Fox

It turns out I’m not cut out for huts, which is not a huge surprise. But I endure it because the upside is that I get to sleep close to a naked Lola every night—mostly because the bed is the size of a cot and it’s a hundred degrees outside.

Other than that—and the killer mosquitoes—I can’t complain. While Lola is loving her job working with the kids, I have to admit I think I’m getting more out of it than she is. The villagers love me and I’ve never felt so rewarded as I do hanging out in gym shorts and a T-shirt and just kicking the ball with a bunch of happy children. In exchange, they’re teaching me Spanish.

When I met Lola, I could barely read English, now I’m getting more fluent in ASL and I’m learning Spanish. I never pictured my life going in this direction. I’ve also never felt more fulfilled or happier in my life. All my personal belongings fit in a duffel bag, I have nothing of real physical value, but every night I go to sleep with a full belly and a beautiful woman in my arms. What else could I ask for?

In a few weeks we fly back to Miami for Lola’s graduation and I have from now until then to decide what I want to do with my life. WDEP has already started sharing information with her about their program in Thailand, and Lola’s face lights up every time the other volunteers talk about it, but she hasn’t committed to anything and I know it’s because she’s waiting for me to make a decision. She’s not pushing me one way or another. In fact, we haven’t even talked about it.

This is the second time our relationship feels like it’s on a timetable. But this time it’s different because I have made one decision. Regardless of what happens, I don’t think I’ll return to Panic or Duality. I’m enjoying life’s little thrills and the beauty of the jungle and the happiness that my woman exudes every single day she’s doing what she loves. And something I’ve learned about myself is that Lola’s happiness is tied to my happiness and that’s all I need right now. Some people want to be doctors, or lawyers, or teachers. And some, like me, have dreams of making someone else happy. It’s that simple. I have never in my life been able to figure out what I love to do or what I want to do. It’s always been about proving something to someone. Finding out that I don’t want for anything by having nothing has been the biggest irony of it all.

Lola

“Has the mail arrived?” he asks. We’ve been waiting for our plane tickets back to Miami for my graduation.

“Not yet.” They were supposed to get here last week but there was some mix-up with the dates, and with the Internet being so spotty, it’s hard to figure things out from the middle of the jungle. A few weeks seem like a long time to be worried, but things are slow moving around here.

We’re both lying on a hammock when he nudges my rib. “I hear a truck.”

I jump up, almost causing him to flip over. “Fingers crossed it’s the mail.”

Luckily, it is and the man begins to distribute packages and letters to everyone. We have a few. I open the one that looks like it’s from the airline first, and I’m relieved to find the tickets with the correct information this time. “Finally.” Now with the date in place, we can arrange for our transportation to the airport, which is an ordeal all on its own.

“I’m going to miss this village,” Fox says.

“Me too.”

He puts an arm over my shoulders to bring me closer and kisses my head. “What else?” he asks, gesturing to the other mail. There’s a box from Vivian—she’s sent me a few care packages with snacks, including jars of peanut butter and photos of my favorite pets, since I’ve arrived. I’m looking forward to opening that one. “What’s this?” I look at an envelope addressed to William Fox from the Law Offices of Leon & Marty.

He looks at me and shrugs, then rips it open and hands it to me to read. I quickly skim it and my eyes widen.

I cover my open mouth with my palm. “Oh. My. God!”

“What?” He grabs the letter.

“Your dad. He…Fox, he had life insurance and a will. He left you over a million dollars. They’ve been trying to locate you for months.”

His eyes widen. He looks down at the letter and carefully and slowly reads it for himself.

“Sonofabitch. Wow,” he says, mostly in shock. “I can’t believe my father did this. I can honestly say it’s the only decent thing he’s ever done for me.”

“Now you can sleep on a bed in the Four Seasons instead of a hut.” He’s just staring at the letter. He’s still surprised, I think.

He folds the letter into a little plane and tosses it into the air. “Someone once told me, ‘Do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.’ ” I remember telling him that when we first got together. I can’t believe he remembers. “Being with you, Lola, is what I love to do.”

“Well, then, I guess you’ll never work a day in your life.”

Helen

“I heard Fox isn’t coming back,” Jane says as she helps me put up the chairs around the bar. “And get this, rumor is he got a big inheritance.”

“Lola is one lucky girl.” I say wistfully, trying not to think about all my financial troubles.

“She sure is. They’re somewhere in Thailand right now while we’re here at five in the morning cleaning a sticky counter.”

“I thought they were in Ecuador.”

“They were,” she says. “But apparently she was accepted to some program in Thailand and he went with her.”

“Wow. I did not see that coming,” I say.

Iggy walks by and starts to shut down the lights. “Women do weird shit to men. You’d never catch me following some chick around the world like a pussy-whipped asshole.”

“Bitter much?” Jane says.

“Not bitter. Smart,” he says, tapping his head, then winks. “Anyway, if any of you know of any good servers or bartenders or if you want to switch to upstairs, we have a couple of openings.”

“Upstairs? Topless?” I ask.

“You know the drill,” he says.

I can’t.

Never.

Not even to help mother pay for her treatments.

“I heard Stephanie’s making over eight hundred dollars a night,” Jane says as she grabs her purse.

“Eight hundred dollars a night!” I yelp.

Maybe never is too strong a word, after all.