Now that school was over, little children started coming to our farm house from everywhere in Rolling Bills Shores. No, it wasn't to eat the finest tasting brownies ever baked this side of Hood County by my wife Pat. And no, they come from all around just to watch me work in the garden. So why do you think these little rascals visited us every day? You guessed it! They were eager to see Butch.
Butch is our pig tailed monkey, a relative of the rook ape family and the only monkey in Granbury that I knew of.
It was still early in the morning, not quite yet 8:00. The kids were waiting on me to come out of the house and when I did they all began yelling and shouting at me to bring Butch out of the shed. So I did,
As I carried Butch to his big cage which I had specifically built just for him a couple of months ago, the kids began to press in upon me. I was afraid they were going to scare Butch with their yelling and shouting. And Butch began to act like he was getting a little nervous.
I never found out who it was, but some little boy reached up and pulled Butch's tail. That was a big no-no. Like the song says, there are certain things you never do. One, you don't pull the mask off the Lone Ranger. Two, you don't tug on Superman's cape. Three, you never ever pull a monkey by the tail.
Butch let out a high pitched squeal and almost broke the hold I had on him. I could tell he was beginning to lose control of his temper. Luckily, I had just reached the big cage by then and was letting him go inside of it. "Whew!" And just in time too. There's no telling what might have happened had Butch gotten loose around so many kids.
After I turned him loose, Butch fairly flew around his cage. Around and around he went. Then he stopped suddenly and cocked his head as if he were listening. Whatever it was he was trying to listen to, was drowned out by the loud noises the children were making. After a minute Butch forgot about the noise he heard and began to pay attention to the kids. Well, not the kids themselves actually, but what they had brought with them. For in their little hands they held brown paper bags with food in them to feed the monkey with.
Some had brought bananas and apples. Others had brought peanuts and candy. This picture brought back memories of me when I was a youngster at the zoo. I always wanted to feed the animals, especially the monkeys! I had the grandest time giving away all the food I had to the monkeys who hung by their tails. I could relate to these children.
Butch gladly took the food out of their hands. What he smelled and liked, he stuffed inside his mouth into a pouch on either side of his cheeks. He grabbed a banana, skinned back the peel and stuffed it inside his pouch. He cracked peanuts and shoved them deep into his pouches.
Some candy he sniffed and then dropped to the ground. Other foods he sampled and some he ate and some he let fall to the ground. It wasn't long before Butch looked like he had a bad case of the mumps. I mean his cheeks had swelled up like a giant bull frog,
When Butch had as much as he wanted, he jumped up to the highest point of the cage and turned his back on the children and his attention to the matter at band as he began to slowly eat his treasure.
The children stood around for awhile trying to watch the monkey eat his food. But they soon wearied of this and decided to go home. The public swimming pool would be opening soon and many of the kids planned on going swimming. So with shouts of laughter the children dispersed to their homes.
And suddenly it was quiet and peaceful again. It was still early but the Sun was beginning to warm things up a bit. Anyway, at least I didn't have to feed the monkey. That suited me. But I knew that When he finished eating he would be thirsty, so I went back into the house to get Butch a drink of water.
I really didn't mind staying with Butch, but today I think I would have enjoyed going swimming with the kids a lot more.
Duce is the penname of Carman J.W. Vance at the Crest Yard in Fort Worth.
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