I’m a sucker for a “bad
boy”. A lack of daddy love and my
ensuing abandonment issues have given me a lifetime pass on taking any responsibility
for my poor attachment choices, time after disappointing time. If he has a quirky charm AND is prone to
unpredictable violent outbursts – I’m fascinated! So for years now, I’ve been enthralled by an entertainer,
whose majestic capacity to perform, is only heightened by his lightning speed
ability to strike fear and abject terror. Yes Tilikum the Bull Orca Whale, star
of SeaWorld and known murderer is my badass “bad boy”!
So you can understand my
shock and dismay when I learned Tilikum was sent to a medical pool. Through the
cooperation of an unnamed source* I am not at liberty to reveal, I have come to
possess a short portion of Tilikum’s recent medical file. For Your Eyes Only my friend, I present
the following excerpt from a confidential transcript.
Dr. Jennifer Melfi Thursday,
March 22, 2012
New patient intake session
For the fifth time in
fifteen minutes the gruff park attendant, Colleen, quizzed me on my safety
instructions. I recited by rote as
I arranged myself in the blue nylon hammock suspended over the orca medical
pool, “(1) Maintain the required distance from the patient as specified in
Judge Welsch’s court order. (2) In the event the patient becomes agitated,
volatile or violent; as loud as possible - yell ‘Help’!”
Satisfied with my response
Colleen hefted a bucket of fish onto the nearby platform and, with a practiced
underhand toss, lobbed a bullhorn at me. It landed on my files and set the unwieldy net hammock to
rocking. Colleen swaggered off to a
remote corner of the stadium’s backstage area. She stationed herself under a sun-bleached Dine With Shamu sign, giving me privacy
with my patient and giving Colleen the opportunity to smoke her cigar. I picked
up the bullhorn, steadied the hammock and began.
Dr. Melfi: Good morning,
Tilikum.
Tilikum: (No response)
Dr. Melfi: (Turning on the
bullhorn) Good morning, Tilikum. I’m Dr. Melfi.
Tilikum: How you doing? My friends call me Tili.
Dr. Melfi: Friends like
Anthony Soprano?
Tilikum: Yeah, it was Tony got word to me about
you. Said you don’t judge and you might be able to help… (Turns away)
Dr. Melfi: Do you need
help, Tili?
Tilikum: (Shrugging) Who knows?
Dr. Melfi: What’s bothering
you, Tili?
Tilikum: Nothing…
Dr. Melfi: Nothing… Then why am I in this
hammock? I’ve got issues with
heights, this life vest is itchy and -
Tilikum: I miss my work…the cheering crowds, star
billing… (Sob) I miss My Chum.
Dr. Melfi: (Reaching for the bucket on the nearby platform)
You miss these chopped bits of fish?
Tilikum: No, Dawn! (Quietly) I miss Dawn…
Dr. Melfi: Your trainer?
Tilikum: I called her… affectionately, (Sob) My
Chum.
Dr. Melfi: Tili, you killed her.
Tilikum: That’s no reason to punish me. Jeez! First
they censor my performance then snatch me from the stage all together. I need my work. I’m an artiste!
Dr. Melfi: You’re a serial killer!
Tilikum: So I’ve done a little killing on the
side…
Dr. Melfi: Three dead human beings is “a little killing
on the side?”
Tilikum: Hey, I got nothing close to Tony
Soprano’s numbers! And the official report said that naked guy found dead on my
back died from hypothermia. (Shuddering)
Aggh! Frankly, I felt violated…
Dr. Melfi: How do think
the audience felt seeing you kill Dawn, your affectionate “Chum?”
Tilikum: Doc, they got what they came for. I’ll admit my act is pretty exciting,
all that kissing and hugging with a beautiful blonde. And boy, oh boy, the synchronized swimming is a real crowd
pleaser. Don’t even mention our ballet duet.
Dr. Melfi: Your ballet duet?
Tilikum: (Sternly) I told you not to mention
that!
Dr. Melfi: (At this point I discreetly cast my
glance toward the Dine With Shamu marquee
in the distance. Colleen is
nowhere in sight. A faint wisp of
cigar smoke hovers in the dank empty air like a mocking smile. Tili shifts his 22-foot mass in the 8
foot deep pool beneath me and commands my attention) Yes, Tili!
Tilikum: As I was saying, Doc, the crowd loves
all the rehearsed tricks, bells and whistles. But what’s that ticket really buying? It buys the unlikely but ever-present thrill that I might drop the Shamu mask
and be my authentic, animal self: Tillikum, Bull Orca KILLER Whale! All it
takes is a moment to leave the crowd, the training, the friendship all behind. Even less than a moment to grab the
fragile mammal beside me and sink to the watery calm below, below dragging the
pale hairy hunter, who captured me at the age of two, clamped firmly…
Dr. Melfi: Tili, you are in pain.
Tilikum: Whoa, stop the presses!
Dr. Melfi: These months of isolation have been
hard on you. You’ve lost a ton of weight.
Tilikum: You think? I’m down to 10,000 pounds, Doc, just
skin and bones! I think Colleen’s been hiding meds in my herring. (Withering disdain) Herring? I should be eating sea lions. I’ve got
no energy, no appetite. I haven’t had a live dolphin in decades. Do you know
what it’s like for me here in eight feet of water!?? Take a bath in your
kitchen sink!
Dr. Melfi: Tili…
Tilikum: And I’ve been having these dreams Dr.
Melfi…
Dr. Melfi: Tili, our time is up.
Tilikum: Since when is thirty-five minutes an
hour?
Dr. Melfi: Since 2009! (Quietly) And this bullhorn
is killing my eardrums…
Tilikum: What’s that, Doc?
Dr. Melfi: I said this might take some time.
Tilikum: I gotta get back on stage now, Doc!
Dr. Melfi: Do you have insurance?
Tilikum: (Menacing lunge) After more than twenty
years of jumping through hoops and kissing ass, I’d better have insurance. (Gentle nod) Colleen will handle the
paperwork.
Dr. Melfi: Same time next Thursday?
Tilikum: (Turning away) If
I’m in the mood…
Unfortunately
my friend, this is the extent of the excerpt I am at liberty to share. I dare
say I’ve already done the electric slide across the line of doctor/patient
confidentiality. Divulging any
more would put my anonymous source* at risk.
But you certainly see my
attraction to Tili’s looming strength yet seductive vulnerability. I know “bad boy” Tili and I will never
have a real relationship or even work together. Who’s ever heard of a stand-up comic opening for a Bull Orca
Whale? “It was a great show ladies
and gentlemen. We both killed!” I
kid, dear friend, because… it’s my job.
In any event, my plan is
to complete my online course in whale training and then sit by the phone. He just might call…
See you next Thursday!
*Colleen Ebbets
 |
| Dawn Brancheau, a trainer with Shamu, The Killer Whale in Orlando, Fla. Another whale, Tilikum, killed her in 2012 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilikum_(whale) |
Wonderful!
Haha! That was great! Thanks Rhonda!
First of all, I love Dr. Melfi. Second of all, I was a bad boy lover... just ask my ex-husband. See how that works out?
Wonderfully creative post!
FUNNY BRILLIANT post!!! Made me wonder if animal actors get guild insurance? Whales are very well-endowed (just go to you tube). But I guess you're aware of this already. Bad Boy indeed!