Dispatches from Key West
The Narrative of Tides
With the high tide come the stories. A pineapple thrown overboard during a cruise ship deck party. A single flip flop lost while walking into the surf. A tennis ball which disappeared into a large swell before the retriever could locate it. A bouquet of flowers still tied with a love note, the victim of a lovers' quarrel. A derelict boat, abandoned in a drug interdiction chase. A bait net lost by a careless fisherman. A little pink pail with a loan shell lying in it. An empty rum bottle containing a note inviting the finder to come to a party on a sandbar last month.
Unlocking The Ancient Future
A deep dive into the hidden lives embedded within my novel, The Ancient Future.
The Gunshot
The wedding celebration is over. It is time. The village leader, called a Mamo, goes to the new wife’s field. The Mamo wants to find Coronado and wife coupling. He will say a blessing. Blessing that Great Mother, gives them many children. Children to help with the farm. The Mamo sees them. They are not coupling. They sit on the ground. Talking. Heads close together. Speaking softly.
Wife says to Coronado, “Last husband. Went to visit Younger Brother. Wanted to grow coca. Sell it. He wanted to leave our village. Never come back.”
Coronado looks into his wife's eyes. “I do not want sell to Younger Brother. I just want see where they live. How they live. I want to learn to speak Spanish.”
“Bad will happen to you. Mamo says we should not be with Younger Brother.”
“I saw Younger Brother. I went to the village where Kogi and Younger Brother live together. Dumingueka. Father went. Mamo went. Nothing bad happened. I watched. I learned. Same as I want do now. I am not afraid of Yoounger Brother,”
Wife looks away. She turns back to Coronado. Her face looks soft in the sun. She says, “I go. You go. We look. We come back. We live in your village. We keep Kogi traditions. Live Kogi life.”
“You are a good wife. We only look. We come back to my village. No bad will happen.”
They stand. Walk together. Down the mountain. Across the grassland. Mamo follows.
A building is ahead. "Coronado, I know what it is. A cocaine lab. Younger Brother business. You must not go there." The village Mamo knows the Kogi tradition of balance between good and bad. This is different. There is no Kogi balance to a cocaine lab. To drug business.
Coronado does not hear the Mamo's warning. He grabs his wife’s hand. They run toward the building. Coronado says, “A village. Younger Brother village. We will look.”
There are voices coming from the compound. Shouting. Speaking Spanish. They say, “Stop.” Coronado does not speak Spanish. He does not understand. Mamo cries out in the Kogi language, “Coronado. Stop.”
He stops. He puts his body in front of wife. He faces a man who is running toward him. Coronado does not understand what the man says. Mamo says louder, “Coronado. Come to me.”
Coronado does not look at Mamo. Wife does not look at Mamo. Coronado does the wrong thing. He holds wife hand. They run. Down the mountain. Man raises his gun. Shoots. Coronado falls. Wife raises a hand over her face. She collapses to her knees.
*Younger Brother is the Kogi term for anyone who is not a Kogi. The hikers are Younger Brother. Their Colombian guide is Younger Brother. The workers in the cocaine lab are Younger Brother. The soldiers at The Ancient City are Younger Brother.
