The next morning, there are rumors going around about how the Japanese troop caught 2 thieves that was stealing fuel from the boat dock.

“I’m afraid it might be Ta Pol who got caught” Mrs.Orn murmur

“I thought you said he wouldn’t dare do that Mom”

“Honey, how would I know? You said he can be, so now I’m thinking it might be him”

What Mrs.Orn thinking is exactly what happened and in that afternoon the Japanese troop announce that they would punish the thieves and ask everyone around the area to come see as a lesson to not do it.

“I don’t think I want to go see it Aom, it’s really Ta Pol and Ta Bua that was the thieves. The troops had been hiding and trying to catch them for a few days now. Last night they got caught red handed when they shine the spotlight on the boat dock. Hurr…Ta Pol shouldn’t have done that, he was working for them and that person is also very nice to Ta Pol”

“I don’t see anything wrong with what Ta Pol is doing Mom, the Japanese troops have plenty of fuel”

“Honey, I know you don’t really think that way. Stealing is wrong, it doesn’t matter from who”

“What are they going to do to Ta Pol and Ta Bua?”

“I don’t know Honey”

“I’m gonna go see!’

“No, it’s not a good thing to see and it will make you stress”

“I still want to go see!” Aom still say stubbornly.

Mrs.Orn can’t do anything except follow her daughter unwillingly, “I don’t know why you would want to see it”

“I want to go see what they’re gonna do to Thai people. Ta Pol and Ta Bua are Thai and this is Thailand. I want to go see with my own eyes what those soldier would do to our people. And finally you would understand that it’s not just a war between countries but it’s a war between people with different nationality as well!”

A large area behind the boat dock is now cover with people. The area is rope out in a circle, the people that come watch on the outside and many soldiers stand guard with guns inside the circle. The sounds of metal smacking day and night are now completely stop, because every workers are here witnessing the incident. People around that area are there to witness it with concern, many whisper among each other.

An alarm sound loudly, the door of the office that is close by swing open. The guard soldier that standing inside the rope looking around trying to clear the area, so people who come watch wouldn’t push in. A group of other soldiers walk out as well, one is holding gallon of fuel tin cans the other is holding metal poles. They also drag out the prisoners, the prisoners’ clothes are all dirty and their face are pale. They are looking around with the eyes of fear and asking for help.

One person in the crowd said, “Look at Ta Pol and Ta Bua’s face, it’s as pale as a ghost”

And the last person that walk out is a tall figure, taller than most of the soldiers from the same nationality. The face that used to be pale white is now tan due to the sun. No playful smile is shown like before and the red lip is now conceal shut. That serious face is now looking around the area, the pair of black eyes sparkle a bit when it saw the petite girl standing in the crowd.

 The petite girl that is standing behind the rope looking directly at those black eyes with hatred. So, the black eyes look pass her and walk down to the middle of the roped area. The tall figure nodded one’s head at the soldier who is now finishing putting the metal poles in the ground.

The two prisoners get drag to lay down, face up and string their hand and feet to the metal poles. The two are screaming and shouting with fear but that didn’t make the serious face that’s stand in the middle of the roped area change reaction.
 

After that group of soldier finish tying down the prisoners, they bow down to the person who’s standing in the middle before stepping away. The tall figure now turn to face the petite girl intentionally. That black eyes stare with seriousness and start speaking in Thai. The tall figure speak slowly with an accent in pronunciation, sometime the word got switch around but it’s still understandable.

“In the name of the troop and the Emperor of Japan…”

One people start to whisper after the tall figure start to talk, “See, this is what happen when Ta Pol teach that soldier how to speak Thai, now they use it to punish him”

“These two men…” the tall figure pointed to the two prisoners that is laying on the floor shaking with fear

“…have come and work for the troop of the Emperor and that mean they’re under the command of Japanese troop as well. They have committed an unforgiveable crime by stealing fuel that is consider an important resource, many times. They need to be punish so they can remember not to do it again, but if this type of behavior still continue, the punishment would multiply. And we want all of Thai people that have good relationship with Japan to see this example so this type of problem won’t happen again!”

The tall figure