Between the Lanterns(58)
“I agree. So, instead of you paying me to teach you this recipe, Nephew, I think you should spend that Credit on teaching others how to cook it,” she proposed. “Set up in town and the young people will flock to the dark stranger. I think you might be able to convince some of them to change their way of thinking.”
August dropped the knife, and his face went slack.
Why hadn’t he thought of this before? What better way to pay homage to the greatest person August had ever known – the love of his life. He was incredibly wealthy. He could make a difference in the world again.
Excitedly, August wiped his hands on his pants to remove the remnants of food, and bent down to kiss the old lady on both cheeks. “Thank you, Auntie,” he said, barely able to contain his glee. “That is an excellent idea, but a little bit small for my likin’. I’m gonna have to take it to the next level. I’m gonna give the whole world a new life!”
He took off running out of her house without another word, ignoring her calls to get back and finish what he had started.
It was a few weeks later when the first Samantha’s Place opened its doors. In thanks to the little old woman, he had started his idea in the very same small village where she lived. August had taken her idea and evolved it into a way to help people everywhere. Samantha’s Place was a school, café, and farm. People could come in and learn how to farm real food, cook real food, and eat for free at the restaurant. Using the Credit just sitting in his bank account to fund these all over the world was going to be August and Samantha’s legacy.
There was buzz all over social media about what he was doing here, and also what he was planning on doing after he left this village. And this was only the first location! On opening day, there were hundreds of people waiting, which was a lot in this remote location, but August knew it would grow. This place would help create a new and better life for these people, and everyone on Earth if he worked hard enough.
Six years after he opened the first Samantha’s Place in rural China, August was proven right. Since the first location, August had spread out. There were hundreds of Samantha’s Place locations in China now. And more importantly, they were all self-sufficient after the initial start -up costs he funded with the money he had made from selling the SameSoul to Montek.
August would choose a place with a local population that needed help and also had enough arable land nearby to make it a viable candidate. He then funded the projects and even oversaw the first dozen or so locations all the way from breaking ground until each site was no longer in need of his funding. After the first dozen Samantha’s Places, he started hiring and training people to set them up for him, so that August was free to scout future sites.
Samantha’s Place was famous the world over now, and other areas were begging for August’s help. They all wanted to be a part of his vision.
August was splitting his time between Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Over 30 sites were being set up all over Southeast Asia as he spoke on his same old cellphone to Bobby Li while walking through a field in rural Thailand.
“But why Southeast Asia only, man?” Bobby asked. “Why not head west? Help Old Europe out! They need an intervention, dude. Just last week I saw a vid clip on the news from Vatican City where they had the world’s largest Nutricator continually making food for the poor. They should be eating your real food, man, not that slop.”
August laughed at the thought of Bobby’s transformation since over the past six years. When August had left Alabama, the poor musician Bobby was a Nutricator advocate, his diet consisting solely of Nutricator sweet tea and Nutricator fried chicken. Once August had made a large enough impact on the world with his Samantha’s Place idea, he had flown Bobby out and trained him to run a location. After that, Bobby had a new life.
He returned to New Dothan and set up a site in Headland Town. The farmers there were very welcoming of the help and combined all of their farms together, and it was now one of the world’s largest Samantha’s Places.
“We’ll get there, Bobbo. I promise, buddy,” August told his old friend. “So, is everythin’ goin’ ok with the house?”
Bobby exhaled loudly, probably blowing an enormous cloud of cigarette smoke.
“Great, dude. Holly is still keeping the place clean once a month. She’s amazing. I’ve got her cleaning my place, too. Though the other day she tried to clean Woodrow and it… uh… powered on and told her to MOVE A WAY or something like that. Scared the shit out of her, dude.”
They both laughed at that. August hadn’t thought of Woodrow in a couple of years. He was busy with his new life and had forgotten about the old hunk of wood. Now that Bobby had mentioned Woodrow, though, August felt an empty hole in his heart. He missed the automaton, as weird as that was. Of course, it all had to do with how much August still missed Sam. Suddenly, he felt the need to cook something, and very soon.
They chatted about how the Headland Town location was doing, but August didn’t pay much attention. He trusted his old friend to run things, and August couldn’t show too much interest in one location or he’d stop for too long and never get moving again. The constant movement… even six years later… helped him stay focused and not fall into depression.
As he walked along the roadside heading back to the small village, August added a few noises of agreement in response to Bobby once in a while. He walked by a little shop near the edge of town that had all kinds of different lamps, lights, and maglev lanterns in the shop window. There was no signage to indicate what they sold, or why, but it was obvious this was your go-to place for lighting in this small, rural town. Looking in the window, August noticed something. Right there, on the top shelf at eye level, were two of his LifeLanterns.