Chapter 192: Extreme Violence

[Chapter 193: Extreme Violence]

Covina, East Covina High School.

On the cheerleading practice field, the tall, handsome Mexican American, young Navarro, showcased the street dance skills he'd honed in acting classes, capturing the attention of cheerleading captain Katie.

This beautiful, flirtatious blonde approached him just as Navarro had hoped.

They found common ground discussing dance; young Navarro even demonstrated some of his street dance moves.

Just as they were exchanging flirtatious glances, Pratt Nester rushed in.

...

New school maintenance worker, there to fix some pipes, along with his colleague, stealthily approached from different angles, each carrying their respective work bag.

Their eyes fell on young Navarro before shifting to Pratt.

...

With a few of his football buddies trailing behind, Pratt noticed his girlfriend chatting up the new Mexican kid. Without greeting, he rushed forward and forcefully shoved young Navarro to the ground.

Katie turned, alarmed to see her boyfriend. ""Damn it, you're here again!"

Young Navarro fell hard and struggled to get back up.

Pratt moved in, grabbing him by the collar and venomously warned, "You bastard, keep your distance from her."

But young Navarro smiled and said, "That's my freedom."

Pratt swung a fist, thudding hard against Navarro's face.

Katie tried to intervene but was held back by Pratt's teammates.

"Is that all you've got?" young Navarro said, his voice lower. "Coward."

Pratt, who was used to bullying others, couldn't hold back. He swung his fist again, this time more violently.

Navarro, having taken acting classes, managed not only to resist the urge to dodge but also faced the blow head-on, meeting Pratt's fist with his own nose.

With a sickening crack, young Navarro's nose broke!

Nonetheless, thinking about the two years of free rent, the $50,000 cash payment, and the supporting actor promised by director Eric Emerson, young Navarro could only laugh in that moment.

To Pratt, this laughter seemed like mockery.

Pratt kept firing punches, knocking Navarro down again.

And yet, Navarro continued to laugh, infuriating Pratt, who seized a nearby folding chair and smashed it against young Navarro's back several times.

Though furious, Pratt didn't lose control, aiming for Navarro's back instead of his head.

After tossing the chair aside, he called out to the crowd, "You all saw it -- he tripped and fell!"

Silence met him.

Pratt shouted, "Did you hear me?"

"Yeah, he tripped," came a reluctant reply.

"This new kid isn't familiar with the area and fell by himself."

...

In all this confusion, the school worker and the plumber slipped out in different directions.

As they reached the front and back doors of the school almost simultaneously, they each made quick phone calls. Once finished, they supplied their bags to waiting figures outside.

...

Ten minutes later, the hidden cameras packed within those bags ended up on Hawke's desk.

Hawke connected his computer and began watching the footage. Barely a third in, he pressed pause, grabbing his spare cellphone. He dialed young Navarro, saying, "It's me. You need to get to school right now, call the police and an ambulance -- do not delay."

Young Navarro realized the gravity of the situation. "I'm on my way."

As he stepped outside, he dialed 911.

Hawke resumed watching the footage, capturing the malicious look on Pratt's face abundantly clear.

Young Navarro appeared dedicated, taking a brutal beating, his face covered in blood.

It was horrific!

Hawke then reviewed a different video taken from another angle. Due to obstruction by Pratt's friends, the footage was less clear than the first but still notable.

He copied the footage onto a USB drive and hollered, "Savior!"

Edward walked in. "Boss."

Hawke handed the copied USB to Edward. "Deliver this directly to Miss Baa and tell her to follow the plan."

"I'm on it," Edward replied, hurrying out to his car to head toward Twitter.

Hawke then called Brian. "The campus operation was a success - come back now."

...

Within five minutes, Brian rushed into the office. "Did it work out?"

Hawke pointed to the computer screen. "See for yourself."

Brian turned to view the bullying video.

As the financier of this unfolding scheme, he was well-funded; in addition to the campaign resources, he had family dividends.

Brian grinned, "Notify him there's an increase in payment! An additional thirty thousand dollars!"

Hawke agreed and immediately phoned old Navarro. "I just saw the video. Your payment is increased by thirty thousand dollars. Don't worry about any costs."

Old Navarro didn't hesitate. "Thank you, boss!"

With such a timely response from the boss, they, too, rose to the occasion.

This matter would undoubtedly hold the culprits accountable.

Hawke concluded, "Prepare anti-bullying promotional material and draft a speech attacking the Nester family's crimes, encouraging victims of bullying to come forth bravely!"

Brian nodded vigorously. "We need to rally the majority of mid-to-lower-class citizens on our side!"

...

Meanwhile, in the nurse's office at East Covina High, old Navarro faced the vice principal and grade advisor, pointing at his son in the hospital bed, his forehead pulsating with fury. "I've already called the police! We won't talk about anything else until the police arrive."

The vice principal intervened, "This was just a minor scuffle between students. There's no need for it to escalate outside the school."

Old Navarro remained silent, dialing 911 once again.

The sound of sirens crept into the nurse's office.

Emergency responders arrived.

Young Navarro was lifted onto a stretcher and taken into the ambulance.

Old Navarro followed closely behind, speaking with responding officers and requesting his son be examined for injuries.

Inside the nurse's office, after departing with the LAPD officers, the vice principal questioned the grade advisor, "Have we sorted this out?"

"They're not going to dare speak out," the advisor replied.

The vice principal pulled out his phone, dialed Owen's number, saying, "Your boy Pratt has stirred up trouble again..."

...

At the West Division precinct, Owen had just finished another routine inquiry when he received the call. Hearing his unruly son had hurt someone, he demanded, "You need to communicate with the family involved -- pay up if necessary."

However, he quickly learned, "They've already called the police, and an investigation is underway at the school."

"Called the police?" Owen's alarmed. "What happened?"

The caller recounted the events.

Owen nodded. "I'll head back right away to handle it."

Exiting the West Division precinct, he relayed the situation to Arnold in the car.

Arnold decisively suggested, "Regardless of the details, we need to find the other party, fork over some cash, and ensure they stay silent."

Time was of the essence. Owen felt overwhelmed.

As tensions rose with the false "solicitation scandal," and the allegations surrounding the orange sculpture began to expand, Owen realized something had to give.

For a moment, he even considered dropping out of the campaign.

But thinking of the empire he'd built in Covina over nearly ten years made him hesitate.

...

Meanwhile, Edward arrived at the Twitter fourth floor, stepping into the operations manager's office, placing the USB drive on the desk. "Miss Baa, the boss sent this over for you to send out tweets immediately -- all according to plan."

Caroline nodded. "Got it. You can head out to rest."

She plugged the USB into her computer, viewing the footage several times, ensuring every crucial point was noted, before crafting a news story.

"Extreme bullying incident at East Covina High in Los Angeles: A white male student brutally injured a Mexican American classmate, Antonio Navarro!"

She appended the video below and selected "post."

Caroline then leveraged her access to prioritize the news, bolding and highlighting it for good measure, ensuring it reached the forefront of the news to a wider audience in Los Angeles.

Another one of Caroline's fictitious enthusiastic citizen accounts suddenly retweeted the video and tagged the official LAPD Twitter account.

...

As LAPD officers interviewed students at the East Covina campus and were met with reluctance from the school, Officer John suddenly received a call from his supervisor detailing new developments in the case.

"May I borrow your computer -- urgent matter," he requested from the grade advisor.

The advisor couldn't refuse and led them both into a nearby office.

Seated at the computer, Officer John logged into his Twitter account, glancing at his supervisor's message. He clicked and began playing the video.

The grade advisor's complexion turned pale as he watched the violence unfold.

Officer John inquired, "What's the name of that student? Provide his full name and whereabouts..."

The grade advisor called the vice principal, and the vice principal also watched the video.

He replied, "Let's not pursue this further -- let Pratt and his scumbag dad handle their own mess."

Minutes later, Officer John and his partner, along with two backup officers, escorted Pratt Nester away from the school.

As he continued his outbursts, he only began to realize the dire situation when his hands were cuffed behind his back.

The officers guided him to the patrol car, taking him into custody.

...

Owen hadn't even made it back to Covina before receiving word that he'd need to turn towards the central precinct.

With the evidence stacking up, the proper procedures began accelerating.

Young Navarro received urgent treatment before being subjected to an examination for injuries.

...

Meanwhile, numerous media reporters descending on the scene, those who'd glimpsed the tweets, arrived faster than Arnold.

When Arnold arrived at the hospital, old Navarro was already in the midst of interviews with reporters.

Surrounded by a throng of reporters, Arnold found little opportunity to interject.

Old Navarro's sister arrived temporarily to look after him while the reporters flocked around old Navarro, directing them towards Covina City Hall.

Along the way, old Navarro stopped at a printing shop where he printed enormous posters depicting Pratt attacking young Navarro.

At City Hall, old Navarro stood at the entrance, hoisting the massive poster high, launching a silent protest.

Onlookers began to gather; from a handful to nearly a hundred individuals soon joined.

More than a dozen reporters appeared on the scene.

School bullying was part of American campus culture, but when exposed, it often attracted significant attention.

A white student, the mayor's son, had violently assaulted a Mexican American classmate -- an appealing narrative indeed.

The related videos on Twitter, due to algorithms, were rapidly shared and climbed the trending news charts within minutes.

An increasing number of Mexican American citizens congregated in front of the City Hall, many were parents of bullied students.

Hawke monitored the scene from the campaign office and addressed Brian. "The opportunity to sway public opinion is here; it's time for you to take action."

Sandra was already in contact with media outlets, including Fox 11, as many mainstream outlets were rushing to cover the event.

*****

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