Homecoming

The trip back to Africa seemed longer than the initial trip to England. A combination of Henry's constant seasickness and the number of storms encountered certainly took its toll on everyone aboard. One evening after a series of puking spells, Henry had gone back to his room to lay down. "Mother, I think I'll go check on Henry, if you don't mind. He was still looking especially green when he headed to his room."

"Alright, don't be too long, dear. I'm sure Henry needs his rest."

Kala traveled through the vast corridors to the young man's dorm. "Henry, it's Kala. May I come in?" she called as she knocked on the wooden door.

"Of course. Come in."

She entered through the doorway, shutting the door behind her. Henry sat up against the bed's headboard. "I just wanted to make sure you were feeling alright. You didn't look so good when you left."

"Ah, yes. Lying down has certainly done me some good. That look on your face says you have something else on your mind."

"Oh, it's nothing."

"Kala. Come sit," he motioned with his hand, gesturing to a spot near him on the bed.

Kala hesitated, but accepted the invitation. "Talk to me."

"We've just been spending a lot of time together, and I've just been thinking."

"Thinking about?"

"Things I shouldn't be thinking about at this point."

"Such as?" he giggled.

"Oh, you know. Physical things," she whispered slightly embarrassed, like the thought of it was a rare taboo.

"You act like it's unheard of to be physical with someone outside of marriage. My friends almost all had mistresses and prosts."

"Prosts?"

"Prostitutes. Women who get paid for their services. Actually, it's funny because I've been thinking, too," Henry smirked, beginning to lean into her and bring his hand to her face.

She placed her hand between them, "Are you sure about this? Mother always said to be weary of men. Particularly, those who jump into… physical relationships."

Of course, your feminist mother said to be "weary of men". Henry thought with slight aggravation coming to Henry's features, then quickly washing away back to a look of sultry seduction. "Dear, if I wasn't sure about us, do you honestly think I would've agreed to come? Besides, haven't you ever been taught to give a man what he wants?" The thought bounced around in Kala's head for a moment. Before she could reply, Henry's lips were on top of hers. After a few seconds, the hand that had been pushing him away was grasping for whatever loose material that it could to bring him closer. It did not take long for Henry to lay Kala beneath him, her legs instinctively wrapping around his waist through the constraining dress. Henry sat up a moment to begin the process of removing the various clothing items.

Kala paused him for a moment. "One condition. Nobody hears about this," her words seemed tense and desperate.

"Of course, Darling. You have nothing to worry about. Now relax, Kala. I promise I'll take it slow."

Kala grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him down to her. "Don't make promises you can't keep. Now take me like one of your filthy British prosts," she whispered back. Henry smiled into her shoulder, pulling back the neckline of her dress and nipping at every inch that he could reach. Quiet moans filled the room for most of the night.

The next day, Kala awoke to numerous red marks and small mild bruises covering her body. She began looking around the room and noticed that it was mostly Henry's belongings that surrounded her. After going through the process of dressing, Kala met Henry on deck as land came into sight. Seeing the rolling hills of forest and jungle, Henry was taken in awe. Jonathan came up beside him, "Home, sweet home," he sighed. Upon docking, they were all warmly greeted by Monsieur Dumont. "Bonjour, Porters! I assume your trip went well?"

Jane being first off of the ship, provided an enthusiastic reply. "Very much so. In fact, we brought home a guest. Monsieur Dumont, this is Henry Wesson, a young man Kala met in London."

"Ah, Mr. Wesson, I'm confident you'll make a wonderful addition to our little jungle community."

"Well, I would sure hope so." Henry set a bag down on the dock, taking the older gentleman's hand in a firm handshake. "I don't plan on going anywhere." He picked the bag back up and continued to follow Tarzan into the jungle on the long hike to the treehouse. Henry quickly developed a strong admiration for the English architecture built into the tree. Once he entered the home, he acknowledged the layout of the rooms and furniture. "What a very nice home you've got here!"

"I said the same thing when I saw it. Tarzan's parents built it. Of course, there was a lot of cleaning and preparation that had to be done before it was inhabitable again. You see, Tarzan's parents were killed a long time ago and Tarzan was taken in by the local gorilla troop. The house was abandoned and soon overtaken with vines and wildlife. But it just needed a little elbow grease is all."

"Yes, I'd heard rumors of Tarzan's upbringing. I'd say a job well done, Mrs. Porter."

"Why thank you, Henry."

A majority of the day was spent unpacking and replacing items in their respective homes. The family all changed back into their jungle garb, the men their loincloths, Jane her modest yellow shirt and green skirt. Henry's jaw almost hit the floor when he saw Kala's light brown crop top and green sarong. Kala could not help but to comment, "You may not want to leave your mouth hanging open like that, Mr. Wesson. You may catch more than just flies."

Once a majority of the luggage was put away, Jane shooed them away. "Go. Show Henry around. Introduce him to some of your friends. I can handle things here."

Kala nodded a smile and started to take Henry by the arm. "That's not what you're wearing, is it?" She referred to his much nicer tan trousers, white dress shirt, and matching tan vest partially covering his dark blue necktie.

"Dear, it's all I've got."

"Look at what everyone else is wearing compared to you."

"I see your point, but I don't exactly have a loin cloth on hand."

"I'm sure I can fix that right quick."

She started to prance over to her father before Henry stopped her in her path. "I see what you're going to do and I'm not going to borrow from your father."

"Then at least lose the tie and vest. This is the jungle for God's sakes, not a bloody garden party." He pulled at the knot, loosening the tie to yank it over his head and peeled off his waistcoat. Leaving his collar popped up around his neck, he followed Kala to one of the vines hanging around the treehouse rolling up his sleeves in the process. "You ready?"

"Ready for whaaaaaat?!" He hadn't finished his sentence before Kala had taken Henry by the waist and flew off on the vine. Jane simply chuckled at the pair as she continued resetting her home. "Was this part of the curriculum at finishing school?" He shook out for fear of being dropped.

"No, Jungle University. Don't worry, we do this all the time. It's way quicker than walking."

They landed on a branch. "Where are we?"

"Look down," she smiled. They both found a family of gorillas eating and playing. "Come on. There's a few you should meet." She started gliding down the tree branch to the ground.

"A few gorillas?" He started to follow her, but soon slipped like a deer on ice. Henry fell to the ground, soon joined by Kala who gracefully finished her slide down the branch.

"Are you ok?"

"Yes, fine." He rubbed the soreness from his head. The gorillas began surrounding them. "Um, you're friends with gorillas?"

"Of course. Even Darwin once said a man's friendships are one of the best measures of his worth."

"I don't think animals are what he had in mind, Dear."

One of the older gorillas ran through the crowd embracing Kala, cooing her gorilla grunts and Kala returned them. "Henry, this is Terk. She grew up with my father." Kala continued to chatter in gorilla and soon an elephant sauntered up to the group, his age showing through his more prominent wrinkles. "This is Tantor."

"He looks like he's getting old."

"Yeah, he's getting up there," she sighed petting Tantor's side. "But he's still as reliable as the sun. You want to see the waterfall?"

"You have a waterfall?"

"Come on. Tantor, you want to take us to the waterfall?" He let out a blow, bending down for them to climb onto his back.

The journey drug on and the pair made easy small talk. "I must say, you truly do have a beautiful place here."

"Why thank you. I like it much better than London."

"What's wrong with London?"

"Too many people. Not enough action."

"It seems rather peaceful to me."

"You've spent a day here. I've spent eighteen years here. Give it time. We get quite a few outsiders looking for pelts or diamonds or even just to see if the legends are true."

"Must be agony to get visitors out here." His tone reeked of sarcasm.

"You don't understand. Those outsiders seek to harm our friends and our home. Sometimes even our way of life."

"Did it ever occur to you that at one point your family were the outsiders? Your father's parents must have hunted for food until the jungle claimed them. The gorillas took in your father, but I'm sure it wasn't without some resistance. He was eventually accepted but then your mother came. Surely to the gorillas, she was a threat. At least the man she brought with her was. And then your father integrated her into the family. But even then, she still had her strange ways. She was still an outsider. Thanks to your father's protective efforts, your family has been more commonly accepted throughout the jungle. If it wasn't for your father, your mother would still just be an outsider looking in."

"How do you know so much about my family?"

"I'm a reporter, Kala. Or at least I was. I did my research. Not that a little jungle girl would know anything of research."

"Ugh! Excuse me!" Kala twisted in her seat to look him in the eye. "Your research should've shown that my mother and grandfather were both respected scientists who came here with the intent of studying gorillas."

"Your grandfather maybe. He threw away everything he had trying to research these beasts looking for Darwin's 'missing link'. Your mother was a tagalong - a wannabe. She wanted to be just like your grandfather and struggled to do that in England. She was accepted into Cambridge purely because of her father. When her father got the opportunity to study gorillas she had to practically beg him to let her go with him."

"And she learned more from him than any other professor she had ever encountered. Both of them have widely taught me in scientific theories of several different fields."

"Your mother wasn't even allowed to be awarded a degree. Cambridge, with their reputation on the line, was not about to present any woman a degree no matter what her field of study."

"I still learned more from her than any textbook ever could teach me. Believe me, I've looked. Do not question my knowledge of research in any aspect ever again," she snapped.

Henry was taken aback. Never had he heard a woman defend herself in such a way. A way that made him respect her to a further extent. She was not just asking for that respect, she was demanding it. He swallowed hard, "My apologies, Kala. I'm not accustomed to such driven young women as that in your family."

"Flattery will get you nowhere here, Henry." She gained her footing and leaped into the trees. Henry watched from the elephant's back as she swung ahead in the vines, her green wrap-around skirt flapping in the breeze.

When he reached the waterfall, Kala sat on the riverbank, knees curled up to her chest. Henry sat down beside her, his feet almost dipping into the water. "Kala, I didn't mean to offend you. And what you called flattery, I meant every word of. Women back in England do nothing but cook and clean and attend parties. Here you are, swinging from vines and reciting quotes from great scientists. You are much more ambitious than any woman I had ever hoped to meet. Of course, I had heard how your mother's ambitions led her to study at Cambridge. But I knew women like that were few and far between. You were never in the plan until I met you and got to know you. It was then that I decided that I would do whatever I could do to stay in your life."

"What did you expect? The perfect little housewife?"

"I wasn't sure what to expect. The first woman in Cambridge reproduced with a wild man she found in the jungle. You must understand how that could have played out many different ways. I'll tell you what I wasn't expecting was a beautiful, intelligent young woman who wanted more than to just fit in." She allowed a smile to bless her features before leaning forward and diving head first into the river. He waited for her to come back up for air, but she never did. After a minute or so, Henry began panicking. "Kala? Kala? This isn't funny any more!" She popped out of the water just enough to pull him in with her, both coming up for air immediately after, Kala laughing, Henry gagging on water. "What were you thinking?! You nearly killed me!"

"Loosen up. Have some fun."

"These clothes are ruined!" He began the swim to shore, followed closely behind by Kala.

"I told you to wear something else."

"It's hard telling what sort of man eating beasts live in this water!"

"Just the crocs and Father moved them down river years ago. Do you really think I would've jumped in with something that could kill me?"

Henry slicked back his wet hair. "You never know. You might've taken crocodile wrestling in that Jungle University of yours."

"Oh no. Father would never let us do that. Mainly by Mother's request, but you know. That may be something that you'll just have to learn to do one day."

"I would certainly hope not. I don't know the first thing about the creatures. Why would I do that anyway?"

"Well, as you know, Father is Lord of the jungle. Obviously, he's going to retire or die at some point. There are two obvious options to fill his shoes. The first option is Jonathan simply because he would be the next 'man' of the family. He has been groomed since day one to take Father's place. He trains regularly to keep a good physique no matter how unnecessary and is learning how to handle scuffles between animals. The second option would be whoever marries me. If I don't marry, I receive the title. Even in the 'laxed jungle, it's a man's world," she sighed in frustration.

"I'm sure it was just tradition taking over. I don't know how the gorillas are but that's how things work in England. Women are much too busy with housework to squabble over legal matters." As soon as the words left his mouth, Henry wished he could take them back.

"Well in case you haven't noticed, this isn't England! We can't separate based on gender. Anything Mother and I do, Father and Jonathan are also very capable of doing."

"Well, I will not be forced to perform such demeaning tasks. Not when I have two lovely women who should be more than capable of knowing their place."

"Surely you can suck up your pride and at least experience our lives. Even Father does laundry almost as much as I go out hunting."

"You must not eat much then, cause the only places you women are good for are in the kitchen and in bed. You're not meant to hunt. You're not even meant to have a formal education."

"And you are? All that you've proved this afternoon is that you are nothing but a misanthropist simpleton who believes if you do anything different from England, you're a savage and need retaught how to act! You've proved that you're not the man I thought you were!" She ran off into the jungle, tears threatening to run down her face.

"No, Kala! Don't leave me here! I didn't mean it like that! I'm sorry! Don't leave me in the middle of the jungle! Kala!" He tried to follow her so not to get lost, but soon lost track of all of her twists and turns.