It was a Monday afternoon at the Field Museum and Edwin was finishing placing several samples of lichen genomes and placed them in the incubator before he started his lunch break. He then walked to his office to grab his lunch and laptop bag so that he could do his work during lunch. He then heard knocking on his door, he turned around to see Makini at the door.
"Oh hey Makini, may I help you with something?" Edwin said.
"Hey Edwin, ready to go to lunch?" Makini asked in her usually cheerful demeanor.
"Almost, I just need to place some papers in my bag." Edwin said as he placed several papers in his laptop bag.
Soon, Edwin and Makini walked out of the genetics lab to meet with the rest of their colleagues. They were approaching the stairwell when they heard a voice call out to them.
"Hey guys, how's it going?" the voice called. The two colleagues turned toward the source of the voice, which turned out to be Jasiri. At that point, that reminded Edwin that he promised her to have a conversation at work, so Edwin predicted what was going to be said later.
"Oh hey Jasiri, how's it going? It's good to see you, it's been like a week. Is everything going alright?"Makini asked in a concerned tone.
"Oh no everything is going alright, I've just been going through some stuff last week but I'm over it now...Anyway, can I just borrow Edwin for a little bit I just need to discuss something with him for a few minutes, I just need to talk with him about something." Jasiri said.
"Sure no problem…" Edwin eventually turned his head towards Makini's. "I'll meet you in the cafe in five minutes, I just have to talk to Jasiri about something for a bit." He finished.
"Okay, no problem, see you then I guess, I'm just glad to finally see you get out of the lab after a week." Makini said as she walked down the stairwell. Edwin and Jasiri moved towards the right of the stairwell next to an exhibition case with a dinosaur skull in it.
"So you want to talk more about….you know…" Edwin said in an awkward tone.
"Yeah, again I just want to apologize for my behavior the past week or so. Ranging from running out on our date to avoiding you at work. At the date I was a little insecure because I've had bad luck in relationships and I was afraid that it might end up like some of my previous dates. Also there were some things from my first mate's death that I might still need to get over." Jasiri said in a guilty tone.
"It's fine, to be honest, I'm not much better because I was also avoiding you last week, which was a pretty immature move. I guess I was just so depressed from the rejection that I didn't want another awkward encounter, but I think that we should talk this through in order to avoid such problems. Also I've also had some bad luck in relationships, but that's a story for later. Again, I'm sorry that I avoided you, I shouldn't have done that." Edwin said.
"Yeah, but I kind of understand why you did it. If you did that to me I probably would have done the same thing. In fact I did do the same thing to a guy that I once dated in California when he dumped me without reason why, and I haven't contacted him since. It turned out that the reason was some yoga instructor from the Palisades. A month later, I started dating this guy from our former Pride Lander group in a long distance relationship. Three months later I earned my PhD and moved here to Chicago where Makuu told me of a job opening here in the museum, where the guy I dated also worked. It was smooth sailing for the first two weeks, but the next seven or eight months were a nightmare with him, thus encompassing the worst relationship I ever had, but that is another story." Jasiri said.
"I understand, I'm also sorry if the date was shitty in any sense to begin with." Edwin said.
"Are you kidding me? Edwin, despite the circumstances that happened, it was actually one of the best dates that I have had in years. That was actually another reason why I wanted to talk to you, I was thinking since we didn't really have a proper first date, perhaps we could go on a more proper date to really get to know each other. Perhaps we can try that tea place again because the tea there was actually pretty good?" Jasiri asked.
Edwin gave a pensive look for a few seconds until he flashed a small smile.
"Sure, that sounds great. How does Saturday night sound? I can drive again." Edwin said.
"Sounds great. Want to start heading to the cafe?" Jasiri said.
"Sure." Edwin replied. The two started to head down the stairwell.
"Also, there was no need to worry about the last date because that was not even close to the worst date I've been on. That title is reserved for the time I accidentally spilled a glass of water on an ex-girlfriend's mother, which doesn't seem that bad but I haven't told most people how that story ended. After I spilled water on the mother, I tried to dry up the spill with a napkin but in the process I accidentally knocked this gilded broach she was wearing and while I was trying to clean the rest of the mess, she sat on the pin from the brooch I accidentally dropped which ended in ending the date early…" Edwin was saying before Jasiri interrupted.
"Woah, that did sound bad…" Jasiri said before Edwin interrupted.
"Wait, I'm not done….The next day, the ex-girlfriend went to my apartment to talk about the previous night and she told me that her mother thought that I was too much of a clutz to date her daughter and told her that if she continued to date me, she would be cut out from her family's inheritance, so she had to choose between me and her family. And she ended up dumping me at the spot, after a year of dating her."
"That sucks man, she didn't deserve you anyway. I can't count you how many times dates ended badly...Oh and if you are wondering, our date two weeks ago doesn't even come close to my top ten." Jasiri said.
"Yeah, but to be honest, I'm glad that she dumped me because when I look at it now, she was kind of pretentious anyway." Edwin said, sparking a laugh from both of them.
"Yeah, I just hope that our second date will end up better this time." Jasiri said.
"Also speaking of the date, I was wondering...my ten year high school reunion is coming up a week after our date and I was wondering if you want to be my plus one? If not, it's totally fine and I would totally understand and…" Edwin said before Jasiri interrupted.
"You don't need to ask me twice, I will go either way because even if the date doesn't go well, we can always remain friends. Also either way, I would really want to hear stories about you in high school from your former classmates." Jasiri said in a playful tone.
The two just started to casually talk to each other until they met the rest of their colleagues and friends at the cafe. The tension that existed the previous week seemed to have dissipated.
The next day, it was a pretty much normal day for Edwin during work, working further on his research. But after work, there will be the first meeting of the Museum's newly formed Human-Hybrid Alliance, which Edwin decided to attend to see what it is about.
It was near the end of the workday, Edwin was finishing recording an analysis of some data from a chromatogram from genome samples he was working with earlier. While he was typing, he heard a knock on the door.
"It's open!" Edwin said in an elevated tone. The door opens and Ma Tembo opens the door.
"Hi Edwin, how are you doing?" She said in a cheerful tone.
"I'm fine just finishing up the chromatogram analysis. May I help you with anything?" He replied.
"Oh I was just wondering if you had a copy of the images of the gel electrophoresis we completed last week? Because I think I want to see them before we publish the final paper" Ma Tembo asked.
"Oh yeah, I'll email them to you soon. Just out of curiosity, are you attending that Human-Hybrid Alliance conference tonight? Because I'm going to" Edwin asked.
"Yes, it's good to see that there are people making an effort to improve relations between humans and hybrids because at least in the museum, I still feel that the social atmosphere between humans and hybrids seems to be cliquey." Ma Tembo said.
"Yeah, I noticed that too. Other than the group of colleagues I usually hang out with, I see that most people from other departments seem to only stick with people similar to them, whether it is human with human or hybrid. It kind of reminds me of the cliques I saw in my high school cafeteria." Edwin said.
"Yes, I've seen that too, let's just hope this conference could improve things." Ma Tembo replied.
"Yeah, anyway, I know that the meeting is in like two hours, so I'm going to get a coffee before the meeting at this place a block away." Edwin said.
"Okay, have fun, oh and also, I need to do a small errand myself so can by any chance join you for that coffee?" Ma Tembo asked.
"Sure, no problem, let me just check on the flowers I recently bought for the memorial service." Edwin said. As he said this, he went to check a glass of water which placed a small bouquet of white lilies. Most of the lilies seemed to be in good shape, though one flower appears to be starting to wilt.
"Okay, let's go." Edwin said as the two left his office while Edwin locked his office door.
As they were walking down the stairs they started to engage in light conversation just about very quotidien items in their lives.
"So yeah, that's why I don't usually take my car to work, I just don't like getting into traffic and the traffic during rush hour is crazy. Though I did bring my car today because I need to pick something up at the dry cleaner before they close at 11." Edwin said.
"Yeah, I understand, there are some occasions I use my car for errands because I want to get them over with." Ma Tembo replied.
"I get it, so just out of curiosity how long have you lived in Chicago?" Edwin said.
"Well, I've lived here ever since I began my PhD program at the University of Chicago, which was in the fall of 2006, so I lived here for about 13 years." Ma Tembo said.
"Oh okay, I took it out of your group, you lived in Chicago the longest?" Edwin asked.
"Oh no, a few others, including Makini, first came to Chicago after we left Tanzania. Different groups were assigned to different places so that's why we were initially separated. For example, I first arrived in the United States, I ended up in Los Angeles, where after I earned a GED, I went to community college for two years and ended up at USC for the rest of undergrad. When I began my grad school here, I still felt alone, until two years later when I ran into Makini who was still in high school at the time. We just caught up and at one point I brought up that my mentor planned to recommend me for a job at the Field Museum, she said that she knew Simba, though not the museum president at that point, already had a job at the museum at that point, and that was one of the influences that helped me choose to work here." Ma Tembo said as they both exited the museum.
"That's cool, so doing anything interesting this coming weekend?" Edwin said.
"Nothing really significant, just the usual errands and chores that I usually do. Oh, actually I do have my yoga class on Saturday night. It originally was on Friday nights but my instructor had to reschedule because he had to change locations. How about you, do you have anything planned this weekend?" Ma Tembo said.
"Well mostly just the usual chores and stuff, but Saturday night I actually will be going on a date with Jasiri from the fossils lab." Edwin said, making Ma Tembo respond with a delightfully surprised expression.
"Oh, so you were able to sort things out with Jasiri, good for you Edwin. What are you guys planning to do?" Ma Tembo asked as they crossed the street.
"Well we are going to the same tea place as we did last time, because even when that date was awkward, the tea there was still pretty good." Edwin said.
"That's good to hear, I hope everything goes well." Ma Tembo said as they approached the coffee shop.
"I'm sorry to say this but I really need to complete this errand at the florist next door, can you please order my beverage for me while I get this errand handled with?" Ma Tembo said.
"Sure, no problem, what do you want me to order?" Edwin replied.
"Thanks, I would just like a chai latte, I'll see you in a couple of minutes." She said as she walked towards the doors of the florist shop, while Edwin entered the coffee shop.
When he entered, he would find what one usually expects to find in a coffee shop: wooden floors, wooden tables with metal chairs, several green or brown ottomans and couches spread across the store along with small shelves in which one can buy small pieces of customized merchandise and music by artist that most people have never even heard of.
He approached the counter and waited for the two people in front of him to finish giving the barista their orders.
When the two people moved to the pick up area, Edwin came further towards the barista, who was a young woman who had black hair and her hair tied in a bun, wearing a black short sleeve shirt and a green apron.
"Hello sir, can I take your order?" The barista asked.
"Yes I would like an Italian Roast and a Chai Tea Latte." Edwin said.
"Okay and what name would you like those orders to be in?" The barista said.
"You can place the Italian roast under Edwin and the chai latte under the name Ma Tembo." Edwin replied.
"Okay, coming up…and that will be a total of $8.50." The barista said as she pressed the buttons on the cash register.
Edwin gave them a ten dollar bill, after which the barista gave him his change and receipt.
"Here you go, you can just wait at the desk to the right to pick up your order, have a good day." The barista said before moving on to the next customer.
Edwin moved toward the pick up area of the coffee counter to wait for the order to be done. While he was waiting, he noticed a familiar figure next to him.
"Hey Beshte, how's it going?" Edwin said, which caused Beshte to turn around towards Edwin and gave out a light smile.
"Oh hey Edwin! How's it going? I didn't know you would be here!" Beshte said enthusiastically.
"I'm good, just waiting for a coffee order, Ma Tembo is also with me but she had to complete an errand at the florist next door. How about you?" Edwin replied.
"I'm fine just waiting for my coffee order before the meeting. Also I saw your text, I'm glad you are able to work things out with Jasiri. Perhaps there's a possibility that she might have feelings back for you." Beshte said.
"I hope, but I can't assume for sure until I know how this second date will end up. So let's just hope it goes well." Edwin said.
"Yeah, I hope everything goes well for you. If you guys do end up dating, I think it will definitely go well, or at least will definitely end up better than her last relationship." Beshte said.
"Yeah, based on what you guys have told me, this ex of hers seemed like a real asshole. And you said that he was actually part of your former Pride Lander group, did you know them closely before you guys permanently transformed into hybrids?" Edwin asked, which caused Beshte's expression to change to a more saddened one.
"Actually...yeah I did, I've known him very well through working constantly. At one point, he used to be close friends, but over his behavior over the past decade, we don't really associate with one another other than in work related manners. I just never expected Kion to turn up in this path, after everything we went through." Beshte said in a saddened tone.
Once hearing the name of Jasiri's ex, a shocked expression appeared on Edwin's face. He was initially going to ask something, but a young man with short brown hair behind the counter called out an order.
"I got a decaf roast for uhh...Bashton? ...Bashton? Or is it Boshtick?...Boshtick?" The barista called, which caused Beshte to develop an irritated expression on his face.
"Ughh, this place never place never gets my name right." Beshte said as he approached the encounter.
"Thank you, but my name is actually Beshte, Besh-te." he said as he grabbed his order. In which he eventually walked back next to Edwin, who decided to return to the topic of Jasiri's ex.
"Wait? Kion? As in Kion, who works in the security department with you? He used to date Jasiri? The guy whose dad-" Edwin was saying before the barista interrupted.
"I got an Italian roast and Chai latte for uhhh Edward and uhhhh Mo Temple? Edward and Mo Temple?" The barista said, causing Edwin to have an irritated expression on his face.
"Ugh, every time…." Edwin said as he approached the counter and he grabbed the two coffee cups.
"Sir, my name is actually Edwin, not Edward and the other order's name is Ma Tembo, not Mo Temple." Edwin said in an irritated tone.
"Sorry about that sir." The barista said.
"It's fine." Edwin said with a visibly disappointed expression on his face, after which he walked back towards Beshte from which they moved to a table in front of the window.
"So yeah, Kion used to date Jasiri for a while, but that relationship did not end well, probably because he has become more and more unhinged over the years." Beshte said in a depressed tone.
"How exactly did this guy 'unhinged'?" Edwin said.
"Well you see, when we were back at the Tree of Life to get healing for Kion's scars, he used to have these surprised fits of rage, but that was until their healer, Nirmala, said he was healed. Then as you know we went back to the Pride Lands over the whole change of Lion Guard fiasco, eventually we eventually returned to the Tree of Life, until, you know, Nirmala and Surak executed the whole coup, forcing us to return to the Pride Lands. He was initially doing alright but as the drought hit and even when we transformed into human/anthropomorphic hybrids, he started to become more insecure about himself, and sometimes the fits of rage started to come back as he got older. When I first enlisted in the army, it turns out that that he was enlisting in the same place that I was, so we ended up catching up, he seemed to be doing better, but he was much more cocky than usual and he discussed of how he and Rani were still pulling it together with her in college and he in the army. So we were both deployed to the same unit in Afghanistan, while I struggled with my experiences in the army, he seemed to be a little too enthusiastic of his time in the army. He started to become slightly more violent with each passing day. He killed several people from the opposing side, but after I was discharged, I heard that he came close to killing a group of innocent civilians until other people had to intervene before anyone was killed, which caused him to be dishonorably discharged. After he was discharged he worked several security gigs before working at the museum and even tried to apply to be a police officer but failed the examination and his psychological evaluation. This basically amplified his aggressive behavior, he eventually took it out verbally and physically on his then wife Rani. I used to see some of the marks and bruises inflicted on her and even when it was sparsely talked about, but we all knew what was happening. I wish I reported at the time, his dad was getting into higher positions in the museum administration before becoming the CEO and I was afraid of facing repercussions involving my job if I reported his son. Eventually, Rani filed for divorce, left the museum to teach at an elementary school and placed a restraining order against Kion. A few months after that Kion started dating Jasiri through long distance since she was still in California at the time. As soon as Jasiri moved here to Chicago, he found a new outlet for his insecurities. He treated Jasiri the same way he treated Rani: berating her, hitting her...I heard one time that despite her attempts to defend herself, he beat her so hard that she nearly ended up in the ER and I'm glad that that was the day she finally walked out on him..." Beshte explained while Edwin was just gazing with a shocked expression on his face.
"Wait a second you knew that this was happening to your friend and none of you guys reported it?!" Edwin said in a surprised tone.
"Well, me and several others tried, but Simba recently became the CEO of the museum and we at the time trusted his judgement when he said he would handle it on his own. But then that night came when he beat her, I actually called the police, and unaware of me, Jasiri talked to Makuu a few hours after the incident and her resistance against the idea, Makuu marched over to Kion's place to handle it on his own, in which Makuu actually ended up breaking Kion's nose in the process. This sparked action from Simba and for the physical altercation, Simba actually suspended Makuu from work for almost two weeks even when the incident occurred outside of work. Through an agreement, Kion paid a settlement to Jasiri and placed a restraining order on Kion from Jasiri, so that he must stay at least 100 feet away from Jasiri at all times, with any violation resulting in possible jail time. After that, fortunately there have been no major incidents worse than just general rage. Honestly even when he is still alive, I feel like the Kion that I used to know died in the drought. I'm still surprised that this happened, sometimes I wondered if Nirmala actually healed him back at the Tree of Life or if it was just a diversion to make sure nobody found out about her involvement in planning the coup while we were there. After the army, I actually tried to recommend him to get counseling, but rejected me to the point where I just gave up on him. Sometimes I wondered, that if I didn't get discharged first, whether I actually could have helped him. Do you know why I was discharged from the army Edwin?" Beshte said with tears starting to form in the corner of his eye, while Edwin is trying to give a sympathetic look.
"Based on what you told me, you said you got injured because someone shot you in the foot." Edwin replied.
"Well I'm sorry that I didn't tell you the whole story of my experiences in the army, but the bullet that went through my foot came from my own gun. In other words….I intentionally shot myself in the foot.." Beshte said with Edwin giving off a slightly shocked expression.
"What? I'm sorry that happened, I couldn't imagine what you went through…" Edwin said in a sympathetic tone.
"To be honest, my experience in the army was pure torture. When I first enlisted, I thought that it was going to be similar to my Lion Guard days and I was protecting people and the Circle of Life….but my first day of active duty changed that in a heartbeat. All I saw was an unnecessary amount of violence from both sides, people losing their lives for no reason and sometimes even people's livelihoods being destroyed sometimes by the opponent and sometimes by own troops from my own units. I've already been through a lot when I saw friends die during the Tree of Life coup and members of my family die during the Pride Lands drought, my time in the army felt like I was reliving that all over again. I was miserable everyday while I was in the army. Though I did make a few friends during my time, my time outside of active duty was not much better. I was uncomfortable around most of the other soldiers I worked with because they constantly harassed and made fun of me for when I transform into my anthropomorphic hippo form. They were also assholes when they were not picking on me, whether it was toxic masculinity, homophobic comments in conversations and sexist behavior towards many of the female troops. Even with all of that happening around me, my last straw happened when I was five months into active duty when I was just doing daily rounds with a group of troops from my unit, and along the way we saw a group of children around the ages of eight or nine just kicking around a soccer ball in an empty field. It was nice to see the children finding a sense of joy despite the violence that was going nearby. We saw that the kids were eventually bored with the soccer ball and one of them threw what I initially thought was small rock for a game of catch. When one of the kids threw the object, I heard a click, which was a click that I recognized immediately from active duty...the sound of a released safety lever from a grenade. I tried to run to them as fast as I can but a boy caught it with his hands when it detonated. Even when most of the other children only had scratches and minor cuts...I couldn't save that boy. That image will be implanted in my brain for the rest of my life. That little boy...whose life ended at only around nine years old...from grenade shrapnel in his chest while he bled to death in his friends' arms. The friends eventually took us to the family of the deceased to give the unfortunate news to them. Later that day, I found some of the pieces of shrapnel from that grenade and when I took a look... I saw that the grenade was made in the U.S, meaning that someone from either my unit or another recklessly left a grenade in the middle of the field and a little boy died for no reason. After that...I had it...I had it with active duty and I had it with being in the military. The next day, I was doing another daily rounds, and I went to an area where I knew I would be alone, I aimed the gun at my foot and pulled the trigger. The pain was unbearable, but I would do it again if it meant getting me out of that situation. Other soldiers from my troop found me and I fabricated a story of forgetting to put the safety on my gun and accidentally pressing the trigger. As I was brought to the helicopter to be transported to the medical unit, most of the expressions of the other soldiers indicated that most people did not believe my accidental shooting story because out of my base, I actually had the best shooting score back when we were at basic training and most did not believe that I would not make such a silly mistake. They looked at me as if I was some kind of coward or that I was weak, but I was just trying to get out of a bad situation. When I got to the medical unit, along with treating my self-inflicted injuries, I was given a psychological evaluation and the psychiatrist diagnosed me with some condition I've never even heard of at the time... I knew nothing about post-traumatic stress disorder. But as they described the condition, behaviors associated with it and other details, I recognized that they matched behavioral patterns of mine before I was in the army, not sure if they might have started after the coup or the drought, but anyway I began to tell them my whole story and what not. They eventually said due to both my physical injury and my PTSD, I was unfit to return to active duty and that I would be sent home, in which I was relieved at the time because I finally got to leave that nightmare. I returned back to the United States a few days after that, I got my own place in Chicago, got my job as a security guard at the museum, I now see a counselor twice a week to help with my PTSD, went to community college and...oh I am also taking night classes four nights a week at UIC to work towards my bachelors degree and once I get it, I want to get a job in museum administration if I can. Even when I'm definitely satisfied with my life now, sometimes I still wish that I can go back to being the Pride Lands strongest and protect the Circle of Life to maintain peace. So that's my whole story, I'm really sorry if it is lengthy for the question you asked but I just felt that I needed to let it-" Beshte said before he was interrupted by Edwin hugging him out of the blue.
"Oh Edwin, I'm really sorry if my story depressed you or anything like-" Beshte said before Edwin interrupted him.
"Beshte, I am so sorry for all that you went through. Before I met you guys, I initially thought growing in a home with constantly fighting parents was bad, but after hearing both Jasiri's and your experiences both before and after the permanent transformation to hybrids really showed me that you guys are the strongest people that I've ever met. Even when you might doubt yourself sometimes, trust me you are one of the strongest people that I ever met. If you need to talk with me any time." Edwin said as he released Beshte from the hug, while the expression on Beshte's face began to lighten up.
"Thanks Edwin, I really appreciate it, and if you need to talk about it anytime, you can talk to me too. I really appreciate you for being a friend that I can talk this stuff with without judgement. When I discuss these stories with people, it tends to scare them for some reason. Also on an unrelated topic, I hope things with you and Jasiri will end up well. I think that you guys seem like a decent match, at least a better match than her and Kion were." Beshte said, in which the two shared a light laugh after the last part.
As they were sitting down, Ma Tembo came into the shop after a trip to the florist and approached the table Edwin and Beshte were sitting at.
"Hi Edwin, I'm sorry that took longer than expected, it took me a while before I found the right flowers I wanted to bring to the meeting...Oh hi there Beshte! I did not realize that you were also here, it's nice to see you. How's it going?" Ma Tembo said.
"Oh nothing much we were just having a casual conversation over some coffee…." Beshte said.
"Oh yeah…" Edwin said, grabbing the Ma Tembo's coffee. "Here's your latte...I'm so sorry if it's a little colder than expected, they prepared it faster than I expected." Edwin finished as he was handing Ma Tembo her coffee.
"No problem, I don't have a preference on what temperature my coffee is. Thanks for the coffee, I really appreciate you taking this order for me-" Ma Tembo said, but then briefly paused when she saw the name on the coffee cup.
"Hmmmm...Mo Temple?..." Ma Tembo said before she started to laugh a little. "This is one of the better names, this coffee franchise always gets my name wrong." Ma Tembo finished.
"Me too...The barista called me Bashton and Boshtick today." Beshte said.
"They got my name wrong too, they called me Edward...for some reason they added more letters to my name." Edwin said.
"Believe it or not, 'Mo Temple' is actually one of the better screw ups from this particular coffee franchise. One time a few months ago in one of their shops in North Center, the barista couldn't seem to read or pronounce my name on the cup so they just referred to me as 'latte for the lady in the pink shirt!' They didn't even try to say my name correctly." Ma Tembo said, causing the group of three to let out a light laugh.
For the next half hour the group of three engaged in casual conversation until they exited the establishment to head back to the museum to prepare for the meeting later that night.