“…now that is brave of him.”, Akira said
“I know, right? I still think the whole idea is a bit insane and I even told him so.”, Rishi replied.
“Ah, so you were the one.”
“The one?” Rishi asked.”
“There is always someone that tells you that you are doing something stupid whenever you do something bold and out of the box. This time it was you.”, Akira replied.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize…”
“Nonsense, we all do it. Now it sounds outlandish, eventually, even you will see it as a good idea and someone else will come and tell you it’s insane, another circle of life I guess.” Akira smiled. “Come, this reminds me of another bold, persistent, and a little insane person.”
Entering the study Akira turned to Rishi and asked, “Do you know the expression, ‘To find a needle in a haystack.’? Let’s do it a bit more literally, can you help me find a silver needle?”
***
“You would think that having a business selling something everyone uses wouldn’t have to struggle this much.”
“Kafele, I’ve told you a dozen times, your prices are insane, your clothes are just way too expensive, I can see two other places selling at half our price from here. Why would people even come here?” Terese said.
Kafele Maldoran, a professional tailor by day, apprentice tailor by night. Learning from the best to become the best, or so he dreamt. What he didn’t know was that his assignments and ideas were being sold by his own teachers to major industry players which meant that by the time they reached the market, significant savings were found throughout a well-oiled supply chain and their prices were unbeatable. And he would need to live several lifetimes to forget the exact day when he was able to put all the pieces together. He had taken a prolonged vacation to help his mother and returned to a market in chaos. Digging deeper, the word on the street was that his teachers had lost their touch, that all the new pieces were garbage. And one after the other, all vendors praised Kafele’s inventory which had been tucked away, safe from the falling quality of his competitors.
“Are you going to deny it?” Kafele asked.
“I have no idea of what you are talking about.”, his teacher John replied.
He was so angry that his face was unable to match it. A calm and serene expression hid a fury beyond measure. “You know, I thought I was going crazy. I thought I was doing brilliant work and yet you kept bringing me down saying that everything was derived from your own work, and that was why it seemed brilliant. I believed you. Time and time again, I believed you. After each time I work harder, longer, and better but it was never enough. Either I was the worst tailor to ever cross this land, or something else was afoot. Now I see what was, you kept my confidence low while profiting from my work, didn’t you? It took me a long time but now I realize that I am able to translate a single smile into the right colors, create a sense of family and belonging by the right combination of crew uniforms.”, Kafele said looking down at his open hands.
“You know nothing. What is this nonsense?!”, Mary asked.
“Nonsense? Hogwash? Gibberish? Malarkey? I know, Bullshit? Yes, this whole thing is bullshit. For five years I worked hard, trying to find my place. Sacrificing everything for a dream, you know? You’ve had dreams before, right? Did you lose your family to your dreams as I did? And yet you made me doubt myself at every turn and if I didn’t believe I was good enough, how could I expect anyone else to believe in me? There is only my sister left. My sister and a deluge of debt collectors.”, Kafele replied, walking behind both chairs and laying one hand on the shoulder of each teacher. “I’m only going to ask this one more time, are you going to deny that you have been taking advantage of my work, profiting from my creativity while I lost everything that I held dear?”
“You’re mad.”, John replied defiantly, “But it doesn’t matter, our associates should be here soon enough, are you going to tie them all on chairs too? What a cowardly way to confront people, as usual. You don’t have what it takes to make in this business. The willpower to face adversaries and thrive on the opportunities that present themselves. You will never amount to anything.”
“The funny thing is, no one knows you are here, I called them to reschedule the meeting, I’m your assistant, you know? No one questioned.”, Kafele replied taking his scissors from his pocket.
Mary, seeing the scissors go into her husband’s stomach yelled, “No, please, stop, we will do anything. Take what you want.”
“You can’t bring my wife back, now can you?”, Kafele said, walking slowly towards Mary. Kneeling on one knee in front of her, he contemplated each drop of blood that fell from the scissors. “I think there is something you could do, in honor of your future late husband, look at him, I’m sure he won’t last long, he already lost that condescending tone or any tone for that matter.”
“What?”
“But first, was it all worth it?”
“Somethings things just happen you know? We started with good intentions but then our own lifestyle caught up with us and we were afraid to lose you. We wouldn’t recover if you left. You are so much better than we ever were.” Mary replied sobbing.
“Now you lose me anyway, and your husband, and maybe even your own life. How could we make it not worth it at all? I know, you are going to give all of your belongings to a charity guild. That’s right, here, sign this.”, Kafele presented Mary with a document detailing all their assets and transferring everything with instructions to set up scholarships for new artisans.
“Why not take it all for yourself?” Mary asked.
“It is not mine to take, it’s tainted Atlas in my eyes. I don’t want anything that I didn’t earn and I want nothing that belongs to others like you did. I don’t know if I’m gonna make it on my own but I’m sure as hell will do it on my own terms.” Kafele replied.
***
“And you just left?” Terese asked.
“Kind of, I called the medical services and even stuck around for a bit, he survived.”, Kafele looked at Terese and with a disappointed face said, “I couldn’t do it. I wanted to kill them both but when I saw his arrogant face I could only think he deserved even worse than death. And to them it meant they both deserved to be disgraced publicly and without my help, that will slowly happen, their wealth, gone, their clients, gone, their fame and status, slowly gone. And they will live through it all”
“You did the right thing, and I’m proud of you. But you do know they will make your life a living hell, right? They will still hold a lot of sway around here.” Terese asked. “If the debt collectors don’t get to you first.”
***
“My sweet older brother, come sit with me. How is your business going?”, Terese said with a smile.
“As shitty as you warned me about. Only foreigners buy my clothes, everyone else is just too scared.”
“But I’m sure the debt collectors understand your plight and are sympathetic, right?”, Terese laughed.
“Way to rub salt in the wound. I’m starting to think I should have taken everything from those miserable pieces of Mud waste.”, Kafele replied.
With a couple of buttons in her personal interface, a transfer happened.
“Correct me if I’m wrong but I think that is enough.”
“What? What did you do? It is much more than I owe. Where did you get this kind of Atlas?” Kafele asked.
“Nothing illegal rest assured. By my estimate, that is enough to cover your debt, cover the rent for a Rainbow Ark where you can pack everything you own, and cover the trip cost to the Ustur homeworld. Did I miss anything?”
“But, why? How?”
“Why? Because you are my brother silly. You deserve a clean slate to fulfill your dream. What better place to explore your artistic expression than among those who so anxiously want to express themselves? I’m just sorry it has taken so long and cost you so much.” Terese replied, grabbing Kafeles’s hands.
“Still, where did the Atlas come from, please don’t tell me you took a loan yourself to cover all of this?”
“No, I got a new job. Remember I’m always saying that I find this place too chaotic for me? Well, you are looking at Terese Maldoran, Mining Operation Supervisor. I’m gonna travel the four corners of space overseeing mining operation deployments.”, Terese replied.
“But you don’t know shit about mining operations.”
“Not yet but I’ll learn. I’m counting on me learning the ropes before they figure that out. If I do get fired during the first year it would be very bad for both of us tough. That Atlas? It’s my first-year salary upfront so, make good use of it and get filthy rich, will you? I might need to repay some of that Atlas back.”
Kafele didn’t want to take the Atlas. He wanted to work his way up but Terese convinced him that he would not be giving up on any of that, to look at this as a chance on another world and so he did. The day before his departure, a huge Rainbow Ark landed near his store. The entire street saw it land but nothing happened the entire day. Kafele transferred everything inside under the cover of night and asked his last friends to spread rumors about the ship departing the next day. This brought everyone to the central plaza in a mist of curiosity and admiration. Kafele left his store and everyone saw him give the key to the owner, thank him for his patience, and leave without looking back. The rumors grew each time they were shared. Kafele was by now, according to some, wealthy beyond measure and the owner of a fleet of Rainbow Arks. Some even said he had bought an entire planet and was going to build a huge commercial hub but those rumors soon enough landed on everyone wondering why he didn’t thank his teachers when they rushed to meet him. With the right push here and there, every single vendor was convinced that Kafele had outgrown his teachers and, in time, pieced together the insidious business model John and Mary conducted all those years. John would later die at the hands of the same debt collectors and Mary soon after while traversing space trying to track down Kafele, hoping to partner with him one last time.
***
“And did he make it?” Rishi asked.
“Oh he did very well for himself, his persistence paid off and they both became very influential people in their fields, as you already knew.”, Akira replied.
“And the needle?” Rishi asked, still holding the silver needle in his hand.
“A gift for Terese many years later when they finally met again in a family gathering. He had quite a few tales under his belt. I’m sure we will get to them.”