Chapter 6

I woke up once during the night for a quick piss. My bladder was full from all the water I drank with the spicy shark stew. Their idea of toilets was to use the nearby bushes. They did go a little farther for a shit. I observed a few of them going off into the jungle and was wondering what was up with the back and forth. When I asked my mates, instead of answering they just dragged me to where I had seen those people going.

Within thirty feet of the location, I knew. The stench of human excrement was strong and didn't leave any doubt as to the use of this area. They had a few holes in the ground about two feet deep, which people would just squat over and let go. I didn't see anything for them to clean their butts after and didn't want to find out. Some things are just better left unasked.

My second time waking up was because by two young women coming into the hut. I wasn't the only one woken up by them. "what are you two doing here?" Ines whispered to them.

"Rock told us last night that if we came early we could cuddle!" Then looking at me. "What is a cuddle rock?"

"Yes we debated long into the night what it could be and we are both anxious to find out." Foria whispered back quickly. "we both think it will be naughty." And they both started giggling.

"SHHHHT" came from a wakening Fatima. "And what are you two doing here at this time? The sun is not even up yet!" She added quietly.

"It's ok my love, I asked them to come." Looking at my young future mates. "You two, squeeze in beside me."

Which they both did quickly. "A cuddle or cuddling is when we just hold each other softly like this and just enjoy being together." Both laid their heads on my chest with each a leg on top of mine. Ines and Fatima were both resting on their sides looking at the two beside me with smiles. I could see no troubles brewing in their look which appeased some of my fears. Jealousy with four women living under the same roof could get troublesome to say the least. What I saw was more like they were happy for them.

I woke up for the third time that night and to my surprise, this time I was alone. The sun was up and the hut was empty. I'm hearing people talking outside so I'm not worried, just surprised they got up without waking me. I must have been more tired than I thought. In retrospect, it's been a pretty stressful couple of days. Just thinking about it and I can feel my heartbeat increasing ... Time to relaxe again and take one thing at a time. Like, what should I do with myself today? What I want and what's needed is a tour of this island. Whether my mates will let me is another question. I hope they don't have anything for me to do. I would like to see the other tribes and see if I could get everyone to merge into one big tribe. Next, I want to bring the mattresses that are on the boat. There's one double and two single ones that could be put besides each other to make a huge bed where we could all sleep on comfortably. I also need to make a full inventory of what's on the boat. Come to think of it, I didn't even check if the motor itself worked. It could come useful in the future if it starts and run properly.

Ok, enough moping around. I need to get on with my day. First order of business will be to talk to Andres and see if he can be my guide for the day or recommend someone for me. Actually I need to speak to my mates.

I see all four of them with both kids around the fire pit sitting on the logs they use for benches. They are each eating breakfast in bowls made from big shells and as soon as someone spots me coming out of the hut everyone started clapping their hands looking at me. Some just holding their bowls and smiling at me. Now it's my time to blush as I get to my ladies. "Why are they clapping" I tried to whisper.

"WHAT?" Shouted Ines to be heard over the clapping still going on.

"WHY ARE THEY CLAPPING?" Yep, everyone had stopped clapping at her "What" and they all heard my question, which just got everyone laughing at me.

"They are just saying "thank you" for the breakfast my wonderful mate." One look around at what the people had on their plate told me the meal this morning consisted of eggs and pork.

They made a place for me between them and as soon as I sat down Pia got up and came to sit at my feet and I was given a shell with my breakfast. "I take it that you shared your eggs with the tribe?"

"Actually, Jordie and Foria helped me and we cooked the meal for everyone this morning." Fatima said.

"Yes, we want everyone to be as happy as we are!" said Jordie

"Nobody will forget this day!" Added Foria.

"This meal is good. Thank you ladies. Who cooked the meat?"

"It's been cooking overnight. All we had to do this morning was cut the pieces for everyone." Ines said.

"I think you did a great job ladies. Thank you for a very good meal this morning." I was going to add more but I was interrupted by members of the tribe wanting to say thanks for the meal. After the third one thanking me I looked at my mate again. "Why are they thanking me if you women made the meal?"

"You ask why?" They all laugh at me. "Only bebecause you, my wonderful mate not only brought back more eggs in one time than anyone ever, and now everyone is eating the result of that gathering. If that wasn't enough you go and kill the beast no one would of thought to even be in the same waters with, not even mentioning that you brought in two pigs which we all know that just to kill one we need at least three to four of our best hunters and even then, they are so hard to kill that we avoid going near them." As Ines started talking I was seeing the people around me acknowledging her words with nods and to say the truth, it was starting to embarrass me a little. I didn't do all that for recognition, only bebecause I had the tools to do it and it was the fastest way I could think of doing it.

"Ok, ok I get it. Thank you but I only did all that for you girls but if everyone benefits from it, I'm all for it. Not to change the subject but would you ladies have any demands for this mate of yours for the rest of the day?" This got them all laughing at me again.

"You do have a way with words my mate." Fatima said getting up. "All we need from you this day is for you to be here for the third meal and the ceremony after. Is that right ladies?" To which they all nodded.

"Then if you don't mind I'll go talk to Andres. I have a few things I'd like to do today and would like some information." I picked up the little girl at me feet. "you little lady, don't speak much do you!" And I gave her a hug and a kiss.

"I have something in my bag for you. It's in the hut. Do you want to come with me and see what it is? Her head was nodding so fast it made everyone who heard me laugh. It only took a minute to get to the hut and no time at all to retrieve the stuffed dolphin that I had found, hooked up to the roof in the cabin of the boat. It'll be of use in her hands then tied up to the ceiling of a cabin on a boat.

Seeing her face light up and the hug that followed was the best thank you I could ever ask for but she surprised me even more by saying it.

"Oh Daddy! Thank you! Thank you!" and she drenched the side of my faces with kisses. When I looked at my ladies who had followed us inside, all four had watery eyes and so did I.

"That's a Dolphin Pia. It's a friendly fish that has been known to help people like us who were lost in the water or even attacked by the man killers I call shark. Now he's yours to play with all you want." Looking at my ladies. "You girls have a nice day and I'll see you all for the third meal." I got hugs and kisses from all of them and even an ass grab by Fatima, and went to find Andres.

I found him talking to Maia and Raquel and as I got closer I overheard Maia talking " ... want you to fix this now..."

She saw me at that point. "Good morning Rock. Do you need to speak with Andres?" She gave a look to Andres shaking her head in my direction. She wanted him to talk to me about something that was obvious. Ok, I'll bite.

"Yes actually I need some information."

"That's good. Me and Raquel have a few things to do before the ceremony. Take all the time you men need." She gave one last look at Andres and there was a lot of meaning in that look. I was now curious. Something was definitely not right here.

"What can I do for you Rock?" He asked looking worried and kept looking around.

"Never mind what I want. What was that all about? Maia seemed worried!"

"She's afraid we might be attacked tonight while we are celebrating."

"And what makes her think that Andres?"

"One of the sentries last night saw two men trying to sneak into the campsite. It was Diego that was on watch and he called out when he noticed the two shapes. They turned around and disappeared into the jungle. He came and woke me up. I stayed up with him the rest of the night but they didn't come back."

"So what do you want to do about it? Did you send some men this morning to see if they made any tracks?"

"I did think about sending men out but with the mating ceremony tonight I'm reluctant to risk the lives of my men."

"Follow me to my Hut. You and I are going to take care of this, once and for all. No way am I letting anyone have a chance at sneaking here to hurt us. I'm telling you this right now Andres. There will be more people at the ceremony or their will be less people on this island. It's one way or the other. They come to the party or they die. I don't give a damn, I'm pissed off." If these little fuckers wanted to hurt us, I took it upon myself to deal with it.

Once at the hut I went right for my bag. I wondered for a second to where my gang had wandered to. I'm sure they're busy and I don't really want to worry them with this shit. To them this is the best day of their life and I will let nothing fuck with it.

I grabbed the shotgun, made sure it was fully loaded and gave it to Andres with five shells extra. I took the AR-15 with me and a spare clip. We're dealing with people with spears here, I don't think they'll be much of a threat.

"What am I to do with this Rock?" He was holding the shotgun away from his body like it was gonna bite him.

"We'll go in the jungle and look for those who came here last night but first I want you to shoot a few things to get used to the shotgun. Can we afford to take the time to go try these weapons on the other side of the mountain where we killed the shark? I don't want anyone to hear us shoot and give away our advantage."

"I'm not sure I want to use this stick of yours Rock. What did you call it? A shortgun? Why do you give your stick a name like that if it's so long?"

"Andres, It's a dangerous weapon and it's called a shotgun, not a short gun. Let's go and I'll show you how to use it when we get on the other side. There, no one will hear the big boom that we make when we use a weapon."

Once there I proceeded to make ourselves some target made out of pieces of dead wood. I showed Andres how to shoot from the shoulder and from the hip. I laughed at him on his first shot. Even if I warned him about the recoil and the noise, eyes wide and mouth open he dropped the weapon after the blast. I was laughing so hard it hurt inside. It took me a few minutes to calm down and I let him shoot two more time from the shoulder and three shots from the hip.

I should practice with my AR but I don't want to waste any bullets. If I'm going to shoot this baby, it'll be to protect or to feed my family. That's it!

"This is magic Rock. It's very loud but I'm afraid to see what it would do to a man."

"Andres. Do you think you will have any problems in using the shotgun to defend your tribe?" I needed to be sure I could count on him and at my words I saw him puff up his chest and lift his shoulders.

"Yes Rock I will use it to defend our tribe and I pity the one who will stand in front of your shotgun."

"No Andres, it's no mine anymore. I give this shotgun to the men of the tribe to use at night when keeping guard. I count on you to make sure the magazine, that part where you put the spare shells I gave you, always full. I will give you a box of 25 shells to keep in your hut. Is that ok with you?

"I don't ... you can't ... are you sure ... you might need it later!"

"If I need it I'll know it's with you and I have this baby here that won't leave my side till this problem of ours is solved and I have a hand gun back at the hut. Let's head back and track whoever came to our camp sneaking in the night like thieves." Now my mind is going back to the other weapons I saw on the boat. I have to get them all quick, before someone stumbles on the boat.

I wish I had some way to tell the fucking time. I never wear a watch anymore since all I have to do usually is look at my cell phone to know. Not anymore. When I woke up on my first day here, all I had with me was the cloths on my back. I looked for it on the boat but didn't find anything. Now I use the sun to know the time and it's ok if you want to know if it's noon, but let's say, like if you wanted to know the passing of an hour. Tough fucking luck. Sometimes I might say "it took us an hour to get..." But it well could have been ninety minutes or two hours for all I know.

We made good time getting back to camp and I did see my mates doing god knows what around the unmated women's hut. I saw both kids with them and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. I did send a wave but we were on a mission and not to be detracted.

Andres sent one of the wondering kids to get Diego. He must have been close bebecause he was beside us in minutes.

"Diego, can you show Rock where you saw the men disappear into the jungle last night?"

"Yes Andres, follow me its right there where you see that big tree." He was pointing to an area just behind my hut.

That pissed me off even more.

"I hope these men weren't after any of my mates." I could see Diego wanted to say something but he was holding back. "Do you have something to add Diego?"

"I don't want to contradict you Master." He said looking down.

"Diego please look at me." He did. He wasn't too sure of himself and it showed but he was brave enough to look me in the eye. "I know we've only spoken to each other once or twice but I would appreciate it if we could be friends.

Can we be friends Diego?" That nod again, must be a cultural answer for yes! "Do friends call each other "Master"?" Now he's shaking his head from side to side. "Now that we have that master crap out of the way, I want you to feel free to speak your mind at any time ok?"

"Yes Rock."

"With that being said. Do you have anything to add?"

"They weren't looking at your hut Rock. I couldn't see much more than their shape but the direction of where they were looking seemed like the unmated women's hut."

"Thank you Diego." turning towards Andres. "Are you ready to go?" I was fired up!

"Diego, go back to the camp and like I said last night ... Not a word to anyone. Just stay on your guard, keep your spear close and if anyone asks, just tell them that after the battle we had just a few days ago, I asked you to be more vigilant." Andres sure knows how to deal with his people and his people respect him. I could see that, just by Diego turning around without asking more questions. That takes trust.

I don't know how far in miles we traveled. The tracks were quite clear but hardly in a straight line and they led us to a small campsite a little more than half the size of ours. We stayed well hidden behind some trees, maybe seventy-five feet from the nearest hut.

"Rock, something is wrong here." he whispers to me. "I don't see anyone outside and that is strange. I don't even see any kids and there should be some. I know these people. We may not be friends but there should be at least the women about. It's like the camp is deserted."

"Ok, lets circle the camp quietly and see if we can have a look at the inside of one of these huts." And that's what we did.

"Rock, Do you see the dark spot near the fire?"

"Yes."

"I'm almost certain that is blood."

"I don't care anymore. Who is the leader here anyway?" If I had to blast my way into this village, might as well call them out.

"Rock, I know the people living here, they would not have come to our camp in the night. We've never had any problems with any of them. There's three couples living here and four kids. Raoul is leader here. He's got a mate and they have a boy ready to be mated but with no single women in their camp. Raoul is my brother and we had a difference of opinion which led to him leaving the tribe and setting up his own. Your mate Ines as a sister in this group also, her name is Flavia. She's mated to Dorino who is brother to Faustino. We're all related in some way so I'm positive they weren't responsible for last night invasion of our campsite."