Lucy on the Wild Side by Kerry Rea

Author:Kerry Rea [Rea, Kerry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2022-09-13T00:00:00+00:00

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Even though Keeva is cuter than all the world’s puppies combined, life isn’t all sunshine and roses. There’s still the little matter of the cameras, and the only way I can cope is to ignore them completely. When Kai and his crew show up to shoot, I pretend that I’m wearing an invisibility cloak, and while it’s probably not the most promising tactic to ensure good TV, I haven’t yet fainted or embarrassed myself and everyone in my vicinity by rambling about bonobo sex habits.

Besides, Kai wasn’t entirely wrong. I’m about as likely to get comfortable with the cameras as the kids from It are to get comfortable with Pennywise the dancing clown, but it is easier to be less cognizant of their presence when I’m focused on my work. When he says, “Camera two, ready!” and motions for Skippy to line up his shot, I still get a heart-pounding, fluttery-bones sensation that makes me dizzy. But if I look at Keeva and focus on the feel of her soft fur and the breathy snoring noises she makes when she sleeps, I can ward off a panic attack.

A week after Keeva’s arrival, Phil gives me the okay to move the female gorillas from Ozzie’s troop—Zuri, Tria, and Inkesha—into the “bedroom” next to Keeva’s nursery. The mesh barrier separating the spaces will let the girls smell, see, and hear Keeva and even reach through it to touch her without getting close enough to cause injury.

Hopefully.

“Okay, ladies,” I say, marching back and forth in front of Tria, Zuri, and Inkesha with a bucket of protein biscuits. “If we give you these treats, you have to promise that you’ll be nice to Keeva. And I mean all of you.”

I side-eye Inkesha, who’s the orneriest of the bunch. “Especially you.”

“Keeva is a tiny baby,” Lottie explains as the gorillas stare at us blankly. “She needs your help. She needs a mommy.”

Tria, ignoring her daughter Piper’s attempts to grab a fistful of lettuce from her hand, grunts as if to say I don’t give a fuck who needs a mommy; I need those biscuits. Inkesha crosses her arms over her chest and scratches her armpits. Zuri grabs a handful of hay and places it on top of her head like a sun hat.

“God help us,” Lottie whispers.

Jack and Phil wait with Keeva in the nursery as Lottie and I prepare to open the gate to allow the girls into the bedroom. My heart pounds so loudly that I swear I can hear it over the sound of Keeva smacking her ball against Jack’s head. What if none of the gorillas show interest in her? Worse, what if they feel threatened and try to reach through the mesh and rip her to shreds? What if I fail in my mission to usher her into the troop, and she moves from zoo to zoo forever, unloved and alone?

“It’s go time,” Phil says over the walkie-talkie system, and I push away my doubts and wait for Lottie’s signal.

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