I have walked the whole shore and found nothing but rocks. Night is coming, and I have no food, no bed, and no single friend. So this is my hotel tonight: cold sand, hard roots, and a million stars. Please, somebody, anybody at all, do not leave me alone in this darkness tonight!
Coconuts! If I can climb and gather enough, I will not sleep hungry tonight. One, two, three... a billionaire counting coconuts like a poor village boy again.
Branches here, big leaves on top. It is ugly, but it will block the rain. My hands are blistering, but this little shelter is mine. I built it myself."
Back on the Golden Crest, the guest suite was open and silent. Folake stepped across its thick carpet beside Tayo, her eyes falling upon furniture she had dusted while enduring Kayode's commands. The room smelled of expensive cologne and freshly laundered linens, a world impossibly distant from the beach where he had been left. There was relief in being free of his voice, but also a strange unease at the absence he had left behind. The suite looked like a monument to a man who had mistaken extravagance for a character.
Folake answered, "So this is how he lived while we slept in that tiny crew cabin: soft carpets, gold taps, a bed like a cloud."
Tayo said, "Folake, look inside this safe! Gold watches, gold chains, and stacks of cash everywhere!"
Folake replied, "All this gold and money, and he still treated people like they were nothing."
Folake said, "Tonight, we sleep in this suite, Tayo. Tonight, the servants become the masters here."
Tayo observed, "Then let me pour the drinks tonight, Madam Owner, and serve you with honor."
Folake said, "Look at this safe standing wide open, Tayo. All his gold and money waiting here for us."
The safe contained evidence of wealth so vast it had become almost decorative. Watches lay arranged in cushioned compartments; necklaces flashed beneath the lights; bundles of money formed neat rectangular towers. Folake turned over a paper bearing Kayode's handwriting, finding beneath the arrogance a fear of being judged by his own social circle. She could understand that fear without forgiving what he had done with it. Tayo, dazzled by the riches, moved between fascination and the awareness that the valuables were not theirs.
Folake answered, "Tayo, listen to his own hand: *Tonight, I must shine before the guests, or everything falls.*"
Tayo said, "So the proud lion was afraid too, Folake—afraid of falling before his rich friends."
Folake replied, "This gold watch fits my wrist perfectly, Tayo, as if it was always meant to be mine."
Tayo said, "Try the heavy chain next, Folake, and let us see the full picture of this new life."
Folake murmured, "Somewhere out there, he is waking on that sand, Tayo. Waking to nobody and nothing."
Tayo said, "Do not let your heart soften too early, Folake. Remember the champagne running down your face."