Canoe Claire

Niklas held his mother in his embrace. He said, "Thanks, mom."

Nnedi said, "It's nothing. I figured that since you always bring positivity into our lives, I should try and give back something."

Niklas said, "You figured out my flaw. That means a lot to me."

Zack was exasperated by the drama. He needed to settle his appetite. "When are we going to eat? I'm really hungry." He stressed the word 'really'.

Nnedi was furious at Zack's insensitivity. She said to Zack, "Zack, why don't you go out and get food for us? You can't. Because you can't walk."

Niklas said, "Mom, that was harsh."

Zack was pained, and he cried like a baby.

Nnedi said to Niklas, "Nik, your brother is getting spoiled. Think about how much worse he will get when he is better. We have to keep him in check."

"True," Niklas said, supporting his mom.

He dropped the backpack in a corner of the room. The wallet was in one of his jeans' pockets. Zack was now crying quietly.

"I will be back in a bit. I'm going to get us breakfast." Niklas left for Bix Restaurant.

On the way, he couldn't help but think about Arya, the saleswoman at the restaurant. 'Is she real? Or is everything I saw yesterday an illusion?'

Niklas soon arrived at the restaurant. He entered and paused, gazing around the restaurant. The place was buzzing, and a small number of tables were unoccupied. Three waiters were going around collecting the customers' orders. Niklas was disappointed that none of the waiters were Arya.

'She mentioned that she was a saleswoman. Does that mean she was working for the legacy and used the job as cover to monitor me? Argh! I think I'm going to have a brain stroke if I overthink this.'

He joined the takeout customers' queue. There were seven customers before him.

With three customers before his turn, he got to see the salesperson at the counter. It was Arya!

'She is real! But I don't feel the eerie aura she emanated from the test. She seems pretty normal.'

It was Niklas's turn.

"Hello," Arya greeted Niklas with a professional smile. "What are your orders?"

"4 wraps of semolina with a bowl of egusi soup stuffed with beef and stock fish. That's for the first bag. The second and third bags should each have a bowl of balanced diet soup; they should be spicy. Ah—"

Arya wrote down Niklas' order. She didn't take her eyes off her note and asked, "Do you need water?"

"Yeah, that was what I was trying to remember. I will need five bottles of water."

Arya wrote down the last order. Niklas noticed that Arya's notebook wasn't actually what it looked like; it was a smartphone in a case that looked like the cover of a booknote! She tapped a button at the bottom of the screen, and the order was sent to the people in the galley behind the wall that was behind her.

'The restaurant upgraded,' Niklas mused. 'Of course they should; the owner is a business tycoon from Main-City-4. It's a shame that most people in this village can't afford a smartphone.'

"Please wait here for two minutes for your order to arrive," Arya said professionally.

Niklas nodded. Arya gazed to her left while gently drumming her fingers on the counter to escape awkwardness. Niklas waited for a few seconds before asking, "Arya. Right?"

Arya faced Niklas and smiled briefly as she replied, "Yeah.

"Have we met before?"

Niklas said, "No, we haven't. I just heard your name from someone. I like to know people. My name is Niklas."

"Hello, Niklas." Arya extended her right hand, which Niklas did not hesitate to shake.

"I see the restaurant upgraded something." Niklas gestured at the smartphone and said, "Nice gadget."

Arya said, "This was my exact reaction when I saw it this morning. Except that I said cool instead of nice."

Niklas chuckled.

Ping! An automated bell rang at the counter to alert Arya that a customer's food had arrived.

Arya turned back to lift three bags of food bowls from a tray protruding from the wall.

Arya said, "Mr. Niklas, your bill is 85 EKs. Do you want to pay with cash or a credit card?"

Niklas presented Arya with cash as he responded, "With cash."

Arya handed over the three bags and bill receipt to Niklas and said, "Thanks for visiting Bix restaurant; we hope to see you again."

On the way home, Niklas contemplated Arya: 'She doesn't seem to know me. And I perceived a somewhat friendly expression from her when I conversed with her.

'This means that all I saw during the test was an illusion. Like the 'Arya' there said, the only real thing there was she and me. And she isn't really a she; that is the truth.'

Niklas sighed.

####

At Agu Hog Farm, Kernel Village

A brick-red one-story building stood opposite and at a distance from the series of hog pen houses. The ground floor was used as a store to keep hog feed, disinfection equipment, and medical equipment. The upper floor was entirely used as an office for the manager of the farm, Canoe Claire.

Claire held a place in the hearts of Niklas and his family members as one of the most horrible people on Earth. "Heaven strike me dead with lightning if I ever shed a tear if Claire dies in her youth," Nnedi swore.

Claire was a 27-year-old blonde elf. She stood 6 feet tall, had enticing hips, but had a small chest, fair skin, and the associated characteristic beauty of elves. Unfortunately, her heart wasn't beautiful. It was full of malice. As manager of the hog farm after Chief Idris Emmanuel forcefully took over the farm, she had cornered 10 months worth of pay from all the workers on the farm. She boldly lied to their faces, saying that it was Chief Idris who hadn't sent down funds for their salary. When the matter got to the village captain, Elias Joe, he didn't do anything about it. After Claire got knowledge of the report, she punished the workers who reported the matter by terminating their job at the farm and also cancelling their claims to owed pay by getting an unjust court statement in her favour through bribery.

"Claire, how is the situation at the farm?" asked a baritone voice on the other end of the call.

Claire was on a call with Elias Joe. She replied, "Everything is fine. The pigs are getting so robust that they can't walk."

"That is good news," Elias said, "that means a higher price offered to our buyers.

"I'm working to get the contract signed. You know our buyers don't like the monopoly we have on the hog market. They sought other suppliers, but we are the only chain of suppliers on this side of the country."

Elias Joe laughed.

"They had no choice but to comeback because they knew that their competition was begging to sign a contract with us. Contracts have been signed with our other hog farms, but the farm you manage has yet to sign. This is because of the quality of the hogs reared here. As you know, the quality has an A rank, the highest rating given by the FDA[1]. We can't go cheap because of that,and we have sent them the price.

"The buyer is having an internal discussion to see if she can come to terms with our terms. We gave them a week as the deadline, starting today. So, expect a contract from our buyer, manually delivered to you for signing."

Claire said, "Ok, sir."

Elias Joe terminated the connection. Claire got up from her seat, sidestepped, and walked away from her desk towards the window. There was a chest of drawers that stood an inch shorter than her on the left side of her seat. This was where she stored documents pertaining to the farm.

An entire wall section of the top floor was used as a window. The top floor now had three walls compared to the four walls of the lower floor. The office doubled as a meeting room; there was an elongated table with a good number of chairs on each elongated side, and they were situated at the centre of the room. The office walls were green, and the floor was covered with a brownish-red rug. The seats and tables were deep blue and black to match the setting.

Claire walked past the meeting table and stopped before the glass window, looking across to the pen houses. She saw two men, workers, intercalating, and she frowned. The men soon noticed her. At this instance, they dismissed their discussion and returned to work to avoid having problems.

####

Niklas was in the process of completing his responsibilities at his house. He was disposing of his mother's and brother's faeces somewhere not too deep in the forest by burying them in the soil. When he was done, he returned home. He checked the time; it was noon at the dot.

"Is there somewhere you have to be?" Nnedi asked.

Niklas answered, "Yeah, but I don't think it's late."

Zack stared displeasedly at Niklas. Niklas noticed the stare but didn't say anything, and it irked Zack that he was ignored.

Zack said to Niklas, "Nik, I'm not happy that you help us change our clothes."

Niklas sighed. "I know."

Nnedi said to Zack, "What is wrong with you, Zack? Have some respect for your brother?"

Zack said, "Mom, It's not about respect. I'm just embarrassed that he sees us naked. Don't you feel the same? I'm sure you felt that way this morning when his arm brushed your—

Niklas stopped Zack, saying, "Shut up. I'm working on a way to make you guys feel better." He pulled off his sweatshirt, revealing his skinny torso. "I'm going out to get a job."

Nnedi felt it was necessary to defend Niklas. She said to Zack, "He didn't intentionally touch me. And I don't think this should be a topic. What you said is foolish. You just piled up more pressure on your elder brother."

Niklas used a roll of ash cloth that matched the colour of the backpack to wrap the part of the long sword that was exposed when inside the backpack. He added to his mother's word, "Mom is right, Zack. You have to act and speak with your brain, your intelligence, and your wisdom, not with your feelings. It will help you make better decisions and give you respect among people."

He took a black polo and a brown jacket from a bag of clothes that was beside the backpack. He put them on before wearing the backpack.

Nnedi urged Zack, "Apologise to your brother, now!"

Zack was remorseful. He said, "I'm sorry, Nik."

"It's okay. I never took offence." Niklas reached the door and paused, holding the door open in his right hand. "Expect me home by dawn."

[1] The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) is responsible for protecting public health by ensuring the safety and efficacy of drugs and food consumed by the public.