Larger Than Life (Novella) by Jodi Picoult Read Free Book Online Page B

nugget of fury. Lesego is buried in the closet, draped in half
     the clothing I own. The remainder has been flung around the room. “You’ve got to be
kidding
,” I cry, and her head snaps up, dislodging a ripped gypsy skirt that is tangled around
     her neck like an Elizabethan ruff. “You know better!”
    The tone of my voice stops Lesego in her tracks. She is so soft-shelled that even
     a harsh reprimand is enough to make her back away with her ears drooping, or go hide
     behind the cottage for a few moments before she gets the courage to peek out at me
     again. If I don’t follow up with a cuddle, she will sulk, her trunk hanging slack,
     until Iremind her that she is loved.
    Neo bursts through the door, his obsidian skin gleaming with sweat, his eyes wild.
     “I heard the yelling. What’s the matter?” he asks, looking from me to the calf. “Is
     she hurt?”
    Suddenly I feel silly and small. “She ripped my only skirt,” I mutter.
    He laughs, in the way that I have come to admire—as if there are no fences holding
     him back, as if pure glee could paint all the walls of the world in a single coat.
     “I think maybe you both need a little cooling off,” he says. “Come with me.”
    We have settled into a routine, Neo and I. Although we are Lesego’s de facto family,
     and although Grant has cleared Neo to take care of the calf with me, when the moon
     rises at night he bids us both a polite farewell before returning to his own bed to
     sleep. When I awaken in the morning, he is already outside with Lesego, feeding her
     a bottle—a proper one that we have borrowed from a bush vet. It is as if we are playing
     house, but we both know our boundaries.
    I get nervous when Neo leads us through the rangers’ village, into the bush beyond.
     I have intentionally not taken Lesego for walks out here yet. She’s still so tiny.
     Part of me is afraid we might run into an elephant herd that rejects her. Part of
     me is afraid we won’t. But Neo doesn’t walk very far before making an abrupt turn
     toward the bank of the tributary that feeds into the man-made watering hole in the
     tourist part of camp, where guests on safari can take their breakfast and lunch while
     watching giraffes and impalas and even elephants stop for a drink. He has hacked away
     the tall reeds on the edge of the bank with a machete, and has stabbed a shovel into
     the soft earth. In the center, in what had been marsh ground, is his man-made mud
     pit.
    “It is … how do you call it?” Neo asks. “A playpen?”
    “Yes, I can see that.” I turn to Lesego, who stands beside me, unsure of what to make
     of this. “Go on, then.”
    The elephant uproots a cattail with her trunk. She delicately dips it into the mud
     like a paintbrush and waves it in the air.
    “I don’t think she knows what to do,” I say.
    “Well, in the wild she would have playmates to imitate.” He grins. “I
do
remember the boss saying she was your responsibility.”
    Rolling my eyes, I strip off my boots and socks. In my cargo shorts, I wade knee deep
     in the mud, and scoop some up with my hand. I rub it on Lesego’s back. “See?” I say.
     “Fun.”
    She shakes her head, her ears standing out like great pink radar dishes.
    “Wallow like you
mean
it,” Neo suggests, smiling broadly.
    “Oh, like this?” I ask, and I grab a handful of mud and throw it squarely at his chest.
    He’s so surprised that he staggers backward, losing his footing. He lands on his bottom
     as mud splashes up, splattering his face.
    Lesego, watching, trumpets with delight before splashing into the puddle beside him.
     She sucks muddy water into her trunk and sprays it at Neo’s back.
    Our calf is having a grand old time now that she has a friend to play with. I give
     up trying to hide my snickering as Neo scowls. “Give me a hand,” he says, reaching
     out so that I can help him up.
    His fingers curl around my wrist. But instead of using me for leverage, Neo kicks
     out