Marcus Krafth; The Rise to Magnificence

    It was a Monday. Marcus's day was going as usual.

    He was a low level employee in a factory who attended to the most unpleasant work anyone would have wanted to do in the factory.

    This was the longest he had been on a job. It was his second week here.

    He always got fired quickly from all his jobs. This was not because he was not hardworking.

    The opposite was rather the case. Marcus was one of the most hardworking people in the country.

    He gets sacked most of the time because of how petty and ragged he looks.

    The same set of clothes had been worn by him to work for years now.

    Marcus never used his salary to change his wardrobe. Rather he spent all of his earnings no matter how meager on his wife.

    This was the reason he was a hard worker.

    Even though Marcus suffered, both at work and everywhere else, he made sure he tried his best to make his wife happy.

    Chantelle, his wife was a woman from an averagely well to do family.

    She had been pampered well enough in her family before she married Marcus. So her standards after marriage were high.

    Chantelle, like every other lady, had friends who were married to upper class men in the society.

    She had always wanted to live like them. She thought there was a high chance with Marcus, so she married him.

    However, fate is fickle. Not everything works as planned.

    The state of the marriage made Chantelle jealous of her friends. She was always shouting at Marcus these days.

    This, however, did not stop Marcus.

    Marcus, even though hardworking, was made fun of, a lot, at work. He however did not care.

    People, even at his level of work, the lowest rung of the ladder, right up to the manager made fun of him.

   They called him all sorts of names. They spat at him. They talked about him, both in the open and in secret.

    Marcus had let all these fly over his head of late.

    He had submitted a well thought and analyzed project to his manager. He had spent weeks on this.

    Even though it reduced the amount of time he slept, he still put all his energy into it.

    He knew this was likely going to be the big break he always hoped for.

    Marcus submitted the project to the manager, Mr Luiz, the previous Friday.

    So, when he saw Mr Luiz passing by his job post today, he made sure to make his presence known.

    Marcus turned around, and greeted him, “Good morning to you Mr Luiz”.

     Mr Luiz just looked over and snorted in response. Today was another notorious angry Monday for him.

    He had been pestered from the higher ups early today again. 

    They needed a quick response to the opposition factory's new production system. So, the pressure had been on his neck for a while now.

    When Marcus submitted his project to him last Friday, he just brushed it aside till Sunday, when he decided to give it a brief look.

     He got shocked the more he read. He wondered how someone at Marcus's level could produce something this ingenious.

    He didn't believe Marcus could. He called his friends and told them about it.

    They all decided to accuse him of stealing this project on Monday.

    They would be able to claim the glory in front of the higher ups after this.

    That was exactly what happened when Mr Luiz got to his office. He called for Marcus.

    Marcus happily ran to his office. What he saw when he got inside shocked him.

    It was Mr Luiz, and his bunch of friends. 

    They were part of the people who made fun of him and also bullied him at work.

    He saw them all smiling savagely and in total contempt at his sight.

    “Come inside.” Mr Luiz said while smiling.

    “And shut the door.” one of his friends, Mr Espinoza barked.

    Marcus shook, and quickly obeyed. “Here I am sir,” he replied.

    “Where did you get the project you submitted to me on Friday?” Mr Luiz asked.

    “I made it.” he replied in a shaky voice. He was still shaken by the sight in front of him and the way he was shouted at.

    Mr Burn smirked, “don't lie to us Marcus.”

   “After all it's all for your own good.” another of his friends, Dominic said.

    They all laughed after he said this.

    Marcus was confused, “ what are you all trying to say?” he asked.

    “We know this is not yours. That you stole it.” Mr Luiz replied.

    Marcus started to get a faint inkling of what was happening.

    “I worked hard on this project sir. I've not had enough sleep for weeks now, all for this project.” he begged.

    They all started laughing again.

    “To tell you the truth, we believe it might have been you who made this project, but we just can not allow you to be the head of it.” Mr Luiz replied.

    “But,...”

    “No buts,” Mr Burn replied, while shining his teeth. “ That is how ants should live, like ants. Trying their utmost best, but can still be squashed anytime.”

    “If you try to resist this, you will not like what you will get.” said Mr Luiz with that wicked grin on his face.

    “Who knows, we might even go over to your house and talk to your wife.” Dominic said.

    “Do not talk about my wife!” Marcus snapped.

    Talking anyhow about his wife always got him angry.

    “Or what?” Mr Luiz said. “What will you do, beat us?” he laughed.

    The anger was simmering clearly in Marcus's eyes. 

    He knew he could not get angry or beat them up. He would likely lose his job if he did.

    Plus, there were four of them and one of him.

    This fact helped in calming him down. He was almost calm when he heard Dominic's next words.

    “We'll all show her how a real man treats a woman,” he said lewdly. “In turns.”

    This immediately set Marcus off. He lunged at Dominic.

    He delivered the first punch straight on his nose. It hit Dominic dead on before he could even try to block it.

    Marcus did not stop there, he swung his fists as quickly as he could. He knew the inevitable was coming, and it came.

    Mr Luiz and his other friends stood up quickly and came to Dominic's help.

    Mr Burn gave Marcus a strong kick on his right knee. He fell down and held on to it.

    “You broke my nose!” Dominic screamed, while blood was flowing down his nose. “I'm going to kill you!” he said, as they all rushed him.

    They started beating him violently.

    Bruises started appearing all over his body.

    Marcus crossed his hands into an X formation while he got into a fetus position to reduce the blows.

    After a long while of kicks, punches, spitting , and low groans uttered from Marcus's mouth, they were satisfied.

    “You this weak piece of shit. You are nothing you know.” Dominic spat.

    “Your life is going to lead to nothing. You are going to live the rest of your sad life like this.”

    “Nobody is going to help you, nobody can.” Mr Luiz said.

    “Poverty is going to keep running in your generation, just like it ran up till your father and mother transferred it to you.” he continued.

    Marcus was so angry listening to all of this, but he could hardly move.

    Every part of his body was sore and he was in serious pain.

    “Don't even try to say anything to anybody, you know we have the power to make it possible for you to get a job anywhere around this region.” 

    “You will lose your beautiful wife if you don't have a job.” Dominic said.

    “Don't you forget that.” Mr Luiz said. “Now, scram!” he shouted.