Cave of Little Faces. Aída Besançon Spencer
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He spotted her, of course—how could he miss her? Balenzuela grinned back.
“Oh, good, another American!” she greeted him warmly.
“Actually, Madam, I am Spanish from Spain,” he replied in perfect English.
“Oh, I love Spain,” she cooed. “What a wonderful country. Please, we would be so honored if you would join us. My name is Star. This is my—uh—my brother, Basil.”
Basil’s eyes flicked at her for an instant, and then he rose courteously. “Yes, dear Star’s brother, Basil. At your service.”
“I am Ismael Rodrigo Balenzuela Cordoba from Cadiz in España.”
“We are so honored to share a table with you.”
“Thank you.” He sat down and a waiter set a place for him.
“Here on business, no doubt?” said Basil easily. “You are a man of obvious determination.”
Balanzuela swelled a bit and thought to himself that these are obviously people of great discernment. “Yes,” he said, “I am here on a development mission.”
“How wonderful,” said Star. “So are we.”
“You are?”
“Yes, we are. And what do you wish to develop?”
“A resort here in Barahona.”
“Ah,” said Basil, “a beautiful little city.”
“And you?” said Balenzuela courteously.
“Our work is of a more spiritual nature. We are here for the magnetic pole.”
“The magnetic pole? What is that?”
“It is the eighth wonder of the world,” Star assured him. “But no one here values it. We represent a new and deeply spiritual movement. We call ourselves the Polarians, after the mighty pole.”
“And what does the pole do?” asked Ismael Balenzuela, intrigued by this charming couple.
“Let us tell you all about it,” said Basil, warming up. “You see, when Columbus and his”—he paused a moment, studying Balenzuela intently, and then continued glibly—“his liberators came to this lovely land, seeking a new world of opportunity, they did not know that they were actually drawn here by a magnetic mountain, a pole as powerful as the North and South Pole. For us, it is the center of the universe.”
“Really?”
“Oh, yes,” said Star, melting him with her eyes and nearly taking his hand. “You see the pole is powerful. It can literally move metal! One can stop one’s car and the magnetism will pull it backward up a hill and over into the valley below. You see, the mountain and the valley form two counterpoints—two poles, one active, one passive. This is the kind of reconciliation we are seeking in Polarism—to adjust the natural magnetism of our lives into a harmonious synchronicity ordered by the natural pull of the earth.”
“Yes,” tag-teamed Basil. “Just as the north and south poles orient the natural polarities of our world, the magnetic pole in Hispaniola orients the spiritual polarities that we possess within ourselves. The magnetic mountain takes the vehicles which are our lives and pulls them to its own rhythm.”
A waiter cleared his throat deferentially at Balenzuela’s elbow and asked if they were ready to order. Balenzuela glanced at the menu and looked up instantly. “Sea Bass,” he said, definitively.
Both Star and Basil went for salads, the cheapest things on the menu.
There was a pause and then Balenzuela looked at them loftily. “I am very sorry, but I have to be honest. This sounds to me like a load of rubbish.”
Both Basil and Star froze and stared back at him intensely, and then Star took a gamble. “Of course, it is,” she said. “But this is the kind of thing that pays—and pays big with the right customers. No one at all has cashed in on this. And we mean to do so.”
“And we’re looking for a partner,” added Basil.
There was a moment of crackling silence, and then Ismael Balenzuela laughed heartily. “And if anybody can pull this off and sell this nonsense to the spiritually confused, I think you two can.”
“Are you in?” asked Star.
“I’m interested. But, if I’m putting up the money, I’m not talking about 50/50.”
“We’re not greedy,” said Basil.
“But, we’re not stupid,” said Star. “If we’re taking the risks, we need a decent cut.”
“Like what?”
“60-40,” hazarded Basil.
“80-20,” said Balenzuela.
“Meet in the middle,” said Star, “70-30.”
“What is the outlay?”
“We need a place to bring folks to. A lot like a retreat center. Anywhere around the area will do.”
“I think I can do that, but it’s going to need advertising. Don’t these kind of things need a book to push them?” asked Balenzuela.
“I told you,” said Basil to Star and turned to Balenzuela, confiding, “I’ve already been drawing one up in my head: The Dynamics of Polarism, I’m thinking of calling it, but more a booklet than a book. Something we can bang out pretty fast and then distribute far and cheaply. We could make some kind of perk that every pilgrim to the magnetic pole receives the right to wear a small magnetic pin and to distribute copies of our ‘bible,’ which, of course, they buy from us at discount to them, but a good markup for us, and give away or resell at a profit. It makes them feel special, like a very spiritual state to be in.”
“I can see it would be,” smirked Balenzuela. “You know,” he mused, “we could charter a cruise ship wherever the idea took hold and bring it here to Barahona.”
“Sure,” said Star, “devotees would begin feeling more ‘polarized’ the minute they got off the ship.”
All three of them laughed uproariously.
“Do you imagine they’d think it’s a good thing to be polarized?” chuckled Balenzuela.
“Well,” said Basil, wiping his eyes, “Nobody wants to be ‘depolarized’ do they? It’s like being lost.”
“Yes,” jumped in Star. “Unlike most religions, we wouldn’t have a concept of sin and salvation, doncha see? Just polarization and depolarization. And all sorts of aids to help people get polarized.”
“Look,” said Basil, “We’re not idiots. We realize explaining it to someone means they could steal the idea and do it all themselves, but we’ve got the inspiration and the experience and the skills to pull this off.”
“I can see you do,” said Balenzuela. “I confess that did cross my mind, but it would cause problems with my company back home. This, however, if it were worked carefully would be an investment. With the right presentation, it would fly, or I could simply do it myself with my own money, but, if I invested, I would have to know it would really work.”
“Listen,” said Basil, “I envision a fine line of magnetic products people can place under their beds or in the boardrooms of companies to draw people into harmony with a leader’s vision. In fact, we could bang out another book, Winning through Personal Magnetism, about how to use it in business. . . .”
“Or in one’s personal life, like one’s love life,” said Star. “Oh, that’s good. I really like that.”
“Are you really brother and sister?” asked Balenzuela.
“No,” said Basil.
“I thought not.”
“So,