Chapter Eight: Hard Work and Respect
A good night’s sleep was so needed. Still weary from travel, the day’s events added to the need for rest. Ryan and Amy lay awake in separate areas. Their bodies were still, but their minds were in full motion. They thought about the day and the relationships they were forming with the islanders and each other. They were at peace with their decision to come to Maldives and comfortable with the work ahead of them. As sleep finally overcame them, dreams beyond Maldives filled their minds and hearts. A future, a goal and the possibility of unity that would last a life time, made it hard to wake up when the morning sun arose.
“Ryan, wake up man.” Mark shook Ryan with more and more effort. “I think these men want you outside.” Ryan did not want to open his eyes. He didn’t want the visions that had made him feel so needed and loved to disappear. “I’m asking you to get up now, dude!” With that last plea, Mark yanked the sheets that Ryan was all wound up in, causing him to roll into the suitcases lined up against the wall.
“Ouch!” Ryan complained. “What’s up?”
“You tell me. I got up to go to the restroom and there are fifteen men standing in front of the hut. I don’t think they are waiting to escort me to pee!”
Ryan knew Mark was truly concerned. “Calm down big boy. I’ll see what’s going on.” He got up, slid his torn pants over his shorts, and grabbed for a shirt. “You just stay here. I’ll take care of this.” Mark nodded in full agreement. Ryan walked past the doorway of the young lady who was half responsible for his new energy and vision. He thought he would see her under a pile of covers sound asleep. To his surprise, the covers were folded and Amy was nowhere to be seen. His heart pounded for fear that something had happened to her while he slept.
The front of the hut was crowded with some of the same men that he had climbed the palm with the night before. They were glad to see him and tried in their own way to communicate their wishes, but Ryan was more focused on finding Amy. It was a tie concerning which of his senses took over the search. He tried to look over the men that he had apparently earned great respect from, but he couldn’t see anything beyond their friendliness and desire to be with him. His sense of smell took over for his vision. The sweet aroma of fruit and a warm fire cooking something heightened. He turned toward the smoke and listened beyond his surroundings. He closed his eyes and tuned out every close sound. There she was. He couldn’t see her, but he knew the sound of her voice already. She was helping Razan and the other women cook breakfast for the men getting ready to go out on the boats fishing.
Amy looked up to see Ryan’s blue eyes reflecting relief. She took a plate and piled fruit, rice and nuts so high that she had to walk with great caution not to drop everything on her way over to him. “Good morning sleepy head.” She smiled the same smile that he had often seen in his dreams from the night before.
“Do you normally wake up this early?” Ryan questioned as he took the plate. He offered a quick “thank you Lord for the food” and dug in unashamed of his hunger and lack of table manners. With the absence of a table and eating utensils, he figured his actions were acceptable.
“Slow down there Ryan, there are plenty of fruit-filled trees for you to climb. You aren’t going to starve.” Amy mocked his barbaric eating and laughed as the rice stuck to his razor stubble chin. “You are in high demand around here.”
Amy knew something he didn’t. She heard noises outside the hut thirty minutes before Ryan had appeared. When she went to check on everything, she saw the women gathering everything for breakfast. Razan was chatting with the others as Amy came closer. She could pick out Ryan’s name on occasion. He was definitely the topic of conversation. Razan pulled Amy closer into the cooking area and unwrapped Amy’s hand to take a look at the sores and cuts from yesterday. Two irritated lines were all that was left of the cuts and bruises she had less than twenty-four hours earlier. That satisfied Razan enough to motion for her to wash her hands and help with the cooking.
She did her best to look busy as she tried to piece together what was going on around her. Every other word seemed to be about Ryan. He had made quite an impression. As the men gathered for breakfast, their talk revolved around him too. Language may be a barrier, but expressions have a language of their own.
“Um, okay, just what does that mean?” Ryan asked, clearly puzzled.
“I think your day is planned out for you. Every time your name was mentioned, someone went to get more fishing nets or poles.” Amy couldn’t hold back a laugh as she told him that it looked like he was going tuna fishing today.
“I don’t know a thing about fishing!” Ryan’s voice cracked as he accidently spewed rice from his mouth.
“Are you going to tell them no? They think you are a super hero.” Amy was being sarcastic, but Ryan was serious.
“I wasn’t the most comfortable on the ride here,” Ryan admitted. “Have you seen those boats they use for fishing?” Ryan took a deep breath that was followed by a heavy sigh. He swallowed the rest of his breakfast without tasting it. “Okay, everything will be fine. I will give it my best.”
Somewhere between his lack of fishing experience, being out on the ocean all day and that deep breath, he had found peace. “How do you do that Ryan?” Amy had softened her voice. She wanted a serious answer.
Ryan didn’t tease her or make light of her question. He knew what she was asking. “Amy, I am nothing within myself. A couple of years ago, I was introduced to a love that I never knew before. It was the unconditional love of God. People who didn’t know me or owe me anything made me believe that I was worth loving by their actions. They didn’t let any barriers stand between us. I want that same unconditional love to show through me to these people. I will use my strength to love and honor them.”
Ryan could see Amy had more to say. He waited patiently for her to form her thoughts into words. All she finally voiced sounded so frail and concerned. “Aren’t you afraid?”
“Silly lady, there is no fear in love.” Ryan handed the plate back to her as the men gathered their nets and equipment to head out to the docks. “Stay close to Razan. She will keep you busy and take care of you,” he instructed. He smiled a different kind of smile to her, or at least she thought he did. His smile seemed warm and caring, quiet and gentle, as if a smile could show emotion of its very own, or speak a thousand words to her. She prayed that she was actually seeing his feelings and not her own desires.
Ryan saw the pile of thick coir ropes. He threw two ropes over each shoulder and picked up a box of tools lying beside them. He was clueless on what any of these things were for, but he was willing to find out. Razan called his name as best she could. He turned to find her trying to chase him down. She brought him a bag of food and a large jug of water. He was carrying more than his own weight in equipment and food, but that did not slow him down.
He also did not turn to look towards Amy again. It’s not that he was ignoring her, but he never imagined that she would still be watching him. “You are more special than you know, Ryan.” Amy’s words were heard only by ears that didn’t understand.
Amy’s day consisted of following Razan to the marshes to gather reeds and vegetables for dinner. As they entered one particular portion of the marsh, she saw sticks poking up all around. The tip ends were apparently color-coated. Razan, Ari and several other women walked over to the sticks that were color- coated green and started digging with small trowels. Razan pointed to Amy and motioned toward the empty baskets. Amy carried one at a time over to the women. The work seemed back breaking as they bent from the waist to dig, holding up any of their loose clothing so they would not get covered in the mud. Slowly, round, nasty, mud-covered blobs were dug up and placed in the basket. When one was full, Amy went to get another. The sticks were pulled up and stacked on dry ground. The rounded masses were unidentifiable. Three baskets seemed enough for the day. They took the baskets ove
r to the water edge and started rinsing away the mud. To Amy’s surprise, the round objects were coconut shells. The fibers had loosened from around the shell and were sticking up everywhere. It made the coconuts look like they were having a very bad hair day.
They stacked reeds, gathered the fresh vegetables and fruits, and carried the baskets of coconuts back to the village. After putting their day’s collections away, they divided into two groups. One group of women made more coir rope and the other used the dry reeds for mat weaving. She liked the mat weaving much better than making rope. It wasn’t as hard or as harsh on her hands. Amy wasn’t aware that the women didn’t trust her soft hands to make rope and that was the true reason they showed her how to weave. She wasn’t offended at all. When the group she was with disbanded to make lunch, Amy took the time to play with Meena. The longer the two of them played, the more children that seemed to appear out of nowhere. It was exhausting and energizing at the same time. Amy had become their new toy.
After lunch, Amy brought out her yarn and crocheting hooks. The curious children gathered first, followed by some of their moms. Because the women already knew how to make rope and weave mats, crocheting techniques came easy for them. Amy had them all excited about the bright colors of yarn she had brought with her. The easiest things to make would be bracelets. Before long, every little girl and woman had made at least one double chain bracelet and were wearing them with pride. Amy’s only regret is that she hadn’t brought more yarn with her.
Ryan had never worked harder in his life. Pole fishing for tuna and fighting with each individual tuna that grabbed hold of his hook was challenging. Laying out the large heavy nets, balancing the small boats in the sometimes turbulent Indian Ocean currents, pulling the heavy catches up and separating out which fish to keep and which to throw back. Every muscle in his body ached, but he found he loved every minute of it!
After returning and docking the boats, Ryan saw a ferry in the distance. He had hoped it was Bill and Gamini returning with supplies. He decided to wait instead of going back to the village with the others. “Hey Bill, how was your trip?” Ryan yelled out. He was excited to see Bill again. He walked out to grab the guide wire of the ferry and help to pull it closer to the dock.
“Interesting, Ryan, it’s always interesting when you go into the mainland.” Bill left it at that, but Ryan could tell from his tone that there was so much more to what he was saying.
“Nice ride,” Ryan teased pointing to the ferry.
“Thanks, we needed something big enough to hold all the supplies. Grab a load and let’s go. I’m hungry.” Bill filled his arms up and led the way with Gamini and Ryan close behind. They loaded the carts and attached them to the bikes parked close by.
Amy waited impatiently at the edge of the village for Ryan. She was nervous not knowing why he didn’t come back with the others. Seeing him riding the bikes back with Bill and Gamini made her realize her being led to the islands of Maldives had many purposes. She was reaching out, loving the people, helping whenever possible, but God was also blessing her as she blessed others. ‘That is how God works’ was the phrase Ryan used often when trying to explain God’s unseen plan working in people’s lives. Sometimes there wasn’t an explanation that seemed suitable for God’s grace, so Ryan’s phrase started making sense.
Dinner was about done. Even if Amy could have hugged Ryan, she would have to refrain. The man truly stunk. Between the hot sun, fishing and hard work, Ryan smelled as bad as dinner smelled great. Amy insisted Ryan shower before they ate and she promised not to talk about anything with Bill until later.
The brothers made an appearance at dinner time. They greeted Bill and Gamini. They were suddenly talkative.
After dinner, the same six that doubted Ryan’s strength and bravery yesterday, came back with the machetes for another climb. This time, he was an equal.
Another set of palm trees was grouped at the south side of the village. There were more trees than climbers this time. They all chose trees closest to each other. With machetes in place and eye contact made, a head nod of the oldest climber sent them all leapfrogging up the tree. Ryan stayed right with them the whole way up. The transition to the top of the fronds was smooth. Within two minutes of leaving the ground, they were all whacking palm branches off and throwing them to the ground. This time, they added collecting coconuts to the climb. Something else Ryan had to learn to do. He watched as the men bent over the top of the palm and reached down to the coconuts as they wrapped their legs around the palm branches to hold on. They twisted once, twice, and with a quick snap and pull, the coconut was in their hands. Fifteen branches to thirteen branches were too good for the guys so they had to offer another challenge. Ryan thought for a minute and strategically cut away two more branches. He spread his feet as wide as he could and still have good balance. He raised the machete above his head and with two fast whacks, four coconuts fell to the ground. He was not going to bend over the tree and dangle for coconuts. As the others finished pulling the coconuts off the palm, Ryan threw his machete down first then leapfrogged down the tree. Soon after, the other machetes were tossed down and the guys followed. The seven of them were all energy-filled bundles of strength. Testosterone must have a universal language of its own also.
Bill laughed the whole time. He was pleased at the way Ryan and Amy had interacted with the villagers. Although the brothers were different, Bill knew they were there for a purpose too. They would show their talents later.