"That sounds good. Do it. In the past, we didn't dare touch any of the students in Class 6, but now things have changed. We'll catch Felicity first, but we won't tell her parents. We'll just set Alex up and let him take the fall for it," Billy said bitterly.
"We'll show him how inadequate he is as head teacher and drive him out!" Leonard growled in a low voice.
"Exactly. We'll do it tonight." Billy and Leonard shook hands in agreement and walked off.
**
That evening, when the independent-study class was coming to an end, Eric's mobile phone buzzed. He read the message that had come through and waved his phone in front of Lance's face. "The boss will be here with his people soon," he said excitedly. "Alex won't know what hit him."
Lance smiled. "That was fast. But how are they going to get into the school?"
"Didn't I ask you to leave the gate open?" Eric squinted his eyes in confusion.
"You're so stupid. Go out of school and do it yourself. Someone will report to Alex, and he'll have to go out and deal with the problem. Then, we can do whatever we want."
"Great. The important thing is that when Alex's accident happens, no one will ever suspect us." Eric laughed.
Finally, class ended, and the students filed out of the room. Alex had packed up his desk and stood up, ready to follow after them, when his phone rang.
It was Lynne. "Mr. Alex, the students in Class 6 are causing trouble outside the school. Come out and see."
"Okay, I'm coming right now." Alex frowned. It seemed very odd, but he went downstairs anyway.
When he got to the gate, he saw Eric, who was being reprimanded by Billy. Solely focused on making sure that no one else was in trouble, Alex didn't realize that Eric was holding a baseball bat in his hand, poised and ready for a fight. As soon as Alex appeared, Eric pointed the bat at Alex.
"Mr. Alex! Look at your student," Billy called. He had planned to take Felicity this evening, but the security guard had called to inform him that his car was being smashed by a student.
He had quickly run out, only to see his car's windshield had been broken, the glass shards scattered over the seats and hood. Two of his tires were punctured, and Eric had also urinated in the car.
When Billy had come down, Eric had simply been hanging around in front of the car, as if waiting for someone to catch him.
Billy wanted to strangle Eric, but he knew he had to leave the disciplinary actions to Alex.
"Okay, Mr. Wilde, I understand the situation. You can go now, and I'll talk to him," Alex said.
Billy was so angry that the bulging veins in his head looked like they were going to pop. "I haven't said anything to him," he assured Alex. "Since you're his teacher, you should really—"
He was interrupted by his mobile phone ringing. He sighed when he saw the caller ID, then looked back at Alex.
Catching Felicity in the act tonight was key, otherwise, Billy would have finished his conversation with Alex.
"You're the head of Class 6, so I'll leave you to it. I hope you can give me a satisfactory result," he muttered and quickly ran to the dormitories.
Alex looked at Eric, who pretended to feel guilty by lowering his head. He was certain that Alex would severely punish him. What teacher wouldn't? Eric was sure to get a harsh scolding. In his experience, teachers loved to scold.
But he heard nothing. If Alex had been his boss, he would have given Eric a good beating. "Why isn't he saying anything?"
"You can go." Even though he said it calmly, his words still made Eric jump.
He couldn't believe it. He had been prepared for yelling or stern words that would describe how disappointed Alex was in him. He thought Alex would ramble about how he expected better from him, and so on. He was even prepared for the tactics that teachers would sometimes use, like reverse psychology, anything that could trick and manipulate students into good behavior. But Alex said nothing.
"Aren't you gonna yell at me?" Eric questioned.
"What would I yell at you for? What's the big deal?" Alex was confused. What was Eric talking about?
Alex had fought many battles and even killed people. This kind of prank didn't really seem like a big issue in his eyes.
"Didn't you just say you would talk to me?" Eric asked.
"Oh, I almost forgot. All I can say is if you're going to smash a man's windshield, don't hang around so long afterwards that you get caught. Do you understand?"
Eric couldn't believe it. This man was ridiculous!
Alex wasn't going to criticize and discipline him, and the boss still hadn't arrived. If he wanted this plan to work, he would need to stall and keep Alex talking.
"Don't you want to know why I smashed Mr. Wilde's car when there are so many cars here to choose from?", Eric said eagerly.
To be frank, Alex wasn't interested, but he felt that he needed to stay and listen. "Sure, tell me."
"Because he's always teasing the students, especially the girls. I have seen him do it several—"
Alex's phone rang again, and he answered, Lynne's voice tumbling through. "Mr. Alex, there's something wrong with the students in Class 6. This time it's in the girls' dormitory. I'll meet you in the principal's office."
Then his work phone also began to ring, the number of the principal's office flashing on the screen. Alex paused, staring at the two phones with a baffled expression on his face. "This job is becoming a nightmare", he thought as he turned to go to the office.
"Mr. Alex, you can't leave yet!" Eric cried. He needed Alex to stay here because his boss was about to arrive.
"Huh? Look, we'll finish this conversation later, okay? I need to deal with a few other things right now. You can go back to your room." Alex finished and rushed to the principal's office.
As soon as he had left, Eric's phone also began ringing. "Boss, you're here?" Eric quickly ran out to the gate. A man in long black clothes stepped out of the car parked outside. Even though it was nighttime, he wore sunglasses. There was a large group of people standing behind him.
"Where's the man you were talking about?" his boss asked coldly.
"He's just left, sir", Eric said pointing in Alex's direction.
"And the money?", the boss asked.
"I don't have it all ye—" Eric's sentence was cut off as his boss slapped him across the face.
"I don't work for free," he sneered.
Eric lowered his head and took out a wad of cash, a total of two thousand dollars, from his jacket pocket.
The boss counted the bills and looked at Eric again, his teeth clenched. "You expect us to work for this?"
He slapped Eric's face again, this time so hard that Eric imagined he could see stars floating before his eyes.
"But boss," he stammered, "we didn't agree on a price."
He pushed Eric back. "Don't you understand the rules? I bring all these people here, and you think this is enough?" Even with the sunglasses on, Eric could feel his eyes piercing through him.
"How much do you want, boss?" Eric asked, holding his burning cheek.
"Fifty thousand." His voice was quiet now, but menacing.
"Well, boss, I can transfer the rest to you tomorrow." Eric lowered his head and did not dare say more in order to avoid being hit again.
"Fine. Get him in the back," his boss ordered in disgust, and a couple of the men picked Eric up and threw him into the car. The boss climbed in after him, sitting across from him. They sat in silence until he spoke again.
"Forget the money, actually. You won't have to pay me back if you can get some of those girls in your class to come out here and go with some of my men to the club."
"But boss, what do you need them for?" Eric was confused. How were the girls going to help them fight Alex?
"You little—" The man raised his hand, getting ready to hit Eric again, but held himself back. Violence wouldn't help him get what he wanted right now.
"You see, we have a slight problem. Some of the girls who used to work at the club have left. We just need a few more to come over and take their places until we can get some permanent replacements. The girls just have to stand and look pretty for our customers. You can rest assured that they won't have to do anything else."
"Really?" Eric asked. "Nothing else, sir?"
"What, are you worried I'm going to hurt them? What can I do? I'm watching this place for you." The boss smiled, making a show of putting his hand on his heart. "I give you my word, nothing will happen to your little friends."