He was curled up like a worm, his feet were practically up to his forehead, and he was clutching his body so tightly that his arms began to lose circulation. âCanâŠI hear aâŠstory, to make me feel better?â his voice was so tiny that a mouse's squeak would be louder. âWhat story do you wanna hear, bud?â I asked Tommy, âtall story,â he coughed out. Usually, I would recount to Tommy tales of Johnny Appleseed or Paul Bunion whilst we were on the road, skipping from town to town. My mind was a clutter, pounding migraines, rising to an ear-splitting crescendo. âTake a load off, you've done enough, man,â Biggs said. Biggs had scooped up Tommy and held him in his arms, eventually letting him lie down in his lap. Biggs began to tell stories of Bunker Hill and Yorktown, battles that young and old, Tommy eventually rested, his face slumped into his lap, and Biggs put him back on his bed, âWe gotta hide him from Darâs, he cannot work tomorrow,â Biggs remarked, âLet's put him in the hale bales, heâll never check thereâ, âagreed â we both commented. Morning had come, and everyone collectively distracted Darâs during his morning inspection so I could stow Tommy away. The day went well, an abnormality it was; we all questioned it. Why, now, we were given a reasonable workload, reasonable conditions, and we got our main food back, suspicions began to rise even more when the money was being divided up, when it was my turn to get my cash, Dario looked deeply into my eyes, âKeep it safe, ok,â he chuckled before patting me on the back and telling me to move on, the mood was jolly, Tommy was getting better, we finally got to eat normal food, and it would be the last night on the farm. After this next bit of cash, we would be out of here. It was like a slice of heaven, a slice from a delicious cake, a cake that wasn't theirs; we all partied like there was no tomorrow. I made a big speech thanking everyone for how they had treated Tommy and I for all these years, and as I went to place my cash in, horror struck my face; it was empty, not a bit, not even a shred. Then it clicked, not just for me, for everyone. Darâs took the cash, but he forgot one crucial thing: he didn't run. I marched myself over to Darâs house. I began to bang on his door, each bang spanning for miles, the sound so loud it was as if a cannon had been fired. Darâs eventually opened his door; his face was sinister, slimy, grotesque, âand how may I help you, fine gentlemen?â his voice was cocky yet cold, the eyes said it all, âgive it back,â I said, âwhatever do you mean?â, âI said, give it back!â I screamed before lunging at him, with one simple side step, Darâs had dodged me. It took the combined effort of several men and Biggs to hold me back. âNow listen here, boy,â Dario snarled, âwhy in God's green earth would I ever let you go? You get up early, you do almost all the work, and most importantly, you keep the others going, you keep this business going, you keep me going.â âThen Iâll quit,â I screamed. âThen what would you do, hmm⊠go on, tell me, I kept you alive, I fed you, you came begging, crying for a job, and I gave you one, and thats how it will always be, people like you they serve, they fight our wars, they die, they gather, I live, I feed. Without me, who are you? Nothing, that's what. I made you, you work for me, consider this a new goal, a new thing to strive for, work next harder next time, ok.â No thoughts, no words, everyone let go of me, the faces said it all, in my mind there was only thing I could do, an action, one action, a singular action. I slammed my fist in his face, one punch, then another, then ten, twenty, eighty, a barrage of punches, each one deeper than the last. His face turned from pasty white to a dark purple bordering on pitch black, he managed to get one kick in, before scurrying his way up the stairs. The others tried to hold me back but it was no use. I grabbed a fire poker from his living room, before dashing after him, he had locked himself in his office, I had began to thrown my whole body's weight at the door.
