Richard Kirby downed another shot of whiskey. The only thing he wanted to feel tonight was inebriated. Alcohol was his most reliable companion. It wouldn’t betray him and was consistent with its effects. Richard had grown up a tolerance for alcohol over the years and needed at least five shots before he felt anything. Richard was certain that his liver was partially damaged, but it wasn’t like that anyone around him cared anyway. Richard was alone.

However, Richard did have a purpose which gave him the will to stay alive. It was a lonely purpose, but it kept the young man motivated. Richard had created an elaborate system which was designed to keep people in check and it worked exceptionally well over the past year. Richard had acquired more than enough money for his system – all he used it for was constantly improving his technology, buying booze and paying rent at his quaint cottage on the property of his obscenely wealthy benefactor’s summer home. Ah yes. Nigel Hornblower. Nigel and his son James were the only ones who knew he was still alive. And they knew that Richard had acquired enough information on Nigel that would get the billionaire indicted for tax fraud if Richard’s identity was revealed and if Richard’s plan for advancing social justice were to go awry.

Richard was about to take another shot of whiskey but he saw something pop up on one of his screens – it was at one of the bars on the Upper East Side. There was a heavyset man with a beard and a tattoo of a swastika on his right arm. The tattoo alone was concerning but Richard saw that the man threw a punch at a petite-looking Asian woman.

Richard heard a low snarl from the man, “go back to Asia land, ching chong.”
He could hear soft cries from the woman who looked too terrified to do anything.

Richard sent a quick text to James. “E81, 3, HC, SZ.” Richard slapped himself for not being able to stop the assault itself but he knew that revenge would be served. He knew that James would promptly text his sister, Julie, who would promptly contact Stephanie Zhao. Stephanie was his most important asset. Out of all of the people in his web, Stephanie was the one who truly understood. Richard had fantasized about revealing himself to Stephanie but he knew it was too risky.

Richard didn’t have much time to wait tonight as he saw the tall and bubbly Stephanie walk into the bar. All he had to do now was watch.

Richard kept his eyes focused on the screen and turned up the volume on his headset.

Stephanie tapped the shoulder of the large racist who turned around.

“Hey there, handsome”, said Stephanie with a flutter of her eyelashes.

Richard could see a look of hope on the other woman’s face. Stephanie had become somewhat of a legend around New York City. Richard often worried that some of his targets would recognize her right away but they either didn’t or Stephanie was just that effective.

“Come back to my place and I’ll give your fortune cookie a pounding”, said the racist with a smug grin.

“I do have a few fortune cookies at home”, said Stephanie with a faux innocence, “maybe we can find out our fortunes there.”

“Not if you live in fucking Chinatown”, said the racist, “yer English is good for a China woman.”

“It’s probably better than yours.”

The racist began to clench his fists. He was getting angry.

Richard was surprised to see that the other woman was still sitting at her seat – seemingly mesmerized by Stephanie.

“Oh, I have a fortune cookie in my pocketbook”, said Stephanie, “would you like to see it?”

The racist had a confused look on his face as Stephanie pulled out a small ray gun.

This was it, thought Richard. The woman who was abused was biting her lip – trying to avoid smiling, she knew that she would be saved.

“Is that woman next to you ok”, asked Stephanie.

“I don’t care about her. She don’t speak English good.”

“Neither do you. I can tell. I have a degree in English from NYU. Where did you go to school?”

“School of Hard Knocks, you fucking dork.”

Stephanie pointed the ray gun at the racist. He tried to run away but it was no use. The racist shrunk down in size instantly and was stuck on the ground of the bar. He jumped up and down – cursing at Stephanie.

Stephanie first went to the woman and whispered something in her ear in Mandarin. Richard’s proficiency in Mandarin was elementary at best but he could make out “chéng fá zhǒng zú zhǔ yì zhě” or “punish the racist”.  

Stephanie stretched one of her legs out and pushed the tiny man towards her using her sandal. She then removed her foot from the sandal revealing a beautiful foot with long toes polished a light purple. Stephanie raised her foot over the racist as she scrunched her sole and wiggled her toes. The racist tried to run but he was caught by the hand of the petite woman who commanded, “you stay, you need to be punished.”

The petite woman put the racist under where Stephanie’s foot hovered.

“These tinies feel great on your feet”, said Stephanie, “you should try it sometime.”

“If tonight works.”

“Certainly, my name is Stephanie by the name”, responded Stephanie with a smile, “what is yours?”

“Xue”, said the woman with a bow, “I recently move from Guangdong for study.”

“Nice to meet you. My mom’s name is also Xue.”

Xue was another of Richard’s favorites to watch.

Stephanie put her foot down on the racist. She began to move her foot around in circles smothering the racist in all directions. The bar floor was dirty but Richard knew that Stephanie didn’t care about that – as long as she could put these horrible people down to size.

Richard saw the content smile on Stephanie’s face. She loved every second of this.

Xue 2 was looking down at Stephanie’s foot with curiosity. Xue 2 seemed surprised that the stories were true.

“Would you like to try”, Stephanie asked Xue 2 with a wink.

“My feet are sore and could use a little massage.”

Richard noticed that Xue 2 was wearing flats. Her feet were probably sweaty, especially since it was the middle of summer.

“Take off your shoes and have some fun with this little bastard.”

Stephanie pushed her foot down one more time relishing in his torture. She then lifted her foot and handed him over to Xue 2. Xue 2 grinned at the tiny racist and said, “I, Ching Chong, take care of you now.”

Xue 2 took off her flats revealing a pair of petite bare feet with nails painted a light green.

“Most people say my feet very tiny”, said Xue 2, “but to you, they must be gigantic!”

The racist started to make a sprint but he was woefully out of shape. Xue 2 picked up the racist with her toes.

“Stephanie, may I place him inside my shoe?”

Stephanie grinned and said, “you may place him inside your shoe. You’ll never want to take him out, trust me.”

“Fucking yellow bitches”, snarled the racist.

Xue 2 put her foot back in the flat along with the racist scrunched between.

Xue 2 sighed with pleasure and asked, “may I keep him, Stephanie?”

Richard knew that Stephanie would be receiving a text from Julie reminding her that tinies can’t be kept. He knew that he could send his own communication that tinies who deserved punishment can be kept and he wanted it that way. However, Richard couldn’t risk getting the Hornblowers exposed. He had his own leverage on Nigel.

“I wish you could”, said Stephanie with a giggle, “but my own boss would shrink and torture me if I let you do that.”

“It’s ok”, said Xue 2, “can I have him for another 15 minutes?”

“You can have him for another 30.”

Richard had a lot of admiration for Stephanie. He had grown fonder of her every day. Richard fantasized about being shrunken down and played with by Stephanie. She was perfect at being a goddess. Richard knew that he would never be in a relationship with Stephanie. And he did admit that Roger was a good boyfriend for Stephanie, honestly better than what Richard could be for anyone. Richard just wanted to meet Stephanie and get to talk to her. But Richard knew how much he was risking by taking that step. With a sigh, Richard downed another shot of whiskey.