I Am Not Uptight!

The Zoo part 6

As previously stated, there was the dolphin show, then lunch—where everyone barely ate because they had just eaten snacks—and then there was the tour. It was a group tour that Jane had arranged for them—one of the perks of working in the zoo and being friends with some of the guides.

Wells suddenly “had to go” and so he left before the tour even started. He seemed to be in a hurry—which no one thought anything weird of, except for Dustin who had a rough idea of why he was leaving. Nevertheless, he didn’t try to speak about what he saw again. Not because Wells gave him a warning look before he left—definitely, definitely not that—but simply because it wasn’t his business.

So, there the four of them were, included in a group of ten led by a guide who Gary basically revered. He listened so well, answered many questions (even the rhetorical ones), and even joined the mini lectures by unnecessarily stating another factoid—that it was like watching him become a teacher's pet. It had only been a week or so, but Josh could barely believe his memory of Gary acting like a tough guy during their first meeting.

It came to a point that whenever the tour guide, Mr. Pritch, asked, “Who’d like to volunteer?” Gary's hand was always the first one in the air. It had been that way since they were asked who wanted to feed a giraffe, put a falcon on his or her arm, and throw a huge chunk of meat for the lions. So, it went without saying that when Mr. Pritch asked the group who wanted to “meet" a monkey called Marshall up front, Gary was exclaiming, “I do, I do!” as if he hadn’t done it a couple of times before in his many visits to the zoo.

Dustin rolled his eyes, dying of boredom. Josh only watched quietly with interest. He had appreciated the tour, but he would rather leave all the participating to everyone but himself. Daniel, too, seemed to be enjoying everything, but that was until they reached this part of the tour. As soon as monkeys were brought up, he suddenly stuck to the group instead of occasionally walking around and looking through glass walls. 

“I love your enthusiasm, Gary,” Mr. Pritch said with a patient smile, “but we should also let the others experience the beauty of our lovely friends.”

Gary sighed and put his hand down, clearly dismayed, but only for a second before his face lit up again and with an excited smile, asked, “How about Joshy, then?”

What he said didn’t register to Josh for a second until Mr. Pritch and the rest of the group were looking at him.

“Joshy, is it? How about it?” Mr. Pritch waved him to come over. 

He blinked a few times, finally realizing what was happening. “It’s just Josh, actually,” he found himself responding under the pressure, but his feet didn’t move forward.

Mr. Pritch nodded. “Josh, would you like to try and come up to meet our friend, Marshall?” Mr. Pritch already had Marshall sitting on the stool beside him, playing with the guide’s hair. 

Josh didn’t have anything against monkeys or animals in general, but he did have something against physically interacting with them while being watched by nine other people. 

So, he replied, “I, uh, I’d rather not,” with a smile to hide his discomfort.

“Come on, Josh, don’t be a wimp,” Dustin egged him on, suddenly livened and standing beside him.

Gary stood on his other side, pulled on his arm and whispered, “You’re missing a life opportunity here! They won’t bite!”

“Although they might throw their s**t at you,” snickered Dustin while glancing at his cousin meaningfully. Whatever that look was for, Josh didn’t get, since he was too busy thinking of a way out; but with everyone staring expectantly at him, he was already on the verge of saying yes despite really not wanting to when Daniel stepped in and grabbed the other two by their shoulders.

“Okay, okay, let’s stop pressuring the new guy. He’s already agreed to come with us—"

“A trip you started,” in cut Dustin.

“—and you freeloaded on,” Daniel quickly sidestepped before continuing, “and he already got his clothes dirty. He’s gotten out of his way more than he needed to today, so let’s give him a break. Let’s be good housemates, huh? What do you guys say?”

Daniel smiled encouragingly at them, actually feeling pretty good and heroic about his little speech especially when he saw Josh looking thankful at him. But the feeling of victory lasted for only a second, until Dustin—with his devilish grin—raised his hand and loudly called out, “Hey, Mr. Guide, this old man here says he wants to do it!” while pointing at Daniel.

Daniel’s head snapped towards him as he hissed, “That’s not what I—"

But it was too late. “A volunteer!” Mr. Pritch happily announced. Now, he was in the middle of everyone’s attention. “Come up, Daniel. Marshall is a little bit of a trickster, so it would be best to hand over your valuables to one of your friends.”

Daniel looked at the guide then at Josh then at Dustin and Gary before his eyes traveled back to Josh once more. Then, with a deep sigh that almost sounded like a growl and a glare at his cousin, he took out his phone and wallet and shoved them into a smug-looking Dustin's hands. 

“You’ll pay for this,” he threateningly muttered before he headed over to Marshall and Mr. Pritch.

“I’m just paying you back for the dolphin thing, monkey lover!” Dustin said with a soft chuckle of triumph.

Meanwhile, Gary turned to Josh and whispered, “Oh, watch this, it’s going to be fun. He doesn’t like monkeys.”

Josh looked at the tensed up shoulders of Daniel while he tried to stay as far away from the monkey as possible. He frowned at Gary.

“You all have a weird sense of fun.”