Savages

87

“I hope he is a socialist,” Ben says. “Socialism works.”

Worked for Ben and Chonny’s, certainly.

Chon doesn’t believe in socialism

or communism or capitalism.

The only “ism” he believes in is

jism.

O, the sacramental vessel of his faith,

laughs.

“What about hedonism?” Ben asks, just enjoying the game because Chon is one of the least hedonistic people he knows. Chon likes his pleasure, no doubt, but he is also a disciplined daily self-torturer who runs miles of beach, swims miles of ocean, does a thousand push-ups and pull-ups and sit-ups and bangs his bare fist into a wooden post until it bleeds (the fist, not the post).

“Nope, not hedonism,” Chon answers. “In my world, there’s only

he do or he don’t ism

because when it comes down to a man getting it done, either

he do, or he don’t.”

O concurs.

Happy she has two he do’s.

“No, I’ve got it,” Ben says. “Nihilism.”

“Nihilism,” Chon says. “Now you might be onto something.”

Okay, that’s pretty funny, O thinks.