THE VISIT
How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.
From the movie Annie
“Shane, I think I will take a week in Mombasa and write some on my Masai book.”
Betty Simba and her husband were in the family room of the mansion after a solitary meal with only Solly present in his high chair banging away with a spoon. Shane, snifter of cognac in paw, smoked a cigarette.
“That would be fine, Fifi. Just please leave Solly. I haven’t been with him much lately with the conflict and all. I feel like I’m missing out on his babyhood.”
“Okay. That will give me more of a chance to write. Arlon will join me the last of the week. Will you do the same for a long weekend?”
“I’ll have to play it by ear. I am trying to get this summit pulled together.”
Betty hoped that a week alone would spur a resurgence of his feelings for her.
“Daddy, I traded the BMW for a Land Rover. I hope you don’t mind. I don’t want to hurt your feelings but I can do more with it than the convertible.”
“It’s your car, Staci; you can do whatever you wish. My feelings aren’t hurt one bit. I’m just amazed that a young female like you opts for something of a less flashy nature,” he chuckled.
“You know I’m not flashy, Daddy,” she giggled, placing a fork full of pasta in her mouth.
She was dining with her father the evening Betty had left for Mombasa. Her brother, Solly, was smeared head to baby sandal with the tomato and meat sauce. Shane made a stab at cleaning his son but gave up and let the nanny take him for a bath.
“Staci as far as looks go, you are spectacularly gorgeous and, yes…’flashy’. I am so proud of the fact that you have a wonderfully level head.”
“Daddy, Luke and Jane want us to come to dinner at their house. I told Luke that Betty was spending a week in Mombasa.”
Shane lit a cigarette and gazed at his daughter’s pretty face.
“I suppose we could do that,” he said.
“It’s for tomorrow night. I’ll pick you up in my new car.”
The next day at his office, Shane placed a call to Def Leopard at his automobile agency.
“Is my daughter Staci’s BMW still with you, Def?”
“It is indeed, Sir,” confirmed Weezy Wolfe’s husband.
“Def, I’m sending over a check today to buy it back for her. Can it be delivered to her place at the Watering Hole Townhouses?”
“It certainly can, Mr. President.”
“Thanks a million, Def.”
“Mom, why are you having another cub so soon?” asked Arlon Lyon, lounging with his mother on the veranda of the Simba beach house.
“I have to have another one while this donated uterus still holds out,” was her answer.
“It seems foolish to me. You already have a son by Shane. It limits what you can do as the first lady.”
“I do plenty for Kenya. I am writing my second book to benefit the Masai. The last one bought new troops and equipment for the Anti-Poaching army.”
“Mom, I’m no fool. I’ve seen how you and Shane are these days. You could crack blocks of ice away from the two of you – the air is so frigid.”
“I’m not going there with you, Arlon. Shane and I are just fine.”
Betty, in her pink bikini, continued to slather sun tan lotion on her pregnant belly.
Betty in Mombasa
The ginger lilies and frangipani were in bloom around Jane and Luke’s beautiful bush home when Staci pulled up with Shane in her Land Rover. An unexpected guest was young Solly who Shane was trying to spend more time with since he had returned from the conflict.
Solly and Shane at Luke and Jane's bush home.....
“I hope you don’t mind my bringing Solly,” said Shane, holding his small son. “He’s already had his supper.”
“I’m so glad you brought him, Sir. I’ve never met him,” said, Jane taking Solly in her arms.
Luke and Staci shot looks of amusement at each other for the ‘Sir’ bit. They entered the charming living area and saw Jane’s cubs in a playpen. Staci picked Andrew up.
“Daddy, Andrew has your green eyes,” she stated, a look of merry amusement in hers.
“What?” gasped Shane, with the look of one who has just been prey to a hit from a dart gun between the shoulder blades.
“Don’t worry, Mr. President, she socked me with her awareness during a flying lesson,” laughed Luke.
“You know?” asked a totally shaken Shane.
“Everything, Daddy, and it’s okay.”
Jane, already having been told by Luke that Staci knew the deal, seemed more relaxed than her dazed lover. Shane finally let the air out of his lungs and sagged slightly. Solly toddled toward the playpen that held his brother and sister. He gazed at the younger cubs through the mesh.
“Well, let’s at least not tell Solly of this,” cracked Shane. “And I suppose the ‘Mr. President’ and ‘Sir’ should be dropped from the menu. We seem to all be in a condition of intertwined lives.”
“Okay, Shane, I’m sure you are ready for a triple Scotch,” laughed Luke.
“Damn right I am.”
One could not say that everyone was in a state of total relaxation that evening. It was an intricate situation involving a platonic marriage embracing a lover and his children. However, it can be said that the atmosphere was pleasant and innovative with odd shafts of quirky humor. Jane told of her assignment in China to interview the president. She asked if Shane wanted to go as well.
“If it is after my big summit in Nairobi, I will be glad to go, Jane.”
“It is,” she stated.
“Count me in.”
On the drive back to the mansion with Solly sleeping soundly in Shane’s arms, this question was posed:
“Staci, you absolutely hated me when I had other affairs on Betty. Why do you approve of Jane?”
“Because, Daddy, the other females were on the trashy side, even my Aunt Caroline. Jane is so different and I guess because I’m older I can sense in you two a real dedication to each other. It doesn’t seem tawdry at all. Go figure,” she laughed.
When they reached the mansion driveway, Shane got out of his daughter’s car, holding the sleeping Solly. He came to the passenger window.
“Honeybunch,” he said. “You are a wonderful young female. You are going to be an outstanding figure in the history of Kenya. But for now, you are the daughter I love with all my heart.”
“I love you too, Daddy and thanks for getting the Beemer back for me. Now I have options.”
While this was all transpiring in the lives of Shane, Betty, Jane and Luke, the rest of the residents of the Mara weren’t exactly frozen in space. Not at all! Lachlan and I were invited to a lovely party at the home of Alexander Simba. Lachlan’s colleague, Dr. Cary Caracal Simba and her husband, Sidney, were renewing their vows. It was a lovely evening with the event held in Alexander’s fragrant and truly elegant rose garden. Champagne preceding a delicious meal, catered by Rhonda Rhino, was the order of the night. Simone Serval was there as the main squeeze of Alexander. A few paparazzi tried to smuggle themselves in to get a shot of the actress and her paramour. They were just as quickly removed. The thing that especially pleased Lachlan was the look of joy on Cary’s face when the vows were said, once more. Cary had been through a long and protracted battle with drug addiction. She and Sidney, who suffered the same problems, had wed in a drug induced fog and lived nastily in a trailer on the Simba pride territory before cleaning up their act. Now Cary was working for Lachlan again in the new HIV/AIDS wing of the mental health center and Sidney was happily ensconced in managing the thriving Simba Garden Center with his brother, Alexander.
The first day of the summit in Nairobi dawned bright and clear. The halls of the government buildings in the capital city were filled with leaders, former and current and their entourages. Present and accounted for were former Presidents Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela. Prince Charles was also in attendance as were the leaders of the moderate Arab nations. A huge surprise to all was the appearance of Somalia’s Prime Minister representing its president. Ethiopia was represented as was Ghana, Namibia, South Africa and other sub-Saharan nations in Africa. Jane was scurrying about with her camera and recorder. I was doing the same, gadding about and welcoming the group. Shane had surprised me two days before by promoting me from his press secretary to his Chief of Staff.
“You are my right arm, Maury. You need to be promoted to a more stately office,” he had said, with that enigmatic smile lighting his pale green eyes.
He had given Caroline Cheetah my former slot as press secretary, allowing her to quit her cooking show and job as State House anchor for WMM-TV. Both she and Sloane Simba, his Justice Minister, were in full show at the summit. Only Betty was missing, having begged off due to pregnancy and another week in Mombasa.
It was a week of excitement, great progress and an elevation to a status as being a country that is on top of the current problems and topics that plague the 21st Century. The summit hit the front page of most international newspapers. Former President, Ralph Lyon, was asked by Shane to give the opening address. He was greeted with a standing ovation. Our President, Shane Simba, rose higher in the echelons of those leaders who make a difference. Jane would come to his room at the Stanley late at night. They would kick back, make love and discuss the day’s events.
Then it was on to meet with President Hu Jintao of the People’s Republic of China. In the capital city they booked at the Peninsula Palace Beijing. Jane’s room was next to Shane’s. Upon arrival, a young girl presented Shane with a bouquet of flowers on the tarmac at the foot of Simba One, the official presidential plane of Kenya. They spent four days seeing China, Shane meeting with the president and Jane getting her interview with him. They were officially taken to the many striking attractions and buildings of that strange and exotic country. At the end of their visit, the Chinese president was at the airport to bid them goodbye. This trip added laurels to the already crowned head of President Shane Simba of Kenya.
In the absence of Jane and Shane in China, Luke Leoparde invited Staci Simba to dinner at the Watering Hole Pub. They had just completed a flying lesson, landing back in the Mara. The pub was crowded with music blaring from the main juke box. They ate heartily of barbecue, Staci having several glasses of wine. They danced to romantic dance tunes on the juke box. To Luke, it was a heavenly evening. After several hours of dancing and talking, Staci bid him good night and walked to her town house nearby. Her Masai guard followed her on the path to her home.
The next day, Luke and Ashley Lyon were puttering around in the hangar.
“Ash, I’m in love with Staci Simba.”
Ashley stopped what he was doing and looked at his best friend in astonishment.
“Luke, you just got married. You’re a father again. What the hell are you thinking about?”
Feeling that Ashley, having gotten over his amnesia, was once again his reliable and trusted buddy, he told him the part about his marriage to Jane just being a platonic one. He quailed at telling him the rest.
“So, you are smitten with the President’s daughter, are you?” asked Ashley.
“I’m afraid so, Ash.”
“Good luck on that one, Luke. Of course maybe Leah can be of help with her uncle. However, I doubt Shane is going to okay his daughter getting involved with a married male. Have you slept with her yet?”
“Oh hell no, Ash, she doesn’t even know I care about her. She just thinks of me as her flight instructor and a friend.”
“I guess I should have taught her myself, after all, buddy.”
“Betty, don’t you think you need to cease and desist from the chain smoking? This cub is going to be choked to death before he can enter the world.”
Shane was sitting in the house in Mombasa, watching his wife at her computer, chain smoking and drinking gallons of coffee, though pregnant.
“This is the way I have always done when I’m in the middle of writing a book. It’s necessary to my thought processes.”
Filled to the brim with disgust, he slammed his book closed and left for the beach. He was sailing with Ashley and Leah this afternoon. The fact that he could no longer stomach his wife, disturbed him.