A Sense of Accomplishment

T-3 Days to the Incident

#After School

After the chivalrous rescue of his savior, Tom returned to the classroom. “Ah! Some time without those bullies. I need some well-deserved rest.”

He sat down in his designated seat. He looked out the window with longing eyes. “I’m so envious! Those kids are playing, and I’m hiding here.”

He could hear the joyful, loud voices of excited kids. Some were playing football, and some were sitting there laughing and cheering on their friends.

“This is a problem for transfer students. They don’t belong anywhere. They don’t have friends to connect with. On top of that, if they’ve transferred out because of bullying, they remain outcasts forever. They can't forget their past trauma and remain in constant fear and panic. And if, at the present school, they face bullying again, they are instantly ostracized, and their prospect of finding new friends dies out. No one will associate with a bullied kid. Because no one wants to be bullied for association.” Thought Tom.

He whispered, "Only if my dad showed some authority and claimed me as his son!" However, he immediately shook his head to reject this thought from his mind. “I’ve been over this many times before. What’s the point? It’s never going to happen.”

Tom’s neck hurt as he was looking sideways for a long time. He reclined his back on his seat and looked at the ceiling. “Should I skip school today?”

He looked at the field again.

“But Martin and Elister will find me tomorrow. Should I wait? Should I leave now? But the security is too tight! If I get caught, they will call my parents.” He felt like crying. Tom wanted relief so desperately from this dilemma.

He almost fell asleep when the back door of the classroom slammed open.

"There you were! You son of a bitch!" Pig jumped on Tom and grabbed him by his hair.

"You were supposed to be there in the gym class! Why did you miss?" As if the school authority told him to religiously check on the students who skipped the class.

"Aaah! I was taking some rest! Aw..aw..aw. It hurts."

"Hahahaha… What an audacious pun! He hurts, he says! You dare complain when you forced me to miss my target practice?" Martin violently pulled him by his hair and took him to the back of the classroom.

Tom fervently wished for the chime that would end the gym period. “Please, God, have mercy on me. Sound the bell. Let the next class begin before my pain begins.”

But no one heard his prayer.

“Why do I have to go through this? Am I praying to the wrong God? Then tell me, someone, which god should I pray to?”

Suddenly in his mind, he thought he heard someone saying, “God helps those who help themselves.”

Without realizing it, Tom raised his voice. "What?" Did I hear wrong? Is that you, God? Please, say it again!!” But nothing happened.

"What the…did you shout at me?" Martin was on fire. "What made you so brave all of a sudden? Snake, bring that…!" Martin pointed at the cane that Snake so liked.

"Martin, please, not that! It hurts. It hurts so much. Please, I beg of you, not that!" Tom joined his hands in ardent humility as he was on his knees. The fear in his eyes was evident. The pain from the earlier beating was still fresh on his flesh. But his humility brought a fiendish smile to Martin’s face.

"Snake, my friend, today let’s give him a skinny beating. Strip his pants."

As Pig grabbed Tom’s hair with both of his hands, Snake began pulling Tom’s pants in the opposite direction. Within seconds, Tom’s lower body was bared open in front of the whole world. Snake didn’t even leave his underwear. He pulled everything down.

As Tom tried to bring his pants up, Snake kicked him from behind. Tom felt as if he were jolted with a thousand volts. The pain in his crotch was so unbearable that he lost all strength in his hands.

"Okay, the session begins. Lovely bare beating!"

The sound of the lashes was so loud that even the students who were returning early to their classes peeked through the window to see what was going on. Some of them began snapping pictures, some laughed out loud as if something extremely funny was going on, and some just callously passed by. No one cared to call the teachers to help Tom.

The loud lashes surpassed Tom’s groan of pain. As he grabbed his crotch hurt from earlier, his face lay on the floor sideways. Snake stepped on his head so he wouldn’t be able to get up. The shameful sight! A teenage boy, forced naked, butts upwards, open for beating, was being mercilessly lashed by a frenzied bully. It was a questionable scene. What sin did this poor boy commit to earn this unlawful punishment? But no one had a conscience decent enough to produce that question.

The helpless cry of the weak pierced the heavens, yet help didn’t descend. Tom remained in that pose of embarrassment, being tortured physically and mentally as onlookers kept taking pictures and selfies, and some even racked in massive audiences doing live broadcasts on the internet!

“No wonder! This is why my dad doesn’t associate himself with me! Why would he risk his reputation for a pathetic boy like me?”

The gym class-ending chime brought a demanding relief for Tom as the assailants retreated to their seats with a smile of satisfaction, as if Alexander the Great was able to finally conquer Hindustan at last! Tom, nearly unconscious, squeezed the last drop of energy in his body to salvage himself from this ruin, rearranged his dresses to their previous state, and limped to his seat with a singeing pain on his wounded buttocks. He wiped his face, soiled from tears and dust from the floor that was lying on. Students around him snickered at the sound of Tom’s whimper, a testament to their shamelessness.

“Weak fucker! Look at his sight! Ptui!” Pig spat on the floor. "Look, a man is crying! You disgust me!”

Tom didn’t look. His solemn jaws tightened in helpless anger from the pain, a constant reminder of his frailty and powerlessness. Emotions swelled within him.

“One day, I will turn the table on you. One day…” But only weak people could make that kind of baseless promise.

He tried to remember something good.

“Mom… What did you cook today? Your tired and hungry son is coming home, Mom.” Silent streams of tears rolled down once again.

“Ah! Today, I helped a girl in need. Maybe she’ll remember me!” The sweet prospect of that beautiful girl helped him forget the pain for some time. Adrenaline rushed in restless expectation. “I can't wait to meet her. But I don’t know which class she was from. Don't you even know her name? Well, she is always moving with her fanboys! It was hard not to notice, even from a distance.”

The rest of the school hours went undisturbed by the bullies, as if they completely forgot what they did to him. “Well, it’s good that they don’t have any business with me today.” He thought. The chime marked the end of school hours. An instant uproar broke out among the students! “End of school! Let’s go!”

Some students would go straight back home, some would go to private academies for advanced studies, some would go visit the gaming cafes, some would do their practices at their clubs, and some students would stay back for SYDICATE meetings. Tom didn’t have to care about any of them; he gathered his books and stuff, shoved them inside his bag, and started limp-walking home.

Tom, walking down toward the school's main entrance, heard a female voice shout, “Mom.” He looked back. “Ah! My savior!” He wanted to wave at her as she passed by but held his urge back, seeing how the hawks followed her. “Aw! Come on! Give me some space, you punk!” She ran past him toward an elderly figure. “Her mom?” She made faint contact as she brushed past him. She didn’t feel it. “She didn’t recognize me. Well, I never said my name. She doesn’t know that it was my dress that she was wearing right this moment.” Tom felt a sense of accomplishment, which gave him some relief from his pain.

Tom slowly went past the mother-daughter duo, stealing random glances. “She got her features from her mom.” Tom smiled, “just like I did from my mom.” Tom felt an illogical affinity toward the girl based on this similarity. When he realized this, Tom smiled. “Is it what they call ‘infatuation’?” Tom slowly plodded toward his regular destination, the park.