Chapter 9

21 September

‘Ah, school,’ thought Alex. ‘A place to learn,’ he snickered to himself. ‘More like an open market to buy, sell, or trade illegal goods or services.’

Unlike in the past, Alex wasn’t concerned for his safety. He had a bet with himself on how long it would be before he ended up in the principal’s office. The odds of it being more than an hour were not good. If Alex could put money on it, he would bet he would be sent to the office before the halfway point in the first period.

As Alex walked past people, he scanned and indexed them as rapidly as possible, watching for threats. Threats could come in many forms and from any direction. Anything from a book to the back to a fist to the face. Alex had to stay on his toes.

Alex hadn’t walked more than twenty feet when he sensed a fist flying toward the back of his head. At the last moment, Alex ducked and felt the fist bounce off the top of his head. Without looking back, Alex stood up and continued walking. He smiled, hearing the older boy curse in pain. When his fist hit the top of Alex’s head, his fingers and wrist curled down. This broke three fingers and hyperextended his wrist.

Another person tried to rip Alex’s bag off his back. When Alex felt his bag being pulled, he spun around to face the person pulling it. This surprised the boy who was pulling the bag. Alex was quick enough to close the distance and “accidentally” stepped on the boy’s foot. Since Alex was wearing heavy work boots, he delivered a severe bruise to the boy’s foot. Alex made sure to grind his foot into the other boy’s, resulting in a deep bruise that would take several weeks to heal. During that time, walking would be painful.

Once Alex stopped by his locker and exchanged books, it was close enough to class time to begin heading in that direction. So far, Alex had defeated two attempted attacks by moving “accidentally.” He was sure this trend wouldn’t last.

A blinking at the corner of his vision got Alex’s attention. An approaching boy had an information box flashing red above his head. This was new, and Alex wasn’t sure what to make of it, but this wasn’t the time for introspection. Judging by the boy’s face, Alex was in trouble.

Sure enough, the boy who was named Tyronne was pissed. He had just lost a big drug deal to a rival dealer and wanted to take his frustration out on someone. Tyronne was a foot and a half taller than Alex, having been held back several times, and was as mean as a rattlesnake. He stopped Alex with a hand against Alex’s chest.

“Hey, punk. I’m going to rearrange your face.”

“Well, hello to you, too. Did you lose another drug deal?” Alex asked like someone talking to their pet. “So, what was it this time, shitty product or shitty prices? You know, you should really read some Business 101 books. Oh, I forgot, you’re too stupid to read.”

Around them, Alex heard a gasp as people shuffled back. If he was going to fight, he would do everything possible to piss off his opponent beforehand, because an angry opponent is more likely to make mistakes. Alex wasn’t confident enough in his abilities yet to try to win without some help.

“You bastard!” Tyronne charged, Alex’s trash talk having done its job. The world slowed down for Alex. Tyronne was now moving so slowly that picking out the vulnerable points was easy. What’s more, to Alex, he was still moving at normal speed, which to the observer would be superhuman speed.

Alex was tired of Tyronne ruling the school with terror, so he decided it was time to take action. Performing a quick scan of Tyronne’s brain, Alex knew half of his prostitutes hadn’t wanted to be a whore but were forced into it by Tyronne or his thugs. Alex started by redirecting Tyronne’s fist with his left hand. Using his opposite hand, Alex hit Tyronne’s elbow, forcing it in the opposite direction. The crack was loud as Tyronne’s elbow snapped. That was only the beginning of the pain.

Without pausing, Alex hit the inside of Tyronne’s knee with his heavy boots. Since knees are not designed to flex outward, his knee was dislocated as ligaments and tendons snapped. Alex still wasn’t done with Tyronne as his right foot came up and scored a direct hit on Tyronne’s family jewels. Alex had adjusted the strike angle so Tyronne’s balls wouldn’t have anywhere to go, thus crushing both of them.

Tyronne had just begun reacting to his arm being broken when Alex finished. As soon as the pain of the shattered testicles reached Tyronne’s brain, all other pain was forgotten. Tyronne bellowed in pain as white light burst behind his eyes. Alex had another trick up his sleeve when he slipped into Tyronne’s mind and prevented him from passing out. He saw no reason to spare Tyronne from any of his pain.

The previously cheering crowd was silenced by Tyronne’s bellow of pain, and they watched as he slowly toppled over. Alex couldn’t help himself. He knew he shouldn’t do it, but he couldn’t help himself. He stood back and hollered, “TIMMMMBER!” as Tyronne toppled forward. Everyone watched as Tyronne crashed into the floor and didn’t get up.

Alex had to get to class, so he picked up his bag. Instead of the other students trying to stop him, they silently parted before him. They suddenly wanted nothing to do with the small white boy. By the time Alex had gotten twenty feet from the fight, some of Tyronne’s lieutenants were trying to help him stand. Alex knew the only way Tyronne would leave was on a stretcher; he had done a number on the former school bully.

There would be hell to pay later, but Alex didn’t care. He had proven his abilities to himself, getting into a fight and coming out without a scratch. Better yet, all his former tormentors were now terrified of him. The future promised to be quieter, at least in terms of bullying from other students. That still left Alex with another source of worry. That source made itself known just as Alex sat in his chair.