"Bobo came with us, of course. He got into more trouble over the years than all the kids put together, but we loved him just the same."
Bobo is a monkey; a chimp, to be more specific. He works on a circus, obviously because he is brilliant. The speaker has five children, so to combine the trouble they all got into and have that still not add up to Bobo's shenanigans really says something about the lovable primate.
Can you imagine being the vet of a circus, making your rounds every day to the same animals, and falling inlove with a monkey and an elephant? I wish I could.
Every day, Bobo and I would take a stroll through the menagerie. He would either be attached to my hip or holding my hand, like my own child did. His little almost-human hand fit perfectly in mine, even though it was always leathery. When Marlena was on my mind, Bobo would always stare up at me with his too-human amber eyes, sensing my pain and frustration. Pre-stampede, he laughed at me. He just laughed and laughed and laughed. Apparently, when you are hungover, it affects your work to the point of being laughed at by a monkey and sprayed with water by a giggling elephant. Post-stampede, the poor fellow trembled for days. When Marlena and I broke him out of his cage before leaving the circus, his grin was from ear to ear. He knew. He always knew.
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