As I, Jose and my friends Juan and Julio waited on the street for work. Boredom drifted my mind to start thinking of what ever happened to that young Samoan that we invited into our group and often worked together. It made me chuckle how we would take advantage of Manny the Samoan by having him do most of the work on projects while we supervised. He was young, 22, we were 30. He was naive, we were street smart. He arrived to the States penniless so he had to work hard. He was young and had a strong back so he could. We liked to have him around because he was tall 6'1", and standing in a group of Mexicans averaging 5'6" in height - he stood out. He drew attention from passersby and as a result we got work.

We never saw him after a year. That was after the backyard project for Mr. Kim a semi-wealthy Asian living in the hills. My thoughts were shaken awake by Mr. Kim driving up to us in his big Dodge truck.

"What a coincidence!"

"Get in guys, I got another backyard project for you" said Kim

"Hey, Mr. Kim long time no see"

"Hi Julio! there is no need to stop at Home Depot I have everything ready at home" said Kim.

Upon arrival, we saw his backyard was piled with lumber and tools. We looked at his backyard with some pride, because we helped build the pool and desert rock garden.

"Mr. Kim you have an awesome house" said Juan

"Yes, thanks to you guys and the work you have done for me in the past years. Today is a special day. I want you guys to use these plans to build this platform next to the pool patio and outdoor gym."

I inquired about the gym. " Mr. Kim who built that gym and that guest house? Did we miss out on some work?"

"Yes you did, but don't worry I have some special kind of work for you coming up" said Kim

The 4x4x2ft platform was easy to build. Simple construction, but a strange request though. Why a platform here in the patio we wondered? In about 4 hours everything was done. Mr. Kim was pleased.

"Now guys" said Kim "you're probably wondering why I want a platform here"

"Yeh it is kinda strange don't you think?" I said "Guys this platform is for someone special and you know who that person is."

We looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Manny" barked Kim.

>From out of the guest house emerged an imposing, massive figure. Is it a man? No it wasn't possible it was our former buddy Manny. He had so much muscle that his arms and legs flared out. Only a few bodybuilders walk like that. Mix in a cocky attitude the walk is threatening.

Unbelievable! As he approached us the patio reverberated with his weight. We looked up and towering before us was a 6'1" behemoth.

Last time we saw Manny he was a slender 175lbs. Sure enough it was that exotic handsome brown face similar to the football player's Junior Seau on a square head. His head was set on a thick neck that actually bulged outward. Moving lower a chest of 53 inches which was broader than my shoulders. Arms at 23 inches- larger than my thighs. His 17 inch forearms were 3 inches thicker than our 14 inch arms.What sort of strength did they posses? His waist was thick, almost in powerlifter's proportions. Below the waist were two hemispherical butt cheeks that stuck out, stretching the cloth of the white trunks tightly. One cheek equaled the size of both mine. 33" stallion-like thighs pounded the patio in every step. This brown muscle god was wearing only tight white trunks. We felt like little boys next to him. We were of the same sex but so much physically inferior. It made us feel uneasy, just like any average man who stands next to a bodybuilder. Both I and Julio were half his size, Mr. Kim was proud of his "creation" since we just weighed 145 lbs.

"Guys meet Muscle Manny."

We just stood there with our mouths agape looking up at this ultra- masculine muscle god before us. "Manny, you have grown" I said. •