Shabby turned back to me and screwed up her face. “Are you getting off by harassing me? Is that how you get your kicks? Bothering your paying customers.” She looked over towards a group of teenagers that were quenching their thirst with some iced sodas. “Do you see this?” she called out. “She’s harassing me. She wants to look through my stuff.”
The teens all stared back blankly, before glancing at each other in confusion.
“Don’t try any of that crap again,” I said impatiently. “If you’re thinking of screaming about your rights not being respected, or you’re planning to roll around the floor and yell for help then no one is going to come running. You’ve made a reputation for yourself, and it’s not a good one. Even the police are fed up of your antics.”
Shabby’s posture softened and she let the damsel in distress act drop. “Your security already looked through the bag when I came through the entrance,” she said. “This is a violation of my privacy and I have the right to walk around freely in public.”
Hank wasn’t working, and it was the new young kid on the gate. He knew the search procedures, but still, I was primed to disbelieve Shabby’s claim. “Open the bag,” I said again.
“No,” she said defiantly. “That’s private property.”
“Fine,” I said, and I reached out towards the backpack.
“She’s assaulting me,” Shabby screeched and she made a show of flailing her arms around, before digging one into her pocket again and holding the ticket up proudly. “I’m a paying customer and she’s assaulting me.”
A bunch of people looked over concerned, and instantly my face reddened as Shabby’s theatrics continued. “Stop it already,” I said in a lowered voice. “You’re making a scene.”
Shabby instantly dropped the act, and then she narrowed her eyes. “It’s your own fault,” she said. “You’re the one making a scene. I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m being respectable. You said I was a pain, so I’ve adjusted my behaviour, and you’re still bothering me. What more do you want? I bought a damn ticket. Be happy about that.”
“Fine,” I said begrudgingly. “You can stay, but only on the basis that you follow the rules. Vandalising the animal enclosures is childish.” I let out a huff. “Honestly, I don’t even know what you’re trying to achieve. You say you care about the animals, but every time you come here, you do something that puts their health at risk.”
For the first time ever, Shabby seemed rather sheepish for a moment. “Well, that wasn’t my intention, and I won’t be doing anything like that again. I have other objectives in my sights. I’m not here to cause the paying customers any problems.”
“Great,” I said, offering her a sarcastic thumbs up. “Good for you.” I swung my arm out and gestured towards the various enclosures behind me. “Enjoy the zoo. Go and have a gander at the beautiful animals, but I’ll have my eye on you. The moment you act out of line, I’ll be calling security and the police again. This time, I’ll be sure to see that you are permanently banned, which you should have been already. If you vandalise anything, I will most definitely be urging the owners to proceed with pressing charges. Just like they should have done the ten previous times you caused us problems here. You have taken advantage of their leniency, but, no more.” I offered a final, patronising smile. “Enjoy your day.”
“Oh, I will,” Shabby said in quite a sinister way. “I hope you do too.” She resumed looking around the butterfly house, ignoring me as if I no longer deserved her attention. She stepped to the side, glancing along the edge of a muddy mound of dirt with an array of bamboo shoots acting as a natural fence.
I continued to linger for a moment, watching her with interest as she appeared to be scoping the place out. When she looked around the other side of the butterfly house, and then trotted over to check out behind the restroom and drinking fountain station, I found it all way too suspicious.
“What are you up to?” I asked, accosting her as she was about to squeeze around the side of one of the ice cream stalls. “Are you trying to vandalise something again?” I noted there was a bunch of pipes running along the floor, which we used to water all of the plants and refill the animals’ drinking bowls. “If you’re planning to mess with any of our water supplies then that will most definitely be criminal damage and sabotage.”
Shabby let out a huff, and then as she tried to climb back out of the narrow opening, she tripped over one of the pipes and almost fell onto the paved walkway. “God,” she said as she gathered her balance. “Would you stop harassing me already? Is this how you treat all of your paying customers?”
“Only those with a reputation for inappropriate and hostile behaviour.” I leaned to the side and looked behind her, checking she hadn’t messed with any of the valves along the pipes. “You’re being evasive, and obviously up to something.” I clicked the walkie-talkie on. “I’m going to need security to come to the butterfly house. We have a known antisocial suspect—”
“God, whatever,” Shabby said while rolling her eyes, and she stepped towards the entrance of the butterfly house. “Just let me have some peace, will you? I’ve paid like everyone else and you have no right to bother me in this way.”
I crossed my arms and watched her as she entered the butterfly house. There was an employee situated just inside, and I was sure that they would alert security the moment she acted out of line. She must have been in there about a quarter hour, and the whole time, I waited anxiously, convinced that she was going to cause some sort of bother. However, eventually, she came out the other side, and skipped along the path towards the gazelle and antelope sections.
And so, just like that, my day was completely disrupted. I followed Shabby like a hawk, convinced that she was going to act up. Yet, she moved from enclosure to enclosure, politely checking out all of the animals and even participating in some of the feeding activities. Whenever she caught me watching her, she rolled her eyes, or positioned herself in some provocative pose as if she was ready for me to snap a photo. She didn’t do anything untoward, and yet, her mere presence was enough to irritate me and completely distract me from my work.
I only settled when I watched her flouncing towards the exit just as we were closing up, and I leaned up onto my tip-toes, just to make sure she was walking through the gate. Only then did I feel safe enough to make my way back inside so I could work through the tasks that I’d been putting off all day. There were still some slackers about, and after directing them towards the exit, I headed over and began cleaning up. There was a lot to get through, but along with the other night employees, we made the best of it.
Gradually, as my employees finished up their shifts and said goodnight, I made my way to the lion enclosure so that I could clean things up and replace their food. I always left it until last, as it was the section nearest the exit.
“Come on, boys and girls,” I called out while tapping my hand against the fence. “Time to catch some sleep.”
After encouraging all of them into the sleeping quarters with a number of props, I waved off the final worker as they headed along the pathway. We were still pretty short-staffed, and were basically operating with a skeleton crew. It was hard enough finding employees that were willing to work later, and it was usually the younger ones we relied upon. Shabby and her antics had driven most of those away, so one day a week, I found myself having to do an extra shift to cover one of the overnight workers. Other than the night security guard on the gate, I was all alone, and my only company was the occasional animal that refused to sleep.
Having locked the lions safely in their sleeping area, I opened the gate to the feeding section and took in a mop so I could give it a quick once over. I didn’t have the time to give every section a full, deep-clean, but it was enough to look passable and keep the animals away from any risk of injury or infection. I pushed the mop around, forcing the bloody water into the drains while already being desperate to get home. Some nights, the work kept me there until midnight, but I was determined to get off a few hours earlier.
I suddenly jumped as I heard a loud, clanging sound behind me, before a jangling of keys. I instinctively grabbed at my waist, then realised I’d left the keys in the gate. “Idiot,” I said to myself while stamping my foot, and I turned and froze. Through the bars, I saw Shabby standing there, still wearing the same clothes as earlier. She had a smirk on her face, as she held the keys aloft and jiggled them at me tauntingly.
“Oops,” she said. “Aren’t you careless?” She wagged a finger at me. “That’s highly irresponsible for a head zookeeper, isn’t it?”
“What are you doing?” I asked, still amidst confusion. I took a tentative step forwards, grabbing the bars of the gate as I gave it a hefty shake. It didn’t budge, and I realised the stupid girl had locked me in. It was foolish of me to have left the keys in the lock, but I was tired, overworked, and as far as I knew: alone. “Do you think this is funny?” I asked. “You’re going to be in so much trouble for this.” I pressed the button on my walkie-talkie. “Hank,” I said with a tut, thankful that he was on the night shift instead of the new kid. “That stupid girl has crossed the line this time. She’s locked me in one of the cages. Can you call the police and come and let me out, please? I’m in the lion enclosure.” I let out a deep breath and waited for him to respond. However, I began to feel uncomfortable when nothing came back over the radio, and even more so with the way Shabby was looking all smug and mischievous. “Hank?” I asked again. “Do you read me? Hank, come in. I need your assistance.”
“What’s wrong?” she asked, widening her eyes in mock surprise. “Is no one coming to save you?”
I was about to say something snide to her, but instead, I glared in her direction momentarily, before I cleared my throat and pressed the button again. “Hank. Come in. Do you read me? I need you to come and let me out of one of the enclosures. That stupid girl with the green hair as trespassed and locked me in.”
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