Who was the ringleader who led the gang of monkeys? Those aggressive little beasts must have found inspiration from watching Planet of the Apes. I had never wanted to move to "Monkey City" in Thailand because I feared most animals, even tiny kittens. Those hairy little men lured tourists to my new city, and foreigners adored them, feeding and interacting with them. I hated the aggressive monkeys who tormented me. I wanted to stay in America, but Grandpa got sick, and we moved to Lopburi, Thailand. At least Mom had taught me the language. I can't imagine trying to navigate through such a new world without the benefit of knowing how to communicate with others.
"Why can't you pick me up from school?" I had begged Dad after the first week in the city. Those monkeys saw my fear and waited on the corner for me to walk home. They were worse than my bully Jed in the states. Bullies have always targeted me, but a gang of monkey. -come on!
"And rob you of a chance to learn courage," Dad said. The wind picked up little grains of sand and blew them in my face. I closed my stinging eyes and rubbed at them.
"Learn courage? How is being chased by monkeys going to teach me courage?"
"Learn to stand up for yourself." Dad patted my head and stepped into the road, headed to work.
Things only got worse. Not only did I have the gang of monkeys to contend with every day to and from school, but I also had a group of ruffian kids torturing me. The street kids were of all ages, even as young as three. They teased me every day.
One day on my walk home from school, a group of macaque monkeys surrounded me. Their ringleader grabbed my backpack.
"No!" Another macaque jumped on my head. When I tried to pull him off, the ringleader took my backpack and ran up a tree.
As I pushed past the other monkeys, I heard, "Only an American would get their pack stolen by monkeys." Tanawat, the gang leader of the kids, taunted me.
"Monkey boy," another called.
Tanawat laughed. "I like that. For now on, we call you monkey boy."
They picked up dirt clods and chucked them at me. I covered my head as I ran home.
I hated Thailand.
Who would have thought that COVID-19 would make the monkeys insane?
COVID brought significant changes to everyone's lives, but no one could've expected how it would multiply the monkeys' aggression.
"Yes!" I exclaimed when the school shut down. I wouldn't have to walk past the gang of monkeys or the street kids.
However, COVID-lockdowns did a crazy thing to the monkeys. Aggression raged in the macaques. Those monkeys didn't have the skills to find food independently since they had grown accustomed to tourists coming to "Monkey City" and feeding them bananas and junk. When COVID kept the tourists away, the monkeys had no one feeding them. They went rogue as they took over the city and tortured residents. At least everyone else shared my fear of the monkeys.
The wild beasts claimed a cinema and moved in. They raided shops and even started breaking into people's homes. The city tried to control the monkey population by sterilizing over 500; however, the monkeys continued to rule the streets.
Almost two years had passed since COVID rocked our lives, and Mom had a request for me.
"Peter, your dad forgot to take his lunch to work. Take it to him."
I looked up from my homework and my legs numbed. "I can't go out among the monkeys."
"Carry a stick and be brave."
"Mom, those monkeys are more aggressive than Al Capone ever was. I can't."
"You will."
My wet hands grasped my stick as I slowly walked, searching for monkeys. I saw a few scattered around but no large groups. Suddenly, something jumped on me and knocked me to the ground. My stick flew out of my hand. Tanawat lay on top of me, hitting me. He ripped Dad's lunch out of my hand.
As his gang laughed at me, a giant monkey grabbed the three-year-old girl by her hair and dragged her across the street.
"My sister, Kulap," Tanawat screamed, jumping up and down. "Save her."
On the other side of the street, the monkey climbed up a tree, scraping Kulap over the bark as the monkey climbed higher.
No one went to rescue Kulap. The gang of kids squealed but did nothing.
I couldn't just watch the monkey rip Kulap apart. A surge of power entered me, and I ran across the street and shimmied up the tree. The monkey shrieked the closer I got, then it released Kulap's hair and climbed to the top of the tree. Kulap's tiny body hit the trunk as she fell toward the ground. I reached out and caught her before she landed to her death. Her weight almost dragged me out of the tree. I secured my hold on the tree with my right arm as I pulled her close. She wrapped her bloody arms around my neck and sobbed. Her tiny body shook as I held her tightly with my left arm and carefully climbed down the tree.
Tanawat met me at the base. "Give me my sister." He yanked Kulap from my arms. Cuts and bruises covered her body. Tanawat grasped Kulap and ran off as his gang trailed behind him.
The next time I went on the streets, I carried my stick. I felt different. Something had changed in me. As I walked, I saw Tanawat and his gang. I felt tempted to cross to the other side of the street, but I wanted to check on Kulap. She ran over and gave me a big hug when she saw me. I felt her love go through me. Tanawat came to me and handed me a stone.
"You are our leader now."
I gasped. The other kids encircled me.
"Tell us what to do," a kid said.
With new courage, I raised my stick to the air. "Let's take our streets back from the monkeys."
The kids picked up rocks and sticks and followed me, their new brave leader.
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Monkey City
by Stephanie Daich
