Chapter 17: Chapter 17

"The fuck?!! What is wrong with you-"

Before their leader could finish his sentence, Cole shoved the mopstick into his mouth.

By this time, he'd gotten the attention of everyone in the cafeteria. Some were laughing. Some were screaming.

The noise got the attention of the teachers to trouped into the cafeteria.

"What's going on here?!!," The principal screamed in horror when she set her eyes on the scene of chaos.

"Shit!," Cole realized he'd just fucked up immediately.

He took on his heels and ran out of the cafeteria, heading out of the school.

"Catch him! Catch him!!," The teachers yelled to the security guards at the gate.

They got on alert and got their hands ready, but Cole was too quick for them.

He ducked when they tried to snatch him, and they ended up catching air. He raced them to his car and sped away immediately.

*****

"What?!! He did all this?!!," Amy screamed as the principal explained what happened. She laid her eyes on the three kids, drenched in mop water. One of them had his teeth broken roughly due to the way the mopstick was forced into his mouth.

Amy couldn't believe this.

She was on her way home, reminiscing how the Moon Goddess had blessed her with a job earlier in the day when she got a call from her son's school, telling her to come over immediately. According to them, Tris was involved in a fight in the cafeteria and her attention was needed.

On the arrival of the news, she was more confused than she was shocked. Her son couldn't hurt a fly. She'd never seen him get into any issues with anyone. If anything, she was entirely comfortable with how quiet her son was. She feared that he wouldn't be able to stand up for himself.

What then was this news that her son was involved in a fight?

She got to the school as soom as she could, and her eyes could not believe what she saw. Each boy beside their angry looking parents, all drenched and shuddering.

"Tris, explain yourself now!!," She faces her son.

He opened his mouth to speak, but he didn't know what to say.

How was he going to defend himself?

How was he going to tell his mum that they were bullying him, but the same person she warned him to stay away from was the same person who stood up for him and beat them up?

"You think everyone here has the time.to wait for you?," Amy questioned, vexed.

"Let me take from here," the principal came in, and they all got their attention.

"According to the news we got from the boys and the rest of the children present in the cafeteria, these boys came to his seat to have a talk with him. They began having some boyish argument over something trivial when a janitor drenched them with water and shoved a mopstick into his mouth"

The parents just stared at the principal in sheer confusion.

"Can you explain better, ma'am? Who was the janitor?"

"We don't know, to be honest. According to the kids, the janitor was having a conversation with Tris before the boys came over. Something turned to another, and the janitor lost it,"

Amy was the most confused by the explanation.

"Who is the janitor? Tris...," Amy turned to her son.

"Who was the janitor talking with you? Why would a janitor want to talk with my son? What could possibly have to say to you? Why you of all people? Who is he, Tris? Do you know him?," She kept shooting questions at him without waiting for him.to give her a reply.

"All these questions are irrelevant, at least to us. What I personally want to know is who that janitor is. We want the principal to find that janitor and bring him to us, so we can sue him for laying hands on our children,"

"Exactly!"

"And if you don't, we'll have no other choice than to sue the school and the principal for physical damages and lack of supervision. Just so you know, I know people. In less than a month, this school will be closed down if you don't provide that useless janitor. I don't know why an institution that calls itself a school will allow janitor to harass our children!," One of the parents threatened in agitation.

The principal was trying to keep his cool, but he kept shifting uneasily in his seat, wiping his sweaty forehead as the parents threatened.

"Let's calm down, now. There's really no need for these irrational actions. We can settle this amicably. Well, the truth is that, the janitor ran away immediately we can into the picture. He ran out and drove away in his car,"

"In his car? A janitor ran away in a car? What sort of cock and bull story are giving us? What kind of janitor has a car? Are you now allowing lunatics into the school?," One of the parents questioned in rage.

"Ma'am, to be honest, this matter is just as shocking to you as it is to me. I cannot say I can understand what happened today. I know you all are angry at what happened. On behalf of the school, we apologize for our incompetence. We will make sure to get to the root of this. First of, we'll try to check the CCTV footage to see if we can get the plate of the car with the culprit drove-"

"So her son won't get a suspension for what happened to my son?," a parent pointed at Amy and Tris.

"Ma'am, he wasn't the culprit, according to the information we have-"

"Rubbish!! Arrant nonsense!! That's what is coming out from your mouth right now!!," The parent burst out in a rage and dragged her son out of the office.

"You'll hear from my lawyer, soon. Let's go, baby," another parent took her son out of the office.

"I can't believe this," the last one cussed as she left the office, her son following her.

Soon, the principal was left with Tris and his mother.

"Ma'am, please bear with us. We'll get to the bottom of this," she promised.

Lost for words, Amy simply carried her son got out of the office with Tris.