SISTER'S WISH (1)

"Hey, Fatso! We won't laugh if you fall down, but that won't stop the ground from cracking up!"----

"Your so Fat, When I took a picture of you last Christmas, it's still printing!"---

"Are you seriously reading cookbooks? You are just doing yourself more harm than good!"---

Such words were playing back and forth in Gus' head. He remembered the hardship he went through just because he grew up being the "Fat-kid." Back In grade school, He was the pun of all the fat jokes. He can only hide his face behind his backpack as he passes by the school halls.

"Hey, you! Stop picking on my brother yeah?"

His younger sister Amanda pushed one of the boys who was teasing his brother.

"Oh really? What are you gonna do girly? hit me? I dare..."

After the boy tried to lay a finger on Amanda's shoulder, she grabbed the boy's little finger with her thumb under the tips. Then she quickly placed her knuckles of her index finger over the second joint of the boy's little finger.

"Gyahh!! Hey! Let me g..."

Before the boy could finish his sentence, she moved her wrist in a circular motion down towards her hips. As she applied pressure, the boy was forced to kneel or else he would walk home with broken fingers.

"I give! I give!"

The boy was crying in pain, begging Amanda to let his little finger go.

"I would really love to forgive you, believe me, I really do since little shit like you are not worth my punches. But since you didn't give any mercy to my brother at all, I'll definitely give the ground something to crack about!"

Amanda swiftly hit the kneeling boy in the jaw using her knee.

"BAM!"

The boy simply cried and writhed on the floor in pain, he tightly held his jaw as if it's about to fall off.

"If I catch any of you messing with my brother, I'll make sure you will eat food through a straw for an entire week! Come on brother!"

Little Gus timidly followed his younger sister. They quickly left the crowd that silently watched the crying boy on the floor.

"Look at you! All you do is read that stupid book and eat all day! Aren't you ashamed that I always clean up your mess?"

"take it back..."

"Now what?! Your gonna argue with me now!" Amanda was even more infuriated at how thick-headed his older brother could be.

"I said, Take it back! Cooking is not stupid!"

Amanda held her tongue as she heard her older brother. She couldn't deny Gus' talents when he enters their kitchen at home. Besides his culinary skills, she is also aware of Gus' gifted tongue, he could taste the difference of a freshly killed fish from one that has been frozen for days. His talents even rose further when his Uncle Henry took him as his disciple at a very young age.

Amanda came home one day and noticed his brother practicing his knife cutting skills in the kitchen. As Amanda was about to greet him, her face turned sour as she saw her brother with a beat-up face. But what scared her more was Gus' determination to ignore the injuries he received and simply cut even more vegetables. He was so deeply focused that he didn't even notice that he has already cut his fingers from practicing too much already. Amanda only later learned that day that the boys from his class have burned his recipe book which he and his uncle Henry has written.

"I'll show them... I'll definitely show! I'm no loser!"

Amanda regretted what she said to her older brother, and decided to take matters into her own hands.

One day when Gus came home, he saw his sister sitting in the living room waiting for him to arrive from school.

"H..Hi Little Sister" Gus wondered why she was sitting on the dining table while wearing her sportswear with his cookbook on her hand. It makes him wonder if she was interested in cooking as well.

"Good! your home. Starting today, We're gonna run for twenty minutes for a whole week. you hear?"

"W..wh.what do you mean Sis? I need to wait for mum and cook dinner with her. I don't have time to jog!"

"No buts! Just do it now, or else..."

"Or else what?"

Amanda cracks her knuckles and walks towards their home phone. She started to dial a few numbers and waited until Gus heard her speak.

"Oh, Good Afternoon Ms. Denvers! Is Cathy home? Oh! right, this is her best friend Amanda from across the street." Amanda threatened Gus for Kathy to come over. She knew that her best friend Kathy is Gus' weakness.

"ALRIGHT! Alright! Stop! I'll do it!" Gus kowtowed down in front of his younger sister begging her to stop calling his crush over.

"Oh, nevermind Ms. Denvers, I'll pass by later instead. Thank you so much!"

As Amanda hung the phone she grinned maliciously at Gus.

"Well? You still have to cook dinner right? so you better go in your room and change now!"

"Y...YES!"

Gus immediately dashed in his room to change into his activewear. Just in case their mother comes home before they do, Amanda wrote a note that they would be out for a while, so she can go ahead and cook dinner without Gus. For a whole week, Gus started to run with his sister around the village.

Fortunately for Gus, It's been a quiet week for him. No one in school bothered him ever since the beating incident. Gus heard that the boy's mother wanted to know the culprit behind her son's face injury, but the boy decided to remain quiet about the incident.

He doesn't want to mess with Amanda anymore than he needs to, and he doesn't want to be humiliated knowing that a little girl has beaten him to a pulp. On another note, the other boys in Gus' class were love-struck with Amanda ever since they saw her beat up her brother's assailant that day.

"Amanda~ my princess, so strong and so beautiful~"

"Shut up Dude! If she ever hears you call her a princess, then you better pack a straw!"---

"I don't care! Let her punch me then! Please punch me~ my Amanda!"---

"Oi! You know the club rules, no one in the Queen Amanda Club should ever interact with her!"---

For a whole week, Gus heard such disturbing words in the classroom ever since. At first, he was worried that they might retaliate against Amanda for beating up their friend, but it turns out, they decided to assemble a creepy fan club instead! Although it eases his mind that no one in his class would hurt Amanda, now it bothers him if one of them suddenly stalks her one day. He shuddered just thinking about it.

-----

At the Park, After School-----

"Alright Gus, Congratulations! you managed to complete the whole week running with me. You've managed to run the whole 15 minutes without taking a break! Your little sister is so proud!"

"Huff... huff... Thank you, Sis. It's been a week, so is it over?"

"Yeah, It's over because it's time to take it up a notch! Instead of twenty, we will run thirty minutes for a whole week!"

"Thirty Minutes?!" Gus dropped down on his bottom. He screamed in horror as he noticed that his sister is hell-bent on changing him.

"Oh! This little sister has a surprise for you by the way!"

"What do you mean Surprise?!"

Gus shivered in fear. As he was almost on the verge of running away, he heard a familiar voice just behind him.

"Hello Little Gus, Amanda told me everything I needed to know. From now on, I'll be teaching self-defense after your cooking lessons."

"U..uncle Henry?!" Wh...What are you two planning?!"

Although Gus already had an idea, he just wanted to confirm his answer straight from his mentor's mouth.

"Self-defense, Little Gus. I will be teaching you Self-defense. At first, I was hesitant from teaching you, since it might distract you from your cooking lessons. But after hearing your situation from your sister, I could not sit by and watch them abuse my disciple. Little Gus, I will not wait for them to break your hand. As a cook, our hands are our life itself! It also our tool to serve people. Remember to take care of yourself more, Little Gus,"

Amanda always loved the books about heroes saving people. Her parents always tell bedtime stories like these every night without fail. Ever since then, she grew up reading books about heroes, then later on she started watching tv shows. She loved Zyurangers the most, but that didn't stop her from watching other television shows. Western or Asian it didn't matter for Amanda. She loved them all!

One afternoon, Amanda was punching and kicking imaginary villains as she watches television. While Uncle Henry was teaching Gus to cook in the kitchen, he was surprised to notice Amanda's talent in the arts of self-defense. So he also decided to train his Goddaughter, and teach Amanda everything he learned from his previous occupation.

Their Uncle Henry was a Military cook, back when he was still young. He practiced Judo which was popular with the military and the police force during the "Madmen era". He was forced to serve the remaining years of service in the Mess hall ever since he got injured during an operation. A few weeks later, the military decided to offer him a job to be an instructor for the police, but Henry decided to decline the offer because he already fell in love with the kitchen life. He was mentoring the kids after his work ever since. Their mother was a bit hesitant because she felt that her children were troubling him during his supposed hours of rest.

"Ahaha! I should be the one thanking you instead, I do not have kids of my own, so I find this very therapeutic."

Gus remembered his Uncle Henry's exact words he said to his mother. That was the moment he appreciated his Uncle Henry even more. He was touched to see the dedication he invested in him and his sister.

Gus remained silent as Amanda and his Uncle Henry reprimanded him. Gus couldn't deny that they were right all along. He doesn't need to prove to anyone that he is not a fat loser. Gus decided then and there that he will train to prove to himself and not to anyone else that he is not a fat loser.