The Matters of Power

Chapter 23- West Anton High, Winter War [END]

The boss groans in pain by the kick I hit him with, myself surprised that I was able to deliver such a blow. "Jesus," I hear him say, "just a kick had me on the ground and feeling half-dead? Pretty boy, who ARE you?" "I'm just a high schooler, who wants to help his friend who was wronged for his money." I start to approach him, "And I may not be the law, but I don't want you ruining other people for your own selfish gains." Before I can get any closer to him, he kicks back and gets up slowly in a defensive stance. "No!" He shouts. "I won't let you get in the way of my progress, not when I am so close to payi-" "Paying off what you owed last month? And this month?" Suddenly, a man comes out of nowhere and somehow staying quiet this whole time, myself never even sensing him to begin with. Although wearing a two-piece suit and vest, he looks like just barely a young adult with a nasty scar on his lower lip and wearing... sunglasses, inside a building. Who is this man? Apparently, the boss knows him because slowly backs up to a wall, "Y- you! I thought you wouldn't b- be here until the start of Winter Break!" The mysterious stranger adjusts his sunglasses, "Well from where I'm standing, you aren't doing a good job of keeping your word, Wallus. And with these guests that you have," he looks plainly at us then goes back to 'Wallus', "it sure seems that you have failed with what I have so graciously helped you with."

That seems to strike a blow to Wallus as he turns pale white by his words. "N-no, you can't do that! I have done what you asked every month and we have benefited from this deal! You have to reconsider your decision, please!" Silence fills the room, with all of us at a loss of words for what connection Wallus and the mysterious stranger have. Then he straightens his vest and puts one hand on his side, "No can do. For starters, you have violated the most important term of our agreement: don't commit crimes that can be traced back to you. There are plenty of more strikes that I should point out, but it shouldn't matter, because..." He kicks so hard that sends Wallace flying to a wall and points a finger at him, "you have been promoted to customer, buddy. Enjoy your free time, because I know you will need it in school." With the strike of those heavy words, the boss of this whole operation who has been the tough guy for most of this time now lies on the ground with whimpers and sniffles. "Welp," he slaps his hands together, "I hope y'all are too badly injured by this buffoon, so I'll be taking my leave now. Buenas Tardes." He casually strolls towards the doorway to where we entered, but before I can get the chance to stop him, Quarter does so first. "Hey. Who are you?" Surprised by that notion, the mysterious stranger turns around. "Me? Oh, I guess it would be rude of me to not introduce myself." He looks at his shoes for a bit, then straightens his tie. "The name's Portleo, but most people know me by Pot. I'm a freelancer if you will, so I hope this introduction doesn't make me look like a bad guy." Although I don't exactly believe everything he says, I can't read through his mind because his mental strength seems stronger than I anticipated. "We're only here to get the $50 that they stole from our friend. Whatever you do here is none of our concern, Pot." Quarter seems insistent, but this Pot fella doesn't seem displeased by his demand. Rather he looks happy to hear that, and throws a money clip from his vest towards Quarter who catches it midair with little struggle.

"Take it," he says as he walks to the door, "I'm sure your friend will feel better for the time of the holidays." Before he can open it, he looks straight towards me and pauses for a moment, making me uneasy. "So, you're Marcus? You know, as much as I've heard of you and the amazing talents you possess, I think you got a lot more going on for you. I hope that we meet at a better time, because I know we will." And with that, he leaves the building and we can hear to be what I assume is his car start its engine and drive away. "So..." Carl finally speaks up, "I guess we can go home now, since we did what we had to do. What was up with that guy anyway?" "No idea," Yan remarks, "but I guess he has taken a keen interest in Marcus just like everyone else has. At least we got Fernando's money, so that's something. Let's get out of here, I doubt they'll be out for long." We agree and head out of the building where we go towards the nearest public bus and ride back to our school just as the sun sets to nighttime. We head our separate ways and I get home just before Dad gets back from work and Mom just finishes making dinner. For the first time in a while, I feel like I just stepped into a situation that I could actually make a difference.