The Technique

Chapter 24: A Friend

The director was Greg's dad?

I looked at them, back and forth. I could see the similarities. And everything started to make sense.

He was the father Greg was talking about earlier. The father who would always beat him if he got anything wrong. The father who didn't treat him as his son. And he was the main reason why Greg was being aggressive like this.

Mr. Ashmore was totally mad. He stared at Greg. A second later, he jabbed his son in the jaw. Then, it was followed by solid clout. He didn't stop there and kept pummeling him.

Greg fell again on the floor. More blood was coming out of his face. His eyes were getting red. But he was still smirking like his father punching him was just a very little thing to care about. He wasn't even grappling.

"Hold off!" I shouted. I was pertaining to Mr. Ashmore. "Stop now. You're not supposed to do that even if he's your son!"

The director looked at me and quickly turned away. He was clenching his teeth as Greg did.

I looked up at the cameras and wondered if everything was recorded.

Greg stood up again, preparing himself for another round of punch. "Why are you stopping? This is what you want, right? This is the only thing you know! Punching me, beating me, duffing me up! Yea! You're the greatest dad ever!"

I wasn't ready when the director hit Greg again. It was the strongest one.

Greg was thrown away like a piece of trash. He was lying on the cold floor with his eyes closed. I stared at him. For a moment I thought he was dead.

He stayed like that for almost a minute when he slowly stood up. He forced a smirk and slowly walked toward his dad.

"Greg, stop!" I said.

But he kept walking. Maybe he was thinking of himself like a punching bag ready to be punched at any moment. "Do it again, my dear dad. Why don't you just cut my head off? You will be the greatest dad, I swear."

"You crazy!" Mr. Ashmore shouted.

Before he hit Greg one more time, I ran toward them. Until I felt the cold pain of Mr. Ashmore's punch. I kissed the floor and tasted my blood. I touched my jaws and struggled to stand up.

"Look at what you've done!" Greg shouted. "Are you planning to do that to all of your students here?"

I managed to turn my neck to see what was going on between them. Greg was already lying on the floor. The director was on top of him, punching his son, using all his power. I wanted to shout for help, but I couldn't speak, my jaws were aching.

I heard Greg's voice full of pain while trying to get off of his dad. I closed my eyes. The tears tried to escape. I waited until the sound of punching stopped. I opened my eyes only to see the director in front of me.

"I will take you to the infirmary," he said. He grabbed my arms, but I stopped him.

"Don't touch me."

He was taken aback. He slowly stood up while still looking at me.

Greg's face was already full of blood. I was sure he was licking the blood in his mouth. He was looking at his dad, and suddenly he cried. He was crying like a little boy. "You're stupid. Why don't you just kill me?"

And that was the second time that I felt sympathy for Greg. This time, he looked innocent, a victim.

The director walked away from us. He didn't look back or whatever. He didn't do anything but stay away from this.