TERRA EMPIRE: ON THE EVE OF WORLD WAR

Episode 56: THE BULLY GETS THE STONE

“I think I'm done cleaning up all the places you told me to, Mr. Miller..”.

Fred Miller, the school janitor, looked at the watch that showed it at eight to ten. It was time for the boy to go to school like any other kid, so the man took the mop stick and the bucket Jordan Cross gave him.

“Try to compare perceptions first before you go back to class. You've swept the first-floor classes?”

“Check!”

“Cantin?”

“Check!”

“Alright! Means you've done it all, Cross!”

“I think so, Mr. Miller!”

“I wait tomorrow at the same time.”

“By pleasure, Mr. Miller!” Jordan nodded.

"Don't forget to come hit..”.

“Seven o'clock exactly!” Jordan cut him off with a serious face.

"Yeah! And don't be late.”

“I try, Mr. Miller!” sahut Jordan before leaving the man.

Eight was less than ten when Jordan returned to the school hall and the atmosphere of the building was already starting to fill with some students preparing to attend the lesson which was about to start at half-nine. Lana hasn't seen the trunk of her nose, maybe the girl is still sitting enjoying breakfast at her desk at Pippi’s Pie until Jordan decides to follow her there as the girl says when Jordan is done with her picket.

Jordan carries a backpack down the hallway of a vacant locker when at the end of the corridor he finds Allen. The boy was not alone, he was accompanied by five other children from the rugby team. Apparently they had just finished the morning practice session so Allen and his friends were still wearing exercise uniforms.

Allen looked at Jordan in a rancid manner, “Nah...nah...nah...what did we meet this early in the morning?” his words made his friends chuckle. Allen looked at his friends. “Darken once, when we are doing push-ups, exercises around the field and so on, some are busy cleaning the canteen with a mop stick. Did you clean the toilet for us? Because we were about to take a shower before entering class.”

Since Allen and his entourage were too numerous, also blocking the exit, Jordan canceled his intention of catching up with Lana and turned around. He did not want to look for a commotion by responding to Allen's remark because it was useless. Jordan's attitude was apparently unacceptable to Allen, the boy then said out loud, “Hey, I'm talking to you, monkey boy!”

How many children were in the locker room quickly slipped away because they smelled a bad situation. Moreover, Jordan continued to wander without caring about Allen's hardship, which made the bully hotter and eventually catch up. He pulled the collar of Jordan's shirt from the back and made it spin face to face.

“You must indeed be taught a lesson in order to know how to behave in our place,” said Allen with a fierce face, “And there is no tray that becomes your weapon this time, not Cross?”

Allen swung the jab into Jordan's stomach. Throw it as hard as possible because you want to knock your opponent down with one hit. What happened next was a surprise to Allen. His punch was indeed crushing, but he felt a huge pressure turn around against him. Instead Jordan felt nothing in his stomach, something seemed to be holding the fist back, and it was thanks to the ves vests he wore.

Allen's punch caused a rebound against Jordan's vest, making him roll backwards after previously hitting several lockers in the left row to the dent. Allen's friends were surprised to see that, especially when the two people who were standing at the very back were hit by their friend who was pushed after punching his opponent.

Unlike before when they had ganged Jordan in the cafeteria so Allen lay in the same way. The difference this time they did not immediately attack Jordan, instead looking at each other anxiously because Allen was screaming in pain.

The Allen hand he used to hit Jordan looked hideously swollen. All Allen could do was clamp his hands between his legs to prevent the burst of pain that accompanies when the hand gets inflamed.

“What should we do?” they asked each other in panic.

Jordan picked up his phone and called 911, asking for an ambulance to come to Lynbrook High because Allen's swollen hands had to be handled by paramedics. School clinics are unlikely to handle it with their makeshift equipment.

After ending the call, Jordan looked at Allen's friends and said, “I've called the paramedics to take your friend to the hospital. Your job is to wait until the ambulance arrives, okay?”

The commotion drew the attention of several adults, including Fred Miller. When he saw Allen with his entourage with Jordan, his face changed as the police caught a criminal who was repeating his crime. He said in a half growling tone, with his typical ugly grin, “What happened here?”

Jordan looked at Miller and gave an answer, “I think Allen slipped while running down the aisle. Accidentally her hand was swollen as she held her body when it fell.”

"Gosh...” exclaimed a female teacher who then approached Allen to check on his condition. “Quick call the clinic clerk, Mr. Miller!”

“I've called the paramedics so he's taken to the hospital. I think they'll be here any minute,” Jordan told the teacher.

“Thank you, Jordan!” said the female teacher. He turned to Allen's friends. “And all of you should change your clothes. Soon the lesson begins, let me take care of him until the paramedics arrive. You don't want to be banned from playing next Saturday because you're late for class, right?”

Fred Miller looked on in annoyance, perhaps from not having managed to find the ringleader or any mistake from the commotion that had just occurred, perhaps from not being able to find the culprit, although the man realized there was something more serious than slipping on the floor when he saw the dented lockers. Presumably providing Allen with new detentions or additional detentions to Jordan was something he was very keen on at the moment. In fact, Jordan walked away casually.

Before leaving the corridor he heard one of Allen's friends ask the female teacher, “ Does this mean Allen can not play next Saturday? Though he's our flagship thrower.”

Lana who had apparently just come from Pippi’s Pie met Jordan in History class, which became their first class of the day. The girl asked as soon as she saw Jordan enter the room, “I heard there was another fuss in the hallway of the locker. Is that you?”

“Yeah, Allen and his friends intercepted me there.”

“Then?”

“He was thrown after hitting me. Exactly like what happened to the criminals at Machina Factory who tried to shoot us in the warehouse storage of items found.”

“Oh, yes?” the girl smiled instead. “I told you that the vest will protect you.”

“You know that Mondays usually Allen and his gang practice rugby early in the morning?” Jordan understood. “That's why you gave this vest and forced me to wear it.”

“You like it? With a slight modification, the vest is not only holding or bouncing the bullet, it also has the same function on the punch.”

“I know that you are indeed as smart as your father,” Jordan laughed.

“Important Allen will not dare to mess with you again after this.”

***