Read Online Do-Gooder by j. leigh bailey - Free Book Online Page A

that it makes a difference.”
    “How do you know it was young?”
    “He wasn’t very big. Maybe a foot and a half. The green bush vipers get over two feet long when they get older.”
    I measured out a foot and a half and then two feet in my mind. The snake may not have been python sized, but surely it was longer than a foot and a half? I’d have said four or five feet. Then again, I’ve heard people who found themselves at the wrong end of a gun sometimes thought the barrel appeared bigger than it really was. Maybe it was something like that. “How do you know so much about snakes? About the animals in general, I guess?”
    “I like them.” He shrugged. “So I learn as much about them as I can. Books, people, wherever I can get something new. The camp is near the Lobéké Preserve, and there you can see some of the big animals, you know, the gorillas or giraffes, lions. The ones people go on vacation to see. But there’s so much more here.”
    “Like talapoins and lovebirds.”
    “And green bush vipers and giant baboon spiders, and a dozen species of antelope, tree frogs, and hundreds of other things.” I would have said his eyes sparkled in his enthusiasm if it weren’t such a girly thing to think (even though they did). He gestured broadly with his hands and smiled as he listed off the many creatures and plants that could be found in Cameroon and the places he’d like to go to study others.
    “Why don’t you go to school for biology or zoology or whatever?”
    And, like a pricked balloon, he deflated. “College isn’t in the cards for me.” He crossed his arms over his chest, shielding it.
    “Why not?”
    “Are you kidding? What, you think I finished high school while living on the streets? Most universities require a high school diploma, with maybe a few extracurriculars thrown in.”
    It hadn’t occurred to me that he wouldn’t have finished high school. He was so smart, so confident, that even after his story, it never crossed my mind. “Couldn’t you get a, you know, GED or something? I can’t imagine you’re worried about passing the tests. And I’m pretty sure doing missionary work in Africa would trump any extracurricular activities offered at most high schools.”
    “It doesn’t matter.” He tried to sound casual, but he kept his eyes cast down. “I like what I’m doing here. I have a purpose. I’m doing something worthwhile. I think I could be very satisfied here.”
    I flexed my hands and adjusted my grip on the steering wheel. Because they were stiff from driving, not because I wanted to reach over and hold his hand. To comfort him. Definitely not to reassure him. No way. “What about you?”
    He lifted his eyes from his boots to look at me. “What do you mean?”
    “I’m sure you get some satisfaction from doing for others, but what about you? Will you be happy doing this for the rest of your life? I mean, the people you work with will change constantly, and the people you help rotate in and out just as frequently. Don’t you want something more… permanent?”
    “Your dad’s been doing this for over twenty-five years, and he seems to be doing okay.”
    “Yeah, but he was married for a third of that time, and if he gets lonely, he’s got other options. Unless Yaoundé and Doumé are more liberal than I think they are, I don’t think you can go into the city to get laid when you need to… connect with someone. And even if you could go to the university area for a hookup, would you? I mean, even with condoms, how safe is casual sex around here?” Personally, I figured it was dangerous enough to keep my pants zippered up until I stood on American soil again.
    His jaw clenched and he glared at me.
    “Speaking of which,” I said, noticing the turnoff for the next highway, “is Chuck sleeping with Mrs. Okono?”
    “What? Why would you….” His mouth opened a couple of times like he was trying to form the right response.
    “Dude, my parents have been divorced for