Has He Always Been Like This?
Episode 5
Weeks past after the happy-sad day and it's time for school again
Lants
Lants being Lants walks consciously that something will happen again because footsteps behind him sounds like a signal for him. And again in the alleyway they called out again.
?
Knocks him down.
I called you. Don't test me fat man. Nobody likes a murderer like you and a family like yours is a disgrace to the society
Lants
'the same slurs again'
?
Stops on their tracks
Turns back to their group
What?
Joshua
He stood there for a second—heart thudding, unsure if it was guilt or anger or both. The group’s voices kept going, oblivious, but his feet were already moving.
Joshua
Slow, deliberate. Each step forward. He just stepped between them and Lants, steady and still, and said the one thing that finally quieted the noise—
“That’s enough.”
It wasn’t loud. But it was heard.
Joshua
What did you guys think you're doing?
?
We-we're just messing around with him. It doesn't hurt. Does it fa- Lants?
The older one said, but it was cut-
Joshua
I will tell my father all about this if you continue on with this.
Joshua’s father was a man of few words, tall and broad-shouldered, always in uniform when he was on duty. His sharp grey eyes seemed to see everything, weighing people and situations with a quiet authority. At home, he was present but distant, his mind often on the job. His love was unspoken, shown more in his actions than words, but Joshua knew the pride and burden he carried.
The group dispersed in silence, their steps slower, the usual swagger gone. No words were exchanged, but the air was thick with unsatisfaction—like they knew they hadn’t won, but weren’t sure how to fix it.
Comments