It had been ten years since Damien Thorne bullied me into dropping out. I ran into him at a food truck. He swaggered out of a BMW, arm slung around my ex, Tiffany. Spotting me hunched over a burger by the curb, he sneered. “Look how far our star student has fallen. Eating gutter food even my dog wouldn’t touch? And you’re actually enjoying it?” Tiffany shot me a look of pure disgust. “This is pathetic. Thank God I dumped you!” I kept my head down, eating my burger, saying nothing. Then Damien kicked it flying. “I’m talking to you! Are you deaf, or just stupid?!” He had no idea a single word from me could topple his family’s empire. Dozens of bodyguards in the shadows eased off their safeties. I waved them down with a cold smirk. “That burger was eight bucks. Pay up.” “Or else…” Damien stared at me, then burst into harsh laughter, cutting me off. “Have you lost it, you broke loser? You think you can demand money from me?” “You’re actually threatening me? What, you think you can kill me?” “Or have you forgotten how I used to pin you down and beat you like a dog in high school?” I could, in fact, end him right now. But seeing Damien’s unchanged, arrogant face, my mind snapped back to high school. Back when Tiffany and I were together. Damien had cornered me, saying he wanted her, and ordered me to back off. I refused. The result was a relentless campaign of bullying from Damien. He and his crew would dump trash in my desk, glue my seat shut, and stuff dead rats into my lunchbox. The worst time, they cornered me in the alley behind the school. Damien, a cigarette dangling from his lips, grabbed my hair and slammed my head against the wall, over and over. I was bedridden in the dorm for three days. And Tiffany, she broke up with me. The very next day, she started dating Damien. Convinced she must have been coerced, I went to ask her why. Instead,she and Damien lured me into a bathroom, shoved my head in a toilet, and gave me a “lesson.” To this day, I remember her words, dripping with contempt. “I only dated you because you were top of the class. I was betting on your potential.” “Then I met Damien. Grades are meaningless. His father is on the School Board. You could never compare. You’re just stepping stone material.” I walked home soaked, spiked a fever that lasted a week, and missed my final exams because of it. The teachers knew. But with Damien’s father on the Board, no one dared lift a finger. Later, I drop out. Never thought I’d run into them here, today. Damien’s laughter roared, drawing attention. A crowd spilled out of the bar next door. All my old high school classmates. They were having a reunion. Clearly, I hadn’t been invited. The moment they saw Damien, they swarmed him. “Damien! We’ve been waiting for you!” “Get in, the drinks are already!” Damien pointed at me, sneering. “Ran into some beggar scrounging for food. Accidentally kicked his burger, and now he wants eight bucks. Pathetic, right?” At his words, they finally turned to look at me. The sycophancy in their eyes for Damien twisted into pure contempt for me. “Our former valedictorian, reduced to begging for eight bucks?” “He must be completely broke!” Even my high school teacher stared at me with disdain. “Liam Carter, it’s just a burger. Damien wouldn’t kick it for no reason. What did you do to provoke him? Always check your own faults first!” It was always like this. Back in high school, every time Damien bullied me, the others just cheered him on. I asked him for help, and he’d always side with Damien without hesitation. “Why would he target you? Always check your own faults first.” Suddenly, a figure pushed through the jeering crowd. It was Benji Miller, my old desk mate. He glanced at me, then at the burger in the dirt, a flicker of pity in his eyes. “Liam, you don’t know who Damien is. You shouldn’t be picking a fight.” “Here. Take a few hundred bucks. Let it go. Don’t make things worse for yourself.” Benji pulled out the only few hundred bucks from his faded jeans and offered them to me. I was moved. Benji had been the closest thing I had to a friend in high school. The only one who ever spoke up for me when Damien bullied me. His life wasn’t easy now. But his concern was still genuine. I pushed his hand away. “Keep it. This won’t be a problem for me.” Benji looked anxious, ready to insist, but Damien shoved him aside roughly. “Playing a hero, Benji?” “YIou should spend that on cigarettes for us, not this loser. Might earn you some favors later.” He snatched the cash from Benji’s hand and tossed it to his ever-present sycophants. They caught it, smirking. “Yeah, giving it to Liam is a total waste!” “Buy our goodwill instead. Fall on hard times, and you can be our dog. We’ll even toss you a bone.” Benji clenched his fists but stayed silent. Damien turned his full attention back to me. “Liam, aren’t you desperate enough to beg for eight bucks?” “Tell you what. For old times’ sake, I’ll give you a way to earn it.” “Get on your knees and lick those burger crumbs off the pavement. I’ll not only pay your eight bucks, I’ll give you eight hundred. Sound good?”
His words sent the crowd roaring. Tiffany leaned on Damien’s shoulder with a wicked grin. “Oh, Damien, you’re too good. Letting this bum have a full meal and earn some cash!” Others joined in. “Liam, Damien’s handing you a golden ticket. Aren’t you grateful?” Even the teacher scoffed at me. “Liam, aren’t you going to thank him?” I stood there, quietly watching the whole scene. Ten years had passed. Nothing had changed. “Since you all think it’s such a golden opportunity…” “Why don’t you eat it.” My words killed the laughter instantly. Damien’s face hardened, his eyes bulging. “What did you say? I’m giving you a handout, and you refuse?” The others chimed in, jeering. “Trying to act tough, is he? Pathetic. Pride is all the poor have left.” The teacher shook his head with a theatrical sigh. “Hopeless ten years ago. Hopeless now.” Damien slowly lit a cigarette, took a long drag, and blew the smoke directly into my face. “Liam. You still don’t get it, do you.” He tapped the asphalt with his shoe. “This whole block? Belongs to the Thornes.” Then he gestured to the the skyscraper across the street. “That office tower? Ours too.” As he spoke, he jabbed the burning ember of his cigarette toward my chest. “And you? You’re just a beggar, surviving on my family’s goodwill.” “Understand?” Watching his performance, I couldn’t help but crack a smile.
Seeing me smile, Damien’s brow furrowed. “You think I’m joking?” I looked at him calmly, like he was nothing more than a barking dog. “This street might be yours, Damien, but you don’t own what’s right.” “I’m giving you one last chance. Give me and Benji our money back.” A muscle twitched in Damien’s face. Then he burst into an even more exaggerated fit of laughter. “Did you hear that? He’s giving me one last chance!” “That’s the funniest damn joke I’ve heard all year.” The surrounding classmates immediately joined in with scornful laughter. Tiffany looked at me like I was a clown. “Liam, are you broke and stupid?” “You couldn’t even begin to comprehend the world the Thorne family moves in.” “Still picking a fight? Do you have a death wish?” The others watched, contempt in their eyes. “One last chance? What can he even do if Damien doesn’t give him money?” “What can a poor guy like him do? Just cry to Damien! Hahahaha!” “Damien, you should really teach him a lesson, let this loser know his place!” Only Benji, seemingly afraid Damien would actually hurt me, rushed forward and pleaded with Damien. “Damien, Liam’s just hot-headed. Don’t take it personally.” “My money can be for the guys’ cigarettes. Let’s just drop this, Liam’s had it rough…” Before he could finish, Damien grabbed Benji by the collar. “You useless idiot, you always stuck up for him in high school, it’s annoying!” With that, Damien raised his fist and swung it at Benji. I reached out and caught Damien’s wrist. He froze, then slowly turned his head toward me. “What? Think you can teach me a lesson?” He leaned in until his face was inches from mine, then tapped his own cheek mockingly. “Go on. Hit me!” “Let’s see if a loser like you even has the-” SMACK! Before he could finish, I landed a sharp slap directly across his face.
The crisp sound of the slap echoed loudly in the night street. For a moment, everyone stared at me in disbelief. Damien stood frozen in place, a clear five-finger imprint rapidly appearing on his face. He clutched his cheek, glaring at me in utter disbelief, grinding his teeth. “Liam Carter! You dared to hit me?!” I clapped my hands, my voice flat. “Didn’t you tell me to?” Tiffany steadied Damien, her eyes narrowing at me viciously. “Liam, are you crazy?! Are you trying to die?!” Only Benji, his face ashen, tugged at me frantically. “Liam, run! Now!” “Damien has connections everywhere, he’ll kill you!” I lightly patted Benji’s shoulder. “Easy. He doesn’t have that kind of power.” “I don’t have the power?!” Damien exploded, his face twisting. “You know who my uncle is? Victor Sterling. This whole district answers to him!” A ripple of shock went through the crowd at the name. “His uncle is Victor ‘The Enforcer’ Sterling?” “I heard Sterling is ruthless about family. Didn’t he?” “Yeah. Word is some drunk insulted his nephew once. Sterling made him swallow his own tongue.” Amidst the whispers, Damien glared at me hatefully, his voice venomous. “Liam, today I’m going to show you what real power is!” With that, he pulled out his phone and publicly dialed Victor’s number. As soon as the call connected, Damien put it on speaker. “Uncle, get to Bourbon Street, I just got hit!” However, from the other end of the line, only Victor’s low voice came through. “I have an urgent matter to deal with. No time.” Then, Victor immediately hung up. The scene fell into stunned silence. Damien’s face was a mask of disbelief. But I smiled. “What? He won’t come?” “Then let me call him.” With that, I pulled out my phone and dialed a number. “Tell Victor to get his butt to Bourbon Street within three minutes.” After I hung up, the place was completely silent for a full three seconds. Then came a wave of scornful mockery. “Tell Victor to get his butt here in three minutes? Who do you think you are?” “You’re so desperate to look tough, you’re practically suicidal!” The onlookers stared at me like I was mentally challenged. Damien let out a cold laugh. “Liam, you’re unbelievably stupid.” “You’re a bottom-tier nobody, you don’t even have the right to speak to my uncle.” “Besides, my uncle spoils me rotten, and he’s too busy to even come for me. What makes you think you’re important enough for him to drop everything?” I looked at him, my voice calm. “When I call him, he has no choice but to come.” Benji’s face was chalk-white. He tugged at my arm, his voice on the verge of tears. “Liam, stop talking, just run, or it’ll be too late!” “After hitting me and disrespecting my uncle, he thinks he can run?” Damien roared, then yelled to the surrounding classmates. “Keep an eye on these two pathetic losers.” “Today, I’m going to drag him in front of my uncle and let him feel the terror of ‘The Enforcer’!” As soon as he finished speaking, the classmates immediately formed a circle, trapping Benji and me in the center. Tiffany shot me a disgusted glance. “So dumb.” “Good thing I broke up with you and chose Damien instead.” Damien snorted, checking his watch. “You said my uncle would be here in three minutes.” “Well, time’s up.” “Where is he?” The crowd erupted in derisive laughter. “Three minutes? He couldn’t get Sterling on the phone in three centuries!” “If that loser can summon Victor, I’ll eat my own shoes.” The echo of their mockery hadn’t faded when a convoy of black luxury sedans rounded the corner, screeching to a halt before the crowd. The lead door flew open. A middle-aged man launched himself from the back seat. Damien froze solid. “Uncle?!”
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