Pride

by William Wharton

  The man fumbles with the latch, the locking bar on the door, the swinging shutter. Tuffy watches. Then the man pushes the door open and starts running away along the boardwalk away from the Wall of Death. He’s running for help, running for his life.

  Tuffy steps out the door. It’s a lovely evening. He stands there a moment and then turns toward the Wall of Death. He sees his cage and tries to get inside, but the door is closed. He paces back and forth between the Wall of Death and his cage several times. Where’s Cap?

  He stands there, first grunts, coughs, then growls. He expands his chest and gives the loud proud roar of a lion searching for his pride, a lion letting other lions in his pride know where he is or defending his territory. This roar can be heard a mile away. The few people on the boardwalk hear it and turn. There is a scampering left and right as people dash to escape.

  Tuffy sees something large and colorful turning off to his left. It’s the merry-go-round. He starts padding toward it. It’s going around in circles the way motorcycles he knows so well go around inside the Wall of Death; perhaps Cap will be there.

  Dick and Laura Kettleson are sitting on a bench next to the railing separating the boardwalk from the beach. They’re about twenty yards from the merry-go-round on which Dickie and Laurel are enjoying a ride. Cannibal is in her box beside them on the bench. Again, the two children are about the only ones on the merry-go-round. They have outside animals going up and down on brass rails. Every time they come around, they wave and Laura waves back at them. Dick is too involved talking to Laura about plans for his Snappy Service Fix-it Shop. Both of them are involved, so that, with the noise of the merry-go-round, they have not heard Tuffy’s roar or noticed the sudden absence of strollers on the boardwalk.

  “You know that printer up on Long Lane, Laura, I’ll bet I could offer him some work in exchange for having advertisements printed up. Dickie could go around the neighborhood putting them under doors or on people’s porches. We’d write out all the things we can do and the phone number so they could call or just come around in the alley to the shop. We’d have to put in a phone for sure; it’d be one of our business expenses.

  “You know I never thought about it before, Laura, but there’s no one around there who does that kind of work; we wouldn’t have any competition at all. When we got a little bit ahead, we could start running a little ad every week in the Upper Darby News. That should bring in some customers and it wouldn’t cost too much.”

  Laura waves; she still doesn’t notice the quietness on the boardwalk, or the lion, who is now visible at about seventy-five yards, strolling slowly, semi-stalking the merry-go-round. Tuffy might have vague stirrings in his mind as to the appearance of these, his natural prey, giraffes, zebras, horses.

  Laura waves again at Laurel. The children don’t notice the lion, both because they’re turning and because every time they come around to this side they look over at their mother.

  “Dick, I’m sure they’ll let us put a little notice up on the bulletin board at church, too. A lot of people from our parish keep an eye on these bulletin boards looking for jobs. That way we can get some of the East Lansdowne crowd, too. Those people have more money and things to break down than we do around our way.”

  Dick looks up to see the children; the merry-go-round has started to slow down. He sees that the boardwalk is empty. Then he looks to his left and sees the lion. Following about a hundred yards behind Tuffy is a group of police and other armed men, closing in on him. Dick is stunned. He looks at Laura and she stiffens. He takes hold of her hands.

  “What is it, Dick?”

  “That lion is on the boardwalk! You do just what I tell you and I’ll go over to look after the kids.”

  He grabs Laura by both arms and lifts her out of the bench and over the rail of the boardwalk. He hands Cannibal in her box to her.

  “You hold on right there and stay perfectly still. If that lion comes near you, drop down to the sand. You won’t hurt yourself. Whatever happens, don’t move or make a sound!”

  “But, Dick! What’re you going to do?”

  “I’ve got to keep that merry-go-round going round. So long as it’s moving I think the kids are safe.”

  Dick turns before Laura can say anything more. He moves cautiously but quickly toward the merry-go-round. Tuffy is already there and watching the animals go past, taking swipes now and then at the leg of a horse or other animal. Dick comes to within five yards of the lion. Tuffy doesn’t pay any attention. Dick sees the man who runs the merry-go-round. He’s on the other side loosening the straps from a little girl, ready to lower her off her ride. The merry-go-round is slowing, almost coming to a stop.

  Dick yells: “Hey, you! Get this thing going again! There’s a lion over here and we’ll all be safe as long as we’re moving.”

  The man looks up, his cigarette drops from his mouth. He runs and jumps off the other end of the merry-go-round, runs out that end of the boardwalk.

  Dick hops up onto the slowing merry-go-round, dashes through the wooden animals to the master control switch. He turns it on, pushes forward the lever engaging the merry-go-round to the motor. It starts going around again. He runs over to the little girl who’s sitting on a camel; Dick lifts her onto one of the inside animals.

  “Now, you hold on tight till I come get you!”

  He dashes out to where Dickie and Laurel are only two animals apart. Tuffy has reared back on his hind legs and is taking swipes again at the animals as they speed past. Dick unbuckles Laurel from her horse, moves her to the inside of the merry-go-round, puts her on a zebra.

  “You stay right here! I’ll come get you in a few minutes.”

  He runs back to Dickie. Dickie has seen the lion and what he’s doing. He’s pulled his leg out of the outside stirrup and is holding on to the inside of his horse, leaning away from Tuffy.

  “That’s a good boy, Dickie! I think that lion is only playing, but he might hurt you by mistake.”

  Dick lifts him off and moves him onto another inside animal.

  “You stay here! If that lion gets on the merry-go-round and comes toward you, try shimmying up this pole here onto those supporting boards there. O.K.?”

  Dickie nods. “What about Laurel, Dad, and where’s Mom?”

  “Mom’s fine, I’ll take care of Laurel if anything happens. Most of all keep your eyes open. I think you’re safe here. I’m going to keep a watch on that lion.”

  Dick then goes in and pulls out the long iron bar that slides into the slot to engage or disengage the merry-go-round. He works his way to the edge, where he can see Tuffy, still striking at the animals, retreating, then advancing, making quick charges as the animals go past. Dick stands there with the six-foot-long metal bar in his hand, wondering what he can do.

  He yells out to the crowd behind the lion:

  “For heaven’s sake, don’t shoot! There are kids on this merry-go-round! Somebody get around to the other side and I’ll pass them off to you.”

  Just then, Cap breaks through the mob, which has now stopped about twenty-five yards from Tuffy. They’ve formed a line across the entire boardwalk so Tuffy can’t break through. But they’re nervous; if Tuffy turns and even looks as if he’s charging, they’re liable to break out firing. Because of the music from the merry-go-round, Dick can’t be sure if they’ve heard him; also Tuffy is now roaring. Dick sees Cap running toward the lion.

  Cap comes up behind Tuffy. He’s not sure how Tuffy will react. He calls:

  “Tuffy, you bad lion, what are you doing?”

  Tuffy turns at the sound of Cap’s voice. Cap stares into his eyes. Then, gradually he turns away his eyes, his head. Tuffy stares back almost as if he doesn’t comprehend. He puts his tail down and comes, sidewise, toward Cap until he’s close. He brushes his face, his nose against him. Cap reaches down and rubs under Tuffy’s ear with one hand. With the other he makes motions to the crowd behind him to hold back, disperse.

  He grabs Tuffy by the mane and leads him lik
e a very tame dog back toward the Wall of Death. The mob separates, giving him plenty of room. Then it follows on behind, ready to shoot if the lion makes a false move, but Tuffy is happy now. He’s found Cap. He’s going to be fed.

  Cap leads Tuffy to his cage and opens the door, Tuffy leaps gratefully back behind his bars. Cap slips the lock into the hasp and turns to meet the advancing mob. Murph comes forward.

  Back at the merry-go-round, Dick has put the lever into its slot again and slowed down the machine, then turned it off. He lifts the little girl down but there doesn’t seem to be anyone waiting for her.

  “Where’s your mommy and daddy, honey?”

  “They aren’t here. I came myself. Gee, wasn’t that a nice long ride?”

  “You run along home now and tell your mommy and daddy you shouldn’t be out alone.”

  “I don’t have a daddy, I only have a mommy, so there.” She sticks out her tongue, turns and runs.

  Dick goes across to Laurel and Dickie, helps them off.

  “You kids were wonderful. Now let’s go get Mother and hope she hasn’t fallen onto the sand.”

  They jump off the merry-go-round and Dick dashes across to lift Laura over the fence again. She holds on to him.

  “Oh God, Dick! I never prayed so hard, not even when I was having the kids. You were wonderful.”

  “I wasn’t so hot. You saw how dangerous that lion was. The guy just took him by the mane and dragged him off as if he was a naughty dog who’d spoiled the rug. I think Cannibal is probably more dangerous than that lion.”

  “Oh, Dick! Don’t be silly. Not now, please!”

  Then Laura gives big hard hugs to both the children. Laurel has started crying with Laura, mostly out of sympathy and shared emotion; she doesn’t exactly realize what’s happened. Dickie is quiet. He’s wondering what’ll happen to the lion now.

  “Dad, I think I was more scared of all those men with guns than I was of the lion. The lion was only sort of playing, the way Cannibal does, but those men all had guns. It would just take one of them to start shooting and we’d be dead.”

  “I think you’re right there, Dickie. They had me awful worried, too. Come on, let’s go see if they’ve got that lion in his cage O.K.”

  “Oh, Dick, do we have to? Hasn’t it all been bad enough? Let’s just drop down into town from the boardwalk here and get to our room that way.”

  “Gee, Mom. I want to see the lion. He’ll be in his cage and safe. Aw, come on, Mom.”

  “How about if Dickie and I go look at the lion while you and Laurel go on home? We’ll be there soon and maybe we can even go out to a restaurant and celebrate tonight, celebrate our new business and my quitting J.I. Boy, am I ever going to enjoy giving them two weeks’ notice.”

  Laurel starts pulling on Laura’s arm.

  “Gee, Mom. Let’s go look at the lion. He can’t hurt us now if he’s in his cage. Can’t I go, too?”

  “All right, all right, but if we get eaten up, remember, you’re the ones who wanted to go see him, not me.”

  Dickie takes hold of Dick’s hand.

  “Oh, I’m not worried. Daddy can take care of any old lion; did you see him with that iron bar? He could’ve knocked that lion’s head right off if he had to. You should’ve seen him with that stingray; he went clear down near that stinging tail and cut the hook right out of his mouth.”

  “Ah, come on, Dickie; don’t exaggerate. I was scared to death both times. But there’s no danger here. If there were any trouble, people wouldn’t just be milling around.”

  The Kettlesons head toward the crowd.

  The cage is surrounded. Tuffy is pacing back and forth, waiting for Cap to feed him. There’s murmuring from the crowd.

  One heavy man in rubber boots, a sheepskin coat, and a peaked leather cap, carrying a double-barreled shotgun, shouts out:

  “We oughta put that guy in there with that lion till the lion gets so hungry it eats him the way it did his buddy. That’s what I say.”

  Two young boys are right up close behind the police surrounding the cage:

  “Look at them teeth. I’ll bet he could bite right through your head and never even feel it.”

  “Yeah, just a crunch and that’s it.”

  A man with his wife, both local residents:

  “I’m sure glad to see that SOB is in his cage. Now all they have to do is get it out of town and keep it out. That damned animal’d wake me up most every night with his roaring; like living in Africa or somethin’.”

  His wife:

  “I think they oughta just shoot it and get it over with. Look at them eyes. He’s a maneater all right. He can never be tamed again. None of us are safe long’s that animal’s alive. He sure has the right name. ‘Satan the Dare-Devil Lion.’ He’s a devil all right.”

  “You’re right there, lady. If one of us killed somebody like that we’d get the chair. Why should a lion be any different? He’s a public enemy like Dillinger or Baby Face Nelson. I say shoot it and let’s get this over with.”

  Cap and Murph are close to the cage. Cap has his arm in the cage trying to console, calm Tuffy. Tuffy keeps coming up to his arm, rubbing against it but then pacing. He’s hungry, wants Cap to feed him.

  “Look, Cap. I’ve done everything I can. I’ve even called the zoo in Philadelphia. They say they don’t have any place for a ten-year-old male lion that’s been kept as a pet like this. They don’t want him. They couldn’t even tell me what else to do, where else to go. I called the SPCA and they acted as if I was crazy. They’re not prepared to dispose of an animal this size.”

  Cap has his head down listening to Murph. He’s trying not to cry in front of the crowd.

  Dickie has worked his way up to just behind the police line. He keeps his eye on Tuffy, sure that Tuffy will somehow remember him. He listens to Murph and Cap.

  “There’s nothing else to do, Cap. We have to shoot Tuffy. Listen to those people. There’s no way you could ever use him in an act again. The commissioner’d never have it; it’d be worth my job. You can’t pay to ship him back to Africa even if they’d let you.”

  “He’d die in a week or even days in Africa, Murph. I keep trying to tell you he doesn’t know how to hunt. He has no pride, no family; he’d die of starvation. I don’t know why he killed Jimmy, but he didn’t touch that Chinaman and did you see him with that merry-go-round? Any alley cat could do better than that. He doesn’t know how to hunt and I can’t feed him any more.”

  There’s a long pause. Dickie looks from one face to the other, from Tuffy to Murph to Cap Modig. Cap turns and looks at Tuffy.

  “Murph, could you let me do it? I know how to handle a forty-five. That’s all I ask, let me do it; it’s the least I owe him. Clear these people back in case there’s a ricochet.”

  Murph looks at Cap. He motions the other police back. He unhooks the flap on his holster, pulls out his pistol, checks the load, snaps it shut.

  “The safety’s on, Cap. Do it fast before there’s any scene, and make it right between the eyes.”

  He turns away, motioning with his hands.

  “O.K., everybody back. We don’t want anybody getting hurt.”

  Dickie breaks through; he’s slipped past the other police. Murph grabs him by the arm with the box and Cannibal in it. “Where you think you’re going there, young feller?”

  Dickie’s crying. Dick is struggling to get through to him but is held back by police. Murph grabs hold of Dickie hard.

  “We’ve got to do it, sonny. There’s no other way. All these other people want him killed and there just isn’t any place for him any more. Come on, you stay with me.”

  Cap Modig reaches in and strokes Tuffy’s muzzle. Tuffy licks Cap’s wrist with his rough tongue. Cap steps back with Tuffy staring him right in the eyes. He’s not afraid; this is his friend, Cap.

  Cap raises the pistol and flips off the safety. He sights down the dark blue barrel between Tuffy’s soft, open, amber eyes, the pupils wide in the waning light. Cap pu
lls the trigger and holds the gun tight on target so he sees the dark red hole appear directly between the eyes and the slight jolt backward of Tuffy’s head as his four hundred pounds absorb the shock from the .45-caliber slug. There’s the noise and then the smell of cordite. Cap lowers the gun.

  Tuffy stands a moment, shakes his head, grunts, coughs, staggers, then slowly, gently settles onto his left side.

  Cap puts the safety back on and turns. He gives the pistol to Murph. He’s crying openly.

  “Is it O.K. if I dispose of him myself, Murph? I’ll take him inland into the pine barrens and bury him there.”

  “That’s O.K. with me, Cap. I’m really sorry about all this, especially about Tuffy.”

  “There was no other way. It’s not your fault.”

  Murph’s still holding on to Dickie. Dickie has Cannibal clasped to his breast. He wants to edge up close to the cage so Cannibal can visit Tuffy one more time.

  Just then, Sally breaks through the crowd, through the police. It’s started drizzling. The crowd is beginning to disperse. She runs up to the cage.

  “Oh no! Oh no! Poor Tuffy.”

  She turns on Murph.

  “Why’d you have to shoot him? Couldn’t he go in a zoo somewhere? He never wanted to hurt anybody.”

  Murph shakes his head. Cap turns Sally toward him by the shoulders.

  “Murph didn’t shoot him, Sally; I did. There was nothing else to be done. All this is finished. When you think about it everything was wrong. It was wrong for Tuffy, for you, for me, even for Jimmy and the crowds. We were all somehow fooling with something that’s too important.”

  “Oh, Cap. I’m so sorry; sorry for everything.”

  “I am, too, Sal.”

  Cap takes her in his arms and holds her as a light rain starts. He leans and whispers in her ear.

  Sally holds Cap tightly and cries harder.

  Dickie breaks away from Murph. He runs past his parents down the boardwalk. He has Cannibal still clasped against his breast. He’s running fast and crying so hard he can hardly breathe. As he runs, the lights lining the boardwalk come on. The rain has begun to cover the boards with a slick surface of water so the light shimmers.