Hangover at the Petting Zoo
It took me forever to write this Sugar origin story. Bonus points if anyone can spot the plot holes and inconsistencies in the Petting Zoo series lore.
At the Petting Zoo on the bad side of town, there is a non-anthro White Wolf named Sugar. He has worked there on and off for so long that nobody knows his origin anymore. He has just always been there. Sugar liked no one knowing his human past. But sometimes he lets bits slip out when he is drunk, and he gets drunk a lot.
Sugar slurs his speech as he talks to Cody the hyena, "I like you a lot Cody, You remind me of my son. He was always there for his Papa." Sugar starts crying, "But he was taken away from me too soon!" He lays on the sidewalk and cries "He told me, he hated me, when they locked him up." Sugar is lost in drunken emotion, sobbing on the ground.
The sober Hyena, thinks, 'What the fuck?' Cody says, "We need to get you to bed. Can you stand up?" Sugar lays on the cement and presses his paws out. That would have worked if he was in the right orientation. As it stands now, Sugar is waving his four legs in the air mimicking a walking motion.
Cody looks around, it is a fairly temperate night. So he just decides to let Sugar sleep in the grass like a real wild animal would. He grabs Sugar's collar in his mouth and drags him next to a tree. Sugar yells, "They caught me! Just keep running! Papa loves you!" Cody lays down against Sugar and waits for him to fall asleep.
In the morning Sugar wakes up alone and tries to remember how he got here. Looking around, he figures out he is in the parking lot of the petting zoo. Sugar's head is pounding with a hangover. He assumes he must have just gave up on his way back from a bar and camped out under this tree.
Sugar feels nature's call and pees on the tree. Nature keeps calling and he decides he needs more than a pee. He pops a squat and does his business. Sugar turns to look at it for clues what he did last night. It is covered in glitter. Sugar's mind races at what this could mean. He quickly thinks, 'Did I lick the body glitter off a stripper, again?' He then thinks 'at least it doesn't have any bones in it.' Sugar gives a shutter at the memory of being told about the time when he got really drunk and hungry then started eating sewer rats. Sugar heads into the petting zoo dorms to sleep off the rest of his hangover.
Cody walks around the petting Zoo at opening time to find someone to ask about Sugar's outburst last night. He sees Spotty the Leopard and Dash the Cheetah walking down the path. Cody walks beside them and says, "Good morning Spotty and Dash, do you mind if I ask you some questions about Sugar?"
With nothing better to do at the moment the felines agree. Cody asks, "Did you know Sugar had a son?" Spotty answers, "I remember he mentioned it while we were drinking once. I think he was murdered." Cody says, "Woah, Sugar said he was in prison or something like that last night." Dash shrugs and says, "Probably a different son. I think he has several kids. I once saw he has child support payments being deducted from his bank account."
"Who would know more?" Asks Cody. Spotty replies, "Larry used to go out drinking with Sugar all the time. He always used to switch to water after a few beers. He can tell you some stories about Sugar's drunken ramblings."
Cody thinks about Larry, the hyena he replaced, and asks "Where did Larry go after he retired?" Spotty and Dash shrug again. Cody knew trying to find Larry was a longshot. He should probably ask more animals for clues.
Cody spots Bucky the whitetail deer and Christmas the reindeer. He heads towards them to see if they had any clues. Cody greets them and then asks about Sugar and his kids. Bucky says, "I heard Sugar accidentally killed his son." Chris adds, "That's probably why he ran away from his problems and joined the zoo."
Bucky and Chris didn't seem to know much more about Sugar's past. Walking through the park Cody stops to get petted by a few guests then makes his way to find someone else to help piece together this mystery.
Sugar's friend Philthy the Polar Bear seemed like the animal Cody needed to ask. However, after Philthy caught him sodomizing a human, Cody was a little unsure what terms he was on with the bear. Cody gathered his resolve and approached Philthy later that day.
Approaching Philthy carefully, Cody looks the bear up and down. Self inflicted claw scars covered the bear's head, neck, chest, and arms. The black scars contrast with the patchy white fur in a hypnotic way. Without realising it, Philthy turned and looks back at the hyena. Cody averts his gaze and says, "Good afternoon, Philthy."
With anger the large bear spits back, "What the fuck do you want Larry?" Cody replies timidly, "I'm Larry's replacement, Cody."
Philthy's expression changes, his face softens and he says, "Oh, sorry Cody. That slut Larry and I didn't get along very well. He kept fucking everything behind my maintenance building. I even caught him fucking a human a few months ago. Right in the alley way's entrance. It's like he wanted me to catch him again!" Cody gives a sheepish smile. He thinks, 'It's probably best to just let Larry take the fall for that one.'
Cody gathers the courage to talk to the intimidating bear, "I am concerned about a coworker of ours. Did you have time to talk?" Philthy looks the little hyena up and down and says, "I'm free for the moment. What did you want to talk about?"
With hesitation Cody says, "Sugar." Philthy's face is unreadable when he asks, "What did you want to discuss about Sugar?" Cody decides to just lay his cards on the table. "You know he's an alcoholic right? I guess it's not that big of deal since he can't drive. But did you ever notice he says strange stuff about his past?"
With panic Philthy says, "Did he mention me?" Cody looks at the bear and slowly says, "No..." With relief, Philthy states, "Good. Because anything he says while drunk is inadmissible in a court of law." More questions flood Cody's mind and he tucks them away for later.
Cody cuts to the point and asks, "I only wanted to know more about Sugar's family. What do you know about his children?" Philthy laughs and says "Most of them are either dead, in prison, or still draining his bank account with child support payments until they die or go to prison. It's a vicious cycle."
With annoyance, Cody says, "What does that even mean?! How many kids does he have?" Philthy sits on his haunches to hold up his paws and mumbles to himself as he raises digits. Cody's eyes go wide as Philthy fills up both paws and starts over. With hesitation Philthy says, "Thirteen."
Philthy looks at Cody and then says, "Sugar got around a lot as a human and then some more as a wolf." Cody repeats "Thirteen?" Philthy adds, "Don't worry, if you cross off all the dead ones and ones in prison it only adds up to five." Cody regrets opening this can of worms. Laying his head on the ground, Cody says, "He just told you all this?" Philthy flashes his yellow teeth in a smile and says, "Swanson left his file cabinet unlocked when me and the boys were fixing the lights in his office. Carl was reading out people's files to keep us entertained."
Unsure where he was even going with his questions about Sugar's past, Cody sighs loudly. Philthy takes this as a queue to ask, "You really didn't want to know any of this did you?" Cody says, "I'm sorry, this was a mistake." With a downtrodden gait, Cody walks off to sulk at the tragedy of his mentor's life.
After finding a spot in the grass of the touching section of the petting Zoo, Cody just lays down to try to forget everything he learned. Of course, this is when Sugar shows up. The gruff wolf starts with the insults, "Why you lying in the grass like a puppy? We have work to do!" Cody's sudden depression makes his body feel like he has sandbags holding him down. Weakly, Cody says, "What do you need all the money you scam out of guests for?"
With anger Sugar spits back, "That's none of your goddamn business." Cody continues, "Is it for your kids?" Sugar growls as Cody reaches the edge. Cody's sudden masochism urges him to continue, "Is that why you took me under your wing? Because you wanted someone to use up and then throw away like you do with your kids?" Sugar lunges to suddenly clench down his jaws on Cody's thick hyena neck. Cody thinks, 'Is this how you killed them?' as his vision starts to get black. His blood flow is clamped off by the wolf's powerful jaws.
A voice rings out, "Let him go!" Cody sees Frank the Camel quickly walking towards them. Sugar ignores the large Camel. Frank swings his front leg and kicks Sugar in the ribs causing the wolf to release Cody's neck. Sugar runs away and yells, "Fuck you Frank!"
Cody lays on the ground and watches Sugar disappear into the distance. Frank looks down at the bleeding teeth marks on Cody's neck and says, "I heard you were poking your snout where it doesn't belong and I hope your happy. I'm going to have to report this. Now get your ass to the nurse's office." Cody feels Frank's glare as he stands up and walks to the nurse.
In the nurse's office, Cody winces as iodine is squirted on the puncture marks. Nurse Linda says, "I dunno if this is strong enough to disinfect anything that has been in Sugar's mouth. I hear he gets around more than a joint at a music festival." Linda wraps the wound with gauze and sends Cody to his room to rest.
Outside Mr Swanson's office, Frank the Camel pokes his head into the doorway recounting the incident. Mr Swanson's pen writes furiously filling out the incident report. Looking up at Frank, Mr Swanson asks, "Do you know how often I look the other way for minor shit he does? I have been ignoring the rampant sex that goes on behind the maintenance building for too long. Look at this shit that got sent to me a few weeks ago." Swanson clicks through a few screens on his computer then types in a password.
The screen is rotated around to face Frank. The big camel cranes his neck closer and sees a picture of Sugar licking a bloody bite mark on a naked man's shoulder. "It's now clear to me that he's too big of a liability to keep around here."
Frank says, "Damn. You know he's not going to let you fire him. He always has a scheme to blackmail everyone." Swanson says, "I know. That's why I'm not gonna be firing him. Have you heard about the International Zoo exchange program?" Frank turns his head in thought then says, "No way you're gonna get him to climb on a plane." Swanson gives a devious smile. He open's his desk drawer and pulls out a pill bottle. He gives it a shake and says, "My little friend mickey is going to solve that problem. Fleabag will be half way to Timbuktu before he wakes up."
Frank asks, "Who we going to get in exchange?" Swanson replies, "I don't know but I'm sure whoever they send will be better than him."
A few days later, Sugar is ordering his usual lunchtime beer. Joel, the balding snack bar attendant, doesn't want to help screw over Sugar, but circumstances force him to cooperate with Swanson's plan. He spikes the drink and sets it down on a low table in front of Sugar. The wolf starts to lap it up out of the bowl and Joel watches with a sad look on his face. Sugar looks up at Joel and asks, "What's wrong buddy?" Joel replies, "Swanson is being a dick and making me help him with something i don't want any part in."
Sugar looks up at Joel and says, "Then just tell 'em to fuck off." Joel sits on the table next to Sugar's drink and says, "I wish life was that easy." He reaches over and pets Sugar a few times. Sugar laps up more of his spiked beer and says, "Why you being so weird today?" Joel looks off in the distance at some kids playing with Spotty the Leopard and Dash the Cheetah.
With tears in his eyes Joel says, "I just hope there is no hard feelings between us." Sugar finishes his beer and looks into Joel's eyes. Joel avoids his gaze and stands up to close the shutter of the snack bar window. Sugar starts to feel woozy from the beer and lays his head on the table for a moment. Joel locks the door and then bends down to poke his head between Sugar's legs to carry him on his shoulders. Semi lucidly, Sugar slurs, "I'm not that drunk. You don't have to carry me home again." Joel says, "Shush, just close your eyes and relax."
At the loading dock, a van is waiting to take Sugar to the airport. Swanson has all the paper work attached to the crate. All that needs to be done is have the wolf's microchip scanned and then be loaded onto the plane. Swanson personally escorts the white wolf to be loaded into the plane's cargo hold with the rest of the animals.
A few hours later Sugar awakens in a dog crate in the belly of the plane. He looks around and tries to remember what he did last night. Sugar hears the quiet roar of the plane engine and thinks, 'This isn't good.' He can only see another crate through the gate of his cage. He calls out. "Hey, anyone out there?" A voice yells, "If you shit in your cage, there ain't no room service on this flight." A few barks of laughter can be heard from various places around him.
Sugar asks, "I don't remember getting on this flight. Where are we going?" A thickly accented voice says, "Comrade! We are going home to Mother Russia." Not wanting to piss off the rest of the passengers with asinine questions, Sugar lays back down and accepts there is nothing he can do at the moment.
Several hours later the plane touches down. The baggage handlers unload the crates and taxi them to the customs office. Sugar has spent the entire time trying to remember why he was on a plane to Russia. When it is his turn to be processed he asks, "I'm a little fuzzy on the details. Why am I in Russia?" The vet looks at him through the door of the cage and says, "You volunteered for the zoo foreign exchange program. Did you celebrate too hard at your going away party?"
The vet reaches in the cage and scans Sugar's microchip. Sugar says, "I can't remember any of that. Can I go home?" The vet laughs and says, "Homesick already? Life in a new place is hard, but it will be easier with a friend. I heard there is someone waiting for you at the zoo." The Vet slams the door closed before Sugar can ask more questions and the wolf is loaded into a truck. Sugar watches out a hole in his cage as signs go by in the cyrillic russian alphabet.
Sugar regrets everything in his life as he waits to be delivered to the zoo. He wonders who this friend in Russia could be. He doesn't think he knows any Russians. The trip is long and bumpy.
Finally the agitated wolf is unloaded from the truck and wheeled through the zoo. Sugar yells, "You can let me out of this cage you know! I know how to walk." The person rolling the cage around either doesn't know english or is ignoring him. The cage is wheeled up to another gate and Sugar's cage is unlatched. The wolf pushes his way out and is trapped in a small room with gates on both sides. The gate behind him closes and the one in front opens. He can see the grass of an enclosure and a few random wolves milling around. Sugar mutters "Not even an orientation before they throw me to the wolves?"
With a deep breath, Sugar walks out to meet his new coworkers. There are several wolves of various species speaking russian in groups. They all quiet down as they see Sugar make his entrance. Sugar looks around at the enclosure. He says, "This isn't a Petting Zoo. This is a Regular Zoo." There are windows on one side of the enclosure with guests taking pictures and watching. The walls are high and unclimbable.
A wolf calls out something in Russian. Sugar replies, "Any of you assholes speak english?" A timber wolf steps forward and says with a thick accent, "American wolf here to make love with vicious bitch?" A few wolves chuckle. Sugar responds, "Sure, point me to her." The wolf motions with his head to a small unnatural cave at the side of the exhibit. Sugar walks past the timber wolf to go meet this bitch.
Inside the cave, Sugar's eyes adjust quickly. Sitting in the corner is a female white wolf staring at him. Sugar asks, "Are you the bitch everyone is talking about?" With an American accent she replies, "Been a while Sugar. Did you finally grow a conscience?" Sugar quickly says "No." He walks to the wolf and presses his nose to her chest to get her scent. After a few moments, He realizes who this is.
"Scarlet!" He exclaims. "How has my favorite daughter been?" Scarlet spits back, "Your favorite is always the one you're with." Sugar hugs his paws around his daughter and says, "I got really wasted last night and must have signed up for some sort of Zoo Exchange Program. You got to help Papa get back home." Scarlet is still sitting in the same position ignoring her father's affection. Sugar lets go and Scarlet looks him in the eyes. With a devious smile, she says, "Why would I do that when I pulled so many strings to get you here?"
Sugar narrows his eyes as he looks at her. She continues, "All I had to do was get the exchange program's wolf wanted offer on the right desk. I knew Swanson would jump at the chance to get rid of you when he saw the photos of you taking a chunk out of that pervert's shoulder." Sugar is touched that his daughter is just as good at manipulating people as he was. Sugar exclaims, "Damn it! So what now? We just gonna be one happy wolf pack until I find a way to get out of this shithole?" Scarlet looks over Sugar and says, "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll make a lovely Omega in this pack." Sugar rolls his eyes.
Changing the subject, Sugar asks, "How is your mother doing?" Scarlett shrugs and replies, "Heartbroken. The last time I went back to visit her, she still howls at the moon trying to call you home." Sugar replies, "You know I'm a lone wolf. After you grew up there wasn't any reason to stick around." Scarlet spits back, "Way to go on that 18 month commitment, I would hate to think if we were humans and you had to stick around for 18 years."
"By the way, you make me any Grandpuppies yet?" Sugar asks with a smile of anticipation. Scarlet gives him an impassive stare. "Yes, just one. He's out there. But I don't want you teaching him how to swindle people. He's not going to be your newest accomplice." With that Sugar walks off to assess his situation more.
Outside the cave, Sugar looks over the dozen wolves in his new pack. He spots the one who talked to him earlier playing with a white wolf puppy. Sugar's day keeps getting weirder. Knowing that he has all the time in the world to introduce himself to his grandpuppy, He walks up to the glass window, Sugar surveys the guests to do what he does best. He spots a few small holes drilled into a window and walks up to them. He asks, "Anyone here speak english?" A few guest say something in russian and then a tough looking man walks up to the holes.
Looking up at the man, Sugar asks "I had a rough time getting here. I could really use a smoke?" The russian man laughs and pulls out a cigarette. He slides it halfway through the glass. Sugar takes the butt in his mouth and inhales as the man lights it on his end. Sugar poses with the cigarette in his mouth as guests laugh and take pictures. He says, "My name is Sugar the American Wolf. Be sure to post the pictures all over your twitters and facebooks.
Several hours later and several time zones away, Dash the Cheetah is eating his breakfast in the cafeteria. He leisurely uses a claw tip to scroll through his social media on the tablet laying in front of him. One of his fans linked him the picture of Sugar. Dash looks at the picture and reads the caption. 'American wolf huffs and puffs at the St. Petersburg Zoo.' Dash looks closer at the background and sees other wolves milling around behind him. Dash taps a few buttons and casts the picture to the large TV on the cafeteria wall. The image interrupts the Nature documentary a few animals were watching.
Dash calls out, "Hey anyone seen Sugar around lately?" Frank the Camel quietly smiles to himself as he is chewing. A few heads turn and look at the screen. Philthy the Polar Bear asks, "When was that picture taken?" Dash replies, "Yesterday apparently." Philthy turns to look at Cody the Hyena quietly eating his breakfast with the Zoo's new foreign exchange Hyena. He still has a bandage wrapped around his thick neck.
Cody feels a sudden pang of guilt at Sugar's exile. Why did he have to let his curiosity ruin Sugar's life. Swanson had called him into his office yesterday to berate him at provoking Sugar. Swanson informed him Sugar would be going away for a long time as a punishment and Cody will be responsible for the new female spotted hyena.
Looking over the new addition to the Zoo, Cody's eye lands on the prosthetic paw on her front right leg. It was painted the same color as her fur so it would be less noticable from a distance. He then looks at her face and sees the black eyepatch covering the scars running down the right side of her head. From what Cody could understand from her bad english, She had stepped on an ancient landmine left over from a war.
Cody looks lower and sees her pseudo penis. He wouldn't mind letting her give it a go with him. Cody feels more guilt at getting his mentor sent away and profiting by gaining a potential girlfriend.
On the screen, another picture pops up. Sugar is posing while holding a white wolf cub in his mouth. Another white wolf is sitting beside him. Dash yells, "Check it out guys! Sugar is visiting his daughter and grandson." Cassandra the Kangaroo says, "Aww, I knew he was just a big softy under that big bad wolf act." The guilt starts to fade and Cody asks Belka, "Did you know Sugar's daughter?" Belka looks at the screen and says in her thick accent, "Mean pizda, cute puppy." Cody thinks if his daughter is anything like Sugar, she can't have been a very nice person.
The hyena pair finish their breakfast and head outside. Belka looks around and asks, "Where are all cages?" Cody replies, "Why would we need cages around here? This is a Petting Zoo not a prison." Belka smiles at her new found freedom as Cody leads her down the path towards the touching section of the petting zoo. Cody admires the craftsmanship of Belka's false leg. It's not slowing her down at all. Cody considers for a moment, 'It's probably easier to walk with 3 good legs than upright with only one.'
Reaching the grass, Cody sits down with Belka and gets to know her more. The two attempt to talk and Cody is very patient with her bad english. A child comes up to them and asks, "Why you so beat up Cody?" The hyenas both look at the little boy and Cody says, "I got into a fight with someone." The innocent child asks, "Did you win?" Cody's eyes water and he looks at the ground. Belka says, "No one win, fight with friend."
The child looks at Belka's leg and asks, "What happened to you?" Belka is used to the children back home just being too afraid of her menacing looks to even talk to her. She taps the leg on the ground and says, "Landmine. BOOM!" She rolls over on the ground and waves her legs in the air. The boy kneels beside her and pets her chest. He naively says, "Don't worry, it will grow back soon." She gives a hyena laugh and says, "Blagodaryu vas." The child laughs at the nonsense russian words. His parents call him as they walk down the path. The boy says, "Bye Cody! Bye Cody's girlfriend!" then runs off.
Cody blushes under his fur and looks at Belka shyly. Belka smiles and says, "We move fast! You put ring on finger tomorrow?" She laughs as Cody gets even more flustered. Cody says, "We are both hyenas... and... I was wondering if we could..." Belka stops laughing and stands up to look Cody in the eyes. "Green card marriage? I do! I do! I will be best wife." She pulls the stunned Cody into a hug. Cody stammers, "I.. I.. I..." Belka finishes the sentence, "I love you too." Belka gives kisses and licks to Cody's face. Cody sighs and his submissive hyena nature makes him just go with it for now.
Back in Russia, Sugar is readjusting to the pack life. Even though there is a glass wall between him and the guests, he still finds a way to get people to sneak him booze and cigarettes. Sugar takes the straw poking through a hole in the glass and quickly sucks down as much beer as he can before it is pulled away. The man says, "Do flip!" Sugar backs up and charges at the glass. He jumps against it and springs backwards launching himself into a flip through the air. The man's children applaud and the man pokes the straw through the hole again. Sugar sucks down the rest of the beer. The other wolves glare at his drunken antics.
Sugar drunkenly staggers off and lays down next to his grandson Ivan. The little pup climbs on Sugar's back and says, "Dedushka!" Sugar turns his head sideways to look at the pup and says, "This russian thing is cute, but momma better be teaching you english." Sugar lets the young pup climb on him as he gets nostalgic for when he raised Scarlet. He didn't mean to knock up that feral wolf. It was just another mistake in his long history of mistakes.
He wonders about Scarlet's mother. He used to call her Moon Moon as a joke. That was years ago when he left her. He only met her because he was having a midlife crisis and decided to visit northern Alaska. He was having so much fun with the pack he joined that he lost track of time. His one month vacation stretched into two years as he tried to raise another family.
Scarlet was almost a fully grown adult wolf when Sugar decided to take her away on an adventure. They made their way south pulling cons and schemes to get by. Once they hit Los Angeles, California, Sugar introduced Scarlet to her human half siblings. His human ex-wife was still on good enough terms with him because he always made sure his account had enough money to cover the automatic child support payments every month. The bank balance was getting pretty low after living off the grid for a year.
Sugar and Scarlet are dropped off in front of a normal enough looking suburban house by a hipster in a van. With youthful enthusiasm Scarlet asks, "I'm so excited to meet my brothers and sisters!" Sugar tamps down her enthusiasm a bit by saying, "I need you to play this cool. She usually lets me stay here for a few days whenever I'm in town." Scarlet asks, "Papa, Can I ring the doorbell?!?" Sugar nods his head and Scarlet stands on her hind legs and rapidly jams her paw against the button several times.
With a wince, Sugar says, "Just once sweety. If you ring the bell like that people will either get pissed off or think there is an emergency." A hispanic woman opens the door and looks at the white wolf still pounding on her doorbell. She turns her attention to Sugar when he says, "Hello Carla. I'm sorry, she doesn't know any better." Scarlet turns to the woman, "Hi! I'm Scarlet."
Looking the female wolf up and down she says, "I should know this story by heart by now. You set up another 'Kenway Sugar' franchise?" Sugar nods his head and asks, "I was in town and was wondering if we could stay a few days?" Carla holds the door open and says, "You know the procedure. Straight to the bath. I don't want you tracking in fleas and whatever else you have." Scarlet says "What's a bath?"
Sugar says, "Just follow me. It's not so bad." On the stairway behind Carla, stands a boy. He's Sugar's youngest human son Eddie. Eddie sees the two white wolves walk in the door. Sugar sees the boy and says, "Hey buddy, you look so much bigger since the last time I saw you." Eddie finally realizes the wolf is his father. He runs down the stairs with his arms out and Carla blocks him with her arm.
Carla looks down at him and says, You can give him all the hugs you want after he has a bath. Carla calls up the stairs "Hector, your father needs a bath!" She says to Scarlet, "I would do it, but I just got my nails done." She holds out her brightly colored, glittery nails for Scarlet to inspect. Scarlet looks at them and says, "That's so cool! Can I get my claws done like that?" Carla gives a genuine smile at Scarlet and says, "Sure thing. I'll get Jessica to do them after your bath." She looks down at Sugar's paws and says, "You both could use a manicure so you don't scratch up my floors."
Sugar's 16 year old son, Hector, pokes his head out a door and sees his father. He doesn't particularly like the fact his father became a wolf after his mother divorced him. The kids at school made fun of him because of it. Sugar and Scarlet climb the stairs and walk into the bathroom. Hector digs under the counter to find the flea shampoo that has been pushed to the back since his father's last visit. Hector makes awkward small talk with his father and new half sister as he gives them a thorough washing. Outside the bathroom sits Eddie waiting to give his father a huge hug.
Scarlet decides that she enjoys baths and feels better. After the introductions to her half siblings Jessica, age 14, and Eddie age 11, Scarlet is laying on a towel in the living room floor getting her nails trimmed and painted an obnoxious shade of pink by Jessica. Sugar is telling the story of everything that has happened in the 2 years he has been gone.
Moon Moon had a litter of five. The first one died during birth. Cinnamon died when he ran out on the thin ice and fell through. Vanilla was kicked in the head by a Caribou. Her skull didn't stand a chance. Shadow got shot because he thought he could get away with stealing a chicken from the same place two nights in a row.
Tears roll down Carla's cheeks as she listens to the story of Scarlet's dead brothers and sisters. Afterwards she convinces Sugar to let Scarlet live with her and go to school to get an education instead of going back to the deathtrap she called home. Sugar knew that his ex-wife would want to adopt Scarlet. He smiles as his plan to keep Moon Moon's remaining daughter safe succeeds.
Scarlet was going to attend a special school to get a real education and Sugar parted ways with his family after a few days. She wasn't telling Sugar how she ended up in a Russian Zoo.
Rolling on his side, Sugar shakes off his nostalgia daydream and hugs Ivan to his chest. He looks down at Ivan and wonders which one of these wolves was the father. Scarlet only said that Ivan was the whole pack's cub. He looks around the pack making a mental list of the likely suspects.
Scarlet can already tell from the way her father kept looking at Ivan and then at different wolves that she was succeeding in her plan to let Sugar drive himself crazy from not knowing everything.
Back at the Petting Zoo, Cody and Belka's sudden engagement is progressing faster and faster. Everytime Cody tries to call it off, Belka pretends she doesn't understand his english. After the fourth attempt in as many days, Cody finally gives up. He decides that getting married to a 3 legged, 1 eyed, Russian wasn't the worst thing in the world.
Belka is overjoyed when she realizes she has finally worn him down enough with her dominance, that he will go along with the marriage. A simple ceremony is scheduled and all the Zoo's employees are invited. The next week, the big day arrives and Cody nervously looks at his bowtie in the mirror. He wonders about how legally binding a marriage between two animals is and regrets not researching that more.
Cody's parents are looking down at him from behind. Cody looks into the mirror at his dad and says, "Thank you for coming." Mrs Fisher bends down, pets her son's head, and says, "Why are you marrying a russian mail order bride?" Cody turns to look at his dad. Cody knows his Mom is just asking the questions his Dad has. Cody says, "Belka is a nice person and my chances at finding another spotted hyena are pretty low." Mr Fisher holds his tongue for his wife's sake.
The main square of the petting zoo is filled with animals and humans here to see the spectacle of a hyena wedding. Cody sits on a stage beside the priest waiting for the ceremony to start. The music starts and Belka joins him on the stage. She has a veil clipped onto the fur on her head. Cody looks her in her good eye as the priest, blah blah blahs, through the mushy stuff. They recite their vowels and exchange the rings that are dangling from necklaces. Cody and Belka kiss while the gathered crowd bark, bellow, cheer, and applaud.
At the reception, Cody feels uncomfortable about the large amount of guests that gave him cash gifts at the tipping kiosks. Mr Swanson looks at Cody's employee account with his phone and says, "I bet, if Sugar knew how much money you could rake in from a wedding, he would be playing matchmaker and collecting a percentage." Cody says, "I would trade it all to have him back."
Swanson exclaims, "He treated you like shit half the time! Why would you want that fleabag back?" Cody says, "He was like a father to me the other half of the time. I just miss him." Swanson strokes his mustache and says, "It's not in the budget to buy him at ticket home, but I won't stop you from donating to a special fund to finance any costs associated with getting him transferred back home." Cody looks up at Swanson, "You would let him come back?" Swanson shrugs his shoulders and says, "How could I say 'no' on your wedding day?"
Cody asks, "What about his daughter and grandson? I don't want Sugar to leave them behind." Swanson answers, "I heard she's just as big of a trouble maker as he is. I'm sure it wouldn't take much to get the three of them in a package deal."
Swanson calculates how much it would cost and adds in a bribe for himself. He types the amount into the phone. He sets the transaction up to bill Cody's account and shows it to him. Swanson asks, "Are you sure you want to do this? This is quite the nest egg you're pissing away for someone who will never appreciate the help."
Looking over at his new wife, Cody decides that he gained something worth more than money today. Belka looks back at him and says, "Cute husband should help friend." He looks Swanson in the eyes and says, "Do it!" Swanson makes a large gesture of tapping the button and a quiet Cha-Ching sounds.
At the St. Petersburg Zoo, Sugar looks at pictures of Cody's wedding on a phone pressed against the glass. He puffs on his cigarette and says, "Christ, I haven't been gone that long and the pup is already getting married." Scarlet adds, "It's cute that Belka found romance in America." Sugar scoffs, "We both know she's only doing it to keep from coming back to this shithole. Once I get home, I'll straighten him out."
Scarlet growls, "You would be the expert on how to ruin a marriage." Sugar spits back, "Whatever Carla told you isn't true!" Scarlet smiles, "How about what Jodie told me?" Sugar gives a pause at hearing that name, "How do you know about Jodie?" With sarcasm, Scarlet answers, "Carla used to invite her over for the annual Sugar franchise stockholder meetings. Too bad her son, Kenway Sugar Jr, could never make it. I heard he only has five more years before he gets out of prison."
That memory kicks Sugar in the gut. Scarlet knew how to hit her father with words as if she kicked him herself. Sugar spits out his cigarette into the growing pile beside the glass window. "Is this why you brought me here? Just so you could spend a few weeks slowly torturing me every day?" Scarlet answers, "It feels pretty shitty being on the receiving end, doesn't it? Do you think I didn't notice you would go missing for days at a time when I was a kid. You always came back drunk and smelling like the strange animals you used to screw."
She continues her browbeating, "Maybe Cinnamon would still be alive if you had the decency to stick around to watch us. Mom had to leave us, while she went out hunting for food. Maybe Vanilla would still be alive if we didn't have to fend for ourselves to hunt for dinner. Let's not forget about Shadow! He got so desperate for food, that he got himself shot, stealing it, just like he saw you do."
Sugar has his ears folded back listening to the truth of his incompetence as a father. Scarlet readies the final blow, "You didn't learn anything from screwing up all of the families you started!"
Scarlet's monologue is interrupted by a man at the back entrance calling Sugar's name. Sugar sees the travel dog crate and says, "Well, it looks like the horrible father of the year is being paroled early!" Sugar turns to Ivan and says, "Come visit me in America, after you learn english, you little shit." Sugar trots off with his nose in the air while waving his tail high.
After Sugar's crate is loaded onto a cart the man picks up another dog crate and calls out Scarlet's name. Sugar twists around in shock and yells, "Wait, what? Why you calling her name?" Scarlett and the man exchange a few words in russian and she grabs Ivan in her mouth. She climbs in and is placed beside Sugar.
In a mocking voice, Scarlet says, "It's bring your daughter to work day." Sugar yells at the man, "No! No! You leave that bitch here!" The cart rolls through the zoo as Scarlet cackles a laugh.