Samuel paced back and forth in the bright morning sun at the entrance of the World of Darkness. He was thrilled that Eliza had asked him if he wanted to meet her at the Bronx Zoo and spend the rest of the day there after she finished her shoot. It was so kind of her to include him. Samuel hoped Eliza wasn’t just feeling sorry for him. Pity-dating was not what he had in mind.
The warmth of her mouth as she had returned his kiss last night by the swimming pool had not been rooted in sympathy, he was sure of it. There had been an urgency to it. Samuel felt he could have pushed for more. Though he desperately wanted to go further with Eliza, he didn’t think it would be wise. It was too early.
He spied Eliza and two skipping children rounding the path. Three men followed, laden with camera gear. Several yards behind were two more men. The security detail, Samuel surmised. Eliza kissed Samuel lightly on the cheek.
“Good morning.” She greeted him with a smile. “I realized after you left last night that I should have told you to meet us later. I hope you won’t be bored stiff while we get our work done.”
“Not at all,” Samuel protested. “I’m very interested in seeing how the television-news world works.”
Eliza turned to the others and made introductions.
“You already know Janie, and this is her friend, James.”
Samuel bent down to shake the boy’s hand.
“And this is producer Keith Chapel, cameraman B.J. D’Elia and soundman John Dolan.”
“Getlemen,” Samuel nodded. Hands were shaken all around. Samuel noticed that Eliza ignored the security men.
“What did you want to do first, Keith?” Eliza asked.
“I thought it would be good if we went inside and took a look at the exhibit while the crew sets up out here. We can ask people what they thought of the bats when they come out.”
“Fine. Let’s go.” Eliza walked back to the security men and suggested they wait outside. She didn’t need them hovering over them inside. It would ruin the experience for the kids.
This was really too good to be true.
Meat mingled among the other visitors and watched as Eliza and her retinue gathered in front of the World of Darkness. He knew the exhibit well. He had been here dozens of times before, in his quest to learn all he could about bats. The zoo offered all sorts of hands-on educational programs. It was here in the Bronx that he had first held a little brown bat in his own hands.
The juxtaposition of his two passions, right before his eyes, was unbearably exciting.
Look at Eliza! Could those jeans be any tighter?
Five pairs of eyes squinted, adjusting from the bright daylight to the pitch-black of night as the three adults and two children entered the World of Darkness pavilion. The sprawling room was designed to re-create a nightlike environment that would coax out of hiding various species of the animal kingdom that otherwise would never have been seen. Janie and James squeezed Eliza’s hands with trepidation at first, but within minutes they broke away, running to the glass cases that lined the walls.
“What are these, Mommy?”
Eliza read the dimly lighted plaque at the base of the window and grimaced as she stared at the subterranean world behind the glass. “Naked mole rats.” Pale, bald, tubular creatures huddled together in masses in their tunnels. Janie and James were mesmerized as they pressed their faces to the glass.
Just walk in calmly with all the others.
Meat sauntered right past the security guards and the camera crew, up the ramp and into the World of Darkness.
It didn’t take long for his eyes to get adjusted.
“Janie, James! Don’t run off,” Eliza commanded. “Stay with me.”
The children had beelined to the next window.
“Ewww! Bats!” Eliza heard Janie’s voice.
“Cool!” exclaimed James.
It took awhile to make them out, but Eliza, Keith and Samuel stared right along with all the other visitors at the thick clusters of dark bats that hung from the tree limbs. From time to time, one of the bats would spread its wings, revealing its distinctive, eerie silhouette.
It was more than Meat could take.
Eliza was standing right in front of the bats. The two guys and the little kids were with her and there were other visitors in the large, dark room, but he could contain himself no longer.
Eliza held back for just a minute as the others moved on, rereading the information on the mounted plaques. She felt the warmth of a hand against her neck and at first she found it surprising yet pleasing, thinking Samuel might be reaching out to her in the darkness, like a high-school kid at the movies with a date. But as the voice whispered hotly into her ear, Eliza instinctively recoiled in fear.
“Why do you insist on dressing like a slut? Learn from these bats and be a good example for your daughter.”
“Mommy, Mommy! Come see this.” Eliza could hear Janie’s voice in the split second it took for her to scream out.
In the shadowy darkness, Samuel and Keith found her and wrestled Meat to the floor.