Koji moves first toward the wagons to see what’s going on. He already has a reputation for being the fastest cane cutter at Puli, who works hard and stays out of trouble. It’s only when we reach the clearing that I see what he must have sensed right away. An older Filipino man, carrying a carefully balanced load of cane on his shoulders, is pushed from behind and knocked down by one of the Chinese men. He falls hard, dropping the cane and hitting the dirt face-first. The ugly laughter rises. By the time the man looks up, I see it’s Koji’s friend Efren and his face is covered in dirt and the blood that bleeds from his nose.

Koji moves to help him up as the crowd quickly parts and a luna on his big, black horse suddenly hovers over Efren, the lash of his whip slapping across his shoulders and knocking him back to the ground.

Koji hesitates for just a split second before moving toward them.

“You fool!” the luna shouts, raising his whip again. “Get your ass off the ground and pick up that cane!”

It happens so quickly I can hardly believe it, yeah. Koji reaches up, grabs the luna by his belt, and pulls him off of his horse, his big body landing with a hard thud onto the dirt. And just as quickly as the dust danced, the luna is on his feet, hand on the pistol strapped to his hip. But when he sees that it’s Koji, his eyes narrow in indecision—reign in his anger—step back, or deal with the bosses. He doesn’t look like the forgiving type, but at that moment we both know Koji is one of the untouchables. The bosses want him to stay healthy and strong for all the cane he cuts. He’s one of the few they’ve ordered not to be beaten.

Instead, the luna turns away from Koji to pick up his hat and shifts his anger to the gathered crowd.

“Dammit! Get back to work!” he hisses. “Now!”

The crowd scatters. Efren scurries to his feet and gathers up the cane, while the luna picks up his whip and climbs back up onto his big, black horse, his brimmed hat covering his eyes, so that all I can see is his large nose and bearded chin as we all hurry back to work.

* * *

“You the king here,” I say, walking back into the field.