701. The Past of Zulrak

Alexander was watching the memories of Zulrak. It in fact seemed like he was living them.

[Memory]

*SLAP*

"Boy, you stole money from my wallet again?" A middle-aged drunk man shouted at a 10 years old boy.

"No sir, I didn't. I wasn't even at home at that time." The boy cried.

"So you have learned to lie? All right, no school for a week. You are grounded and will stay in your room. If I see you outside I'm going to beat you to a pulp. Do you understand?" The man sternly ordered.

"Yes, sir." The boy replied dejectedly and went to his small room. It was a 2 room small rundown apartment anyway. Soon, muffled sounds of female moans and thumps started coming from the other room.

This was the life of young Zulrak, who was called Tom in his younger days. He had no idea who his father was, his mother was a prostitute who got pregnant and decided not to kill the baby.

He was born and somehow grew up till now. The man who slapped him was his mother's boyfriend/pimp. It was a hellish life and he felt like running away every single day. He hated everyone, especially his mother as even she would beat him up when high on drugs. He used to stay in his locked room, fearing that someday, she might just kill me.

Nobody cared for him, he had told his teachers about the abuse he faces at the home but nobody came to save him. No child protection services. With time, he only focused on his studies as that was the only thing he could do. His favourite pastime though was reading comics in the school library. He dreamt of what if he was a superhero with powers.

Years passed and his life got worse as he got into high school and people found out his mother was a prostitute.

"Tom, here, I'll give you a hundred bucks if you give me your mom's number. She's kinda hot and I always wanted to fuck a milf."

"Tom, which alley can I find your mom? I swear I'll pay well."

Such words were common among male classmates. The females on the other hand didn't even look at him. They would say "Ewww" or "Gross" And then go and sleep with every football player in the school team.

Tom really pitted these girls. At least his mom was getting paid, these girls were free whores. But he never said it in public. He never had the guts.

He endured it and kept on studying. He was exceptional at it and in the future even got into Yale Law School. But, gossips travel fast. His hellish life continued in law school too. In fact, it even got worse as many students knew how to get away with bullying by doing it in a place and location where no security camera was available.

He still endured it. He just wanted a way out of his hell life and this was the only way to do it. He had decided that in the future, he was going to get his name changed.

But, there is always a limit to what a man can endure. At the age of 18, when he got home, he saw his mother with 3 of his classmates. On a bed, all naked.

His mind snapped. He picked up the kitchen knife and tried to kill all of them. But it was 3 vs 1. He was able to stab them multiple times but they got him soon. One of them picked up a mug and smashed it on his head, making him pass out.

The next thing he knew, he was in police custody. The three boys got away with it all as they weren't sons of whores and belonged to respected families.

He was an adult so he got sent to prison for ten years. Prison life was hell at the start, but because he was smart he found a way. He was respected by many as he started teaching the inmates many subjects that could help them when they go out. The guards also let him go easy after they learned about his life, in return, he helped them file their taxes.

5 years in, he got the news that his mother died due to a heroin overdose. He didn't even care about her and forgot about her existence entirely. He made many friends in the prison, unlike outside, people didn't judge him for his birth circumstances as many had the same life here. The most hated people there were rapists and paedophiles and he was not that.

His influence got even better when he started offering free legal advice. After Tom heard about the cases of many of the inmates, he realised that these guys were so many times screwed over by incompetent lawyers or lawyers who made deals with the prosecutor behind their backs.

To be honest, for him, his 10 years in prison were the best time of his life. When he got out, he was a 28-year-old high school graduate with a red stamp on his record. Nobody gave him a job.

Eventually, one of the inmates that he had helped get out with good legal advice helped him. The man was in reality innocent but was framed. It turned out, that man's brother was the principal of an elementary school.

So, he got the job of a janitor there. He could have become a professor at any college with his mind but here he was, a janitor at an elementary school. But, he didn't hate his job, nor did he like it.

After spending 8 years as a janitor there, he climbed the poverty ladder. He called it the poverty ladder because at the level he was, no matter how high you climb, you will stay under poverty.

He got to become the bus driver for the school. It was a nice change for him as little children said good morning or goodbye to him every day.

He worked for 20 years in that position. But, slowly, he realised how bad the school was. It cuts corners in everything. It didn't maintain the building, it didn't get the bus serviced every once in a while.

Tom was getting old now. He was also contemplating suicide. He was just living at this point. There was no one in his life except loneliness. Because of his past with his mother, he couldn't date any girls.

It was a foggy morning in the winter. He as always started the bus and picked up all the children. He was headed to the school to drop them off. But, while crossing a bridge, the bus' front right tyre suddenly burst and the bus lost balance. It collided with the railing and fell into the lake. It was deep and the bus was sinking.

Tom felt he was all right, just some minor head injuries. He looked back at the panicking kids as the water slowly got in.

"CALM DOWN... I will get you all out. How many of you can swim?" He questioned.

Out of 15 kids, 10 raised hands.

"Good, everyone, follow me." He quickly opened the top hatch and one by one got each one of them on the roof. Those who could swim started leaving. Luckily, the 5th graders who could swim took three 1st graders who couldn't swim along.

Now there were two 5th graders left who couldn't swim. They were scared.

"Okay, don't worry. Jenny, you grab onto my back, I will get you to the shore first. James, be strong, I will return." Tom sternly ordered.

He quickly used all the strength he could and got the girl to the shore. Then he swam back to the bus. It was mostly already underwater. James was somehow still standing on it.

"Jump on my back." He shouted.

James did exactly that. But, just as Tom started to head back, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. unknown to him, a big windscreen glass shard had pierced his lungs. He wasn't able to breathe properly. But, he still flapped his feet to reach the shore.

But his strength was fading and he was slowly drowning under the weight. He just held his breath and moved forward. He had no idea how far the shore was.

Slowly, he lost all his strength. The last thing he knew, some 5th graders had swum back to get James to safety. But by then, he was already sinking to the bottom of the lake.

His whole pathetic life flashed in front of his eyes. In the end, he made peace with it. He knew he tried his best to live a good life but in the end, it didn't work out.

~*Sigh* I wish I was the protagonist of this world, with superpowers... But some people are born with the extreme life mode on~ he thought to himself as his soul drifted away from his body.

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