“Baboon burst into the room, out of breath, terrified, but clutching a fistful of roots. ‘I ran as fast as I could. I kept thinking about how much you were hurting. That spurred my steps back here.’

“‘Oh, about that.’ Br’er Rabbit cleared his throat. ‘As soon as you left, the pain in my belly stopped, and I managed to eat a bit.’

“‘Where’s the rest of the food?’ A disappointed Baboon stared at the empty table.

“‘As is their custom, they cleared away the rest.’

“Baboon slumped in his chair. The roots tumbled from his hand. ‘Maybe I should go to bed and let sleep be my dinner.’

“‘I feel bad,’ Br’er Rabbit came close to him to whisper. ‘Our hosts have a goat out back. Let us wait until midnight when they are all asleep and steal and eat the goat.’

“A goat was a treasure to a family. But only listening to his hunger, Baboon quickly agreed to the plan. Deep in the night, while all were asleep, they slipped out of their room, stole the goat, and killed it. Br’er Rabbit told Baboon that he would prepare the meal. As he did, he kept back a portion of the blood from the goat. Once they finished eating, they returned to their room without disturbing anyone. But while Baboon slept, Br’er Rabbit retrieved the container full of the goat’s blood and smeared Baboon with it.

“In the morning, the hosts awoke to find their precious goat missing. When they questioned their guests, Baboon and Br’er Rabbit denied any knowledge of the crime. But they saw Baboon stained with its blood. They dragged him away and killed him.

“Br’er Rabbit apologized to his hosts for his friend’s behavior, thanked his hosts. and left.”

“So Br’er Rabbit got away with it?” Lij Matata asked.