The Zoo

                                            by David

I told the kids to stay where they were, and that I was going to the tiger exhibit.  So, I walked away from them.  But I realized that the zoo’s map was in the opposite direction of where I was going, so I had to walk past my kids again, which was a little embarrassing, but like I said before, this zoo is labyrinthine, so you want to look at a map to know where you’re going.  Because all the trails wind in and out of each other.  And the zoo is shady; there are lots of trees, so you can’t see around corners.  I didn’t want to get lost.  But walking in front of them was a little embarrassing all the same. 

Anyway, the zoo’s tigers were a long walk from the pavilion.

During my stroll to the tigers, I saw Dae-Ho, my student from Korea.  He was off the cement pathway, in the bushes atop Melanie Huggins, who had her shirt off and her eyes closed.  She looked pretty blissful, even though her eyes were shut.  Dae-Ho was struggling to get his pants down.  But, like I said, he was on top of her, so it looked like it was difficult for him to take his pants off.  It was sort of an awkward position to be taking your pants off in, but he was trying anyways.  And I can’t say I blame Dae-Ho.  For trying to take his pants off, that is.  I mean, I can’t blame him for trying to take his pants off and get with Melanie Huggins.  Because, after all, most of my kids are still a year too young to drive by themselves, and they don’t get much privacy at home.  And, I’ve always thought Melanie was a bit of a looker, and she wears really short skirts to class sometimes, so she’s kind of romantic in an erotic sort of way, even if she is fifteen and a little rude sometimes.

So I didn’t say anything at first, because the fern they were under was pretty big, and it was only because Dae-Ho had been struggling so much to take off his pants that I noticed the two kids at all, but then I saw Melanie’s nipple flash out for a moment, and I thought maybe if I didn’t say something I would look like a perv.  But, I couldn’t think of quite what to say, because I approve of love and love-making and all that, and they were being pretty discreet, and if they’re in love, who’s to say they shouldn’t make love?  Like I said, my kids don’t often get a lot of privacy at home, so they sort of need a place… School is about exploration and learning anyway, so I sort of didn’t know what to say.  But I didn’t want to feel like a perv, and Dae-Ho had gotten his pants off by now, and his penis came out, and I was just about to say something or go away, when Melanie opened her eyes and screamed. 

She started going into all these contortions, and she put her hands over her breasts, as if I hadn’t seen her nipple just a few moments ago, as if I had never seen a nipple in my life.  Though in Melanie’s defense, they’re all different, nipples, so once you see one you haven’t seen them all.  I mean, one nipple can be really different than the next nipple, some are really big nipples shaped like pepperonis, and others are small like dimes.  I remember having this conversation when I was in college, in the dorm room, and I was asking my Resident Assistant what kind of nipples his girlfriend had, and he said she had medium sized nipples, with little hairs growing around the areolas.  And I told him that I would like to see her nipples, but he said I was a fucking perv. 

Dae-Ho turned around and shouted, “You fucking perv!”

“God!  He’s got an erection!” screeched Melanie.

And wouldn’t you know it, my pants were bulging just the tiniest bit.  It sort of pissed me off that she would make a mountain out of a mole hill like that, because it was just a tiny erection, not a full-blown hard-on, and like I said before, Melanie Huggins was hot in a juvenile sort of way, and not all nipples are alike.  So, it sort of pissed me off, because I’m the teacher, and those two were making a big deal out of a very human mistake.

“I’m the teacher,” I said, putting the didactic gravel into my voice.  “And you shouldn’t be making love in the bushes.  It’s not right.”

“Whatever,” said Melanie.  “You’re a fucking perv.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, because it certainly looked like I was being pervy, even though I was actually being indecisive.  So, I told them, “Look, I approve of love and love-making and all of that, and if you two are in love, then you should make love, because you don’t have much privacy at home.  But you can’t tell anyone, because you’re probably not supposed to have sex on a school field trip, even though I don’t think there’s a rule specifically against that.”

“The moment is ruined for me,” said Melanie, her left hand over her breasts.  “Would you please turn around while I put on my bra?”

“I’m going to the tiger exhibit anyway,” I said.  “I was just passing through.”

“This is so Twilight Zone,” said Dae-Ho. 

Dae-Ho grew up in America, so he knows those kinds of things.  I don’t think he’s ever been to Korea.  As far as I know, his parents are legitimately Korean, but he’s not.  I resumed walking to the tiger exhibit. 

When I got to the tiger exhibit, Mike was there, and he and two of his friends—Will and Dontrelle—were trying to feed undersized Carlos to the tigers.  There were two tigers, and there was a tall chain link fence around the pen.  The tigers were sitting on their haunches, and their tails were flicking.  They looked excited.  The tigers looked excited, not the tiger’s tails.  The tigers were watching Mike, Will, and Dontrelle, who seemed to have beaten Carlos up, and who were giggling madly about it.  They were climbing the fence with Carlos between them, and it looked like they were going to throw him over the fence if they could.  It seemed like they had waited until there was no one else around.  It seemed like that because I couldn’t see anyone else. 

Anyway, Mike, Dontrelle, and Will, were getting to the top of the fence.  Carlos was trying to struggle so much that he looked like a flopping fish.  At first, I hadn’t believed Judy when she said that Mike Thomas was planning to throw Carlos to the tigers, but now it seemed as if Mike and his friends were very close to doing it.  I thought that I should stop them, because I’m the teacher, and there has to be some sort of rule about students throwing other students into tiger pits.  I mean, there’s probably not a rule specifically against the act of classmates throwing other classmates in with wild animals, because the high school doesn’t have rules for all the field trips, but there is probably some sort of rule that the case would fall under.  I couldn’t think of it right offhand, so I kind of wondered if the rule fell under, “Bullying,” but I had already talked to Mike about bullying before, and I even gave him a pack of smokes to quit bullying people.  He said he would quit bullying, too, so I didn’t think that Mike was actually bullying Carlos, unless Mike went back on his word to me, which fifteen year olds are sometimes prone to do.  Anyway, at that moment, Mike, Dontrelle, and Will tossed Carlos over the fence, and the sound Carlos made when he hit the dirt reminded me of the sound of a raw steak falling onto linoleum.  The tigers pounced on him, and one of the tigers ripped Carlos’ arm off.  The other tiger bit into Carlos’ chest.  There was a lot of screaming, and some strange sucking noise as if air was escaping from punctured lungs.  It was pretty painful to watch.  The scene. The scene was pretty painful to watch, not the lungs.  I couldn’t actually see Carlos’ lungs.  Carlos was back in his flopping fish routine, but really the initial attack was over already.  It was pretty quick.  The tigers seemed to be sort of playing with Carlos right now.

I noticed that a few zookeepers were beginning to swarm the scene.  One of them even bumped in to me as he raced by, but that was okay, because I don’t mind being bumped around a little if the other person is in a hurry.  I figured I needed to say something to Mike, Will, and Dontrelle, because what they did to Carlos seemed out of line.  I needed to assert some authority in the situation, but as I looked around, I noticed that a huge mass of people had suddenly gathered in front of the tiger pit, and zoo keepers were inside the pen with the tigers.  I wondered a little to myself if more time had passed than what I had thought, because there were probably a hundred people, and some of those were my own students.  But I couldn’t see Mike, Will, and Dontrelle anywhere.  I guess they probably slipped off into some shady area, or disappeared down some other trail, and I supposed it might take a while to find them because, like I’ve said before, the zoo is labyrinthine.

 

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