"No. Somebody else."
"Is she angry?"
"No, no. Are you hungry, Dave?"
"Soon."
"Okay, we'll find a drive-in. But meantime, you have to wear your seat belt."
Dave looked puzzled. Henry pulled over, and clipped the seat belt around him. It didn't really fit; he was only slightly larger than a child.
"I don't like it." He started to tug at the harness.
"You have to wear it."
"No."
"Sorry."
"I want to go back."
"Can't go back, Dave."
Dave stopped struggling. He stared out the window. "It's dark."
Henry ran his hand over the animal's head, feeling the short fur. He could feel Dave relax when he did it. "It's okay, Dave. Everything is going to be fine, now."
Henry pulled back onto the road, and headed west.
Chapter 36-37
CHapter 036
What areyou talking about?" Lynn Kendall said, staring at Dave, who sat quietly on the living room couch.
"This monkey is yourson ?"
"Well, not exactly..."
"Notexactly ?" She paced around the living room. "What the hell doesthat mean, Henry?"
It had been a normal Saturday afternoon. Their teenage daughter, Tracy, was in the backyard, sunbathing and talking on the telephone, and not doing her homework. Her brother, Jamie, was splashing in the wading pool. Lynn had spent the day inside the house, finishing a job on a tight deadline. She'd been working hard on it for the last three days, so she was surprised when she opened the front door and her husband had walked in, leading a chimpanzee by the hand.
"Henry? Is he your son or not?"
"He is, in a way."
"In a way. That's clear. I'm glad you cleared that up." She spun, glared at him. An awful thought occurred to her. "Wait a minute. Wait just a minute. Are you trying to tell me that you had sex with a - "
"No, no," her husband said, holding up his hands. "No, honey. Nothing like that. It was just an experiment."
"Just an experiment. Jesus. An experiment? What kind of experiment, Henry?"
The monkey sat curled up, holding his toes in his hand. Looking up at the two adults.
"Try to keep your voice down," Henry said. "You're upsetting him."
"I'm upsetting him? I'm upsetting him? He's a fucking monkey, Henry!"
"Ape."
"Ape, monkey...Henry, what is he doing here? Why is he in our house?"
"Well...I'm not...Actually, he's come to live with us."
"He's come to live with us. Out of the blue. You have a monkey son and you never knew about it. He just suddenly arrives with you. Great. That makes sense. That makes perfect sense. Anybody can understand that. Why didn't you tell me, Henry? Oh, never mind, let it be a surprise. I'm driving home with my monkey son but I'll tell you about it when I walk in the door. That's great, Henry. I'm glad we had all those therapy sessions about intimacy and communications."
"Lynn, I'm sorry - "
"You're always sorry. Henry: what are you going to do with him? Are you going to take him to the zoo, or what?"
"I don't like the zoo," Dave said, speaking for the first time.
"I didn't ask you," Lynn said. "You keep out of this."
And then she froze.
She turned.
She stared.
"He talks?"
"Yes," Dave said. "Are you my mother?"
Lynn Kendalldidn't actually pass out, but she began to tremble, and when her knees buckled Henry caught her and helped her to sit in her favorite chair, facing the coffee table, next to the couch. Dave didn't move. He just stared with wide eyes. Henry went into the kitchen and got his wife some lemonade, and brought it back to her.
"Here," he said. "Drink this."
"I want a damn martini."
"Honey, those days are over." Lynn was AA.
"I don't know what days are what," she said. She was staring at Dave. "He talks. The monkey talks."
"Ape."
"I'm sorry I upsetted you," Dave said to her.
"Thank you, uh..."
"His name is Dave," Henry said. "He doesn't always get his tenses right."
Dave said, "Sometimes people get upsetted by me. They feel bad."
"Dave," she said. "This is not about you, honey. You seem to be very nice. This is about him." She jerked her thumb toward Henry. "The asshole."
"What is ah-sole?"
"He's probably never heard swearing," Henry said. "You need to watch your language."
"How do you watch language?" Dave said. "It's noises. You can't watch noises."
"I'm very confused," Lynn said, sinking into her chair.
"It's an expression," Henry said. "A figure of speech."
"Oh, I see," Dave said.
There was a silence. His wife sighed. Henry patted her arm.
"Do you have any trees?" Dave said. "I like to climb trees."
At that momentJamie came into the house. "Hey, Mom, I need a towel - " He broke off and stared at the chimp.
"Hello," Dave said.
Jamie blinked, recovered fast. "Hey, neat!" he said. "I'm Jamie."
"My name is Dave. Do you have any trees to climb?"
"Sure! A big one! Come on!"
Jamie headed for the door. Dave looked questioningly at Lynn and Henry.
"Go ahead," Henry said. "It's okay."
Dave leapt off the couch, and scampered to the door, following Jamie.
"How do you know he won't run away?" Lynn said.