CHAPTER 4: AND MONKEY MAKES FOUR

 – Continuing the story of my pets, Bobby & Maria

Bobby, and to a lesser extent, Maria, continued  to be my constant companion. As my youngest sister Pam grew up, she would occasionally join me  as I explore the hills and the river. But being a girl, her interest was somewhat muted.

One day she joined me on a visit up the hill to Or Ba’s durian estate. There we shared a durian for 30 cents and it was good. It became better for a tiny little monkey, apparently orphaned, was shrieking at us. It was so tiny, so cute and mischievous looking, both of us wanted it. Or Ba agreed to part with it for $5.

Had a  quick discussion with Pam and I think she came up with slightly less than half of the $5, and me, being the elder brother, coughed up my entire fortune to make up the $5. And we walked home with a new addition to the family in tow.

My parents were indulgent in that sense. They allowed me to have my way most of the time. My father bought a dog  chain and a dog’s collar so that when needed, Mickey (that was his name) could be restrained. I didn’t like that one bit but was told that otherwise, he might run back to the hills.

Bobby and Maria took to Mickey, again more Bobby than Maria. Over the few years that we had Mickey with us, it was Bobby who helped look after Mickey. She would allow Mickey to ride on her back, with  one end of the dog chain secured to her body and the other end attached to Mickey’s collar. And that was how the four of us, minus Kittie who never joined us in our outings, went about saving the world.

But Mickey outgrew all that very fast. Still very attached to me, he would sometime screamed for me at night and that was when I had to give up my warm bed, sleep on the sofa in the living room, secure his dog chain to the window bars so that he could come and snuggle up to me whenever he wanted.

I allowed Mickey to roam free most of the time and became confident that  he would never leave me for his natural habitat. For example, we would go to the river together. When I was ready to go home, sometimes Mickey would refuse to budge. He even ignored me. So I decided to test him – and walked away leaving him in the water. I was soon   about 300 yards from the river. He jumped out of the water, stood on a rock and jumped up and down, screaming and screeching, as if scolding me for leaving him behind. It was almost comical. But at the same time, like a spoilt kid, he refused to budge, insisting that I go back to fetch him! Finally, I  gave in and went back to fetch him. He  would stand on my shoulder as we make our way back home but he would continue to screech relentlessly, obviously  still angry at me.

Mickey had a  destructive streak in him – when not tied to his chain, he goes crazy. He would climb up the trees and help himself to the guavas, for example, taking a bite or two of each fruit and then throwing it away. Or he would sneak into our neighbor’s and played with their toothbrush and toothpaste, and the aunties would start shouting my name. Secretly, I enjoyed those little pranks.

Sometimes to keep him entertained, I would just leave him with a pail of water. He would climb in and out, and sometimes make faces at me as peered up at me with his face fully submerged.

Unfortunately, a sad incident resulted in my deciding to give up Mickey. My elder brother had been persuading to give him away, saying monkeys bring bad luck. I refused, even though he tried to bribe me with a set of Parker pens. Till one fateful day.

I was carrying his daughter, my niece, who was probably 3 or 4. Mickey was riding on Bobby’s back. He had never seen me carry any little ones before and he went berserk with jealousy. He was not leashed to Bobby –  he jumped off her back and came right at Swee Khuan and started attacking her. I was momentarily stunned and it took me a few seconds before I reacted. I pulled him away from my niece who by then was screaming in fear. She suffered scratches and some bites. To show my displeasure, I took Mickey about 200 yards away and threw him into the bushes. Then I ran off, half-heartedly. The minute it started crying out for me, my heart softened. How could I leave him to fend for himself? What would happen to him if it rained or snakes……I went back to him and he ran towards me, jumped up and wrapped himself tightly around me.

Three days later, he was given away to a Malay family whom I knew. I had agreed to the arrangement. They were to take Micky after I had left for school that day. I came home from school that day, had my late lunch and took Bobby with me to the river. And there, hidden from everyone except Bobby I cried. Bye, bye Mickey!