Chương 69: Chapter 68: The Hairy Houdini (07/13/1985)

DATE: Saturday, July 13, 1985 LOCATION: San Diego, California | The San Diego Zoo LOCAL TIME: 01: 00 PM PST The afternoon sun baked the asphalt of the San Diego Zoo, mixing the sharp, medicinal scent of eucalyptus leaves with the sweet, cinnamon smell of churros. Doug stood near the front of the flamingo exhibit, looking relaxed in aviator sunglasses and a polo shirt that didn't smell of nervous sweat anymore. Success suited him.

Beside him, his wife, Sue, was wrestling with a stroller containing two-and-a-half-year-old Amy, while seven-year-old Chase and five-year-old Nick hung precariously over the railing.

"Doug, grab Nick before he falls in with the birds," Sue sighed, wiping sweat from her forehead. Doug snagged Nick by the back of his T-shirt with practiced ease.

"Easy, tiger. The flamingos don't want company." The family moved on toward the great ape enclosure. It was the crown jewel of the zoo—a sprawling, open-air habitat designed to make the humans feel like they weren't looking at prisoners. It was surrounded by a deep moat and a high, smooth concrete wall topped with electrical wires.

"Look at the big guy in the corner," Doug said, pointing to a massive, sullen orangutan sitting hunched over, his back to the crowd.

"That's Otis. The sign says he's grumpy." While the crowd cooed over Otis's antisocial behavior, on the other side of the enclosure sat Ken Allen. In the zoological world of the 1980s, Ken Allen was a celebrity. He was the "Hairy Houdini," an orangutan with a staggering intellect. He wasn't foraging or playing. He was sitting near the moat wall, his reddish-brown eyes fixed on the electrical hot-wire running along the top. He cocked his head, reached out a long, hairy finger, and tapped the wire. Nothing happened.

A blown fuse. A maintenance oversight. Ken Allen looked at the crowd. He looked at the empty keepers' station. Then, with a casual, almost bored demeanor, he grabbed the dead wire, hauled himself up the smooth concrete wall, and swung a leg over the top. A woman holding a popcorn bucket gasped so hard she started choking. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"He's out!" someone screamed. Panic rippled outward from the enclosure. The crowd compressed, a hundred people simultaneously trying to back away while also trying to get a better look. Doug's arm instantly shot out, barring Sue and the stroller from moving forward.

"Sue, back up. Kids, behind me. Now." Ken Allen dropped down onto the asphalt path on the visitor side of the moat. He stood fully upright, about four feet tall, his arms dangling past his knees. He just looked around at the screaming tourists with profound, mild annoyance. Ignoring the screaming woman and the stroller, he waddled with a distinct, rolling gait straight toward a decorative planter filled with smooth, river-rock landscaping stones.

"What is he doing?" Chase whispered, peeking out from behind Doug's leg. Ken Allen selected three stones, weighing them in his massive hands, discarding one that was too light, picking up another that had better aerodynamic properties. He cradled two in his left arm and gripped the third in his right throwing hand. He turned, looking back into the enclosure. Directly at Otis. Otis had turned around at the commotion, looking confused by the sudden reversal of the spectator dynamic.

Ken Allen wound up, utilizing the massive torque of his elongated rotator cuff. THWACK. The river rock flew fifty feet with laser precision, striking Otis square in the chest. Otis let out a roar of surprised outrage, scrambling backward. The crowd, realizing they weren't the targets, stopped screaming and watched in hushed fascination. Ken Allen didn't celebrate; he just adjusted his grip on the second rock. THWACK. Otis yelped, covering his face with his massive hands and retreating into the bamboo thicket.

Ken Allen waited. When Otis refused to show his face, he grunted in satisfaction. He dropped the third rock on the path, looked at Doug and Sue, and waddled toward them, fascinated by Amy in the stroller. A nearby zookeeper arrived at a light jog, panting. Doug, masking his nerves with a tight smile, gestured to the camera in the stroller.

"Mind taking a picture?" The zookeeper sighed, taking the camera. Doug, Sue holding Amy, and the boys stood on either side of the large, victorious orangutan.

"Seriously, Ken," the zookeeper muttered, handing back the camera.

"You need to leave Otis alone. This grudge has gone on long enough, buddy." Ken Allen waved at the family and then walked with the zookeepers back to his enclosure. Amy waved back, laughing.

"Bye, monkey!"

"He's an ape, not a monkey," Chase corrected instantly.

"Bye, ape!" Amy giggled. Doug let out a long, shaky exhale.

"Well. You don't see that every day."

"Is Ken Allen gonna go to jail?" Nick asked, wide-eyed.

"He's already in jail, Nick," Doug replied quietly, watching the keepers coax the ape who understood electrical engineering and ballistic trajectories.

"Come on," Sue said, her voice shaky as she gripped the stroller handle.

"I think we've had enough nature for one day. Who wants ice cream?" They headed for the exit, leaving behind the high concrete walls. The zoo would fix the wire tomorrow and heighten the wall. But Ken Allen had already proven his point: the wall only held you if you agreed to be held.