Samuel’s Backstory – Excerpt from The Power of a Pawn

Samuel is the lead male in the The Game of Life Series and a novice public defender in The Power of a Pawn. Here is a little bit of Samuel’s background to whet your appetite:

###

An adolescent Samuel burst from the back door of his home. He ran to where his two older brothers were standing by a burn barrel. There was a blaze burning merrily in the receptacle. The oldest, glancing at Samuel racing toward them, laughed as he dropped the last stack of comic books into the fire.

Samuel slid to a stop, trembling with anger. “Who do you think you are?” he hissed through clenched teeth. The other brother turned contemptuously toward him. “No, who do you think you are, Sammy? You need to stop reading these stupid books about superheroes and learn how to play some sports. Or something!” He smiled.

“We are your big brothers. We just decided to help you grow up a little.”

“Those .. were .. my .. books.”

His brother reached out to pat his head and Samuel shied away from the touch.

“Well, now they are not. See how simple that was?”

Samuel’s fist balled up. “You are going to pay for this.”

His response was derision. “You must like getting beat up every day of your life. Which one of us would you like to do the honors today?”

“Watch out for him. He may have superpowers.”

“Yeah! He kind of looks like a punk. We could call him, ‘Super Punk.’”

That was as far as they got before he hit the second brother in the stomach. Powered by anger, he prevailed for a moment over both of them before they finally pinned him to the ground. Slapping his face, the oldest brother warned him to never try that again. Then he released Samuel.

Instantly, he attacked again. After four tries at fighting them, and four times of failing, he was ready to go again when his mother came around the garage from the driveway. As they released him, readying the story they would tell their mother, they hissed one last warning.

“You had better stop this.”

His vehement reply was this. “I will never quit.”

Samuel had realized something halfway through that fight. His brothers were suddenly afraid of their new seemingly fearless sibling.

That day, he learned an important lesson about conflict. It is not so much about strength, as it is about the price tag of winning. If a fight was unavoidable, but against unbeatable odds, the cost of the victory could still be raised until it became unaffordable. He would remember that lesson.”

###

How did Samuel’s “I will never quit” direct his steps in adulthood? Find out now by reading The Power of a Pawn, the e-book.