American Adventure: My Uncle is Don Quixote

Li Wei’s gaze swept below the high platform. On the red rock floor stood hundreds of people packed tightly together, almost all of them women. He recognized most of their faces—they were waitresses, receptionists, and the like from the resort.

Behind them stood several dozen men of varying ages and attire.

"My children, my brothers, my wives." Warren’s voice echoed throughout the hall. Though not loud, it reached every ear with perfect clarity.

"The secular world is rotting. The numbers on Wall Street, the lies of politicians, the hollow promises of equality and freedom—they are all pushing humanity into the abyss of destruction." Warren paced slowly within the pillar of light, spreading his thin arms. "God’s patience has run out. I have received a revelation."

"Soon, the Lord will send down a cleansing fire! The earth will crack, the oceans will boil! New York, Los Angeles, London... all those cities, filled with depravity and original sin, will be reduced to ash in the Karmic Fire!"

It was silent below the stage. Everyone was listening to his sermon.

"But do not be afraid, my family." Warren’s voice grew gentle again as he pointed to the red rock beneath his feet. "When Judgment Day arrives, only we—only this land, which carries a sacred bloodline—will rise from the earth, ascend to the heavens, and become the new Garden of Eden!"

"But before that, the Lord has given me a new revelation," he said. "You must overcome all obstacles and cleanse the original sin from within your bodies. Only then, when Judgment Day comes, can you go to the Garden of Eden."

After he spoke for a while longer, his wives lined up below the stage and, in order from oldest to youngest, took turns kissing his cheeks as a sign of their loyalty.

Li Wei stood at the highest point, silently watching it all, committing the face of Warren the Prophet to memory.

When he returned to his room and met up with Mark again at noon, he noticed the watch on Mark’s wrist was gone.

"Mr. Mark," Li Wei said, sitting down at the dining table. He picked up a glass of ice water and asked, seemingly at random, "Where’s your watch? I remember you were wearing a Vacheron Constantin yesterday."

’If I remember correctly, it was a perpetual calendar from the Overseas collection, worth at least seventy or eighty thousand USD. For someone like Mark, a mid-to-high-level player who clawed his way up in a Wall Street investment bank, a watch of that caliber was a symbol of his identity and social standing. He would normally never take it off.’

"Oh, that," Mark said, setting down his fork and shrugging nonchalantly. "I gave it to my mentor."

"Oh," Li Wei said. "That watch couldn’t have been cheap."

"You’re right. It meant a lot to me," Mark said with a sigh. "I bought it with my first-ever year-end bonus, right after I started out. I was a junior analyst at JPMorgan Chase back then, and the senior who took me under his wing was the youngest ED—Executive Director—in the firm."

"I was wearing an Omega automatic back then. He came over and told me, ’Kid, a watch is a statement. When you get your bonus this year, go buy yourself a good one.’" A smile spread across Mark’s face. "I told him, ’Mr. Don Quixote Cervantes, I just started. How could I possibly afford a really nice watch?’"

"’You’ll be able to afford it by the end of the year.’ That’s what he told me," Mark continued. "And sure enough, I was shocked to find out at year’s end that I’d received the highest performance rating. You have to understand, it was rare for a new hire to get the top rating. I’m sure he must have pulled some strings for me. So I went and spent 80,000 USD on that watch."

"But I gave it to my mentor," he said with a shrug. "My mentor taught me that true freedom comes from learning to let go of attachment. Only when we’re no longer defined by material possessions can we hear the word of God."

"You know Don Quixote?" Li Wei raised an eyebrow. "Don Quixote Cervantes, the one from JPMorgan Chase?"