07.15.08
Chapter 11
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE BOOK
http://moonsong-humanzee.blogspot.com/2008/05/prologue.html
July, 1976
Lido missed the boat that day he left the shack
But that was all he missed and he ain’t comin’ back
A tombstone bar in a jukejoint car, he made a stop
Just long enough to grab a handle off the top
-Boz Scaggs, “Lido Shuffle
Jeffries had already had “one for the road” before he even left the house to pick up wife from shopping. A nice, bright red sportscar. He was mildly surprised that Geena hadn’t demanded her own car. They were one of the only couples they knew who only had one car, although with both of them working at the same laboratory, they hardly needed two. Actually, Jeffries understood exactly why geena didn’t want her own car, even though she herself didn’t know. The reason was that she wanted to keep tabs on him, and make herself dependant on him in one more way, in order to feel close to him. She had a strange need to feel connected with him. That was one thing he did not understand.
Now they were enjoy a couple Pina Coladas at an outside café, not far from the dress shop where Geena had just bought some sort of Disco outfit. Jeffries nodded absently as Geena told him about her day off from work, her shopping with her new assistant, Becky. Jeffries was trying to predict the exact moment Geena would ask him if they could go out dancing tonight. He’d already decided that he would say yes.
They sat in the sun and admired the new car. The lab’s new management was making their research much more rewarding for them. Financially rewarding.
Annoying. Jeffries noticed a tiny dent and a smudge on the right bumper. He’d have to care of that.
He gulped down his drink and stood up.
“Come on, baby, let’s go dancing tonight so you can wear your new outfit.”
She put down her drink and hopped in the car as Jeffries held the door open. “Let’s get you home and into those new clothes and then we’ll go.”
Geena was really pleased and chatty. Jeffries had had a few, but he was driving very carefully. He didn’t want to miss on particular sight. He wanted to see Geena’s reaction. He was curious if she’d still want to go dancing.
He interrupted her chatter. “It’s interesting to see what sort of personality Chapman will have.”
Geena looked over, startled by the prosaic comment.
“You see, human beings are domesticated animals; Chapman might be the first human adult.”
Geena giggled. She was still excited about going out, and she thought Jeffries was a little drunk.
“Domestication really is a process never letting an animal grow up. Dogs, for example, their behavior is much like that of adolescent wolves. Their playfulness, neediness, need for affection, their idiotic barking, those are all things wolves outgrow, but dogs never do.”
“But that’s what makes dogs lovable.”
“Of course, they appeal to the same human instinct that makes us love babies so much.” Jeffries loooked over at Geena. She must be in a good mood, or she wasn’t listening. She didn’t even look over when he used the word us. “Their big eyes, their need for affection, these are all neotenic – baby like- qualities and humans naturally are drawn to them and want to shelter them.”
“So how are humans domesticated?”
“Domesticated simply means the way a species is changed and tamed by its association with hums. Humans are the ultimated domesticated animal. I want to see what a real adult human is like, a person with no neotenic qualities.”
“How do you humans are domestic, or neotenic? We don’t stay adolescents forever.”
“No, of course humans don’t stay human adolescents, but do we ever grow up really? It’s hard to have any perspective on it, being a human myself.” He slowed down a little. “You’re a trained psychologist, maybe between the two of us, we can figure this out. Think about it.”
The windows were down. She put her elbow of the sill and looked out the window, just as Jeffries knew she would, and saw the dead dog in the road. A fairly large animal, a large breed dog, maybe part Labrador, but still a puppy despite its size.
They didn’t go dancing that night. Jeffries hated dancing. Geena went to bed early, and Jeffries washed his car and examined the dent in his bumper.
Keep me delivering content you love (and away from distractions like eating). Buy me an Ensure meal replacement.
