The Scorpish g**g

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

When Peter’s parents wake up in the morning they see that Peter’s room is empty. They are looking for Peter and ask his grandmother. His grandmother informs them that he has already gone out with Uncle Rick. Then they realize that it is Sunday morning and everyone is late to wake up. Peter has not taken his breakfasts yet. However his grandmother is not worried about that at all.

Peter has reached at the oak office sooner than anyone else. There is still time for others to come. But when he looks up he sees the blue part is showing its face towards him. For once he thinks that he might have forgotten to change it the other day but then he remembers that he had changed it by his own hands. There are a few chances of others to come that earlier. With a surprised mind he hops into the oak office and at the first sight he knows there is something wrong. There is a small pot of water lying beside the wooden house. As long as he remembers it was not a part of their equipment brought yesterday. He fears the w**d smokers who might have used this place as their lair.

He walks to the house on tiptoe. He can see a lying leg through that door gap in the house. The shoe looks pretty familiar to him. When he sneaks through that gap of the frame he gets thundered. It is Paul. He hurries and tries to wake him up but there is no response. His dresses are telling that he has been through some muddy places, maybe through a jungle. His pant is torn here and there from below. He was bleeding from a side of his forehead. The blood line has dried up. His body is pretty warm too and Peter feels that. Peter checks if there is any water left in that pot. There is still little water left on the bottom of that pot. He rushes with it to Paul and sprinkles some water on his face. After a while he starts to blink his eyes and comes back to sense.

Peter says, “Here Paul, lean there.” Paul leans against the wooden wall of their house. He is breathing heavily. After seeing his eyes rolling around Peter is not sure if he is in full sense. He looks weak, his legs are trembling. All of a sudden there is a sound of people jumping in and Paul faints again. Peter takes his head out from the house and discovers Elliott, Jonas and Ross all together. Ross opens up the fence to get Uncle Rick in. Peter shouts and calls all of them. All of them remain spell bound and shocked after seeing this unexpected incident.

Uncle Rick says, “Splash some water on his face.”

Peter does so. Again Paul starts blinking and gets his sense back. Uncle Rick gives him some courage. Takes him out in open air and tells Jonas to fan him for a while. Jonas fans him while Ross is told to bring the first aid kit and food packet from his car. Uncle Rick takes a juice bottle from the packet and makes Paul drink it. Paul swallows all of it slowly. Clearly there was a sign of hunger in his whole face which drives Uncle Rick to give him some food along with the juice. He slowly eats three person’s meal himself. Continuously he is feeling better and comes to life.

Uncle Rick says, “How are you feeling now?” Paul is still suffering from fast breathing.

Paul says, “Better now. Can you hold my hands?” he said in a very exhausted voice. Peter holds his hands and helps him to get up and sit on the benches.

They wait a bit more while Paul gets his balance back. Uncle Rick then forces him to get on the truck. He needs doctor’s attention immediately. Paul denies it totally and he does not want to go to the hospital. Instead he prefers to get some bandage on his cut beside forehead. Uncle Rick does not force him anymore and starts the first aid job soon. He cleans the blood and also the cut with Dettol. Then he applies some cotton on the cut and wraps the bandage.

Uncle Rick says, “You must come here tomorrow again okay? I’ll do the dressing tomorrow.”

Paul says, “Thank you a lot, all of you.”

Uncle Rick says, “What really happened to him, Peter?”

Peter says, “I don’t know. When I reached here I just saw that blue rope is on and he was fainted in the house. Then I tried to wake him up, he woke. But as soon as he heard the noise when you guys came he fainted again. That’s the whole story.”

Uncle Rick says, “What is it, Paul? Don’t hide anything from us. Or you’ll get into trouble.”

Paul does not say anything. He does not seem to be in such a condition. Although Uncle Rick continues pressurizing him over and over again. Being cornered, Paul decides to reveal everything at once.

What is described by Paul makes even Uncle Rick wordless. It cannot be anything worse. At the very beginning Paul confesses that he works in a wood factory despite his uncle took his custody. Although the manager of that factory had promised in front of the workers that he would take care of everything related to Paul, he did not keep his promise.

Paul only got some bucks one time and a chance to read in the school full free forever just because the principal of the school is his own brother. He did not even meet with Paul after making the flamboyant deeds, showed in front of everyone. Besides the proposition was to work at the factory like all other teen agers and he would get better wages than everyone else.

When he started working for them before the accident he only worked once, in the woods. But when he got access to the factory he realized it was more like an abyss but apart from the underworld. The workers are controlled by brutes. The description of unspeakable tortures that used to prevail over them starts to give them goosebumps. The workers had to face daily insults of the superintendents. Often they were badly beaten. And in case anyone choose to protest, they also knew hard techniques to make them shut once and for all. No one had the right to say anything against them. They had separate t*****e cells where the protestors were used to be kept captive and tortured brutally.

At this time of the describing Paul all of a sudden bursts out of rage and anger and later takes out the reason behind it. He is in tears as he says he doubts the death of his father was not any kind of accident. He had a hassle with one of those superintendents and also with the manager. That night he did not return home either. Paul was in severe tension about the condition of his father and got the worst news the following day. He takes some time now to get himself settled again. His main reason to join that factory was to figure out the hidden truth behind the fake camouflage. At first no workers shared anything with him as they feared this could be a trick of the manager to cull the betrayers out.

Soon when they got closer to Paul they start sharing the actual incident of that day. At this point Uncle Rick pauses Paul and asks him if all the workers are black or not and they all understand that dirty racism has a huge impact in the whole incident. Some people do not even count black people as humans and they are such a riot for the society. All of them are listening to his story inaudibly. As Paul goes on they get to know that he came to know about his father who was all night in the t*****e cell just the day before his death. Some workers have to say that he protested against the wages management which was pretty low and also a cause was supported about assertion for safer wood cutting equipment.

The old ones were the cause of physically disability for many more workers. It came to his ears many times that his father was fighting for these against the authority for months and finally ended up being metaphorically slaughtered. After knowing all these Paul could not hold up his nerve and started shouting on their compound at the manager last afternoon. As the manager felt insecure to leave Paul free and he could cause huge danger ahead, he used some of the guards to capture him. Signs of physical t*****e can be seen on his hands, legs now. When Paul got a chance he flew from there and thought that if he returns home it would be easier to find him and took shelter in the Oak Office. And he has been here since last evening.

A moment of silence makes the environment heavier. No one could have imagined that Paul is suffering from such a huge problem. Uncle Rick is diving deep in his thoughts. It is Paul to start the talking again.

Paul says, “And the blood you guys saw on my first day at school, but I hid that you knew it, is the result of an accident happened at the factory.”

Uncle Rick says, “The things happened with your father and you is a crime. We cannot afford it to grow more.”

Paul says, “But what can we do? Even the administration is in their hands.”

Uncle Rick says, “Still, there are ways my boy.”

Paul says, “If there’s any way then you might need more information.” Paul starts talking again about their illegal deeds and businesses. Paul informs them that the main business of them is wood smuggling. They smuggle some rare kind of timbers outside the continent. And the scenario of wood factory are just camouflages to keep their deeds hidden. They keep red timbers under oak or other common timbers to hide them from normal sight. During day times all timbers enter their compound and at midnight all sorts of illegal works begin. They smuggle the red timbers on trucks. The recent project they had behind the school’s forest is nothing but a trick to hide their illegal works. But wood smuggling is not the only thing. They are also indulged in human trafficking.

Paul says that he saw 10 boys of his age were taken away in two nights with the red timbers who never returned. When their parents came with accusations the manager said that they are stuck for work near the borders and would return within a week.

But he asked his uncle if they came back or not and in reply his uncle laughed away. He had seen these incidents happen like this before too and those who are once gone, are gone forever. Still they risk their lives for more money, more earning. This whole Unique Group of Industries is nothing but a group of criminals who are here to destroy the country, society along with the environment. When he stops his talking he looks a lot more courageous than before and in his eyes there is a fire which proves his dedication towards eradicating all the wrong things happening around.

Everyone praises this mentality of his except Uncle Rick. He knows that Paul cannot do anything alone. They will need the help of the administrations and let all the information brought to notice. A totally different flex has come out in their lives and they all can feel the weight and pressure of the whole thing. But at the same time ensuring Paul’s safe stay is a great concern for them. Uncle Rick is still running his mind to find the best solutions for the safest results. Same bewilderment grunts all over the environment as they are very desperate to get Paul out of this haze.