Page 53 of Wild Idol
It sounded good, but I wasn’t as convinced. “What about the men with guns?”
“Everything‘s copacetic, isn’t it?”
I shrugged. “I guess so.”
“So what’s the big deal?”
“You want to tell me why a village like this has armed guards with AK-47s?”
“Peace and love only go so far,” Jack said. “Then you need peace through superior firepower. This village is home to more precious jewels than just that artifact. Without protection, how long do you think it would be before unscrupulous types raided this island? Without law and order, there is chaos.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
There were marauders out there, just waiting to rape, pillage, and plunder. Still, there was something authoritarian about Solomon‘s rule of the island.
Jack said, “Miguel‘s not gonna be back for a couple days, anyway. Might as well enjoy ourselves.”
30
The day had evaporated, and I was starting to get hungry. I figured we’d spend the night and worry about getting off the island later. I’d survived the encounter with the AK-47-wielding goons and figured I was past the worst of it. Everything was out in the open. There were no secrets.
I was sure we could hire someone to take us back to the mainland if Miguel didn’t show up—though this was a cashless society for the most part. Solomon controlled the purse strings. He hoarded all the money from online retreat bookings. Everyone who joined his tribe surrendered all their worldly possessions to him in typical cult form.
I lay in bed, watching the blades of the laconic fan spin. Who was telling the truth? Who should I believe?
A knock on the door broke me from my meditation.
I climbed out of bed, stepped across the room, and pulled open the door. “I’m surprised to see you here.”
“Solomon says you’re my responsibility,” Ivy said. “He says, since you’re here for me, that I have brought you into our reality. He says that I must have willed you into action in some unconscious way. Otherwise, you would not have entered our lives.”
I was a firm believer in the fact that we create our own realities, but her logic may have been a stretch.
“Solomon says it’s up to me to resolve this situation,” Ivy continued.
“And how do you plan on doing that?”
She sighed. “I’m not sure. I’m supposed to provide complete and total transparency. Solomon wants you to see how we operate here. How we improve the community and bring benefit to the locals.”
“Locals?”
“Do you mind if I come in?”
I stepped aside and opened the door farther. “Not at all.“
I gestured her inside, and she stepped into the bungalow. I closed the door behind her.
She sauntered to the bed and took a seat at the edge, wearing that impossibly small bikini that was quite distracting. A sheer sarong wrapped around her hips made it seem more modest. It appeared to be the uniform for the entire female population of the village. A uniform that I was in full support of.
Honestly, it was too hot to wear anything else.
I joined her on the edge of the bed.
“The wellness routine is only a small part of Solomon‘s vision,” she said.
“What’s the big part?”
“What you don’t see is the humanitarian work that we do. All of the proceeds from visitors are funneled back into the community and to our efforts to bring education, medication, and shelter to local populations—on this island and neighboring islands. That is our true mission. And we are making a difference. The true measure of a life is not how much you can enrich yourself, but how much you can enrich others.”
