Author's Note: Hello readers, I apologize for the delay, here is the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it and for more to come.
Chapter 31:
Third Person P.O.V.
It was an average Wednesday for Muhimu as she got her morning coffee and went inside the museum to begin her daily shift at the museum information desk alongside Twiga. She was having a typical day in which she assisted tourists that were having trouble with one thing or another. Somewhere along the second hour of her shift, they had a tourist that was in a particularly foul mood. She had short blonde hair, small gold hoop earrings, a black blouse, a brown designer purse and blue pants. After a five minute discussion, they just shrugged and took one of the pamphlets present on the desk and stubbornly walked away.
Twiga turned towards Muhimu with a bewildered expression on her face.
"Can you believe that lady Muhimu? She must have been close to insane, because I heard of having a bad day but geez, that was ridiculous." Twiga said.
"I know right, I can't believe that she freaked out like that just because 'the service was slow to her standards'. People like that need to realize that the world does not revolve around them. There are 7 billion humans and many more living organisms on this planet, no one human is more important than the next one." Muhimu replied.
"True, some people really just don't know better in regards to their attitudes." Twiga said before a different tourist approached the desk.
Their shifts typically consisted of talking to tourists for the rest of the first half of the shift. After two hours the two started their lunch break and let their colleagues Katenka and Palmira take over their desk for an hour or two.
They just went to the museum cafe, ate their food and talked to each other through the duration of their break. They eventually went back to the desk to finish the rest of their shift. Between each tourist they helped, Muhimu and Twiga just had casual conversations with one another.
"So Muhimu, how has Hamu been studying towards becoming a psychologist?" Twiga asked.
"He seems to be doing great, he already got an internship at some office in Brooklyn. He seems to be really excited about it, though I wish he would call me more often, I have not spoken to him in almost a week or two." Muhimu said with a slightly depressed tone.
"I get it, it can be tough when your kid grows up and they don't seem to depend on you as much as they used to since they live on their own and are busy with their lives. The same thing happened between me and Juhudi, she has not really called me in weeks and this pattern seems to be consistent ever since she moved to Los Angeles to play violin for the conservatory there." Twiga said.
"Yeah, but still it can be tough, at one moment I gave birth to him when I was heading towards the Mbali Fields, and now he is in New York wanting to investigate the human mind." Muhimu said.
"Yeah, I still remember when I used to drop off Juhudi to be babysitted by Bunga, then dropping her off at her first day of kindergarten in our first year in the human world and then moving her into her first apartment. Man, where does the time go by." Twiga said.
"I know, it really does pass by fast." Muhimu said as they moved on to the next tourist.
The two workers continued to complete their shifts until the clock hit five'o-clock, it was the end of their shift and headed towards their homes.
Muhimu and Twiga left the museum together and took the 146 CTA bus to get home in which they continued their earlier conversation about their kids not contacting them as often as they used to. They've been conversing for between twenty to thirty minutes as they rode, with Lake Michigan being visible during some parts of the ride until Twiga got off at the Sheridan and Belmont stop while Muhimu stayed for three or four more stops until she got of at the corner of Lake Shore Drive and Cornelia, then walking west for five blocks to get to her apartment building.
After going up four flights of stairs to get to her apartment, Muhimu gets herself situated before thinking about dinner. She then decided that she did not feel like cooking for herself that night so she took out her laptop and ordered take out online, from which she ordered some fettuccine alfredo and a side salad from an Italian restaurant nine blocks north of her building. As she ate her dinner, she stared out the window to look at the little courtyard outside her building and saw two children that appeared to be playing tag with each other. One of them is a boy with black curly hair, blue jean shorts and a red T-shirt, and the other a girl with black hair tied into two braids, a sky blue shirt and blue jeans. That scene in the courtyard reminded her of when her son was younger and used to run around open spaces in both the Pride Lands and the human world, playing with Juhudi on some of those occasions.
She ate her dinner and then as it got dark outside, she eventually transformed into her anthro zebra and decided to clean up her apartment for half an hour and then decided to open her laptop again to finish a podcast she started the previous night.
After she finished, she grabbed her phone to see if Hamu was available to talk to for a couple of minutes, so she pressed his number and put her phone on speaker mode. A ring tone sounded for a few seconds before it stopped.
"Hello…?" A young male voice sounded from the phone.
"Hi Hamu, how are you doing?" Muhimu asked.
"Oh hey Mom!...Yeah I'm doing pretty well, just reading something for a lecture tomorrow, You?" Hamu said.
"I'm fine, just listening to a podcast on my laptop. How's your internship going?" Muhimu replied.
"It's been going well so far, my supervisor's cool as far as I know it and I actually get permitted access to patient notes of some of the patients that come in to analyze their psychological profiles. How's work been?" Hamu said.
"It's just been the usual stuff so far, though last week Simba and Nala splitted up and are going to divorce, other than that nothing else really happened." Muhimu said casually.
"Wait?! Simba and Nala are getting divorced?! What happened?!" Hamu curioly asked.
"Apparently, Simba cheated on Nala multiple times, including several times in the Pride Lands." Muhimu said.
"No kidding?!" Hamu said.
"It's true, and apparently he was Zuri's biological father." Muhimu said.
"Wait what?! He was Zuri's father? Why didn't he really do much when she disappeared during the drought?" Hamu asked.
"I know right?! I think I overheard and it might be because Zuri was considered a so-called illegitimate child. Apparently it is normal for male lions to have several mates outside of the Pride Lands, and some websites I found confirmed this, but the problem to me was that Simba lied to everyone of how he had other mates while placing insane restrictions on the female lionesses, including Nala, on who they can mate with, practically preventing Nala from expressing her true self as she said. Also apparently when Mufasa was still alive, he had like eight mates and a bunch of illegitimate children." Muhimu said.
"No way! So basically everything we knew about the royals' relationship was a lie? With some hidden secrets from when Mufasa was alive? Man and I thought my neighbors in the apartment next door had drama with their friend groups but this definitely takes the case." Hamu replied.
"Yeah, I guess so. Ranging from Kion abusing Jasiri when they used to date to this, that family has basically unraveled and reached a new low since they entered the human world. Except for Kiara though, she and Kovu seem to be doing alright." Muhimu said.
"Yeah, so any interesting encounters with tourists today?" Hamu asked.
"Actually yes, at one point today this lady comp-lained at my desk today because things weren't going her way. Some people need to learn that the whole world does not revolve around them." Muhimu said.
"Oh so you encountered a Karen? Yeah they can be tough to handle." Hamu replied.
"Yeah, they sure can be. So yeah, other than that the only drama that I know is going on is that Bunga moved out of the apartment he shared with Timon and his boyfriend Gary." Muhimu said.
"Really? I thought the two were so close, what happened?" Hamu asked.
"Well from what I heard, Timon and Bunga had a falling out because Bunga owes Timon thousands of dollars and paid none of it except twenty dollars five years ago. SO Timon cut Bunga off financially and then Bunga decided to move out of there and started rooming with Kion." Muhimu said.
"Yeah, when we were back in the Pride Lands, my younger self always thought that Bunga was so cool and fun to be around, but when I see or hear about him now in the human world, he now just seems like a large slacker. Sometimes I'm still shocked that I once idolized that guy when I was younger." Hamu said.
"Yeah, it appears that the human world has either changed the personalities of former Pride Landers drastically, or that it helped expose the true flaws of some individuals. As you have seen, both of us have definitely changed in personalities and traits since first coming to the human world." Muhimu said.
"Yeah, I've noticed that too, but not all of the changes are bad. I think we definitely have improved work ethics and senses of determination compared to when we lived in the Pride Lands. With all the stresses that we face in this world, we needed resilience to adjust, but knowing you, you did pretty well in adjusting to the human world." Hamu said.
"Thank you Hamu, and I thought you adjusted amazingly to the human world!" Muhimu said.
"Thanks but I think that first entering and transforming to the human world at human age five might have helped since I was able to internalize a lot of information." Hamu replied.
"Well you were always a good student at school." Muhimu said.
"Well I have to finish reading this paper for my lecture, it has been nice talking to you mom!" Hamu said.
"It's been nice talking to you too!" Muhimu said.
"Okay, Love you." Hamu said.
"Love you!" Muhimu said.
"Bye." Hamu said.
"Bye" Muhimu replied with the words "Call Ended'' appeared on her phone's screen.
She soon went back to finishing her podcast until going to sleep for the night.
Edwin P.O.V.:
It was Friday night already and there was another meeting of the Human-Hybrid Alliance. We start the meeting with some shares, with those from two human workers going first. After the first meetings, shares were mostly on a volunteer basis on who goes at what order.
As the second human man with brownish-gray hair wearing a beige jacket and brown pants finished their share, they began to leave the podium with a light applause from the audience sounding as he left. Rafiki, in his anthro/hybrid mandrill form, then headed to the podium to test the microphone.
"Thank you Peter, for your share of your current financial problems. Is there anyone who would like to volunteer next?" He said, after which Kiara, in her anthro lioness form, noticeably raised her hand….or paw….whatever she prefers to call it.
"Okay Kiara, you can go next." Rafiki said gently.
Kiara slowly walked to the podium and adjusted the microphone.
"Hello, I'm Kiara Furahi-Mgeni, from the General Council and want to share with you what's been going on in my life this week. I know what you guys want me to talk about first….my parents' divorce since that seems to be the talk of the whole museum and any of our friends who work outside the museum. Based on what I heard from my mother, they're officially and legally divorced. Shortly after that fight in the museum, my mom moved all of her personal possessions out of the place she shared with my father and moved in somewhere else, though she seemed a little secretive about it for some reason. Anyway, the two went to the legal offices and signed the official divorce certificates, and the divorce itself was a relatively quick process. Then after all the legal stuff, both of my parents gave me their explanations of the divorce individually. Yes, my father's multiple affairs and hiding the fact that my old friend Zuri was his biological daughter contributed to the divorce to some degree, there were several other factors that contributed to them splitting up. When I talked to my mom, she said that along with my father's overall habits of dishonesty, she said that being with my father forced her to hide a part of herself she wanted to express for a long time, even back when she was Queen of the Pride Lands, but societal pressures from both my father and some of the older Pride Landers back when they were alive to 'maintain tradition'. For some reason, she did not disclose the details of the part of herself that she wanted to express, but she said that she will tell me the details when she is ready. She seemed pretty remorseful and frequently apologized to me for hiding this information from Kion and I for all this time. From now on she promised to be more transparent to us in the future, though there are still some things she is not ready to discuss yet. Also, she accepted a new position as CFO of the Art Institute of Chicago, so she has already got a new job somewhere else. So far, we are currently working on improving our relationship, and I felt bad that she was also placing all the negative emotions she went through when married to my father. Kion has for the most part been unresponsive about the whole issue, because my mom and I tried to talk to him but for the most part he either gives one word responses or doesn't respond at all. The only person in our family he doesn't seem to mind talking to is our dad, and my dad will not reveal the details of his conversations with Kion. When I tried to talk to my dad about the whole divorce, he seemed to fully blame the divorce on my mom for some reason, even when he was the one that cheated on her and he was the one that lied to her. For some reason, he seems to feel absolutely no remorse about lying to my mother, Kion and I for all this time. I've got a feeling that in the future, my father and I will not have any form of a relationship outside of work. Sometimes….it troubles me to think that with the exception of my husband Kovu, the male lions that I grew up with all ended up disappointing me to some degree in the human world. With my father's dishonesty and affairs, along with Kion being a tempermental monster that has verbally and physically abused every single woman he dated or married to. I'm not sure what happened since we transformed and entered the human world, but for the humans in the meeting tonight, they were completely different lions to me when I grew up….but then again, since several of his affairs took place in the Pride Lands, sometimes I wondered if he was always like that and the lion I grew up with was nearly a facade to put on for the kids and other residents of the Pride Lands. And Kion….oh my….I have no idea how he became the horrible person he is now because he was such a kind and caring lion when he was young and now with the events that have came along over the past couple of years, sometimes I wonder if there was a part of him that was always like this, except he does a better job at hiding it than my dad. I also wonder if he was really ever healed when he went to the Tree of Life because I was told that the healer there….Nirmala I think was her name…..was one of the masterminds of the coup that killed so many and forced the others out of the Tree of Life….Did she actually heal my brother or ever made an attempt to actually help him, or were they all distractions just so him and his friends are unable to find out about her coup plans while her co-conspirator distracted the others in one way or another. I guess I will never truly know the answers to the questions of Kion's 'healing' because none of us can go back in time to ask those questions, plus the lions responsible for the coup are probably dead by now. So yeah anyway, that's what I have experienced in regards to my parents' divorce this past week. When it comes to my work, home and social life; it was actually a pretty boring week outside of the whole my parents divorce thing. Thank you for taking the time to listen to my share." Kiara said.
There was applause from across the room, including from myself. We were all admiring Kiara's strength to tell us how she was honestly feeling about the whole situation with her parents.
"Thank you Kiara, for telling us your share tonight. I really hope that you get over the emotional turmoil about your parents' separation." Rafiki said while placing his hand on her shoulder.
Kiara then left the podium to return to her seat.
"Alright, he wants to share next…." Rafiki asked the audience.
For an hour, some people, both human and hybrid, gave out shares at tonight's meeting. This includes short shares from Jasiri and I about the advice her therapist gave her and how we are using it to help improve our relationship.
After the last person shared, Rafiki started to pass around pencils and blank sheets of paper to everyone in the room before returning to the podium.
"Alright, now for today, I have decided that we are going to do two group activities today. The first is more of a conversational activity where I have assigned groups of six for you to be in, with three members being human and three members being hybrid. In the papers that I passed to you guys earlier you are going to write ten questions down about subjects you are curious about of the other people in the group. There are tables in the room next door for the groups to sit and talk to each other. After finishing this activity, we will move on to the second activity in which you will be assigned to different groups of 10 to look around different areas in the museum and get to know each other." Rafiki said as he pressed a button on his laptop's keyboard to present his next slide which revealed a list of ten groups of six.
"This slide contains the members of each group with the assigned table numbers. Use this time to write your questions that you want to know from your groupmates." Rafiki said.
I read the slide closely and I found that I was in Group 9 and I read the names of some of the other names of the members of my group.
Group 9:
Camille Ashmore
Makuu Mamba
Edwin Mariani
Kovu Mgeni
Ma Tembo Ndefu
Firuza Yavuz
I then started writing my questions down on my paper. There were just some general questions on their experiences and what were their lives in the Pride Lands and such and a few that asked about general stuff. One by one, we all started to put our pencils down as we finished writing our questions, and Rafiki began to approach the microphone again.
"Alright, raise your hand if you still need to finish writing your questions?" He asked.
Only three or four people raised their hands, but Rafiki still maintained his generally relaxed expression.
"Okay, I'll give you guys another minute or two to finish your questions." Rafiki said.
After the time passed, those people finished writing on their sheets of paper.
"Now that everyone is finished writing their questions, you can now head to the room behind the door to your left and sit at your assigned tables." Rafiki said.
We all started to walk towards the doors to the left of the rows of chairs we were sitting in. Inside The room is a room similar to a classroom with 10 tables set up. Perhaps this might be a meeting room for school groups when field trips occur at the museum.
All the tables were labeled with a specific number, indicating the numbers for each assigned group.
I soon sat at a table with the number 9 labeled on it. I found there was already a human woman sitting on the table, who looked to be in her mid to late thirties. She had dark brown, nearly black hair tied in a bun. She had a small birthmark on her right cheek, and she was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt.
"Excuse me, but is this Table 9?" I asked the woman as I approached the table. She seemed slightly startled when I said that.
"Yes this is Table 9. My name is Firuza and I'm a manager for the teen programs that occur in the museum, you know, helping coordinate internships, volunteer hours and other stuff" The woman said.
"Hi Firuza, I'm Edwin, I work in the genetics lab as a researcher." I replied. This provoked an intrigued expression to form on her face.
"Genetic research? That's actually pretty interesting, I've always been curious about what goes on in the science divisions of the museum because I'm in the department responsible for setting up summer programs involving middle school and high school students. I was wondering about the specific research you guys do up there." Firuza said.
"Cool, so upstairs we are-" I was going to say before being interrupted by another voice.
"Hello Edwin, how are you doing?" A familiar voice said. I turned around to see it was Ma Tembo in her anthro elephant form with a gentle smile visible from her face.
"Oh hi Ma Tembo, I'm doing well, how about you?" I asked.
"I'm doing just fine, thank you. Hello Firuza." Ma Tembo said while gently turning her head towards Firuza as she sat down across from me.
"Hi Ma Tembo!" Firuza said. I then turned my head towards Ma Tembo, a little curious.
"Oh, I had no idea that you too knew each other." I said
"Oh yes, she helps me coordinate the teen programs that happen in our museum, helping me with some of my past interns and two of our interns from earlier this summer." Ma Tembo said.
"Cool." I said.
"Oh yeah, she has also helped coordinate the teen internships for mine and Makuus labs as well."Another voice sounded.
I turned to my left to find Kovu and Makuu in their anthropomorphic lion and crocodile forms, respectively as they approached the table to sit on the same side as Ma Tembo.
"Hi guys, how are you doing tonight?" I asked.
"I'm fine, just a little tired from work earlier today. How about you guys?" Kovu asked.
"I'm fine." Makuu said.
"I'm doing well." I replied.
"I'm well, just glad today's Friday." Ma Tembo said.
"So am I!" Kovu said as he and Makuu took a seat on the same side as Ma Tembo.
We had a light conversation about our days at work, another human woman approached and sat at our table, she looked to be in her early forties. She was wearing a blue and white short-sleeved blouse, wore glasses, had brown eyes and had long black hair that was in several braids which were all in a ponytail.
"Hello guys, I'm Camille. I work in the marketing department for the museum, it's nice to meet you guys. What are your guys' names and which department do you guys work for?" The woman said as she sat down.
"Hey Camille, I'm Edwin and I work in the genetics lab." I replied.
"I'm Firuza and I am a manager for the teen programs that occur in the museum, so I coordinate a bunch of theteen internships that occur in the museum." Firuza replied.
"My name is Ma Tembo, I am the lab manager for the genetics lab, so I work with Edwin." Ma Tembo said.
"I'm Makuu, I work in the fossil preparation lab ." Makuu said.
"And I'm Kovu, I work in the artifact conservation lab. I think we actually met before, I'm Kiara's husband." Kovu said.
"Oh yeah right, Kiara introduced me to you at the holiday party our department threw last year." Camille said.
"Yeah, that was a good party, and I hope you guys are throwing another one this year because if I could come as Kiara's guest again I would love to come." Kovu said.
"Sure no problem, but the party is going to be in December so none of us know the specifics of the party yet." Camille replied.
After a brief pause in conversation, I looked at the paper on the table that had the instructions of the activity with the group members' names on it.
"Okay guys, according to Rafiki, apparently this activity requires each person to ask one of their questions and take our turns asking each one. He said that each person's turn to ask a question is based on the alphabetical of the participants' last names. So Camille you go first, then Makuu, then me, then Kovu, then Ma Tembo and then Firuza. And then we go around the same order for each of our questions." I said.
"Okay Edwin, I'll go first...My first question is specifically for Kovu, Makuu and Ma Tembo, how did you guys first hear about job opportunities when applying to work here?" Camille said, reading off her sheet of paper.
"Well a couple of our friends, including me, Makini, Beshte and their assigned guide, already were living in Chicago during that time and about between nine years ago, Simba and Nala were looking for new employment opportunities after they finished their time at business school…." Ma Tembo said.
"And Rafiki, who was also already living here at the time, convinced them to try to find opportunities here. So they ended up moving from Modesto, California all the way to Chicago. Kiara and I were living in Los Angeles at the time, but couldn't go with them because we had to finish college there. Sometime after they moved, they both got jobs in the marketing and finance departments at the museum….." Kovu said.
"Then a year into the job, Simba had the idea of slowly recruiting former Pride Lands, Outlands and Tree of Life residents to work at the museum one by one when they are available. I think it took about a couple of years until almost all of the former Pride Landers came to the museum as they rode through the corporate ladders in their jobs, except for Vitani's friend Imara who still lives in Tanzania, and Rani did briefly work at the museum but after she ended her abusive marriage with Kion, she quit to become an elementary school teacher, and you already know how Nala quit. …." Makuu said.
"From what I can recall, I think Rafiki was the first one to follow Simba and Nala to the museum because he seemed to have absolutely hated his previous job. I started working at the museum almost a year after Rafiki joined because coincidentally, Simba was next door neighbors with my mentor at the time before they moved to Simba's current place." Ma Tembo said.
"Interesting, I think I actually remember when more of you guys started to join the museum because I worked here for nearly fifteen years and I actually remembered when Simba and Nala first started working at the museum." Camille replied.
"Neat, I've been working in the museum for like three years, but I remembered that Kovu, you were working alongside Dr. Maslow a lot before he retired." Firuza said.
"Oh yeah, Dr. Maslow! I remembered him, he's doing alright, he moved to Seattle with his wife." Kovu said.
"Cool, I've only been working here for only around three months, but I feel like I'm starting to know everyone a lot better compared to my first week here." I said.
"I agree with you, since your first week I felt that you have adjusted greatly here. All of us in the lab consider you almost as part of the family now. You're an incredibly intelligent person and a valuable member of our research team Edwin." Ma Tembo said.
"Thank you Ma Tembo, I really appreciate it." I replied.
"Yeah, also you are dating Jasiri now and whenever she mentions you during our work in the fossil lab or otherwise, she tells me nothing but good things about you. Trust me, you are very important to her." Makuu said with what looked like a small grin forming along his elongated jaw.
"I appreciate it, Makuu. Thank you" I said.
"And since it's my turn, this leads to my first question, which is actually specific for you Edwin. What is it like dating Jasiri? Because I've heard Jasiri's perspective on your guys' relationship, and I want to hear a little more about your perspective on your relationship." Makuu said.
"Damn it Makuu! That was going to be my first question! No fair! I guess I have to change that." Kovu said jokingly while rewriting his question on his paper.
"Well overall I really like her. She'a a great person to be with, she's intelligent, caring, generous, open-minded and sweet. I always enjoy being with her whether we are going out for dates or just sitting down and just talking to each though we've only been dating for like two or three weeks, I think our relationship is one of the most stable romantic relationships I ever had. I feel that I can talk to her about anything." I replied.
Makuu appeared to form that small grin on his face again. He seemed to be pleased by my answer.
"I'm glad to hear that you two's relationship seems to be going well. I wish you two nothing but the best in your future endeavors." Makuu said.
After Makuu said this, I saw that Ma Tembo and Kovu both had surprised looks plastered on their faces looking towards Makuu for a few seconds before turning back to me, Camille and Firuza.
"We're sorry about that, but it's pretty rare to see and hear Makuu say something positive about someone." Ma Tembo said.
"Trust me, if you guys met Makuu when we lived in the Pride lands, you wouldn't even recognize old Makuu from current Makuu." Kovu said.
"That's okay, no problem. Also thank you Makuu. I really appreciate that you are looking out for Jasiri and I." I replied.
"Not a problem…..But if you ever do anything to harm her…..you will be hearing from me because as you know, her last boyfriend Kion did not treat her well at all and he received a very obvious message from me in the form of a broken nose. Though I was unjustly suspended from work for two weeks for that, while her abuser only got a slap on the wrist, the bright side was that it got him to stay away from Jasiri. She is almost like a daughter to me since we first came to the human world and I would do anything to protect her. I really don't want you guys to go down the same path that she and Kion did because you seem and sound like a really nice guy and I just want Jasiri to be happy. Do you understand?" Makuu said changing his expression to a more serious one.
This made me a little nervous at first but I guess I can understand because of Jasiri's relationship to Makuu as like a father figure and Makuu doesn't weather to get hurt like she did with Kion, so I think his concern there is justified. Plus Jasiri tells me that it takes a while for Makuu to open up to anyone, but when you get to know him a little more, he has somewhat of a soft side.
"Yes I understand, I have no intentions of hurting Jasiri. I would also do anything to protect her if something comes up and if we ever have a disagreement, I'm more for talking things out rather than physical abuse." I replied calmly, after which Makuu flashed that small grin again.
"Good, glad to know that we are both on the same page." Makuu said while he extended his hand...or talons ...towards me.
I shook his hand and I noticed how dry and scaly his hand felt, but I guess that is what you expect an anthro hybrid crocodile's hand to feel like. I then looked back to my paper.
"Okay, I think it is my turn now, my first question is specifically for Ma Tambo. If you do not feel comfortable answering this question, you do not have to. My question is that since you were a full elephant at one time, how do you feel about those two taxidermic 'Fighting Elephants' that are on the main floor?" I asked and I started to get nervous because I was wondering whether or not that was an inappropriate question.
Ma Tembo started to raise her eyebrows a little bit, which made me more nervous.
"I'm so sorry if that is an inappropriate question, I can ask a different one if you want." I suggested.
"Oh don't worry Edwin, I know you don't have any negative intentions. So anyway, even when I have gotten used to knowing that the taxidermic elephants are at the museum, I still don't feel that comfortable when I pass by them, so when I enter the museum to or from work, I usually take the back stairs to go to or from the lab. Although I know that the specimens are from 110 years ago, I guess it just reminds me of some less than pleasant memories from my past. From Scar's reign, the drought and even from what I know about the atrocities some humans have made against wild animals. It really bothers me when I hear of stories about innocent animals being killed by some humans whether it's due to repercussions of their lost habitat, poachers seeking our ivory to make absolutely pointless trinkets and other stuff, or the barbarians who have the audacity to hunt innocent animals down for sport. Even though I know not all humans intentionally contribute to these things, I just hate that these things happen. I always feel uneasy whenever I walk past the old taxidermy animals that are around the museum. Even though I am fine with the fossilized or mummified animals since those deaths were mostly not caused by humans and those were thousands of years ago. Even though I know most of the taxidermied animal samples are from at least eighty years ago or before that, sometimes they still make me feel a little uneasy because they remind me of those memories and events. Edwin, Camille, and Firuza, I know that you, the rest of the humans in this room and many others in the world have no intention of harming animals. I guess sometimes seeing dead animals just gives me memories of some of the least pleasant points in my life….and also they remind me that I am also unintentionally part of the problem now with ecosystems being damaged by climate change. Though I know I do not have any intention in contributing to it, there are sometimes where I just feel guilty because there are some cases where I need to improve on trying to decrease my carbon footprint so that I can at least try to minimize my contribution to climate change and potentially try to control the impacts of it, even when I know there is no possible way to stop climate change completely." Ma Tembo said, with a serious yet slightly saddened expression on her face.
"I understand how you feel Ma Tembo, even when we try our best to try to control and minimize our own carbon footprints, there always the assholes who care more about money who never even care or listen to the rest of the world on the damage that has and will be done to this planet. And I admit, when it comes to taking care of the planet as an entire species, human beings do not have the best track record, and I apologize for anything I did that could have unintentionally contributed to my part in raising my own carbon footprint. I am sorry if I bothered you by asking this question. And I promise that I will try to make better long term goals for myself to be more sustainable as possible to try to reduce my carbon footprint" I replied.
"It's okay, I know you don't have any negative intentions, so you don't need to keep apologizing. I appreciate that you are at least making an effort to incorporate more sustainable practices in your life, I've been doing the same. Though sometimes it still bothers me the extent of how bad the climate change situation is right now when I read or hear about it." Ma Tembo said.
"Yeah, it bothers me too." I replied while nodding my head in agreement.
"Same here." Camille said.
"Me too." Kovu said, as Firuza and Makuu also nodded their heads.
"Okay, I think it's my turn to ask a question now. Since Makuu took my question about Edwin and Jasiri, l wrote down this new question for the human members of our group. So Edwin, Camille and Firuza, I'm sorry if this seems like a repeat of Camille's question to us, but I was wondering about what led you guys to getting jobs at the museum?" Kovu said, looking towards me and the two other humans.
"Well in my case, it started in 2004 and I used to work as a marketing assistant for the Chicago headquarters of a clothing company that had several stores nationwide. But then, the company got into some financial trouble and they ended up laying off many of their marketing staff, including me. So I was on the job search and after three weeks of searching and three failed interviews. I was searching through a computer for potential positions, and then I found a notice for an opening at the Field Museum. I was a little unsure of it because marketing for a museum was not really aligned with my experiences, but I was desperate so I went to the museum a few days later for the interview. Just to let you know, this was a few years before Simba and Nala started working at the museum, so there was a different CEO in charge. The interview went surprisingly well and a day or two later, I found out I got the marketing assistant job. Though it was a little hard to adjust at first, I eventually started to love working here since it was a completely different environment from my last job." Camille said.
"I understand how you feel about working here being a better environment than before, because that was one of the reasons why I quit my last job. Before three months ago, I used to work as a genetic researcher for Genico, a pharmaceutical company whose labs are in the Rogers Park neighborhood. It was essentially the first job I got after earning my PhD. After a while, I had to quit, mostly because it was just a toxic work environment there. Many of the other researchers, supervisors and management there actually did not really had the primary goal of conducting research that could potentially help people and expand our knowledge, all most of them cared about was mostly just getting research done in a way that could help them get a larger holiday bonus or focusing on research whose outcomes could be marketable in the future. When I left, I didn't miss it at all because it was a hyper-competitive environment, many of the people there were cliquey, management didn't care much about the actual research at all and I only really talked with one guy over there, and he wasn't that much better than the rest of the people there, sometimes I feel that he only talked to me because he felt pity for me. I applied to several places and the museum was the first to respond and eventually, I made it through the interviews and I got the research position here, and I never regretted accepting your offer Ma Tembo, this has been one of the most stable and inclusive work environments I have worked at. I've met some great people and I feel that the lab we have really helps nurture my sense of scientific curiosity, unlike the pharmaceutical lab I used to work at." I said.
"Well, three to four years ago, I used to work as an administrative assistant at a high school in the Near West Side, just outside of Greektown. Though I thought that job was fine, I started to want something different, plus I was saving up for a nicer apartment, so I was also looking for something that paid more than my job at the time. So I applied to multiple places including positions at other schools, but then on one of those job search sites, I found an opening as an internship coordinator at the Field Museum. When reading the job description, it seemed almost like a perfect match for me, even though the pay is only slightly above what the school offered me, I was able to make at least a little more money than I was paid at the time. So I went to the museum for the interview and after a few days of waiting for a response, I was surprised to learn I actually got the job. Even when I had helped manage paperwork involved for student internship applications from several students at the school I worked at, it was not my primary function. But as soon as I attended their orientation and began my first week, I started to get the hang of things around here." Firuza said.
"Well it's good to know that all of you are enjoying working here. I think it's my turn to ask a question. Okay, so Camille, since you have worked here longer than any of us in this table, what was the work environment in the museum's business sector like before Simba became CEO and how did it change after he did?" Ma Tembo said, turning towards Camille.
"Well during my first couple of years here, work in the business sector was pretty calm, relaxed and welcoming. The old CEO used to visit and check on us frequently and even brought desserts when we used to bring desserts for holiday parties. During their first few years of working here, Simba and Nala were incredibly nice and I helped them out on the job when they were first starting out. I have had absolutely no problem when they started convincing people from his former homeland to work in different departments of the museum, but as they rose through the ranks, Simba started to become more distant from us for some reason and he started to become a little more self-centered, though Nala was still nice when he became CEO, he started to warm up again over the first year or two...but then he relapsed into his arrogant and distant behaviors again. Although we still have holiday parties to try to maintain camaraderie, he is an obnoxious party guest and manages to get at least a little drunk every year at those parties. And recently after the divorce and Nala quit her job here, there was a noticeable change in his behavior. Instead of light conversations, he basically only gives us silence unless he is barking orders at us or criticizing us if he feels if we are not doing a good enough job for him. There has been times where I even thought about quitting, but I need this job because I have three kids I need to support, and even when my husband also works with his work as a sales representative, we both have a fair amount of student loan debt to payoff, along with bills, rent and the much needed progress for our kids' college funds, so I thought it is best I do not take a potential risk at the moment because what if it would be months before I find a job, it could cause more financial problems for our family. I guess there are some times where I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place because it's either staying in an uncomfortable work environment or potentially increasing the debt I already have." Camille said while a saddened expression started to form on her face.
The rest of us just sat there with both pensive and saddened expressions on our faces. We all felt bad about the situation that Simba is putting the employees in the marketing department. I had no idea that Simba's behavior had created that kind of work environment.
"I'm really sorry that your work environment has become that uncomfortable Camille, perhaps I can talk with either Kiara or contact Simba to try to convince him to take it easier on you guys. You guys do not deserve to work in an environment that makes you feel uncomfortable." Kovu said.
"Yeah, if you are having any particular emotional trouble, you can try to contact any of us if you are having a particularly bad day. Even though we work in completely different departments from one another, you can always contact us if you need to talk. I'll give you my phone number after this activity" Firuza said.
Ma Tembo, Makuu and I all nodded our heads and stated our agreements with Kovu and Firuza.
"Thank you guys, I really appreciate it." Camille said.
"No problem, Camille." Ma Tembo said.
"Okay, I think it is my turn to ask a question now, this is for Kovu, Makuu and Ma Tembo. Since you first started to live in the human world, what are your opinions on zoos or the concept of animals being kept in captivity by some humans?" Firuza asked.
We all raised our eyebrows in response, I had no idea how they were going to respond to that question. But I also was a little curious, what was their opinion on zoos and the concept of animals in captivity.
"Oh boy…" Kovu said.
"Here we go…" Makuu said.
"Don't even get us started on zoos! Don't worry, I know you were just curious and weren't trying to offend us. It's just that most of us, including myself, are not really fans of zoos and such." Ma Tembo said.
"Yeah, to me it's just sad seeing an animal who looked similar or exactly like ourselves back then being stared at like we have been in our hybrid forms since we first entered human society. And to add salt to the wound, they are in enclosures where they cannot really escape being stared at whether it is by spectators or by the zoo staff." Kovu said.
"It seems so degrading for many of those animals to be constantly put on display for humans to stare at. Many have stared at us in our hybrid forms, but at least we have the ability to escape to the privacy of our own homes. It feels saddening at another level when seeing these animals trapped in enclosures with no real sense of privacy." Makuu stated.
"Although, I can understand cases in which the animals are treated for injury, or if they were either at severe risks of poachers or are unable to thrive in their previous environment either due to some of the more extreme impacts of climate change. But otherwise, I am not really the biggest fan of zoos." Ma Tembo.
"I can understand where you are coming from. Even though I did enjoy the zoo when I was younger, but as I got older, I found parts of it kind of sad now when thinking that the animals spend all the time in those enclosures or exhibits. Even when I can understand some people have good intentions for the animals and some try to make the exhibits look more like the wild, but again it isn't really the same thing. Although I can understand for species who are threatened or are in situations Ma Tembo just said. It's also interesting to think that there are entire generations of those animals who have not even experienced life in their natural habitats." I said.
"That's another thing, there are generations of those animals in which being in those enclosures is the only life they know. Like there are generations of lions who have never experienced their first hunt, run around the savannah with fresh soil on their paws or get to bite through the skin of a fresh kill. It's not the same as a zookeeper giving them some meat samples that are who knows how many days old. Though I do understand that some zoos are trying to make a better effort in making the enclosures more like their natural habitats, but still, it isn't the same." Kovu said.
"Yeah, and many of the enclosures I've seen for crocodiles, caimans or alligators, they are nothing like the rivers, lakes, and watering holes I used to live in. Many of them don't even have fish that they could even try to catch, they just receive some meat that's probably stale." Makuu said.
"To answer the other part of your question Firuza, I am still trying to really make sense of the concepts of animals such as cats or dogs being owned by humans. There are many things that still do not make a lot of sense to me." Ma Tembo said.
"Yeah, sometimes I find it weird seeing dogs on leashes and collars. It makes me feel uncomfortable sometimes because it sometimes almost acts as if humans are imposing their will on them, though I can understand if it is a case in which they don't want the dog to potentially get hurt by a car if they run into a busy street or something like that. I also get confused when I see some people pass by walking their smaller dogs in a stroller. " Kovu said.
"Don't even get me started with dogs in strollers…." Makuu said as our group continued our discussion.
We soon discussed some of the other questions that we had in our individual lists and we got to learn a lot more about each other. For example, I learned from Kovu that his mother gave him the scar above his eye because she both blamed him for the death of his older brother and for abandoning her cause. I learned that Makuu actually used to be quite the troublemaker when he was a younger crocodile in the Pride Lands, but he was able to change in part due to the Pride Land royals. That was why he particularly felt betrayed by what became of Simba and Kion now because he felt that the ones who gave him a chance back then are now hurting him and others he cares about emotionally….physically in a few cases. From Ma Tembo, I have learned that she is a vegetarian because even when her human form is able to consume meat, she prefers not to eat meat because she could not really get used to it. Though she did try meat a couple of times, she prefers not to eat it because eating plants was mostly what she's been used to all of her life. I also learned that Camille is actually able to speak American Sign Language since one of her sisters is deaf, and that Firuza sometimes sends money to her cousins in Turkey.
We soon finished our discussion as the timer rang, we all walked back to the other room to find our assigned groups for the next activity.