‘I’ll call your father if you keep this up,’ she continued.
‘If he had one,’ Samantha mocked from the back of the class, starting a much louder roar of laughter from the class.‘Yes, we all know Brendan is adopted, Miss Patricks now can you please shut it!’ she snapped.The bell rang for everyone to dismiss and Brendan took his books and walked out of the classroom. Susan Raymond, one of his classmates joined him as he was making his way out.
‘Do you at least know his name?’ she asked him in a concerned voice. Susan Raymond was a thumb shorter than Brendan and the brown and black extensions in her hair were too obvious to miss. She had suspicious looking eyes which hastily gave away her gossip talent.‘Who’s name?’ He pretended to be surprised.‘I mean your father, duh! Do you know his name?’‘No I don’t and I don’t ever want to find out,’ Brendan responded quickly and harshly, getting furious with her for mentioning his biological father who had nearly killed his mother. He managed to throw a sideways glance at her. Apart from gossip, he noticed that her expression was that of a person who had no worries at all. Her small pebble-like nose actually made her look conspicuous. Brendan regretted sharing the same classroom with her and Angus and Samantha, his worst enemies, but he could say that Susan was neither a friend nor a foe. The only thing he hated about her was her gossiping habit and her relentless inquisitions. ‘I don’t want to even imagine his name or what his ugly face looks like,’ he finished the conversation with a snap. Almost everyone in the school knew about what his biological father had done.As he walked through the corridor, he heard his name being called. He started looking behind him in different directions from where he was standing but he could not see the person responsible. There were too many people walking and running out of their classrooms which made it difficult for him to spot the culprit calling his name in such a tone of malice. ‘Hey, Eriksson!’There it was again. It was not the voice of Angus the school bully. It was not that deep, so whose was it?‘Eriksson. That’s your name, isn’t it?’He jerked his head violently to his right as if trying to break his own neck.The boy was African GEMian (black), the exact same height and probably the same age as he was. The difference was in the muscle which was in favor of the stranger. He had a black bandana on his head, which was against the school uniform. He was dressed in such a scruffy way that one would think he was raised in a cave. His belt was unbuckled and his shoes were unpolished. ‘Go find out what I did to your locker. Dat is if you’re interested.’ The boy had such an annoying arrogance and tone that reminded him of Samantha. Even his smirk was irritating. He grinned and continued his way through the hall, bumping his shoulder into Brendan’s in an obvious attempt to provoke him.‘His name’s Thomas Bradley. He’s new here,’ Simon informed him as they walked towards Brendan’s locker. ‘He was kicked out of his previous school for alcohol and d… abuse,’ he gulped. Simon despised the word “drugs”, only because his mother was abusing them too. Brendan made sure he tried his best to avoid mentioning this when he was with him because he knew it made him feel uncomfortable. Despite his stern appearance, Simon was very sensitive. Brendan though, welcomed this personality that his best friend had without any complaints.
‘He told Principal Johnston that the school was full of racists but I think that’s just a lousy excuse to get accepted into Bradwield High,’ Simon added. Simon and Brendan were in the same grade but they learnt in separate classes. Simon was in the first eleventh grade class and Brendan was in the last where, unfortunately, his worst enemies, Angus and Samantha, who got a kick out of tormenting him every day, were. When they got to Brendan’s locker they found that it had been slammed in with something which could have been a sledgehammer or a heavy brick. It had been caved in so much that using the code had become pointless. ‘Oh my…’ Simon began, his mouth wide in bafflement. ‘How could he do this? Not even Angus would or could do something like this. Brendan, you should tell the principal about this,’ he advised him.‘No,’ he plainly refused. He saw a note hanging by a shoelace from the hole in his locker. He snatched it and unfolded it. The paper was dirty and pathetic, which was typical, Brendan thought to himself, of the new boy’s appearance. His expression showing no concern whatsoever, he slowly unfolded the note. The note read: You will get to know me well Erikson. I am Thomas Bradley the werst nightmere you will ever hav. If you thot that life is unfair then you havent met me. Your life is about to be come more than unfair. Its about to be come suisidal for YOU! ‘If I were you, I would believe him,’ Simon advised him. He had been reading the note from behind Brendan’s shoulder. Brendan crumpled the note and threw it on the floor. He said, ‘If he wants to play dirty then we shall play,’ he said almost to himself. His mind was almost unconscious, still trying to digest what was before him.‘I can bet that that is the worst idea you have ever had. I heard him b
‘No. Does it turn people into frogs?’ He was starting to get a kick out of this.‘No, it doesn’t. This is not one of my surprise jokes if that is what you are thinking. I am being serious and I ask that you respect that,’ the stern expression on Howard’s face agreed with him. ‘This potion is called an “Oxygen potion”,’ he continued. ‘That’s one of the few things he told me about it. It enhances its drinker’s strength and speed making him or her, you can say…superhuman.’Brendan could not restrain a small and brief giggle at these words. ‘There is no such thing as a “superhuman being”,’ he said shaking his head skeptically. ‘That’s just ridiculous,’ he let loose another giggle.‘That’s what they used to say about magician scientists and the next thing you know, a man is being accused of being one and burnt alive right before his son’s eyes.’ A tear rolled down his cheek. This made Brendan become serious once again.‘So why do you keep it? Isn’t it evil?’ he asked in a ton
Brendan’s room was as simply decorated as their living room. There were no posters on the wall. His bed was to the far end of the door. It was a humble, small wood-carved bed. Beside the bed to the right was a small drawer where he kept his socks. To the left of the bed, leaning against the walls was his wardrobe. There was only one window in his room and it was just above the bed. As he cried into his small white pillow, his mind drifted into an abyss and he fell asleep.Meanwhile, Howard had still been sitting in his chair. He had been sobbing too, hurt by the words that Brendan had just said. He took out a photo of Patricia and stroked it gently. ‘You were right, Patricia,’ he said. ‘I’m not the father type.’ *The next morning, Brendan woke up late, which was unusual. He got dressed in not much of a hurry. He usually cooked them breakfast but Howard, knowing he was in no state to do so, prepared it himself.Brendan walked slowly down the stairs. ‘Mor
Thomas leaned back on his chair and put on a grin that meant to say, ‘Yeah, right.’‘I guess I woke up late,’ Brendan answered his teacher.‘And let it never happen again. This is the first time you’re late, Mr. Eriksson. You should tread carefully and keep your record clean. Sit down.’Brendan walked up to his desk trying hard not to let his two enemies change the expression of nonchalance on his face.‘Oh, darn it,’ Mr. Price said suddenly in regret. ‘Be quiet till I get back, understood?’‘Yes, Mr. Price,’ the class responded in unison except for three boys; Thomas, Angus and Brendan.Thomas leaned in towards Brendan’s ear. ‘We’re gonna have so much fun together, Eriksson.’ The coarseness of his voice annoyed him.‘You bet we will,’ Angus bellowed in agreement.His deeper voice only annoyed Brendan even more but he did not respond, fearing he would start an uncomfortable conversation with them. At recess, Brendan bumped into Angus.‘Happy to
The light of the sun outside woke Brendan up. He rubbed his eyes vigorously and realized he was still sitting on the floor, Howard’s cold head resting on his lap. This reality weighed his heart with more sorrow. He reached into Howard’s pocket and pulled out the small container with the liquid. He held it close to his eyes, examining it. The container’s glass looked somehow extraordinary in some way. It was definitely like the test tubes they used in Biology. The liquid looked as thick as dry goat’s blood.‘Happy now?’ He spoke to it with hopelessness and contempt in his voice. ‘You’ve led my father to his grave.’ He hurled it at the wall with all his strength but it only made a light thud and fell on the floor with no scratch. He stood up and approached it, leaving his father on the floor. ‘What is this thing made of?!’ He spoke aloud in astonishment. He picked it up and began tapping it with his forefinger. It produced heavy sounds, similar to a knock
‘Thanks.’ He began walking away again.‘Your loss is great!’ She shouted after him as he entered the school building. ‘You’ve lost the source of your foolishness!’ she added.He did not stop to listen or react to her words. A part of him knew that something like this was bound to happen because even despite how much he wanted to believe that Samantha might possibly have even an atom of sympathy, she would always be Samantha. When Brendan walked into class, Miss Putin, the new Russian teacher, was scribbling something on the board. ‘Brendan, why you late?’ she asked in her usual bored voice. She always wore floral dresses and her hair was always in a ponytail. On her feet were white stilettos. She was tall, slim and beautiful. Very beautiful. Still living the youth of her early twenties. The omission of words in her speech and breaking of the English language were her two fields of expertise. Brendan was always bewildered at how she could be this young and beaut
‘If you want to express something, try vanishing,’ Simon was getting even more annoyed.‘Fine,’ Susan said getting up. ‘I’ll get my story one way or the other.’Natasha and Patricia followed.‘Good riddance,’ Brendan said in a low voice, lowering his head at the same time. ‘I thought they’d never leave,’ he added. When he looked up, he saw Samantha walking towards their table.She sat right in front of them.Simon stood up and motioned Brendan to follow him but Brendan just sat there as though he had decided to confront his enemy like a man. Simon took his tray and went to sit at another table far away from them.‘So, Orphan boy,’ she began. ‘Your birth father tries to kill your mother, your mother dies while giving birth to you and your adoptive father commits suicide.’ She shook her head in cruel pity. ‘What do you have to say for yourself?’‘How do you know that’s how he died?’ Brendan asked her, his expression dazed.‘ “Drug overdose”?’ she teased. ‘You s
When he got into class, Brendan found Mr. Benson, the Biology teacher, already inside, arranging his textbooks for the lesson.Mr. Benson was short and chubby and had a friendly face which essentially seemed to relieve Brendan of some of his stress issues. He was wearing a red tie, a light green long-sleeved shirt, brown trousers and a pair of white sneakers. ‘Okay, class, today we will be bisecting the frog and examining its internal functions.’At this, the whole class made one word: “Yuk!” The only ones who did not say this were Thomas and Angus.‘I’m going to slowly cut mine and let it feel the excruciating pain,’ Thomas said with evil anticipation on his face and Angus laughed in approval.‘That’s gross,’ Samantha responded to these devious and cruel words, a look of disbelief on her face.‘How cruel,’ Susan joined in.Mr. Benson went into the class storeroom which was right after the classroom door and he came back carrying a large glass cubic jar with differ