Primal Urging
by Ed Ahern
“He isn’t
servicing her, Lisa.”
“Excuse
me?”
“Andy. He’s
not having sex with Charlotte.”
“Well, I
guess I sympathize with Charlotte, but why is
that bothering you so much?”
“They’re
endangered, Lisa. Unless we breed them in
captivity they’ll go extinct.”
She patted his
hand. “Timmy, okay, you’re responsible
for their care, but if Andy isn’t randy, how
can that be your fault?”
He smiled
ruefully at her, noticing again how her silver-gray
hair resembled the fur color on his chimpanzees.
“I’m not feeling guilty, just as
inadequate as Andy must feel. That’s why I
asked you to come to the zoo. Maybe
you’ll think of something I haven’t.”
Andy crouched
in the far corner of the enclosure, well away
from Charlotte. When he saw Lisa and Tim he
shambled up toward them, staring at Lisa’s
hair.
“He seems
to like you as much as ever, Lisa, that’s as
lively as he’s been in a week.”
Lisa smiled at
Andy. “What about artificial insemination?”
“Good
idea, but aside from the expense and electroshock
trauma to Andy, we need him to be enthusiastic
about inseminating all three of our female chimps
on a regular basis.”
They stood in
silence, then Tim gently took her arm. “Lisa
I’ve got an idea that just might work.”
She brightened.
“What? Can I help?”
“Promise
me that you’ll hear me out?’
“Don’t
I always?”
“We were
really good together. It’s a damn shame we’re
still not, but what if we give a benefit
performance for Andy’s sake?”
Lisa giggled,
then stopped herself. “That’s more than
a little pervy.”
“No,
really it’s not. I can see that Andy is
still attracted to your hair color. What if we
were to shoot a how-to video together. I could
show it to Andy after hours until he gets the
idea and does right by Charlotte and the girls.”
“I want
to help, Timmy, but restarting that fire is
probably a bad idea.”
“No, it
isn’t. We’re good friends, what
surprises could there be? Dinner and hotel, it
would just be déjà nue, with a discreet
camcorder. Personal desires aside, you’d be
helping me out of a tough spot, and helping a
species to survive. Just think about it, and I’ll
call you tomorrow.”
She smiled
warily at him. “I don’t know, Tim.”
“Please,
we’ll talk again tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow.”
Tim walked
Lisa to the front gate and helped her into an
Uber. He walked slowly back to the chimp
enclosure. Andy shuffled over to him on all fours.
Tim put his
palm on the plexiglass and Andy put his spatulate
fingers on the other side against Tim’s.
“I’m really sorry to be doing this to
you. With any luck I’ll take you off the
meds in a week or two. But you won’t get to
see the video.”
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