Wee Weasel Tales: Plots and Playtime

Never Upset Gorillas - Part 1

This is the third chapter of this fanfic! In this one, we go back to the asylum and meet more characters; namely Gus! His backstory is explained in this and the next chapters. I hope that you guys like this chapter! 👍

—————

In the past, in one of the asylum's many rooms ...

Every Thursday at the asylum, there were therapy group meetings in special therapy rooms. Or 'whining sessions', as a lot of the inmates secretly called them.

They were designed to try to help the patients by sharing their stories amongst the groups' members. That was the general opinion ... of the asylum's bosses.

In one particular therapy room; seven people sat on chairs in a semi-circle. The room itself had steel blue wallpaper, a brown stand for papers, a poster of a smiling cat, no windows, and nothing much else.

The smiling cat in the poster was hanging from a tree branch, alongside a slogan in bold lettering: HANG IN THERE!  Something which made the general mood in the room at the moment fall rather flat.

The person in the middle of the semi-circle: a female psychologist (the one that Jerry had met earlier); surveyed the group before her. She then sighed loudly, clenching her clipboard and pen tightly in her hands.

Sometimes the psychologist REALLY hated her job!

I wish that there were more jobs for a person of my expertise in this area! Better ones than this pitful excuse for job! she thought.

It wasn't the most attractive job ever: stuck inside this hellhole, monotonously trying to help these brainless morons. A blind duck has more awareness than these imbeciles! Or so she thought.

The therapy patients sitting on the chairs had expressions that ranged from mildly bored to downright annoyance.

One guy, sitting on the female psychologist's right, even started scratching one of his feet with his fingers in boredom. He had dark brown hair, moustache, beard; and an irritated expression on his face.

A young blonde woman (Cammy), on the psychologist's left side, was quietly sobbing to herself. She was wearing a three-strap straitjacket; that bound her hands behind her back.

Her neighbouring patients: a large, black haired man (Gus), and a young, bald man (Ozzie) ... just looked noncommittal. The psychologist cleared her throat abruptly to break the uncomfortable silence in the room.

"Who'd like to go next?" she said, her eyes roving over the patients on her left. "Gus? Why don't you share something with the group?" The black-haired man jumped at the sound of question, his expression swiftly changing to one of intense anxiety.

"Who? Me?" Gus said. He gulped nervously and turned to look at the two patients sitting beyond the moustached man, at the other end of the room.

"Is that okay with you, boss?" Gus asked hesitantly. The man addressed then laughed in dark amusement.

"Of course, you can, Gus. Share away! We're all listening", Jerry Willis drawled, putting his right hand partially over his mouth to muffle his chuckles.

The serial killer's upright posture in his chair was a bit like that of a king sitting on his throne. Supremely confident. Totally in control of the whole situation.

Sara, who was on Jerry's left, snickered quietly into her right hand; mimicking her boss. The psychologist groaned quietly and rolled her eyes as she turned to look at the black-haired man.

"We've been through this already, Gus. You don't need Mr. Willis's permission to speak in the group. I'm in charge here. Not him", she said sharply, shooting a glare in Jerry's direction.

The psychologist only received an unnerving, toothy grin in reply. She shuddered.

That ... that ... parasite of a man was just unbearable! Strutting around the place, asserting 'authority' over the other inmates, scaring the staff etc. The psychologist was certain that Jerry kept grinning creepily at her on purpose; an attempt to intimidate her.

To her embarrassment, it was working. Some days, she thought that the serial killer wanted to murder her most brutally ... others; he seemed more like a 'normal' family guy.

That monster belongs in PRISON, not in here! He's a danger to everyone here; inmates too! the psychologist thought to herself privately. She would never voice it out loud though.

Gus looked very unconvinced of the woman's words, his brow furrowing with increased nervousness.

"Sure, Doc. Sure. Whatever you say", the black-haired man said, darting a cautious glance at Jerry. The wink and smirk that he got back seemed to give Gus a little confidence boost. The big man then cleared his throat.

"Where to start, I guess", Gus murmured, reaching into one of his pockets. He then drew out a small, plastic green monkey and showed it to the group in his hand.

"I guess it ain't no big surprise I was always happiest back at the zoo ..."

———

At an unnamed zoo, somewhere in Nevada, a few weeks ago ...

Sometimes, I still wish I was back there.

It was a humid, cloudless afternoon, on that unfortunate day at the zoo. Visitor numbers were at a temporary low; so the zoo staff were taking the opportunity to do a good clean-up. Saved doing it later.

One particular employee puffed on a cigarette happily as he brushed the ground clean of litter. He was a tall, grizzled, muscular man with black hair and sideburns. The guy was presently cleaning in the main walkway between the various animal enclosures.

A thick, green bush was to his left, and a mostly full garbage bin to the right. An old tyre hung on a rope attached to the bars, just above the bin. The chap was also wearing a dark brown cleaner's uniform with a big name badge pinned on the front of it.

The badge read: GUS. The employee idly glanced at the nearest enclosure: the Monkey House, and smiled. Gus then suddenly stopped cleaning, and took a furtive look around.

He was currently all alone in his section of the walkway. Maybe it would be possible this time? The big man smiled once again, put his broom against the bars of the cage behind him, and walked over to the monkey house.

The animals I always got along just fine with. It was the people that scared me there.

It was true. Ever since Gus had got a job as a cleaner at the zoo; the other staffers had been taunting, insulting and abusing him 12-hours-a-day; his whole daily shift. It was horrible!

The only good thing, rather things in this job ... were the animals! All of the animals in the zoo loved Gus, and he loved them too.

The employee stood in front of the aforementioned enclosure and gazed at the primates inside. Or gorillas, to be specific. Gus chuckled softly. He especially loved gorillas!

"Hey? Pssst! Over here!" Gus called softly to the group of gorillas inside the caged enclosure. One by one, they all turned their heads to look at him.

What do you guys think of Gus here? Vote and comment if you like it! 👍