Chapter 17

The supplies came and I went through them. A branch I took and broke with my knee to get it the length I wanted. Then picked out what I wanted from a chest. Two penny nails were surreptitiously formed into small chisels. With everything now ready I asked Sean, "You want to try out for a vet or a dentist with me? I am going to put the cat out and try to treat it. I would like you to help."

His eyes sparkled and he said, "Sure," but it sounded remarkably like, "Aye aye sir." I could almost see the salute.

The zookeeper was very reluctant to open the cage but did after he got lots of witnesses to say I ordered it as the acting veterinarian. I walked towards the cat, sensing that he didn't want any aggravation, only relief from pain. When very close I just cast soothing thoughts and theatrically tapped him on the forehead as I did so many others. His head fell and I petted his coarse dirty hair a bit and said to the zookeeper, "He is asleep. Hand me the tools and allow Sean to come in and help me."

There were gasps again at this and just concentrated on my job. I opened the cat's mouth and smelt a miasma of corruption. "Anybody got a camera out there?"

Two people came forward with some good German cameras and I said, "May I borrow a camera. I will take the negatives after and have them processed. You will get the camera back today and I will mail you all the negatives including the ones I took to you." One person was hesitant but the other handed me her camera. It was the woman I talked too outside the cage.

Putting the camera down I said, "Sean hold the cat's mouth open for me." I opened the cat's mouth and Sean had the cat on his lap and the mouth was opened wide. I took four pictures with flash and one of Sean bravely doing as he was told to do. With the camera aside I inspected the puffy area and saw all the pus. I squeezed the area after lancing the mound and cleaned it as best I could. At the same time I was using all my resources to get all of the pus and blood out.

The tooth needed a lot of work and while Sean held the cat's head, I took the small branch and put into the back of the mouth like a bit used to control a horse. I tied it in place with the rope. I drilled into the tooth and then used some small chisels to make the clean cavity square in cross section and wider at the bottom than at the top. Fishing in my pocket I brought out a gold coin and with another chisel cut a portion of it off against a large pair of pliers. The small piece was hammered into a square nail and a small portion was placed in the cavity. I took a very fine nail set and hammered the metal into the bottom until the ductile metal spread to take the shape of the bottom of the hole. Another piece on the top filled the remainder of the hole.

"Undo the knot and take out the wood Sean." The boy did what he was told and petted the lion like it was a domestic house cat. I passed the equipment out and then took the remainder of the film except two shots. I called the woman forward then took pictures of her and her children from inside the cage. My hands went quickly and I had the film rewound and safely in my pocket then handed the camera back.

"Thank you ma'am and neither cat saliva nor his excrement touched it."

She laughed at the thought and took the camera. The keeper handed me the antibiotic and after gauging the mass of the cat I gave it what I thought would be the right dosage. With everything else out of the cage, I tapped the cat and walked out and closed the lock behind me. A few minutes later I released my control of the cat and it got up and licked its mouth. I turned to the head keeper and said, "Two aspirins and call me in the morning."

He laughed and slapped me on the back. "I got a problem in a tooth back here doc."

"Sit down. I still have the drill and the tools."

He smiled then laughed. I told the public, "The cat will be groggy the rest of the day, but sometime around noon tomorrow he will be growling for his food as he always did. By the way, the current chairman of the zoo board was unable to get a veterinarian this time, but he will set up a system where other veterinarians can come in when an emergency arises to treat injured animals like this. I would think that dentists would also be called. A cat without their large pointed teeth cannot eat well, so that is why it was repaired instead of being pulled out.

"I would also like to point out one small boy by the name of Sean that followed me into a cage to assist me had never actually seen animals like this in the flesh. I think he needs a round of applause for being so brave and helpful." I started to clap then the rest followed. Sean smiled and blushed then hung his head so as to not meet anybody's eyes.

Before we left for the rest of the zoo I got the name and address of the woman so her film could be returned. I squatted to say hello to her two children. When I stood up I smiled and said, "Your youngest is slightly allergic to cow's milk. Either switch to goat, sheep, or find a wet nurse. The other possibility is that you use a formula with soy products. It is in the stores now."

"How do you know that? My own doctor thinks it is something else."

"Switching to formula from milk costs you very little. If her condition continues then you may come and berate me for the poor diagnosis. I have to warn you that I am almost always right."

Sean walked with me and wanted to hold my hand. I let him and even held his tight. He was very excited with what he had done and now wanted to be a vet or a dentist when he got bigger. We went through the aviary last and eventually boarded a trolley for home. When we got home he made sure everybody heard about our adventure and how he felt about his part in it.

Later I said, "Let's take a shower. We smell like cats."

Once in I washed his hair as he sat on the floor. Then I washed the rest of him as I would a baby. When we were done I said, "We need to get your teeth fixed too. We don't want you getting any abscesses and have to find a vet to fix you."

He trustingly asked, "Will you do it?"

"Of course. You are my boy now."

After our meal Sean talked of his new career goals and everybody congratulated him on his choices. After the meal he brushed his teeth and met me in the shop. I sat him down and rendered him unconscious. I scooped out just enough of the tooth and filled them with gold. This time the forces used were even more precise than what hands could do.

While he was under I worked on his anal ring and strengthened it. Small pieces of connective tissue were reattached to his colon to start to bring him up to what a normal boy would be like. I awoke him then and he raced to the mirror to see his teeth. His fingers went in his mouth to pull away the lips to see further back. "They look great. They are smaller than what the lion got."

"He got lion size and you got boy size. I am going to paint another picture of you now."

The boy smiled and watched avidly what I was doing. I took longer this time and made Sean sitting in the lion's cage with his hands on the lion's jaws while looking in trying to plan what to do next. Bars were accurately depicted as well as the people around the cage. The woman that loaned the camera now had it back and her children were captured in oil. The worried zoo employees were all there too, as they looked on to see what they could do to help.

I had more time so I painted him standing naked in a tub of water on a kitchen floor as a matronly woman washed his back. His privates were not seen but his bum was. Many things found in a kitchen were shown and looked like a camera had taken a photo, except that this one was in colour.

"Eeew, why'd you show my bum?"

"Because it's cute. If I had you turn around the woman in the picture could trip over your equipment." His childish laugh filled the room and made all the things I did for him worthwhile.

School allowed me weekends but the hospital was not as generous and I soon had to go back to work.

Monday at noon, I ate my food quickly and went to the hospital and into the psychiatric section again. In the beginning, the nurses had given me a hard time but no longer.

I found Teresa staring out of a window that was protected on the inside by steel grating. After I had introduced myself she said, "What the hell do you want?"

"Oh nothing I just had some money for you."

She clamoured after me and I left to return to classes early and perhaps help a few students. The next day I went back and she was still not civil, but better. I just turned around and left. I did say at the door, "I will only come so many times before I figure it is too much work."

Wednesday and Thursday I didn't show up but I did on Friday. "Hello Teresa. How are you feeling today?"

"Oh just ducky."

"Do you want me to leave, Teresa?"

"Sorry, you don't know what it is like in here day after day. By the way who are you?"

"My name is Shawn Boz. I am an intern here at the hospital."

"What did you say about money before?... Please."

"I picked up your brat and can't get rid of him. I was about to call the authorities. He would get out of my hair but you would be sent to jail for abandonment."

"No, I didn't do that. He runs away all the time."

"Whatever, I really don't care. I can get rid of him permanently without the authorities giving me a hassle because I am so young myself. I brought a legal paper here for you to sign. If you do then I can get the kid sent away. If you don't sign then I get in some trouble for harbouring him. But if that happens, you go before the judge too for abandonment. I will give you ten bob to sign and you or I won't have to put up with the kid any more."

"Twenty,"

"Look Teresa, I am an intern with my own money problems. Ten bob is a lot to me. Sign now and I will throw in two packs of cigarettes. That is my last offer, or I am leaving and not coming back. I have to go to court and talk about your kid and you have to do time for what you did or didn't do."

"You got the money here?"

"Yes but not the cigarettes."

"Ok, I will trust you. Give me the papers."

"They need to be witnessed. I will have to call two nurses."

"Ok but they don't get any of my money."

I called the nurses over as prearranged and the woman signed many different sheets of paper that could mean anything for she was not reading them. The nurses took the pen and signed and dated all the sheets even though some places for names were blank.

When the nurses had left I reached in my pocket and brought out only a ten shilling note. "I will bring the cigarettes tomorrow at noon. You don't have to look after that brat again."

"That is a relief, he is nothing but a millstone around my neck."

"I know what you mean. He is so clingy."

On the way out I thanked the nurses and said her child will now have a home. One nurse was so happy that she bent over with tears in her eyes and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

During the next month Sean grew in many ways. His frame filled out with all the food and exercise he was getting. His mind was put into better order so that new facts could get in and be remembered better than before. All the bruising had faded and he would not have to worry about fouling himself now by accident. Mentally he was like any other nine year old boy but his sexual orientation had not altered. I tried to be more like an older brother than the father he was originally looking for.

I loved the child and loved to see him happy. I made many more paintings and displayed them in my gallery. There was quite a bit of interest but the paintings were not yet for sale.

Monday at the emergency ward I cornered Frank and said simply, "We need to talk in private. It is important."

When he looked at me I said, "Drive me home after work."

Frank was very edgy all night but did meet me outside. We got in the car and I told him where to drive me. I talked him into pulling up beside the building and he got out with me.

"Frank the conversation has to start after you see something." I unlocked the door and turned off the alarm. When the lights flickered on Frank could see many of the things I sold. He walked around looking at one thing after another. They looked very beautiful to him but were out of reach on his meagre salary.

He came to the back wall and looked at all the pictures of Sean and stopped dead in his tracks. This was a boy he was looking for all his life and this one was not Shawn Boz. He looked around then followed the remainder of the pictures. It wasn't the naked skin that drew him the most but the concentrated look as Sean looked into the lion's mouth.

Since he had finished looking at the pictures I wanted him to see, I said "Frank, you know that I am a good doctor and I hope you agree that I am a good diagnostician. I see things the others don't and understand things the others never even consider. The boy you see in the paintings is upstairs sleeping right now."

Frank became excited at the possibility of meeting the child he fell in love with fifteen years ago. "Why is he here?"

"His mother just got out of the psychiatric ward. She is an addict. She prostitutes herself for her addiction and ten years ago one of the men got her pregnant. She doesn't have any more recall of who he is than she remembers the faces of the men she solicited last week."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"The boy was beaten by the men that used his body. His anus and lower rectum were seriously damaged but are now completely recovered. He is almost exclusively homosexual at the age of nine. There is no doubt in this matter whatsoever. Since he was very young he has been soliciting sex with men to try to find a father that will never come.

"I took the boy in and love him deeply and know that he needs an adult male to look after him and not a big brother even if he is younger."

"Again Shawn, why are you telling me this?"

"You are a kind, considerate, caring man that just happens to be homosexual and needs a child like this to be his mate for the rest of your life."

At this allegation of an activity that was illegal at that time, Frank's face changed rapidly and he just turned and ran to the door. He fought very hard to open it. "Let me out! Let me out!" He demanded.

"Frank, turn around."

The man looked as dejected as the thoughts running through his head. Suicide was contemplated but hoped to be avoided. "Frank I know you must have seen me as a substitute for a childhood friend."

Frank looked up quickly wondering how I knew. "It is obvious about this deduction and many times this situation got its start in childhood. You hoped that I would be that boy but I cannot be. Sean, the boy in the picture had sex with me a few times but I am not capable of enjoying it as he is. I looked on it as a learning process and a way of bringing him some joy."

This gave Frank some hope, as I was unburdening to him about my own sexual impropriety while he didn't need to admit anything.

"The boy needs a father figure that will always be with him. This is a life long commitment for both of you. His mother signed many papers and some will say that you are his natural father. The boy also needs a sexual partner that will fulfill his needs and who will not let him to go to other men for his gratification.

"I am offering this boy to you in the hopes that you will fulfill that dual role. In the next four months you two will date. Whatever happens will be the decision of the child. With his anus and rectum back to what a virgin boy would be you will need to be excruciatingly careful of his health. I know there will be bleeding but this can be minimized. He is not very big now but as he grows older he will probably be bigger than you. You may have to carry jelly around for your own benefit one day.

"The question is now. Do you want to meet Sean and go on a few dates? This can be only under the condition that you are looking for a mate. I am not supplying a child for an adult's lusts but a child that will one day be a mate."

I handed Frank copies of the pictures taken at the zoo and others I had taken after. He looked through them and I felt the love flow out.

Five minutes later I simply said, "Frank?"

"Ah... Yes Shawn. I would love to meet this boy. I have held myself so tight for such a long time that it is difficult to admit to myself my own feelings. Everything you said is true and I would not have the stipulations any other way."

"That's good. I thought of this plan within an hour of meeting the boy. It has taken this long to get him into a position to meet you."

"An hour?"

"Yes Frank, an hour."

"In eight months I will be leaving Britain to return home to our profession. You are not wealthy and in eight months you will not be much better off but that is the time the boy will be free to leave if he wants. Remember that he has to want to leave me and I am his older brother. Treat him right and I will find excuses to allow you to be together."

Before Frank left he was allowed to see Sean sleeping on the bed with his foot out and his quiet snores filling the room.

Next Sunday the three of us went to a quiet restaurant and I introduced the two people to each other. They talked about things that I had told Frank to speak of. I had convinced Sean that a dental job would be better and they talked about the profession all night.

Next week we ate again and Frank suggested we go camping with him but I explained that I had to fill in for a doctor at work and couldn't make it. "Sean, why don't you go?"

"Can I? I never went camping before."

Later I heard that Frank said this or Frank said that but I knew a friendship had started. It took seven more weeks before Sean came home walking a little funny but very happy.

The large business complex was rapidly filling with tenants and would soon be full, ready to have its official opening in less than a month's time. As I had requested the Queen to do this for me, to make it appealing for her, I would make an old female troll to match the one she already had.

When opening day came there were 20,000 potential customers and after the ribbon was cut only a fixed number were allowed in. As people left, my staff at the main doors would allow only that number to enter. The Queen and I walked around the enclosure and she found it much more pleasant than the drizzle that was currently falling on the streets outside. I led her to one of the stores where she was presented with pieces of pizza. She removed her gloves and sampled the different kinds, but after six pieces of different types she said she was too full for any more.

The next place I steered her to was a large toy store. Wooden dinosaurs had not caught on, nor had the books of coloured reptiles and stories about each. She was a smart lady and looked on the box and books and saw that they were made at my manufacturing and publishing plants. "Sir Shawn, who owns the store that supplied the pizza?"

"Ah probably some Rhodesian exile. They would rob the panties off anyone," I said as I produced some white panties. The queen stopped with a gasp and felt inside her waist band and found hers still intact. "Shawn, one day you will come to an ignoble end."

I sent home some press clippings of the opening along with my letters. Despite the cost, we still phoned but it was not as nice as getting the printed word. Lusa was not showing yet nor were there any signs of morning sickness. Since she never had her first menses the adults were wondering if I was mistaken.

Back in Britain I pushed to get into paediatrics and this was allowed. The children were of necessity closer to my age and I had fewer problems with them. Candies appeared magically from their ears or navels, all helping to make me an instant success.

Some children were slowly dying and this tugged at my heart even more than the emergency ward had. As a ward doctor I only had so much room to manoeuvre without finding the family doctor ready to lynch me. I was in demand though when other doctors recommended me as a surgeon. The idea spread from word of mouth and I soon found myself in the operating theatre more and more.

I tried not to be intrusive and my hands hid some of the small miracles I was able to have manifested. Doctors good at their profession started to watch my technique to pick up some of the ideas to take to their own practices. Here I had to just be dextrous and astute. Magic here would not be so welcome in their world.

Usually my operations were much shorter and thus easier on the patient. What really hurt was when I had to operate on a child that I knew would either not make it off the table or would die a short time later. Sometimes even if my magic would be employed the result would be the same.

I tried to think of new ways of doing things and decided to operate on some children as soon as they left the womb. Small holes in a heart muscle would heal much faster when the child was growing so fast. This got me called all around the country and I did my best to save all I could. It got so bad for a few months that I had virtually my own plane.

My internship was competed and I was given my licence, what I had worked so hard for and had wanted since before I was born. The ceremony was bitter sweet. The family had come up including a very pregnant Lusa. Friends, family, employees and even some doctors, educators, students and royalty showed up to wish me well. It felt so good but I was needed in Rhodesia as well as here. Skin colour or status meant nothing. The fact that there were so many doctors here and so few at home ensured that I continued as I should.

Privately I gave Sean away and gave the papers to Frank to keep. Frank could keep Sean happier than I could for he was only doing the duties of a doctor, a father and a lover, while I had so little time to do what was needed. As a 'wedding' present I gave the couple the painting of Sean looking into the lion's mouth. All the paintings of him had sold well and this portrait was only saved because I knew they would want it. If they ever decided to sell it the price they would get would be substantial.

Some of the sorority were placed as I promised but most chose to work for me through Sharon. All of the original group had graduated and I had only to worry about Jennifer and she was doing well in a private school in Paris.

I figured I had everything taken care of except the painting of Jennifer. The hospital had mixed feelings about it but the British museum took it and my taxes were significantly lowered. Some evaluated it's worth at a figure that surpassed even the Mona Lisa despite the fact that it was created by a still living artist.

We stayed at grandpa's again and talked with the family a lot more. This time I wasn't a kid to be ignored but a celebrity. I liked it better the first time. I said our goodbyes to Charlie and Anne and their family. The queen said nothing but was trying to figure out if I could be the cause of Lusa swelling. She did see me as more of a husband escorting his pregnant wife though.

The queen did bestow another knighthood on me. This time it was the Order of Merit. There were only two dozen living members and it would always be thus. All the members were leading scientists. She told me that this was the best she could do. All other awards would have to come from within my own breast.

On the plane home we were wined and dined and nobody had any abdominal cramps except Lusa but that was to be expected.

The government in Salisbury made a big to-do about us and I tried to behave myself. Lusa stayed at my side where possible, although packing one in the oven. Some people actually thought I was the person that put the package there.

Two weeks later I delivered a six pound three ounce baby at our home. Our boy was bright and that along with his health was enough for me. We had long known his gender and Jason was the name we chose. Lusa was radiant but still had some doubts about how I would accept the child. After a dozen of so 'my son' phrases she felt much better.

Dad's friends came by and he presented his grandchild to them. It turned out that the ones that were more like his acquaintances were in the main those who were bigots, but of all the ones that did come, nearly all choked. Both mom and Japera were very proud of their new grandchild and doted on him. Lusa had to almost fight to get her time with Jason.

All of this was so nearly overwhelming emotionally that I had to get my feelings down in oils, so I started a large painting.

On the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel there are many paintings now discoloured and cracked with age. One of them is the Creation of Adam. God's hand is outstretched to give to spark of life to Adam. Here I took God to be handing with two hands a small black child into a pair of eager white hands.

I invited the family to see the canvas and they said nothing for a long time. Our family is very visual and it spoke to each member differently.

Mom put her hand on my shoulder and said quietly, "This is so beautiful. This says many things to me and anybody seeing this would surely be similarly moved. How could people not understand that we are all one race, the human race."

Japera and Lusa had tears in their eyes as I was held. There were many things they both wanted to say but little was able to pass their lips. Dad said, "This is one of your better works, if not your best. I think it will be reproduced and shown all over the world, although it may be some time till it is publicly shown here in Rhodesia."

Dad and I went back to work at the clinics. I had accepted a residency which had been offered at the local hospital. Soon after, people from all over the world were coming to me for help. The influx was good for our economy and many spin-off medical related businesses started up as a result.

Arguments sprang up all the time about me devoting half my time to the problems of the natives. Many whites thought it much better to allow the blacks to find medical help elsewhere, to allow me to devote all my time to the hospital or the white clinic in the city. Many times I threatened to treat only the blacks so the comments would die away, but only for a while.

Some whites complained about how they had to pay a high fee while the blacks were treated for free or next to nothing. Dad and I countered that there were many whites at our poor clinic and they were treated no differently from the blacks.

To my surprise, the painting I made to commemorate Jason's birth was shown in Salisbury and was acclaimed as a masterpiece by local and visiting art critics. It had to be guarded well, not just from theft but from vandals dead set against what it portrayed. To keep it safe I eventually sent it to the British Museum to be displayed.

Lusa's twelfth birthday and my sixth came up. I jokingly said that she was twice as old as me but I was catching up fast. The parties were small and only family members were present. I borrowed one of the planes from dad and without a licence I flew to Japera's home village with Lusa and Jason. I was even more of a man in their eyes now that I had been able to beget a son and had been five years old to do it.

We stayed for three days while I did what I could to improve life for all the villagers. Lusa again became queen and had not only girls her age and younger but older women trying to find out all they could. She explained about proper care and feeding, in a way trying to change the way it was done here for thousands of years. They did keep the village cleaner than most but not up to what I would consider adequate for the prevention of disease.

They complained of armed men coming and wanting to recruit the young men and even boys to fight the whites in South Africa and here. I knew the conflict would take place and who would win was in doubt. Britain had settled this area and fought many wars to keep it. Settlers now would fight even harder to keep what their families fought for.

Wars were always chaotic and messy. I didn't mind the men joining up but I didn't want wholesale slaughter of whites or blacks. I could see no way of stopping this and knew it would happen no matter what I did. Fighters stayed in Mozambique, Botswana, or Zambia to train and hide. Many were within our own borders and either hiding or doing what they could to evict the whites from what they considered their land.

All the good land had been seized by the whites for their farms. They did manage to get much more productivity out of their land though. Dad and I bought a large area of good land with a good house already built on it. A large fence had been put up around it to keep out people trying to shoot the old owners or sabotage the equipment.

I worked hard to gain the trust of the local farm workers that more or less came with the farm. Lusa and our son seemed to do as much as I did. Mom took a sabbatical for a while and wanted to stay longer at this property. She hired some of the locals to put in a garden the way she wanted and in the course of the building constructed some friendships as well.