No Mercy

Run away

Today was one of the best school days ever. Eli and Demetri had no problem with any bully that day. It was probably because Miguel was by their side and everyone knew not to mess with Miguel. The day went by smoothly and the trio made their way to the dojo. They took their usual positions same as last time, Eli standing beside Demetri. The instructor asks them to start practicing their punches and correcting the students when they did something wrong which was majority of the time. He began taunting some of the students by their physical appearances or weak attempts at punching. Eli tried his hardest to the punch like the sensei instructed but he was way too tense and hunched over. Demetri occasionally glanced at Eli and could tell how hard Eli was trying but it just wasn't coming out the way the teacher demonstrated. Eli was always a second or two behind from the rest of the class. The man walked to the front of the room facing everyone. He began to scan the room and his eyes stopped right at Eli. Demetri nearly choked when he noticed that he had finally noticed Eli. He prayed that he wouldn't say anything mean to Eli especially about his scar. Almost as if he read his mind the sensei instantly had a rude nickname for Eli.

"Hey lip."

Eli and the sensei's eyes met. He had a confused expression written all over his face. Demetri scowled upon hearing the nickname this supposed teacher had given him.

"Yeah, you!" The man confirmed causing Eli to flinch. "The one with the freaky lip. Who do you think I'm talking to?"

Demetri could not believe what he just heard come out of this grown man's mouth. He glanced at his best friend who had a depressive expression, and he couldn't hold back. "Excuse me uhh, Mr. Lawrence."

"Sensei Lawrence!" Aisha brutally corrected him.

"Oh, okay." Demetri waves his hand defensively for a brief second before turning back to the sensei. "You really shouldn't make fun of someone's physical appearance."

"Oh is that so?"

Demetri nods in agreement.

"So I'm not supposed to mention his lip at all?" He asks pointing at Eli.

Eli bites the inside of his cheek anxiously. He wanted the floor to just cave in and suck him up never to be seen again. However that was not going to happen ever. Demetri shook his head stunned by the question.

"Well, yeah."

Miguel observed the situation with a worried look. He knew Eli was mocked for his lip everyday and today was no exception. The bullies may have stopped today but now his sensei was tormenting him for something he can't control or fix.

"Maybe they teach you that in school," Sensei Lawrence responds. "But in the real world you can't expect people to do what they're supposed to do."

Demetri fell silent. He wasn't wrong but this was not the right way to go about the situation.

"Right?" Johnny focuses his attention back to Eli. "You hear that lip?"

He looked back up at the man in front of the class.

"If you can't handle someone making fun of you. How are you gonna handle an elbow to the teeth?"

Demetri was now getting annoyed by this man's words. "By calling the police?" He stated but it sounded more like a question.

Miguel knew that Demetri pestering on the subject was only going to make things worst for him and Eli. "Dude just knock it off."

"What?!" Demetri was now extremely bothered by this whole circumstance. How dare people just talk bad about his Eli, especially a grown man who knew nothing about him. "He does realize the nazis lost the war right?" His voice was a mixture between frustration and sarcasm. "Why should I be scared of him?"