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EXCEED THE STANDARD

It was a good day and Cesar needed to be at work. Lino, and he were having a coffee for breakfast and Lino mentioned something which made Cesar completely disturbed.

“Any plans for when Andrea will go to school?” Lino said, starting the conversation.

Cesar was startled and came to realize that the child did not yet have any proper documentation, such as a birth registration. Realizing it, he responded to Lino “Oh, yeah. I was planning to send her to school.”

Lino smiled and said, “Well you know, Susan was asking me that.” Cesar just smiled, then Lino added, “She was excited about it.” Saying it with his hands near his face as if he were trying to whisper.

“By the way, any documents needed for it?” Cesar asked.

“Hmm, birth registration would be enough I think,” Lino answered.

“The thing is, I haven’t had Andrea registered yet,” Cesar answered in a shy manner.

Lino placed his forefinger on his lips as he was thinking and uttered, “You can ask Susan for help with the late registration, and I suggest asking her for help when it comes to enrollment at school.”

This move was the perfect beginning of Andre’s journey.

……………………

Andre had been told about her official name to use. She gladly accepted it and did not have any difficulties with using it.

After becoming Lino’s right-hand man, Cesar was entrusted with a huge amount of responsibility for the business. but Cesar would always make it to the point of personally picking up the kid from school.

“Hey, are you having fun at school? Cesar asked the kid while driving back home.

Andre’s brows furrowed and answered, “Yes I am, the teacher is kind, the kids are kind, and also the parents.”

Cesar smiled and said, “I’m glad you are enjoying school.” He added, “Do you know that you don’t just have to go to school to learn?”

The kid looked at him and asked, “Where else?”

“OK, from now on, even though I am busy with your grandpa’s business, I will be your mentor outside school. You will learn things outside the normal stuff they teach in school.” He told the girl with a smile.

“Sure! But you are busy at work, are you not going to get tired?” the child curiously inquired.

“I am Cassius, and I promised to teach you everything you need for you to be strong on your own. I will never get tired of you.”

“Ok, but I don’t want to be on my own, I want you, Lino, and Susan with me forever.” The child innocently said.

Cesar only smiled and said, “Alright, our training will start the soonest!”

Despite having a busy schedule with all the tasks he needed to attend to, he never failed to train Andree. He would always bring her to work whenever possible every time he was assigned to manage the mass fishing.

During Andree’s elementary, she stayed with Lino and Susan most of the time. It wasn't until she reached fifth grade that she got to regularly go with Cesar to work. When she reached high school, Cesar told her to join the Student’s Army Training at school and join the ranks to gain military discipline since it was organized by their country’s military department. He never wanted to see her slacking. Instead of letting her sleep early, he would always ask her to check everything in the boat before allowing her to sleep. Most of the time, it would take her 2 to 3 hours to check everything since everyone’s safety was in her hands. The physical and mental training makes Cesar sure that Andree can endure the next day’s work even with the minimum sleep that she can get. Just imagine how tiring it was.

Days came, and it seemed like Andre had already adapted to the strenuous activities she had. She can still attend schoolwork and at the same time do her training and somehow forget what she is going through, a phase where she doesn't see herself as a girl or a woman. Whenever she was aboard the fishing boat, Cassius would order her to join the crew. She was never given special treatment at work, but Cesar would always make sure that she was safe.

It only means that when the men pulled the ropes, Andre pulled the ropes with them. Most of the time, he would order her to lead the purse seine fishing process. He would also deploy her to do some deck and hull maintenance, like welding, brazing, and high-pressure washing/cleaning equipment.

Every morning, he wanted her to get up early as he would not want to see her lying in her quarters sleeping while everyone was working. Having so much strength for a girl, Andrea always felt she was special. She always knew that she was not normal.

In the eyes of Cesar’s crew and normal people, possibly they would think that his ways were abuse or child labor, but for Andrea doing and completing those chores fed her thirst for masculinity. She began to cease feeling like there was something wrong with her, she even forgot how it felt to be a helpless girl in front of her attacker once upon a time because she knew that if, anytime, she came face to face with any danger, she could defend herself.

The scar on her neck was still visible, and she could still feel the keloid left by the wound caused by the bolo during the incident in the Inn. Before, it would give her chills, but after all that training, she had become more confident in her abilities. She does not feel scared anymore.

Despite all that seemed to be heartless tutelage of Cesar, he never restrained Andree from eating, he would allow her to eat whatever food she wanted, and that was her favorite thing, eating.