Hello, this is Rhonda Petrie! This is my third official fanfiction in this website and it's going to feature Maude, her adopted son Omari and the gang from the 70's television show, (although Omari is my original character). I have to warn you, this is going to be a very complicated story and it's not what you think this story is due to unusual elements incorporated into the story; it contains some intricate and complex aspects of the plot and some scenes may be a little controversial. I would call this the epic feature movie that Norman Lear never made. However, I highly doubt that Norman Lear would make a movie of this magnitude and even if he did, he would probably make this "movie" a whole lot different than I would have made it. Even though I have written a couple of other stories centering on Maude and Omari, they are usually very short and therefore this would be the first official story about Omari. If I adapt and rewrite any of these stories for this website, they would most likely follow this novel. So, rate and review this fanfiction and enjoy this epic tale! R.P.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters relating to the Maude/All In The Family series or any work that pertains to Norman Lear except for Omari, Maude's 4-month-old lion son (I know it sounds weird but please read on and it'll become clear to you), and his best friend and girlfriend, the promiscuous, independent, feisty and spunky female lioness cub, Tessa.
The darkening, grey, gloomy, overcast sky cast an ominous shadow on the Findlay house as winds wafted and blustered through the portentous and dismal neighborhood with mighty gusts of wind; a crack of lightning flashed in the rumbling skies and ripped out a resonating roar as the earth trembled and quivered and the hollow, shaking metallic sounds ricocheted off the exterior of the house. Omari had dove down off the elevated roof at the loud bang of the lightning bolt and then scampered and bound onto the wooden picket fence with his tail swishing and lashing in the air as he scrambled to avoid being struck by lightning. He capered off the fence in just two skips just as rain descended upon the lonely, dreary and cold world and bolted onto the flooding and submerged grass in the backyard with a splash and then chased his tail energetically with his feet churning and kicking and scooping out dashes of water and began to emit and hiss out growls like a young puppy as he yipped and whimpered playfully in the water for a total of 5 minutes; he then circled around the patch of stiff, bristling, wavy, tall grass he stood on and then settled onto his chosen spot as he submerged his entire being underwater while curling up into a ball and then he flicked his tail cozily onto his side and exhaled air bubbles from his mouth before he closed his eyes to go to sleep.
Omari was a dark burgundy lion cub with fluffy, feathery, smooth, jet black raven hair and light brown ruffles around his neck, with his azure tail tufts and navy blue/cerulean toes. He also had a silvery, hoary underbelly and there also was suede indigo fur tucked in the inside of his ears, plus with tiny, gray hair tufts protruding from his chin that resembled a goatee. Omari was a very unusual looking cub indeed, and had an angular, curved, oval-shaped head with a narrow, long, elongated face and smooth, even texture on his skin. His ears were flat, wide and broad and were stretched out to the point where they nearly became as narrow and slim as his face. His body was slender, slight and very lanky with gangly, miniscule legs and diminutive feet. Omari also possessed a stunning, alluring combination of dark mauve/violet and cobalt sapphire blue which was the most interesting choice of eye color, and his innocent and lively, animated, vivacious eyes would make you look right in his face because of its peculiar hue.
His stature was very stunted in growth due to the fact that his own birthmother never amounted much in height and this concerned his pediatrician, who would come to examine him on his monthly check-ups to see how he was flourishing in the Findlay household. Omari weighed twice as much as a two-month-old puppy but was the size of a newborn lion cub. Poor Omari tried so hard to pull in his own weight by eating more than he was accustomed to, but he would often be dissatisfied by his lagging progress, and besides, he would occasionally vomit some of the undigested food back up minutes after consuming his meal.
"Don't let your height discourage you, Omari," his adoptive mother, Maude Findlay, would say to him. "It's just a number and it is not part of who you are. Everybody comes in different shapes and sizes, including myself. Besides, variety is the spice of life and life would be pretty mundane and boring if everybody were to be the same size." "I suppose you're right, Maude. But I hate being small! How can I ever become king of anything if I'm so tiny?" Omari sighed while griping and grumbling about his inadequate size. Maude then pulled him aside and then gave him a big squeeze. "You're the perfect size for me, Omari. You're my little boy; I would never trade you for anything else in the world, even being Senator of Congress. Do you want to know why I named you Omari?" she smiled at him as she peered right at her young adoptive son with a benevolent, altruistic, motherly gaze. "Why?" Omari ventured with an interested question.
"You were this small," Maude explained to him as she held two of her hands in the air while distancing at least 2 feet from each other. "You had absolutely no hair, except for a couple of strands of thin, black hair, and you also had the most expressionless, blank look in your eyes. You were so peaceable, serene, calm and quiet with your reserved facial expression and I remembered screaming for joy when you were born. However, you were in fetal distress, you had to get out and when you came out you were gasping for air, the umbilical cord coiled and constricted around your neck…" Omari just gaped in astonishment as Maude regaled him with the sordid and poignant tale of his traumatic birth.
"Your chest was rising and falling with each swift and rapid breath and your eyes were flailing and quavering while swaying from side to side and your arms were thrashing and waving around as you valiantly fought for your life. I was immediately distraught and flustered upon seeing the sight; my heart broke for you and I couldn't bear to see you suffer and seeing a cub quickly suffocating and choking before my eyes aroused and elicited my anger and wrath, so I snatched the scissors from the doctor, who was about to cut the umbilical cord in half, and then snipped the cord into two and it wasn't long before I picked you up and held you in the palm of my hands. That was when I first fell in love with you; I knew right then and there you were born to be my son. You were so tiny, so shriveled and wizened from the exhaustive birth, drenched and splotched with raw maternal blood, but otherwise fine."
"I then looked at you and then my eyes started to brim and water with tears and before I knew it they started to rain and cascade down my face… It was the first time in a really long time I've ever cried for joy. I didn't give a damn whether or not you were a lion, I knew you were mine the moment I first held you. I never thought I would get another chance to raise another child, especially since I had Carol from my second husband and I passed up the chance to rear another child before but when you came along, I felt like God had sent down an angel from heaven. I thought to myself, I will not pass up this chance to foster this young boy, for God has designated me his true guardian. I should be the one who should care for the boy; he has chosen me to do so."
"'What should we name this boy, Maude?' your mother asked me inquisitively. I said to her as I knitted my eyebrows in thought, 'Well, his fur is the darkest and deepest of brown I've ever seen in my life. It's burgundy, I think. I want him to have an African-like name, for he reminds me of a boy who dwells in Africa.' 'He reminds you of an African boy? Somebody who lives in Africa?' my mother questioned me curiously. 'Of course he does! How about an O name? He seems like an O type,' I suggested pointedly as I cuddled you close to me and cradled you gently in my arms. By now you were alert and observant of everything around you, and I grinned and turned to Walter, who had also been with me to witness your birth. I tell you Walter, he's going to be a genius. He's unusually active and raring to go,' I informed my husband crisply while making an admonishing side glance and pointing my finger at him as I did so. 'What the hell are you talking about, Maude? The boy's even lucky to be alive!' Walter hollered at me in disbelief. 'Walter, watch it…' I growled at him irascibly. 'Why don't we name him Oliver?' Walter proposed a suggestion. 'God, Walter! That name's already been used too many times; it's repetitive and redundant! Don't stereotype this kid like he's a Disney cartoon character!' I snarled at him in quite an aggressive manner.
"'How about Omar? After that Omar Sharif guy?' your mother issued a recommendation. 'Put in an I at the end of that name and we got a done deal,' I advised your mother briskly. 'Omari?' your mother quipped, puzzled and bemused. 'Omari? What the fucking hell is that name? No one in the right mind…' Walter was about to start another argument with me once again when I cast a burning and scorching glare right at him that subtly warned him that if he were to raise another objection about the name I was about to bestow on my new son, even though you weren't legally mine yet, I would RIP HIS HEART OUT!!!!! Then I cocked my head to you and then leered before whispering to you softly in a solemn and deep, rumbling voice, 'To the high born, and to God the highest, I officially bestow you the name Omari, the name you shall live by, and by which the world will recognize you. I recognize you and acknowledge you as my son and as the newest member of the Findlay family you will be treated as an equal and I will raise you as if you were my own natural son.' And the moment I swerved around to see Walter, he was so awestruck and flabbergasted by what he had heard that he immediately slumped to the floor in a faint."
"And when your mother was finally forced to give you up, we stepped up to take you in; I myself insisted we adopted you right away, so we signed the adoption papers and then we took you home and you've been our son ever since," Maude elucidated and ejaculated in a dramatic and passionate tone as she went on with the tale. Omari then smiled and then snuggled next to his adopted mother. "I love you, Maude," he murmured as he purred and rubbed his head against her bosom. "I love you too, kiddo," Maude returned the comment by enfolding the young boy in her arms and then she lovingly stroked his fur and then caressed his face and then they soon lay asleep together in the sofa.
"OMARI!" a deep, commanding, gravelly voice boomed and rang in the heavy downpour and then Omari sat up from his cat nap. "Damn," he muttered as he looked up and realized he was now being rained on; the downpour continued to rain and shower down a cascading and gushing stream of water down on the young cat and he wasn't too happy about getting thoroughly soaked and sopping wet with rainwater. "Coming, Maude!" he called out obediently and then he trudged onward into the house, where he could dry up and shake the excessive weight of the much despised element off his shaggy and mangy fur, which was now getting coarse and thick with age.
He was now growing up and his fur was beginning to thicken out and set in for the summer months were now approaching its end and his winter undercoat, which was grey silver, would soon take over his body. Omari was appalled by the thought of adopting a silver coat for his diminutive body and he was also apprehensive at the thought of being perceived as much older than he is; this ability is highly unusual due to the fact that lions in the wild don't normally change coats during the changing seasons, if at all, but since Omari is being raised as a house cat, his already superhuman biology is now making his body adapt to the strange environment by compelling him to molt and shed whenever the seasons begin to change. The young lion cub hated molting and nothing embarrasses him more than being caught shedding his overgrown, old fur in front of his adoptive mother and older sister, Carol. Furthermore, Omari's teeth were becoming sharper and prominent and his lust for meat was increasing with each passing day.
Maude had noticed this the day she was preparing a steak dinner for guests that were to arrive. When she had strayed away from the unprepared, raw steak and turned away to preparing some Bush's grilled beans and mashed potatoes, Omari clambered onto the counter and then dug his claws right into the steak, snarling and groveling on the way until he could sink his fangs right into the tantalizing meat. God… How delicious victory was! Omari had succumbed to his bloodlust for meat and was now preparing to have an early meal when Maude spun around and gasped when she beheld Omari trying to make mince meat out of the well… meat, or steak if you prefer.
"Omari Israel Ben-Von Remarr Findlay, I order you to get the hell off the goddamn table and leave the fucking meat alone! Now, or I'll get the vacuum and drive you out into the backyard!" Maude thundered and roared in a stentorian, vociferous voice as she caught her adopted son in his latest act of sin, which for this seemingly religious woman was impermissible and strictly forbidden. Omari hated vacuums and shuddered at the thought of them, just like any other cat or dog would, and even though Maude hated utilizing the vacuum against her own adopted son, she felt it was the most logical way to reach him and get him to comprehend that some behaviors are just not appropriate and he must learn to control them as much as possible. Besides, if he wanted to catch some prey, he should have done some hunting outside. That would have kept him busy for a while. But no… he had to go to the steak and satisfy his selfish desires by devouring the tasty slab of meat for himself.
Omari then vaulted out of the table and then approached Maude with his ears hanging down and his head bowed in shame. He then rested on his legs and then laid his head in his arms while staring straight at his adoptive mother with cold, indifferent, plaintive eyes. He just stared out straight ahead as if she were nothing more than invisible air; his eyes were glazed over as their hue dulled and dimmed with a contemplative expression and they were widened and dazzled with a kind of awe that could only be elicited by a God-fearing person. He was frozen stiff in his crouching pose and his tail barely moved an inch as it was up in the air. "Omari, I do not want to punish you, but if you test my patience a little further, I will have no choice but to do so. Go hunt outside right now if you're so desperate for a meal, please," Maude admonished him with a grim and grave tone, even though her voice hinted a mixed emotion of irritation, frustration and hesitation to do anything drastic to him.
Omari remembered the pained and heartbroken expression on her face, even though her eyes told another different story – and her body language also betrayed her emotions. Her arms were bent over in an akimbo pose and her eyes flickered and blazed an indignant and infuriated glow and a furious rage was permeating and twinkling in her eyes. The young Omari loved his adopted mother so fiercely and was so devoted to her that he was willing to face down her indomitable will and her intimidating demeanor and most of all, her overbearing, opinionated, uncompromising, often difficult personality. He loved her unconditionally, totally, and absolutely, without any judgment or bias towards her and even if he knew that she had an ability to rip out his heart, he had only wished that he could die with tender and loving tears in his eyes.
Maude acknowledged his obedience with a stern glance and then snapped her fingers coldly before pointing him to the door with a curt and testy frown on her lips. She only wanted to prepare her dinner for her arriving guests in peace without having to deal with Omari's hunting instincts going haywire. Omari then flew out the door and then stalked around in the lush, tall, green grass scavenging and scouting for prey for about an hour before he found a canary and savagely killed it with his own bare claws and ripped its head apart and swallowed it whole down his throat after gnawing on it for a few minutes. Then, he proceeded to munch and chew and pick on the body daintily with his teeth and finally after about an hour feasting on the dead bird examined the skeleton in the dark with his ultraviolet eyes and then began digging in the dirt to bury the corpse to give his slain prey at least some respect and dignity to be laid to rest in peace.
Omari was a savage, cruel and ruthless killer when it comes to hunting for food, but he was also compassionate, sympathetic and merciful and manages to treat his lunch or dinner with as much respect as he would give any other human, lion or animal. After the murdered canary was buried deep in the soil he then perked his head up to listen to the crickets chirp in the pristine, beauteous surroundings before he glanced on his shoddy body and began to lick himself to clean any evidence of murder off his body in order to spare his family having to suffer the horror of seeing him in his most vicious, callous and brutal state. Although he was a young lion cub he was highly intelligent and had already learned from primal, innate instinct that some things must be done in spite of human-mandated morals, even if you're a lion cub being raised by upper middle class New Yorkers in the city of Tuckahoe, New York. Especially when it comes to killing your natural prey. Granted Omari wasn't evil, of course, but he must learn to channel and manipulate his primitive, savage, ferocious, somewhat eerily sadistic and heinous instincts without having to harm and endanger the ones he loves.
Ugh, God… He remembered accidentally killing a blue jay in front of Ms. Naugatuck, the Findlays' housekeeper, and she had thrown herself into hysterics. She had tore right into the house screaming and weeping, reciting to Maude what she had just been forced to bear witness, with her solemn, terrified, and sickened tears trickling down her eyes and as she tried to calm herself in sobs, and with her whole body trembling and shuddering with the most severe tremors that ever rocked her body as her body thrashed and flailed with frenzied terror. "Ms. Findlay! Oh, dear Lord! Dear God! I, I-I-I just saw the most awful, dreadful thing! I saw something that no human must ever see! Your own son, the dear boy Omari, he has murdered a blue jay right in front of my own eyes! I saw blood and gore being displayed and splattered and splashed all over the bloody grass – forgive the pun, ma'am, but the sight was quite ghastly indeed. The young boy was tearing at the poor animal's throat; I reckon he is a savage one indeed," Ms. Naugatuck squealed and shrieked in a petrified and mortified voice as she shook Maude roughly while grabbing her by the shirt and rambled rapidly on what she had just seen. Maude was instantly livid; she would not tolerate having any members of her family nor her friends traumatized and shaken by any of Omari's violent and brutal antics. She was determined to teach him a lesson.
And so it was when Omari went prowling in the kitchen looking for another mouse to eat that Maude seized upon Omari and immediately had him collared and muzzled and she also fastened a blue collar around his neck with a golden name tag on it. Additionally, she also latched a leash on his collar so that she would monitor and control his every move. Omari was immediately startled and unnerved by what had just transpired and attempted to flee but then Maude yanked on his leash and remarked to him firmly, "Looks like you need a lot of help controlling your most basic instincts, and I'm going to assist you in doing just that. If you continue to let your unbridled lust for blood cloud your judgment and cause you to frighten a lot more people, you are going to land in more serious trouble than you can ever think of. If you trust me, I can teach you tricks that will help you keep your lust in control and still enable you to carry out your hunts although in a discreet manner." Omari then nodded and then jumped right into Maude's arms; he was worried about what plans she may have in store for him but he still trusted her completely for him to be able to allow her to take control of everything.
And so it was that Omari's house training began. Maude started teaching him all of the basics of training that a normal house cat would typically receive, such as sitting, coming when called, staying put, and then she started to focus exclusively on aiding Omari in keeping his urges to hunt in control. She would start by taking Omari out for a walk in the park or in the neighborhood on his leash without his muzzle and direct him to stay close to her while she let him has his exercise and whenever Omari would glance at a little bird perched on a branch and patching and building a dome-shaped nest along with her mate Maude would study him very carefully to see if he would attempt an ambush on the amorous couple who were preparing to mate and start a family of hatchlings. And whenever Omari would stalk towards a tree and attempt to launch an attack on the birds, Maude would pull on his leash tight and give it a strong tug to signal to Omari to leave the birds alone. Omari would emit an exasperated snarl toward her and then Maude would take out a water spray and douse her son with it to discipline him.
Omari then shook the water off his fur like a dog and grumbled in disgust while he muttered in unintelligible gibberish and the pair continued their brisk walk in the park without any further interruptions. It was then that they came to a lake situated in the middle of the park and then Omari sauntered over to the lake and then peered at his reflection as he sat on his haunches while his tail twitched to and fro in a relaxing motion and the surface of the water gleamed and shimmered as if it was a thin, slim, film of ice; he also noticed the fishes swimming and darting under the water as they leapt and somersaulted out in midair alternatively in a bizarre dance and observed the ducks frolicking and splashing around as they thrashed and struggled in the water. They were constantly clashing and fighting with each other over prospective mates while delivering jabbing pecks and swift, deadly, violent beating of the wings to each other as they glided and sashayed all over the water and even one male duck smashes right into a rival and then wrestles with him underwater in an audacious attempt to drown him.
The female ducks just plopped their heads beneath the surface and skimmed the deep in a cruising motion searching for tasty, loose, stray seaweed and fish to eat with their tails sticking high in the air. It was mating season and even though Omari himself had a girlfriend named Tessa and they had a passionate, intense, deep love for each other, they were too young to become mates, and the Findlays, especially Walter, his adoptive father, were not too keen on having to raise another cub in the house and were not sure if they had enough resources to afford to take care of another dependent living being. Besides, having been a stray most of her life and having no home of her own, Tessa was perfectly capable of taking care of herself and was a very resourceful and clever lioness cub. To Maude and Walter, Tessa was practically a friend of the family.
Omari then grew tired of watching the ducks and slunk off to go and eavesdrop on Maude's conversation with another woman, who happened to be a friend named Madeline. She owned a Pekingese/Shih Tzu puppy with silver, wavy, crimped tufts of hair and she mainly had crème, pallid, ashen fur with ginger/amber rounded, beady, glassy eyes with a tint of blue-green in the right eye. Her ears were flat, narrow, and elongated, dangling right to her chin; her round, large, enormous head was the size of a bowling ball. This dog also had a square and oversized snout with fangs jutting out of her mouth with a narrow, haggard, ferocious face with an arrogant, majestic, haughty expression and she also had a curved, pointy and elevated chin, complimented by a thick, furrowed, curvy unibrow. Her neck was slender and chubby and her body was skinny, sinewy, and lithe, with layers of thick, soft, velvety fur. Her legs were graceful, long, and bony and her feet were gigantic, scruffy and hefty with thick, black feet pads underneath.
Her name was Pettigrew, and she wore a scarlet ribbon around her neck with a golden bell attached to it and a cherry bowtie on top of her with whippy, fluffy graying tufts of hair tucked in behind the ears and her winding, luscious, supple tail swished and flickered indifferently and dispassionately as her narrowing and sullen, glowering, reddish-golden eyes glimpsed at her short, blonde, scruffy haired British owner that had frilly and curled bangs resting on the small forehead; she was wearing blue faded jeans, a white, strapped tank top covered with a khaki/beige woman's vest with an uplifted collar and incorporated with a large breast pocket, and white rubber black and white sneakers twisted and laced with fiber shoelaces with hard, plastic tips and was also conversing and chatting with the middle-aged woman.
Madeline Nightingale was a tall, gangling, slender woman with a wiry, lean, robust and slightly husky build and her sloping, skinny, and bone-thin legs were about 4 to 5 long and they would swing, swish and sway with such a graceful, delicate stride it seemed like she was born a deer and had been incarnated into a human; she also had a compact and small torso. Her dangling and rangy, angular arms were double jointed, elastic, and supple, enabling her to reach over her back and retrieve objects and also snatch something from another person unnoticed, if she wanted to and she was also perfectly capable of executing bending tricks with her elbows that most people wouldn't be able to do. Her uplifted, circular, and diminutive ears were protruding out of her head like the tail feathers of a peacock and she also had a prominent arched, emaciated, enlarged nose. Her cheeks were drawn out tightly and the size of her flat, smooth, flawless cheeks outlined her high, thick, bony cheekbones. Speaking of which, she had an angelic, innocent, fair face and the most light-toned, flaxen and peach/cream complexioned skin, and to top it off, she had the most radiant, brilliant smile that brightened and lit her entire visage like a blistering, scorching, blazing sun.
Pettigrew then glanced around her shoulder and stiffened with an enraged snarl upon laying eyes on the young Omari and then immediately assailed him with incessant barks while snapping her pointy, sharp, fearsome jaws at the young lion cub and he cowered right in front of her. "Pettigrew, pipe down!" Madeline scolded her pet reproachfully with a frown while lightly tapping her on the head and then she settled down while peering at Omari suspiciously. Her blue/green ocean eyes sparkled and shimmered with a tint of golden saffron in the irises and electrified with intensity and intrigued ardor and then she refocused her attention on Maude.
"So, Maude, how are things with you and Omari?" Madeline made a casual inquiry at Maude as she swerved around to her with a soft simper. "Omari is doing fine; he just is having issues with hunting in full view of people because he tends to scare them fairly easy whenever he makes a kill in front of them; I had a housekeeper who just the other day had tore right into my house screaming and blubbering in hysterics and she was recounting to me the horrors she had beheld in front of her eyes. He is a very consummate hunter and he is also the most skilled and efficient one there is and right now I'm trying to train him to keep his activities discreet and not to disturb and alarm people with his gruesome tactics," Maude replied to her acquaintance reassuringly with a smile.
"Oh my, Omari is only a few months old and already he is growing up to be a fine gentleman! Archie is certainly going to be having a hard time keeping up with this young lad when he goes straight into politics!" Madeline commented with a coy and demure chuckle at which Maude had to smirk at. Madeline Nightingale was a shy, timid, yet intellectual conversationalist who liked to discuss deep, controversial issues with Maude and loved to receive advice from the liberal-minded New Yorker when it comes to liberal politics and some pretty polemical subjects that others would be pretty squeamish and hesitant around. But not Madeline; she was very liberal-minded herself and was very strong-willed and independent-minded about matters that aroused and elicited her most raw emotions and would not take no for an answer when her mind is set on something. Only she herself can change her mind when circumstances convince her otherwise and when she decides on something you might as well not even bother on trying to persuade and convince her otherwise.
Pettigrew continued to snap and growl at Omari and then in a flash she let out a deep, raspy bark and Omari flew at Maude in a terrified bound with a yowl and then settled onto her lap uneasily as he circled and paced around agitatedly and buried his head in his arms as he trembled with trepidation and his tail shook and wiggled with terrified tremors. A shudder ran down his back and his ears folded against his head and the moment he peeked at Pettigrew through his arms while quivering in fear, Pettigrew bared her teeth with a threatening stance while her face contorted with a malicious sneer and her ears flattened and flickered as she hacked out a snarl and she then lunged right for him. Omari was then forced to attack and then he charged right at her in a quick sprint with claws outstretched as his tail lashes out with a flick and then with a cub-like snarl he took her down and got into a serious tussle with her.
Pettigrew was then overpowered by Omari as he rolled her over him and swatted and beat her with his paws plummeting on her body and head and he struck her repeatedly with his claws; they then tumbled and toppled over each other before Omari plunged onto the ground and then pinned the small dog on her back while snarling and breathing heavily, with his eyes flaring and sparking with rage. Pettigrew then sprung on him and then started scratching and tearing at his face in a full blown assault and then she nipped her in the nose. "Omari!" Maude shrieked in terror and then she quickly snatched up Omari and then cuddled her wounded son close to her bosom while Madeline muzzled and hooked her own pet to her leash.
Omari then whimpered and sobbed in an anguished voice and was screaming in pain; blood was gushing and spilling all over his face as a result of the cuts inflicted on his skin and his body was also bruised and covered with slash wounds. "Pettigrew! You bad, bad dog! Come on, we're going straight home and you're going straight to the doghouse!" Madeline reproved and chided her dog angrily and then she glanced at Maude with a sympathetic, apologetic face. "I'm so sorry, Maude. I am terribly sorry about your Omari. If there is anything…" she apologized lamentably. "No need to apologize. Omari's a fighter; he'll make it somehow," Maude choked a sob as she rose to get up from the bench and then walked away while carrying the unconscious Omari in her arms and then Madeline soon followed suit by dragging Pettigrew along with a leash.
Maude never left Omari's side in the days that followed after Omari's brutal and sadistic attack by Pettigrew; she would often gently dab his face with a hot, steamy, damp towel and had washed the blood off him with a lukewarm bath upon bringing him home. Carol had nearly fainted when she saw her younger adopted brother in a bloodied, tattered, beaten, bruised state and was so outraged and infuriated that she immediately demanded her mother for answers. Maude then recounted vividly what had happened in the events that led to Omari's attack, and then Carol scooped up Omari and then ushered him to the living room to rest from his exhaustive fight with Pettigrew.
Maude spent days on end nursing her youngest child back to health by supplying him with orange juice and creamy slops of milk along with some chicken soup and she would often sleep with him on the couch to keep him company. Omari's wounds then congealed and healed up as they clotted and coagulated and gradually began to close up; eventually, they cleared up altogether. Unfortunately for Maude, the psychological and emotional effects that resulted from the attack remained and Omari would often be wary of dogs, especially small ones. It would be a while before the young lion cub would recover completely from the incident and be able to put it behind him.
Author's Note: So basically, this chapter gives a brief glimpse into Omari's past and summarizes his daily life and adventures with the Findlays, as well as his relationships with various members of the family, including Maude. It also demonstrates his personality and there is also a mention of Tessa, his childhood friend and girlfriend and also another original character of mine. However, you would not be able to see her until much, much later. Speaking of Maude, it also gives an insight depth into their personal relationship as mother and son and of how Maude interacts with him. I know that this story is kind of weird, especially for a television show such a this, but well, this show was kind of bizarre and wacky to begin with and besides these are the type of stories I usually write so bear with me. Other characters that are briefly mentioned include Maude's cousin-in-law and nemesis Archie Bunker, Walter, (Maude's husband), and Omari's birth mother, Suzannah, who is also briefly shown in my other fanfiction, a new one in fact, called "Lady Sedona: Origins." As soon as I'm done with this AND the Lady Sedona tale, hopefully I might be able to write a prequel to this story involving Suzannah's back story as a royal princess and superhero and how she got exiled from her home planet and how Omari came about and what led her to ultimately abandon her children and husband and disappear somewhere else. If I do write a prequel for this fanfiction, it will most likely be classified under the Maude subcategory, since Maude and Walter will be the featured characters in the story. And as for a flashback of Omari's birth, there is an indirect reference to the infamous abortion episode when Maude decides to have an abortion after talking it over with Walter. And for the brief Bush's grilled beans reference I'm a big fan of those beans and I'm always excited to eat them every time my mom or daddy would cook them. So, if you like this story so far, I encourage you to keep on reading. It gets weirder and more bizarre but it gets better!
R.P.