Dick Simba phoned Lucy Cougar and asked her to join him for dinner at OKAPI’S.  She was delighted and rummaged through her crammed closet seeking something delectable to wear. 

            The elegant restaurant was filled when she informed the host that she was joining Dick Simba.  He led her to where Dick sat.  The lion stood up to greet her, remarking on her dress. 

“That’s a very fetching garment you’re wearing, Lucy…..lots of boobs in glaring display.”

“I’m so glad you like it,” she gushed. 

“I do indeed.”

“Maybe you’ll screw me tonight,” she enthused just as a waiter arrived to take their entrée order. 

The waiter was so taken aback at the spontaneous outburst that he dropped his order pad.  Dick retrieved it.  They ordered Steak Flambé with a good red wine.  They ate heartily and well, polishing  off the wine. 

“I really don’t understand why you won’t take me to bed,” protested Lucy. 

“I have already told you I have no intentions of settling down.  I sense in you an eddy of involvement and complications which I am not ready for.”

“You can at least make love to me,” she said loudly, just in time for the waiter to drop the check he was holding. 

Once again, Dick retrieved it, paid it and escorted Lucy to the parking lot. 

“Thanks for your company, Lucy, but you need to aim your desire for romance in other directions.  As I have stated, I’m not your ticket.”

He gave her a lingering kiss and opened her car door for her.  After she had driven off, he headed his own to the Watering Hole Pub seeking further drink and a bed partner for the night. 

            The next night at dinner with her great grandmother, Lucretia Leoparde, Lucy seemed down.  Lucretia commented on that fact. 

“I just have Dick on my mind, Grandmamma.”

Lucretia gasped.  “Please, Lucy, you have never stooped to crude behavior and speech.  Don’t start now.”

Lucy suddenly caught the drift of Lucretia’s mistaking her statement.  She giggled. 

“Grandmamma, Dick is a lion I have been seeing lately.”

“Oh dear, a lion; the problem with those animals is that they breed so copiously. The males tend to be oversexed.  Leopards are so much more refined than those creatures.”

Lucy giggled again.  She was wild about her eccentric great grandmother.  Lucretia Leoparde was so feared by family members and others that it was said of her that grass and leaves failed to grow where she spat.  She did not faze Lucy.  They shared a deep, though very unusual, bond.

            The committee worked overtime the last few weeks before the Kenya Festival to make sure things would be as perfect as possible for the throngs expected here.  Betty and Shane made a three day official visit to Canada during that time on the presidential 747.  Crowds turned out to cheer and ogle the high profile couple.  Their junket was a success, thrilling both the Canadians and international media. 

            The week of the Kenya Festival was declared a holiday.  Government offices were closed for business and only those who hoped to glean a profit from the throngs of visitors purchasing their wares, were open.  The first day was thankfully one of great beauty.  Lachlan and I arose early.  He wanted to make the rounds of his patients at the clinic before joining me in the large area set up in the savanna for some of the events.  The business of disturbed minds didn’t close down with the onset of a holiday. 

Shane, flanked by his Masai moran, works the crowd of human visitors at the Festival.....

            I drove to the spot and a valet parked my automobile which holds a high ranking government sticker.  I got out and walked to the center of activity. Shane and Betty were already there, pressing the flesh.  The crowds were kept at bay by Shane’s Masai Moran.  He was to make the opening speech in a very adequate amphitheater that had been erected for the occasion.  As he made his way behind Betty in greeting the throngs who gathered there, a familiar voice sounded behind him. 

“This event seems to be a huge success, Mr. President.”

He spun around to see Jane standing there.  He felt so giddy and lightheaded he thought he might pass out at seeing her safe and in one piece after her sojourn in Iraq.  He felt tears sting his eyes.  They were surrounded by people and animals so he could only say, “Those articles were excellent.  So glad you made it safely back.”  However, his eyes told a story - one of yearning, relief and a deep love. 

            He stood behind the podium in the arena and gave a stirring welcome speech to all and thanks to those involved in the bringing about of this amazing event.  Two animals noticed a lilt in his voice which hadn’t been there for many weeks.  One was his wife and the other, his psychiatrist. 

            Toward the middle of the day, sirens announced the arrival of Ralph and Mildred Lyon.  They were escorted by a contingency of Chief Bubba Simba’s motorcycle policemen.  They arrived in Ralph’s SUV.  The couple got out and was immediately mobbed.  Ralph wore his post-retirement straw hat and one of his favorite slapdash shirts of a loud print with some scruffy khaki trousers.  He knew his audience well.  The legendary former president and first lioness worked their way among the adoring crowd seeming to enjoy every moment.  The throngs went wild cheering his every word and nuance.  I got a lump in my throat as I watched my former boss work his audience to a ‘T’.  Politics’ gain had been show business’ loss in the case of Ralph Lyon. 

The legendary, former president, Ralph Lyon arrives in scruffy sartorial splendor...

            The lights dimmed in the Catherine Simba Memorial Theater at the arts center.  We were about to see the Story of Animal Kenya as put forth by a combination of our best talents.  The pageant had been written by Bertram Baboon, Gloria Chimpo and Roy Lee Simba.  It consisted of two hours of vignettes telling of the significant parts of our history as an animal governed country.  There were bits of pathos and humor mingled with high camp.  One memorable episode consisted of an almost burlesque dance by none other than our mayor, Leah Simba Lyon, who looked as delicious as a Playboy centerfold.  It was noted that she must have inherited some of her charismatic father’s film magic and ability.  She brought the house down.  Her husband, Ashley, jumped on the stage and gave her a huge hug and kiss, further titillating the audience.  As the curtain came down for the final time, the stage was littered with tossed bouquets.  There were twenty two curtain calls for the cast of many. 

Mayor Leah Lyon dressed for her dance...

            Two nights later we were given a stirring performance of the Lion King performed by its New York cast at their request.  It was a gift to Kenya as a country governed by a real lion.  The actors, all human, got multiple curtain calls with flowers tossed on the stage in great abundance.  Lachlan and I considered it a glorious play and vowed to ourselves that we would make a trip to that city one day and see it again. 

            First lady, Betty Simba, went through the week of the Festival in a daze.  She was on the cusp of having to make a decision that would affect the rest of her life.  It was hers to make and she had to be of sound thought when she made it.  A great deal rested on the outcome.  She laid awake nights, her emotionally disconnected husband sleeping at her side.  She would hear the evenness of his breathing and wonder at his sleep.  It had become obvious to her that he had pulled away from her in significant measure.  He would make love to her in a perfunctory detached way then roll over and go to sleep.  The puzzling thing was that he was there every night interacting with their family.  She couldn’t pinpoint his distance.  It was nebulous and disturbing.  He placed no phone calls nor did he receive any that were of a secretive nature.  She sought counsel with Lachlan Lion. 

“Betty, you have two choices: no longer live with him or make your piece with his distance,” he had told her. 

She finally realized that to live without him would be too tortuous to be imagined.  She loved the very earth he walked on.  To sit at a distance and wonder if he would remarry or find another couldn’t be borne feeling the way she did about her husband.  She had him in a technical way and knowing him; he could easily warm up over night and revert to his usual way of interacting with her. 

“I have decided to say nothing and just live with it, Lachlan.  Would you please give me some Valium or something to ease the way?” she had asked. 

“No, Betty, you go it alone without mood altering or addictive medications.  You have set yourself on a rocky road by choice.  You have to live on it under your own emotional devices.  All you have to do is remember that without Shane or any hope of getting him, you were a mess and requiring much stronger substances.”

“Leely, shit,” roared Ashley Lyon. “Imani is in her room cutting up her clothes with scissors.  She’s crackers.”

Ashley came dashing in the family room where Leah was giving their son, Sim, help with his schoolwork.  Leah put down what she was doing and followed her husband to their daughter’s room.  There stood Imani with the scissors and scraps of freshly cut clothes mounting around her feet. 

“Imani, what are you doing?  We just bought these things recently,” said Leah, picking up the remnants of a dress purchased recently from her mother’s JAGGERS. 

“I hate all my clothes.  I want clothes like Lee and Staci have.  These are freaky baby clothes,” wailed the wild eyed Imani.

“How does naked work for you, Imani?” growled Ashley.

“Nooooooo!” screamed Imani.

When calm was finally achieved in Imani’s topsy turvy room and the young cub had finally been coaxed into watching American Idol with her siblings, mother and father put their heads together over a strong drink in their bedroom.  A decision was made. 

            Leah walked down to our house, a short distance from her own.  Lachlan went to the door and welcomed her warmly.  She was given a drink and asked to join us in our den. 

“Lachlan, Imani, our first born is in trouble emotionally,” she said with somber eyes. 

Realizing this was a professional matter, I made to leave. 

“Sit down, Maury.  You are so dear and close to us all. I don’t mind if you hear these things,” said Leah. 

Leah described some of Imani’s disturbed behavior of recent months.  Lachlan seemed in deep thought as he heard them.  When Leah was finished, he gave her pretty knee a fatherly pat. 

“Leah, she is at an awkward and explosive age.  I am going to talk to Cate Ocelot tomorrow at the center.  She is my new colleague there.  I think Imani will respond more to anther female at her age.  I will call you tomorrow evening after I speak with Cate.  She’s very kind and empathetic.  I think she can work Imani through those rough stretches.”

“Thank you so much, Lachlan.” 

We sat and chatted with the adorable Leah until she announced she had to get back to Ashley and relieve his mind.  When she had gone, we sat in front of the fire once more.

“Poor Leah and Imani,” I commented. 

“From what I heard, Imani is just a cheeky adolescent who will easily work her way out of her problems.  It’s Leah’s uncle that’s in trouble,” stated Lachlan. 

“Shane?”

“Yes, Shane, Maury.  I think he’s into something entirely different this time.  I don’t think he will leave Betty because of the kids and his position but I think he has finally found the female that would have made him happy for the rest of his days.”

“Oh how sad,” I said, taking a huge gulp of my cognac.  “The lioness?”

“He hasn’t told me anything yet – but yes, the lioness, I am almost positive.”

            The week of our first Kenya Festival ended with a rousing win for the Masai Mara All Stars soccer team over Italy.  Junior Lyon, the head coach and his brother, Charley came to the field amidst shouts of bravo for their victory.  They had tied the game with England. 

    The last night there was a magnificent ball held at the civic center.  It was well attended by strangers and our Mara inhabitants.  Betty and Shane led the first dance, looking glamorous.  If you didn’t know them well, you would have never guessed anything was wrong in their private lives.  They were elegantly attired and seemed to be content.  

Our first couple at the final ball of the Kenya Festival....