased and she had returned to the marital boudoir. The result was a new pregnancy. Sam had shared the news with Shane and Betty the following week.

“Sam is getting his wish of many offspring. He seems very pleased,” she had commented to Shane.

“Yeah, Sam seems to believe in keeping them barefoot and pregnant,” he had laughed.

Once again, Chloe Cougar had to resort to getting fit under the auspices of trainer, Gerald Giraffe. Gerald loathed having to deal with the nettlesome leopard-cougar mix. This time, however, Chloe didn’t have a weight problem. She just needed to build up endurance in order to withstand the toll of an ongoing theater production which would last three weeks in addition to constant rehearsals. Gerald cast a jaundiced eye at Chloe, turned the treadmill on and said:

“All right Miss Coupard, get on. Make tracks.”

“Coupard?” snarled Chloe. “What the hell is that name about?”

“All of you big cat mixes have such fancy shmancy names, I just put cougar and leopard together and came up with coupard.”

Chloe was about to make unpleasant retort when she caught sight of an unknown and very gorgeous male lion working with weights nearby.

“Who the fuck is that, Gerald?” asked Chloe, with brightening eyes.

“That’s the new AIDS doctor hired by the government. Gorgeous, isn’t he?”

“Fucking A, he makes the Simbas look like shit,” she giggled. She was still pissed with Sloane. “Has he got a name?”

“Sure thing – his name is Juma Mynyama. I could get my rocks off just watching those muscles rise and fall,” giggled Gerald.

“I want to see his other muscle rise,” laughed Chloe.

“Move your ass, Miss Bitch,” ordered Gerald, cranking up the speed on the treadmill.

The Simba One 747 took off and banked west toward Uganda. Betty and Shane were aboard for a four day junket which would include Uganda and Nigeria. The steward served them drinks in their personal cabin. Shane welcomed the respite from the temptation presented by Dina Myers. Betty welcomed the trip sensing Shane’s increasing remoteness. She hoped they could get back to normalcy and their former sense of intimacy which had taken a hit.

Bertram Baboon and I were at a corner table in OKAPI’S. Bertram had delved in fast and furiously to the tray of crudités, toast squares and fancy cheese. He was snap, crackling and popping on a radish.

“Betty and Shane got off to Uganda and Nigeria for an official trip,” I told him.

“In the nick of time, I’d say, Maurice”

“Why in the nick of time?”

“I know you will laugh at the thought of my presence in a sporting club but I was there last Saturday, having a drink with an athletic friend of mine and saw a sight I didn’t like.”

“Don’t keep me in suspense, Bertram – what sight?”

“Shane Simba sitting in the bar having a drink with that girl we met at Roy Lee’s party. The one Shane was all over that same night.”

“Oh, no! Did it look bad?”

“Let’s just say that they seemed absorbed in one another. I smell a tsunami coming on. It doesn’t bode well for Betts.”

That night, I told Lachlan, with a heavy heart, of what Bertram had divulged. He sat quietly for a few moments.

“Maurice, all I can say is that Betty knew what she was getting into when she married him. I thought he might change but then a male like that, seldom does. If she can just remember what I told her and live with the fact, she will be able to attain a modicum of peace in her life. But the going will be tough for she is completely obsessed with that guy.”

“I am very sad for my good friend. I’m so glad she has you, Lachlan.”