STRENGTH

"Morning Ricky. A bit late today huh?" Rosaline Mezcal, the Sous Chef of Bayview Hotel, greeted Ricky at the back door.

"Morning Rose. Yeah sorry about that. Had to drag Sammy to school. He's strong for a seven year old. And fast too."

"Oh yeah, how was the little kid anyway?"

"I dunno. I can say this though, if I was him, I'd locked myself up in the basement too. Or worse. At least he work out and exercise, that's good right?"

"Better than staying in bed I guess." Rose studied Ricky's face. "You don't look to happy about his workout though."

"It's… I mean it's good that he exercises and all. It just seemed a little too much. At times...felt like I was talking to the Hulk or something."

"Errr...what?"

"You know...like full of rage and shit. I dunno man, maybe it's just me, but that kid used to be a lot brighter and a lot sweeter than now."

"Yeah well, terrible accidents like that do be changing people."

Ricky scoffed at the mention of accident. Rose caught that. "What's up?"

"Huh, what?"

"you, what. What?"

"Nothing. Just...agreeing with you. Terrible things do be happening to good people."

Rose nodded. "Yeah, tell me about it. It's like the jealousy of god or something."

"Ehh I wouldn't go that far."

"Cehh, you goody two shoes you."

"Shut up. Just check your order." Both laughed at that.

Rose reached for her clipboard. She went through each crate, ticking the boxes after she carefully inspected and weighed them. When she was satisfied with the quality and quantity of the deliveries, she signed the invoice, and gave a copy to Ricky.

"So, same order tomorrow as well?"

"Yeah, oh and a small bag of soybeans as well."

"Sure. What for?"

"I got this crunchy roasted tofu recipe I wanted to try. So I'm planning of making my own tofu."

"Wow, okay. A little complicated for tofu, but okay."

"Ehhh you know this rich, snobby bastards here. The more complicated it is, the higher they are willing to pay. Big bucks for tofu, I'll be lining my pocket up."

"Fuuhh, you are still a scoundrel after all, huh. Imma be charging top dollar for that bag of tofu."

"Da fuck are you talking about. Shared profit remember? What I make, the farm gets a cut too."

"Awh right. Well, overcharge them muthafaka more then."

Both of them laughed. Ricky bid adieu to Rose, and him and his two workers went off back to the farm.

The ride home was quiet, not awkward. The workers knew Ricky enjoyed the peace and tranquility of the scenery, so they let him enjoyed it for a while. They knew about the situation of the farm. Most of the neighbouring farms had sold their land to the mayor. Ricky was among those that was steadfast in his decision not to sell. They were constantly harassed by the goons, but they were able to defend themselves. Plus, they were making good money too. Unfortunately, money is not always the cure for troubled minds. So, if there's a moment that their boss could be at peace, they'd do their best not to disturb it.

Suddenly, one of them spoke. "Hey boss, isn't that Uncle Lawyer's car?"

Ricky looked towards where the worker was pointing. And indeed, the two door British Green Suzuki Jimny indeed belonged to Arthur. Ricky wondered what was the car doing here, and whether Arthur was okay.

The delivery truck pulled over. Ricky exited the vehicle, and opened the driver side of the car. It was empty. "Arthur! Arthur!"

"Uncle Lawyer! Uncle Lawyer!" his two workers also called out for Arthur. If this was not something worrisome, Ricky would've laughed at the thought of two adults calling Arthur, Uncle Lawyer. Showed how great of an influence Sammy had on his farmworkers.

Arthur emerged from the bushes not far from his car, fussing about with his zipper and belt. He noticed Ricky and the farm workers near his car. "Hey Ricky, what's up?"

Ricky was relieved when Arthur looked fine. "Where'd you been man?"

"Dude, the farm was too far. I had to go pee."

"You couldn't hold it in for a few minutes? What'd you have? Child bladder or something?"

"Fuck you, few minutes. It's almost half an hour left to go."

"Hahaha, city bladder. That's what this is." A thought came into Ricky's mind mid laughter. "Are you going to the farm?"

"Yeah. Samson called me, told me to go at my earliest convenience."

"What for?"

"I don't know. He said to come, and to bring everything I have on the case, the mayor and all that."

Ricky was concerned again. This time for Samson. "Can I ride along with you?"

"What am I, a cop? Ice Cube?" Ricky did not reply. Arthur saw that constipated worried look in his face, and killed his joke. "Fine, fine. Come on."

Ricky turned towards his workers. "You guys go ahead." the workers nodded, and left Ricky and Arthur.

The ride this time was even more quiet. Awkwardly quiet. Deafeningly quiet. Arthur wanted to break the tension, but he felt the seriousness of it, and thought that any form of comedic break or jokes would only made the atmosphere more tense. So he kept quiet as well.

"So, how's the kid been doing?" Arthur tested the water. Felt like Samson was a safe subject to ease into it.

"not much. He's been working out a lot. Cutting classes, went to town a lot. Sometimes he snuck out, and came back the next morning."

"A seven year old went to town all on his own? What for?"

"I don't know. If it was a normal kid, then probably just goofing off, but this is Sammy we're talking about. The kid's was too mature for his age. There's only one thing that came to mind."

Arthur also knew what it was. It was the same thing that was contained in the tower of boxes in the car. In his office even. "Is he...is he looking for the mayor?"

"That's the thing. He knew he can't do anything about the mayor. And he's seven. At least we knew he can't attack the mayor by himself. I'm just worried because I don't know whether it was the smart Sammy holding the wheels, or is it the emotional vengeful Sammy."

"Yeah, I see your point."

"Thankfully, he know was holed up in the basement. Although it created a new kind of worry, at least he's there. I can at least see him in that one place. I don't have to worry about him putting himself in harm's way."

Arthur nodded. It was worrying to see a seven year old became a shut in. but compared to sneaking out into the night, being a shut in was a plus. "What did he do in the basement."

"Like I said, working out. He bought gym sets and machines, and punching bags. Oh, and he'd been reading into all those chemistry books and stuff. There's mathematical and chemical equation in the walls. I thought I was stepping into a terrorist cave, you know."

"Oh my god, you don't think he's building a bomb, is he?"

"I was afraid of that too, but I checked. There's no electrical components, or fertilizers of such in there. He was not making a bomb. I'm sure he's capable, I just haven't seen any devices that could equates as a bomb, or parts of a bomb."

"maybe...maybe we should talk to him about it."

"I did."

"YOU DID?"

"Yeah of course I did. I ask him straight out, are you making a bomb? And you know what he said."

"What?"

"He said, there's no point in just killing the mayor. It doesn't solve the problem. When the mayor's dead, he'd be replaced. Another, probably worse, kind of bad guy would come and rule the town. So at least he's rational about it."

"That's good to know. Then, what's the point of me bringing the case files and all this?"

Ricky was silent for a while. He wanted to say what he'd been thinking for almost a year since Sammy got out of the hospital. "I think, he was preparing himself."

"Prepare...for what?"

"His revenge plan. I don't how I can say this about a seven year old, but I think he's planning something grand. Something that could rival the government conspiracy theory you told us almost a year ago. I think, right now, he was spying the mayor, the bad guys."

"That's, that's ridiculous. He's seven, man."

"Yeah, and managing the farm before he was six. He even investigate the case better than the sheriff department. Do you still think that that's ridiculous?"

"But...but come on man. A seven year old against the government? What's the logic in that."

"Samson Dewter had a way to defy logic. If he wanted to do it, he'd get it done. Especially if it's the right thing to do. And right now, even I had to say it, that it was the right thing to do. Regretfully, the seven year old is the one doing it. Facing all this alone."

"Well he's not alone."

"Oh no."

"What? I haven't said anything."

"Here comes the cheesy line."

"What...come on man. Just let me say it."

"Fine."

Arthur cleared his throat, ready his line. Ricky also ready his throat, ready to barf.

"Sammy had us, doesn't he?"

Ricky let out a loud laugh. "That's it? Man, this is not even cheese. This is just mould."

"Shut up, or you'll walk to the farm."

Ricky continued laughing. Inside however, he had to admit that Arthur's cheesy line was true. Sammy had him and Arthur, and all the good folks helping him. Whatever he wanted done, as long as it's the right thing to do, they'll be with Sammy every step of the way.