We hadn’t heard back from Manbun by the time we were done eating. Still, Clara decided that we should move on to our next destination before it got too crowded. "He probably went pregaming without us," she supposed. Despite her joking tone, she sounded a bit worried. She sent him a text, I assumed to let him know where we would be going next. By the look on her face, I could also tell that she was adorning her message with a few profanities. Here’s what I think it said:
You s***head, how dare you leave the place without paying? We’re going to the club now, if you show your s***ty face there, I’ll make you pay with your life.
Or something like that. I knew her style well by now.
The good thing with Clara was that she never stayed mad for long. Nonetheless, I felt a bit sheepish for what I was about to say. Once we were outside, I told her, "Hum, you know, I don't think I'll join you to the club."
"Are you chickening out?" she reproached.
"Yeah, I guess so."
She laughed. In one swift movement, she hugged me so tightly, she almost broke my ribs again. "Alright Damian, have a good holiday then! Don't forget to smile every once in a while!" She gave me one loud kiss on the cheek before releasing me. Nicole did the same, in a much less violent way; Jose shook my hand and tapped me on the back of the shoulder. Then, we parted.
The snow creaked under my footsteps as I walked to my bus stop. I breathed in the crisp night air, thinking I was lucky after all to have found friends like these. Soon after, I realised that this would be the extent of my luck for the night. In a flash, someone grabbed me by the arm, pulling me in a dark alley. Before I had time to say anything, my mouth was covered by a gloved hand, and some man who was about twice my size pressed me into the wall, knocking the wind out of me. I tried in vain to push him away. The man laughed a sinister laugh. He wore a hood, and when I heard his voice I recognized him right away.
"So you thought you'd gotten rid of me?"
Dammit, it was the Boss! My eyes became wide with shock. I let out a cry of surprise, muffled by my assailant’s glove.
"He thought he was helping you out! You should have just cooperated from the start."
I tried struggling more forcefully, kicking him in the shins, but my movements were too restricted to have any impact. He gripped me by the throat and pulled back his fist, ready to punch me. By the look of it, he was aiming at my face. I braced myself for the blow, expecting some imminent reorganization of my facial features, but instead, there was a loud thud on the Boss's head and I was released. I bent over, gasping for breath and coughing. Through my tears, I tried to discern what had happened. Surrounded in darkness, I distinguished the shape of another man holding a bar of metal in his hand. He was panting heavily, as if he'd just ran a half-marathon before stopping by. Suddenly, someone else called, "Hey Carl! He got away! Oh, shit..."
The sidekick ran in the alley from a backstreet. Keeping his eyes on the dark figure holding the bar of metal, he cautiously walked toward the Boss, who was starting to move again. He pulled his friend up with some difficulty and the three of them entered a staring contest. After a while, I started feeling kind of left out, so I interrupted them, "That's it, I'm calling the police."
The Boss grunted and he hurried away with his accomplice. When they were gone, I turned toward my saviour. The bar of metal fell to the floor with a dull clank. His shoulders sagged and he collapsed to the ground. I crouched beside him. Blood seeped in patches through the torn fabric of his coat. I observed his face, trying to make out his features despite the darkness.
"Eric..."
He regained consciousness. His breathing was laboured, but it seemed he would be fine. "Let's get an ambulance,” I said.
"No… Don’t bother. Are you all right?"
“Yes…”
He tried to get up, so I grabbed his arm to help him. Once he was on his feet, I realised it might not be a good idea to let go of him yet, or he might just fall flat again. He probably got the same feeling, because he said, “Would you mind helping me back to my place?” He sounded like he was mad at himself for asking.
I nodded. Then, I thought he might not see it in the dark, so I added, "Sure, let's go."
I hailed a few taxis. It took about four trials before I found a driver who accepted to carry Manbun in his current state. I couldn’t blame them. Manbun was already scary in his normal state. Covered in blood, emanating from a dark alley, at night on top of it, he was properly panic-inducing. During the ride, it dawned on me that tonight’s altercation had not been a coincidence. In all likelihood, Manbun had been the one Clara had asked for help to get rid of my blackmailers last semester. I have to admit, I was surprised and not really surprised at the same time. After all, there weren’t that many guys who would be deranged enough to do something like that, so this had been the perfect job for him. On the other hand, I couldn’t fathom his motivations. What was he expecting now? He caught me staring at him, and then looked away without a word. When we stopped in front of his building, he paid the fare and asked the driver to wait five minutes.
Helping Manbun climb up the stairs was a difficult task, since he was quite a bit heavier than me. I didn’t complain, however. If it hadn’t been for him, I might have gotten a lot worse than just a huge fright. Once in his apartment, I poured him on his sofa and stood there, not knowing what to do. Finally, I took a deep breath and said, “You knew they would be here, that’s why you showed up at the restaurant.” He smiled sarcastically without looking at me.
“These guys are dangerous, but they’re really dumb. They couldn’t shut up about it. I heard some guy from the football team say they would be around today. I knew they’d come looking for you.”
Back for revenge, then. I remembered now the man who had been following me this afternoon. It must have been one of them. I shuddered when I realised that they now knew where I lived.
“Why did you…” I didn’t know how to finish my question. Why didn’t you say anything? Why did you protect me? Why are you doing all of this?
He shrugged. His coat made a rustling noise as he shifted on the couch.
"You should go home," he said. "Take the taxi. Make sure you lock your doors."
"What about you? Can you manage on your own? I can stay if..."
"I'd prefer if you left."
There was no arguing possible with the tone he used. I left, went down the stairs, and walked to the taxi that was still waiting in front of the main entrance. I stood by the car door for a moment, thinking about Manbun lying on his couch, all by himself. His behaviour had been puzzling, to say the least. He had gone to such lengths to protect me, and yet, I sensed so much resentment from him. We might have been friends in the past, but now I had the distinct impression he hated my guts. Finally, I tapped on the window of the passenger side; the glass pane went down a few centimeters, "Thanks for waiting, but I won't need a ride."
The taxi driver waved his hand at me, "Alright, be careful you two, eh?"
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