This situation was inconvenient, to say the least. Daniel had discovered the deception, therefore my blackmailers wouldn't get their A- and they would broadcast the picture any way they could find. On top of it, I risked getting kicked out of university and have it branded in my student record forever. If it came to that, I wondered if Daniel would actually vouch for me, as he had said he would... If the picture was out, it would look even worse for him to try to defend what I had done. All these thoughts were whirling in my mind, and I arrived at two conclusions. The first one was that I had been very dumb to let myself be dragged in this situation.
The second conclusion was that, given that the situation was already as bad as it could get, I should at least try to get rid of the picture. If I was going to get in trouble anyway, I might as well do something to save Daniel's reputation. After all, that was my goal from the start.
That is why, the next day, I proceeded to e-mail Mr. Boss and his henchman, asking them to meet near the university's soccer field the following evening. They didn't reply to me, but I showed up anyway. Apart from a couple of street lamps and the occasional passing car, it was completely dark. I waited by the wire mesh fence, shivering a bit in the cold. I hadn't bought any new scarf and the wind was blowing right down my neck. It was a little past ten, the appointed time. I hoped they would show up, because I was eager to be done with this. At the same time, I hoped they wouldn't because I was really, really scared of these guys. I felt almost sick when I saw two shadows approaching from the sidewalk. There they were. They both had their hoods up, but I recognised them by their build and their gait, like two gorillas with a bad case of hemorrhoids. They stepped onto the grass and stopped a couple of meters from me.
"So," said the Boss, "why did you make us come here?"
"You better have a good reason," added the minion.
I stood up as straight as I could. Even then, I was still a good head shorter than them, but I thought the posture might help me find my courage.
"I've done my part. I want to make sure you delete the picture."
They emitted an evil chuckle. "We haven't seen our grades yet. We need A- or above, remember?"
I tensed up. "Alright, and how am I going to know when you've deleted it? I'm sure you made a bunch of copies everywhere."
"Are you having trust issues? I've just got this one on my phone. Once we get our grades, I'll delete it. I'll do it in front of you, if that makes you feel better. If everybody keeps their mouth shut about this, we'll be fine"
Well, of course I wasn't going to drop it on them right now that we'd been found out. "Can I see?"
The two apes looked at each other, smirking. The Boss took out his phone, "Aren't you the loverboy? If you want, I'll send you a copy."
He took out his phone, unlocked it and turned the screen toward me. The only copy, right? Without even looking at it, I snatched the phone and ran for my life.
I didn't get to see the dumb look on their face when they realised what had happened, but I'm sure it must have been priceless. I think these two were in the university's football team, but maybe the effect of their training hadn't kicked in yet, because I had a pretty decent headstart. I dashed through the parking lot behind the recreational center and slid down the concrete stairs that gave into a residential street. I could hear their feet thumping on the asphalt behind me, but they were still far behind and I was hopeful that I could escape before becoming too tired to keep running. Eventually, I would end up crossing the train tracks. There, I would find a few narrow streets and abandoned sheds where it would be easier to lose them. That was the plan, if you can call it that.
I approached a park and decided to cut through it, trampling the dead leaves that hadn't been picked up yet. Where I live, autumn is generally a cool, misty season with frequent showers, which means that the ground is always at least a little humid. I don't know if you're getting my drift, but what I'm saying is that one moment I was racing through the park, and the next I was slipping on a patch of wet leaves and falling flat on my face.
My fall was somewhat cushioned by the grass. That's really the only positive thing there is to say about it. The phone flew from my hand and soon, I heard the Boss and his follower marching and breathing heavily by my side, like two asthmatic hounds from hell.
I tried to get up, but I was crushed to the ground by the Boss.
"Where is it?!" he yelled.
"I can't find it, it's too dark," replied the sycophant.
"Just call me! You dumbass..."
I saw a pair of feet walk past me and heard a ringtone about a meter farther. There was the sound of rustling leaves and then, the triumphant exclamation, "I got it!"
The Boss chuckled as he kept pressing me to the ground.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"I did what you wanted! Just destroy the picture already!" I didn't utter this with as much strength as I would have wished, since I had trouble breathing properly with someone so heavy on top of me. As if he'd heard me think, the Boss got up and I rolled on my side, coughing. The relief was brief and I soon felt a shoe collide with my ribs. I writhed in pain as more blows kept coming. I thought the assistant might be having a go at it too, but I was in too much pain to keep track of how many feet were impacting my body. At some point, I thought they would never stop and that this might be how I would die. I hoped people would understand, if the story became known...
The kicks stopped. A hand pulled my head up by my hair. The Boss was crouching beside me.
"That was a warning. Don't you ever dare try something like that again. I won't have disgusting little pieces of shit like you make fun of me." He let my head fall back on the ground before getting up and walking away with his friend.
I stayed like that, lying on the ground, for a while. I couldn't move, because of the pain, because of the humiliation... I was in so much pain, I felt like throwing up. I should have thought about getting myself to the hospital, getting some help, but it was hard to think about anything else beside the pain. That's all there was left of me. It eventually started raining. You might think this would be the last straw, but it felt good. My face was already wet, it might have been with tears, blood, or a mix of both. I turned on my back so the rain might wash it all away. At some point, I was able to get up. I wiped my face with my sleeve, hoping I wouldn't scare anyone with my appearance on my way back to my place.
When I got there, all was quiet inside the building. I did my best to go up the stairs without making too much noise. As I entered my apartment, I told myself that in such a situation, strong men would not let themselves be crushed. They would stand proudly while they faced the consequences of their actions, and take steps to right their wrongs. They wouldn't let a couple of worthless individuals bring them down. However, it turns out I was not one of those strong men, so I just cried on the couch for a while.
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