The incident with the soft drink vendor affects Estha badly. He is always afraid the "Orangedrink Lemondrink Man" will walk in at any moment to find him. Estha is in the pickle preserve kitchen, his favorite thinking place. His thoughts are actually very deep for a seven-year-old. "Anything can happen to Anyone. ... It's best to be prepared." These two thoughts determine his actions. Estha picks up the communist flag given to Baby and decides to prepare to be prepared. If the soft drink vendor comes, Estha will need a place to go. This is when he decides to slowly start taking a few little things out of the house to the riverside.
Estha finds his way to the river and sits outside Velutha's house. He waits for Rahel......
