Is this destiny?

When the sheriff heard Ron\'s words that he should surrender to authorities, he burst into a laugh. Several others in the room laughed as well.

"From where is your confidence coming from?" The sheriff asked.

Ron looked at the sheriff seriously. "From the fact that I can kill you right here and no one can do a damn thing about it."

The sheriff narrowed his eyes. "You crossed the line, Ron. It\'s time I teach you a lesson…"

The sheriff dropped his drink to the floor and flung his fist toward Ron\'s face. Ron avoided the fist with ease and punched the sheriff in his stomach a few times rapidly.

The deputies saw the commotion and they moved toward Ron, and so did a few other people.

Zula swiftly unzipped an almost-invisible zipper on the side of her skirt; that created a high slit which allowed her to move her legs freely. Allen and Julius were on their way to join in the fun.

The scuffle didn\'t last more than ten seconds.

When Mr. Heine opened his eyes he saw the sheriff, his three deputies, and seven other people sprawled on the floor and Ron, Zula, Allen, and Julius standing in the middle of that. Other people were stuck against the walls, hoping that they don\'t get pulled into the fray.

Ron glanced at pastor Rogers who was standing next to the fireplace with his eyes open wide, obviously petrified.

Ron moved toward the sheriff who was grunting and holding onto his belly while trying to stand up, unsuccessfully.

Ron kicked him in the face. "What lesson will you teach me?" He kicked him again, this time in the lower back. "I don\'t hear you. Or is the lesson over?"

Ron leaned closer to the sheriff. "You see, I am not the one who needs to learn something. You are. And I will gladly teach you that some people are not to be messed with." Ron stomped on sheriff\'s right leg, just below the knee.

The sheriff scream covered the sound of the bone breaking. He moved his leg and blood oozed from the open fracture, dying the carpet in crimson.

"Shut up!" Ron said through his teeth and kicked the sheriff in the abdomen.

The sheriff passed out from the pain.

Ron turned to the pastor whose complexion looked like he is the one bleeding and he lost all the blood. "Surrendering yourself to the authorities was option one. I see that you want to go with option two."

"I… I will surrender." Pastor Rogers stuttered. He saw Ron walk toward him and he wanted to move backward, but he was already stuck to the fireplace. "I promise! I will go to the police in Springfield and…"

Ron sneered. "I don\'t believe you."

It\'s not that he does not believe pastor Rogers, but for what would he be jailed? For being a priest who is not doing his job properly? Or for morally blackmailing his followers into obedience? Or for enjoying perks his position is giving him? None of those are punishable by law.

Ron\'s slow advancement toward pastor Rogers paused when Ron heard the school principal\'s scream…

"STOP!"

Ron turned to see that the school principal is holding a fruit knife close to Zula\'s neck.

Ron frowned. "What do you want?"

"Leave this place. Leave us alone! You…"

The principal\'s next words were lost when Zula grabbed his wrist and threw the man on the floor, judo-style. The fruit knife rolled on the carpet and stopped by Ron\'s feet.

Ron took the knife and flicked it toward the principal who screamed when the knife pierced his right hand. It went in through the palm and the blade was clearly visible on the other side!

Zula swiftly punched just below the man\'s neck, rendering him unable to make a sound.

Ron\'s attention moved back to the pastor. "I have a suggestion for you."

"What?" Pastor Rogers asked in a weak voice.

"Instead of going to the police, I want you to do your job."

"What do you mean?"

"Make sure that people don\'t have problems accepting the changes that are coming. If anyone objects, they can leave or…" Ron glanced at the sheriff. "…end up like him. That includes you, pastor Rogers. We will be back. And until then, we will be watching."

Ron didn\'t wait for the pastor to respond. He turned to the mayor. "The town has a budget for helping people in need."

The mayor nodded vigorously.

"Stan Leddy. His house was damaged in the storm. It needs a roof and probably some other things as well."

The mayor understood. Ron wants him to help Stan to fix the house. The mayor knew about Stan\'s problem, but he didn\'t dare help him because pastor Rogers will retaliate. But now Ron is in charge, and things are different. "I will have someone look into it tomorrow."

Ron nodded in approval. "Make sure that Stan has a decent place to sleep until the repairs are done. Stan will need a job also. I\'m sure there is something you can find for him."

"Yes, yes. Of course."

Ron turned toward pastor Rogers. "Thank you for dinner. It was stimulating. We will be in touch."

Ron glanced at Zula, Allen, and Julius. "We are done here. Let\'s go."

The four youngsters left the house, and Mr. Heine scurried after them.

"Ron! Where are you going?" Mr. Heine shouted when he caught up with them on the driveway.

Ron paused his steps. "Didn\'t you hear what I said? We are done here. We are going back to Los Angeles."

Mr. Heine didn\'t expect this. Back to Los Angeles? "What about the Heinelurgy?"

"We have all the information we need. You will hear back from White corp. about your next steps."

Mr. Heine frowned. What if they ask him to lay off people? "Who do I contact if I have more questions?"

"Contact information will be provided." Ron responded cooly. 

Mr. Heine didn\'t like Ron\'s arrogance. No matter how much he does not want to talk about layoffs, everything points in that direction. Mr. Heine hoped that this dinner will get Ron to bond with townsfolk, but he sees that it was a fiasco. After this fight in the living room, Ron will probably advise Jeffrey White to shut down the whole factory! How will he face his employees? They are depending on him!

"Do you think that you can just fire people?"

"No. I can\'t fire anyone." Ron paused before adding: "You will fire them."

"What if I refuse?"

Ron smiled. "Mr. Heine, do you think that you are in a position to negotiate? You asked for help from the White foundation, which is the same as if you let the flood into your house. You can either swim with the currents or drown. There is no third option."

Mr. Heine frowned when Ron mentioned the White foundation. His eyes darted over four youngsters in front of him. He remembered the guns from the afternoon, and then how they handled the people in the living room ninja-style, and how they are all talking like experienced businessmen, and he remembered that Ron was at the inauguration party, and Ron had a date. Was it this young lady by Ron\'s side? Mr. Heine is not sure, he didn\'t pay much attention to Ron\'s date then. But now he had to ask: "Who are you to Jeffrey White?"

"You will need to ask him." Ron smirked and added: "Just to clarify a few things. Zula is not my assistant, she is my girlfriend. And Allen and Julius are my brothers. We are a family and we have each other\'s backs no matter what."

Mr. Heine understood that Ron just gave him another jab how he was not there when Ron needed him.

Mr. Heine watched the four youngsters enter the car and drive away. He was not sure if he should take his car and go home or go inside and see what the situation is… or maybe he should just keep on standing here and hope that all this is a bad dream. The last three days were horrible.

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