Lynne always supported Alex, and now she was very anxious about his promise to get the Class 6 parents to the meeting.
She was sure that as a substitute teacher he had no chance of getting the parents there.
As she was thinking about the situation, Alex happened to walk out of the classroom toward her.
"Mr. Ambrose, are you sure about tomorrow?" she asked him.
"What?" Alex was confused about what she was referring to.
"Mr. Ambrose, are you sure the parents of Class 6 will come?" she asked.
"Yes," Alex responded lightly.
"Mr. Ambrose, if you do get them to come, please make the most of the opportunity and make sure they understand what's really going on with their children. Class 6 students are the most disruptive in the school and their parents donate the least despite being some of the wealthiest people in Baltimore." Lynne was getting increasingly fed up with the situation and angry with the other teachers who were being so petty toward Alex.
As they were talking, Eric was loitering and watching at the school gate.
His appointment to meet with his 'boss' was coming up. Eric was hoping the older man would help him solve the problem of Mr Ambrose once and for all. His friends were all counting on him to get rid of the new teacher for good.
**
As darkness fell over the Central district of Baltimore, people began to make their way to the clubs and bars.
"Stacy, where have you been? I've been waiting for you for half an hour," Eric said excitedly when he saw the three girls approaching.
Stacy, who always liked to be perfectly made-up, looked so beautiful that Eric's eyes lit up when he saw her. She had practised how to apply cosmetics tirelessly and she always did it perfectly. She looked stunning in her unique and stylish outfit.
On her top half, she wore a fitted blue halter top and she coupled this with a scandalously short black skirt.
Eric couldn't help staring at her and wondering, Does she wear even skimpier clothes in the summer?
The three girls were so cute and pretty, that he was completely bowled over by them.
"Stacy, have you been working out? Your figure is almost as perfect as Heidi's now." Eric was full of praise for the girls. He knew that the boss was going to love them.
He hadn't called Heidi because he knew she wasn't of the right temperament for what he needed.
"What are you staring at, pervert?" Stacy shouted at Eric.
The four of them caught a taxi and went to a club called the Night Banquet.
As they entered the dimly lit venue, they could just make out dancers swaying together under the neon lights.
A man in a long black coat approached them. Unusually, he wasn't wearing his sunglasses, and they could see that one of his eyes was missing.
The one-eyed man glanced fleetingly at the three girls and smiled. His eyes settled on Stacy and he asked, "Eric, is this your classmate?"
Eric quickly introduced them. "Boss, this is my best friend, Stacy. Stacy, this is the manager of the Night Banquet, Devon Boardman."
When it was clear that Stacy didn't hadn't heard of him, he added, "Devon works for the famous Steadman family of Baltimore."
Stacy was aware of the Steadman family's reputation, and she looked a little anxious when she heard that Devon worked for them.
Because of his links with the Steadman family, Devon was also well known in the Central district and had a lot of dark business interests.
When he saw the trepidation in Stacy's eyes, Devon smiled kindly and said, "It's okay. If you're a friend of Eric's, then you're also a friend of mine. If you need anything at all, just let me know."
He continued, "Since everyone's here, let's go upstairs. We'll go to the private rooms."
As they followed Devon to the third floor, Stacy noticed him winking to one of the waiters.
Eric felt very self-important and pleased with himself.
After entering the private room, the waiter immediately brought them ten bottles of expensive wine and several plates with fruit and other delicacies.
When the girls saw the waiter opening so many bottles of wine, they felt a little anxious. One said nervously, "I can't drink, I'm only seventeen."
"It's okay for tonight. My boss is here, and you'll make me look bad if you don't drink anything. Just have one glass," Eric insisted as he put a glass of wine in front of the girl.
"Come on, drink a little," Devon urged her as he sipped his wine.
As they each took a few sips of wine, the girls started to relax and feel more confident. Gradually, without realizing what they were doing, they drank more and more. After a couple of hours, they had become blurry and confused, and as the men continued to encourage them to drink, they became very drunk. They were not used to drinking alcohol and ended up having way too much.
Devon sat next to Stacy and let his hands wander. Initially, whether intentionally or not, his hand gently touched her leg. When she didn't move away, he slowly started stroking her thigh.
Stacy was a strong-willed girl and when she noticed, she chastised him immediately. "Please move your hand."
"I'm not doing anything," Devon replied and left his hand on her leg.
Stacy stood up and moved away. She loved to wear cosmetics and sexy clothes, but that didn't mean that she slept around. The other two girls had also stood up, wanting to leave.
But as they reached the door, Devon quickly pulled them back into the room. He pushed Stacy down onto the couch and held her down.
Stacy struggled desperately, but couldn't get away from him. The other girls went over and tried to help their friend, but he was too strong for them. He became angry with them.
"You stupid little girls," He shouted. "Just teases, are you?" Taking everyone by surprise, he slapped her hard across the face.
As she cried pitifully, Eric quickly sobered up.
"Hey, Devon. What are you doing?" he asked in bewilderment. He stood between Stacy and Devon.
"Eric, protect me," Stacy cried with tears streaming down her face.
Eric quickly turned to leave, saying, "Stacy, come on, let's go. Girls, come with me."
With a cruel smile, Devon gestured to four men who were standing just outside the door. They rushed at Eric and kicked him to the ground. Then Devon stepped on him and slapped him across the face.
"How dare you defy me?" he shouted in Eric's face.
Although Eric was afraid of the men, he knew that he had to defend the girls. He tried to reason with Devon. "You said the girls were here just to flirt! You said you were short on workers and just wanted them to liven the place up a little. Nothing bad was supposed to happen to them!"
Devon sneered, "You're a fool, do you really think that's all they're here for?"
He laughed and said to the men, "Do whatever you like with these girls. You don't have to wait for me to tell you what to do."
One of the men grabbed the arm of one of the girls and said sinisterly, "If you're a good girl, I'll make sure you have a good time tonight."
Eric tried to get up to defend the girls. "Leave them alone!"