Cesar waited for the classes to finish up as quickly as possible, with his stomach grumbling every next second he couldn't even hear a single thing that the teacher was saying but he somehow managed to make it look like he was paying attention in the class as for what his teachers were saying he didn't even listen to a single word of it, what was Pythagoras theorem, why was it used and why was it important he couldn't care less about them.
With an empty stomach, and a debt looming on top of his head, why would he care about Alexander the Great? Right now, the only thing that he could care about was getting something to fill his stomach. He could do nothing about the debt at the moment but he will try to help his mother as much as he could ..but first —— food.
The last period before recess finally ended and the second the bell rang for the third time, Cesar snatched his bag up and started rummaging around the torn bag. He was sure that he would be able to find something, even though his mother wasn't capable of giving him pocket money like the parents of his peers, she would once in a while give him a dollar or two.
Previously, Cesar was saving the money to get his glasses repaired but now that he was almost dying of hunger how can he care about the broken glasses? If he was starved to death then what will he do with newly repaired glasses, it's not like his ghost was going to wear them right?
So, he snatched every single dollar he could from his bag and placed the green dollars on his lap. Five dollars, the money that he was able to save wasn't a big sum but at least he would be able to buy chocolate bread or something of the sort.
Filling his stomach was not his priority, it was making sure that he doesn't pass out of hunger because that was the last thing he wanted, in case he was to pass out then surely the entire class will drag him through the mud all over again. Because in their eyes, he would drop from being poor to being dirt poor who could not even get a filling meal in a day —— as for the bullying, it might get even worse than before.
Cesar swallowed as he picked up the dollar bills from his lap and clutched them tightly, he knew that he wouldn't be able to get a good lunch with this meagre sum but he would rather save the last bit of his dignity than fall unconscious.
He waited for the class to get empty before he got to his feet and then walked out of the class, but instead of walking straight outside, he first poked his head out and made sure that no one was there. The last time he was caught by Andrew and his friends, his face was almost shoved down the toilet.
If not for him breaking free, he would have found out the taste of the toilet water, something he never wanted to know.
Only after making sure that no one was waiting for him, Cesar walked out of the classroom and with his head lowered and hands tightly clutched in front he trotted towards the cafeteria, making sure that his presence was as small as that of the trash can sitting in the corner. If he was caught by even a single one of Andrew's lackey then it would mean getting a trip down either the garbage collection yard behind the school or to the toilets where he would be beaten black and blue.
As a child he often read stories about superheroes and would often collect stamps and figurines of the heroes, his obsession with the superheroes became so bad that he even started wearing his underpants over his pants.
All in all, he was a young boy with big dreams, hoping to save the world.
But fate was a funny thing, his father was a small office worker but he too like Cesar had too big of dreams, he believed that he could reach the top with just his strength alone. So, without any knowledge of the share market, his father dabbled in the murky waters of the shares, only to be cheated out of the last bit of the money.
Their house was snatched and they suddenly became dirt poor but his father still believed he could do a turnaround, so he went to get another loan. Only the problem was, that his father's assets were already sold off what would he be able to get a loan? In the end, he chose to take it from a loan shark.
He built a house and tried to start a small business but having no flare for it, his father failed even worse than before and when he couldn't pay back the money, like a coward he was, he killed himself leaving his poor mother to pick up his slack. Now he was peacefully resting six feet down while his family was grovelling under the feet of the loan shark he took money from.
That was how Cesar learned that there were no superheroes in the world, only cowards who knew how to escape from their responsibilities.
A soft thunk caused him to stop thinking, surprised he looked down at the leather brown purse that was lying in front of him. Cesar looked around and saw the middle age teacher walking in front of him before lowering his head and looking down at the purse that was so thick that he was sure that it would not even fit in his hands, if he was quick enough then maybe ——
He looked around the corridor before crouching down to pick up the thick purse and carefully skimming his fingers on the torn leather that was stretched to the point that it was tearing in half. This was a lot of money, if he was to bring it with him, then half of his family's trouble would end!
But the important part was whether he should steal or not?