Fired, Again
Some people say a man is made outta mud
A poor man's made outta muscle and blood
Muscle and blood and skin and bones
A mind that's a-weak and a back that's strong
You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
I was born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine
I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine
I loaded sixteen tons of number nine coal
And the straw boss said "Well, a-bless my soul"
You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
I was born one mornin', it was drizzlin' rain
Fightin' and trouble are my middle name
I was raised in the canebrake by an ol' mama lion
Cain't no-a high-toned woman make me walk the line
You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
If you see me comin', better step aside
A lotta men didn't, a lotta men died
One fist of iron, the other of steel
If the right one don't a-get you
Then the left one will
You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
By: Ernie Ford
The sun was setting, but that could do nothing to stay off the heat. Sweat poured down their bodies as they heaved another pile of dirt into their wheel barrels. Their faces where weathered from the dry heat of the desert. One of them panted for a moment, pausing to wipe his brow with a dust-covered hand.
"Acosta!" called a voice from behind him. "Get back to work!"
"I'm over due for my break, sir," he said.
"Tough," said the foreman as he walked around. "We're loosing sunlight. I want you to keep clearing all this dirt out before the sun sets."
Ethan Acosta shook his sweat-soaked head and returned to his work. He was a lowly ditch-digger working at a construction site in the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona. They were building the foundation for a new shopping mall. The construction company was calling for a lot of workers to do just menial tasks like shoveling dirt and such and Ethan was lucky to land this job. He acted like no one special, he went from job to job traveling across the American Southwest on an old beat-up 1971 BSA Thunderbolt he managed to fix up after buying it at a junkyard. It was a piece of junk, but it ran okay for its age. He barely had a past and he wanted to keep it that way. Roaming from town to town searching for work that was all he seemed to be good for. This was the life he wanted, well; at least he thought it was the life suited for him. But in actuality, he was running from something.
Ethan paused for a moment feeling a slight buzzing in his head. He could have sworn he heard a music chiming through the dirt. Taking one last shovel into the dirt, the tip of the spade struck something hard. Ethan dropped the rusty shovel and knelt down, clearing away the loose dirt with his hands. There, in the dirt was an orange, smooth, translucent ball with seven black stars inside of it. The ball flashed as he reached down to pick it up as if it was responding to his presence. Ethan lifted the ball up, brushing away the dirt from its perfect surface. He could see his reflection in the ball, rather the reflection of the past he was running from. There, staring back at him was not the face of a human but the face of a red-scaled Dragon. Like Ethan's own brow, the Dragon's brow was also arched in sadness for whatever misery it felt it fell into.
Is it time already? He thought a chill of dread crept up his spine. He was tired, he did not want to run around all over the world again.
"Acosta!" shouted the foreman. "Why the hell have you stopped shoveling? This is the last straw, you lazy, good-for-nothing maggot!"
Ethan groaned as he lifted off the ground, turning around to face the bloated foreman walking over to him. He quickly hid the ball behind him.
"I saw that!" the foreman said. "What did you find, Acosta?"
"Nothing," said Ethan.
"Liar," said the foreman. "Hand it over."
"No," said Ethan as he backed away from the foreman.
"Whatever you find belongs to the company, now hand it over!"
"Just give it to him, Ethan," said a digger.
The foreman held out his hand and waited with a smug grin on his face for Ethan to give up the strange ball. Ethan sighed and gave in, placing it in the foreman's hand.
"That's it, boy," said the foreman. "Well, isn't this a sight?" He held the ball up to the orange glow of the setting sun. "And it glows too. Be a good boy and get back to work. That's all you're good for, dirt diggin'."
As the foreman walked away, Ethan gripped the handle of the shovel tightly. He hated being talked down to by lowly men like the foreman. With a sideward kick, he broke the shovel's handle in two.
"Uh, foreman," called one of the workers. "Acosta broke his shovel."
The foreman turned around and shook his head when he saw the broken shovel and Ethan looking at him with a heated gaze.
"That shovel's gonna be taken out of your pay, boy," he said.
"Don't call me boy," said Ethan. He ran for the foreman and swung his foot around, kicking the ball out of his hand. The foreman stepped back, gripping his hand, which became red from the kick.
"That's it, Acosta," said the foreman. "You're fired, and I should write you up on charges for assault too!"
Ethan turned around and held out his hand to the glowing ball and it lifted off the ground, floating gently into his palm. The foreman stared with confusion.
"What are you, a freak?" he asked.
Ethan then took off with the ball in his hand, heading for his Thunderbolt.
"Come back here!" the foreman called. "Somebody stop him!"
Ethan hopped over a sawhorse and knocked down a few barrels as he bolted through the construction site. He flung his helmet off, dropping it to the ground and kept his eyes on the escape. Guards at the site ran after him, trying desperately to keep up with his pace. But Ethan was just too light on his feet to catch. With one leap, he jumped the wire fence and tumbled onto the ground, kicking dust up as he went. Then, mounting on his bike, Ethan drove off, speeding down the road. He left the guards there panting for air.
The guards turned around to the foreman and shook their heads.
"He's gone, sir," one of the said.
"You want to press charges against him?" the other one asked.
"No," said the foreman. "Why should I bother? What could I get out of him? He has nothing. He's a dirt-poor bastard with no sense in his tiny brain. But I will have to file a report. Excuse me."
He parted from the guards and went into the portable office. Sitting down, the foreman called up his headquarters.
"Yes, this is James Tuffle," he said. "Yes, Mr. Pilaf, he was here. Apparently, he found the one you were looking for and made off with it. No, Mr. Pilaf, I didn't stop him. He got on his bike and headed east. Well, you can go after him; I don't have time to do it. I don't care how much you'll pay me; I've got work to do. That boy's your problem, not mine even if he kicked me in the hand. Well, you got the upgrades, you can track him down. Good-bye."
With that, he slammed the phone down, hearing it ding as it hit the receiver.
"Not my problem at all," he said as he leaned back in his chair.
000
It was good to be out on the open road again. He never liked staying in one place for too long lest his past would catch up to him again. Ethan sensed there was a Dragonball at the site he worked at, but for the most part, he was too worn out from traveling to pinpoint where it was. But he was happy he managed to find one. Just one Dragonball, that was all he needed. One Dragonball would mean that it would be one less Dragonball Reece Pilaf, the CEO of Capsule Corp had in his possession. He sensed that Reece had yet to collect one, but at least this one would not be the start of the new collection. Having a Dragonball in his possession meant that Ethan would once more be the target of Capsule Corp's hit-men as well. So, he had to go on the run again. He was not worried about being the target of Capsule Corp because a year ago, it was the other way around.
I-40 was quiet this evening compared to what it usually is. Of course quiet meant only ten cars or more taking up each of the lanes and no space in between the cars. Ethan was able to weave himself in between the cars despite the little space. This maneuver garnered a few angry honks from some of the cars traveling. He did not care.
Behind him, the sun finally began to set, slowly dipping down below the rugged mountains behind him and casting a blood red glow across the arid landscape. He was free from the city's boundaries. Phoenix's city lights flickered off in the distance. Ethan took no notice to them. He was in his own little world, thinking about the future and fearing his past.
He traveled most of the night, stopping off in the middle of the road to take a nap before continuing on. Ethan was worn from his travels. He always wanted to settle down and call a place his new home and his new hometown. If he did not have such a rugged past, he would be able to do that.
Ethan paused that night as the full moon rose up high in the sky, turning the sand silver. The orange glow of the city still was visible over the horizon. Ethan looked up and held his breath. He could see the arching band of the Milky Way across the dome of the sky. Glistening diamonds twinkled in the inky blue-black. Though the light of the moon obscured much of the dim stars, Ethan was far enough away from the city light to see the shape of the band itself. He searched for various constellations that were of importance to him. Then, upon finding these constellations, Ethan sank down to the sand and wept. He felt ashamed again kneeling before the stars themselves in piety.
Ethan glanced down and pulled out the golden and orange, glowing Dragonball from his hidden pocket in his leather jacket. Despite the light emanating from the orb, through the glow of the moon, he could still see the image inside the Dragonball. The red-scaled Eastern Dragon stared back at him through the surface of the orb. Ethan wanted to toss the ball away and just forget about it. It was the image he hated. It was his own reflection. It seemed like ages when he was free, when he could do whatever he wanted, be whatever he wanted. Now, the only thing he could be was a fugitive on the run. Why did he have to run?
Ethan sighed as he tucked the Dragonball back into its hiding place. He wiped his eyes from the tears he cried.
"That's one," he said. "Only one. I just need only one and it'll be one less Dragonball in Pilaf's hands. He won't get what he wants and neither will anyone else. At least that much I have control of."
With that, he mounted his bike and took off, heading back for the interstate again. Now that he lost his job, he did not know what to do. Ethan thought about a few times resorting to common thievery just to get by. After all, he did have some peculiar gifts he could use to his advantage. However, that noble side of him spoke out, reminding him how wrong that was. So, it was back on the road and hopefully to a job that he will not get fired at this time.
Ethan concentrated on the road. Something was leading him east. He knew that if he found another Dragonball, he might steal that instead. Then, he would have two. He could sense the energy of the second Dragonball in that direction. Collateral, that was what he was thinking of.
