Past Shadows

Father-Son Duo

“ You dare beat up a brother of ours. You will spend a long time regretting this, trust me. “

“ A dog would never know the dread of a tiger because it is yet to face one and is still mingling with kids who call it a dangerous animal. “

“ Brothers. Why waste words with him. Let’s quickly rough him up and get out of here. “

“ Fine. Lets be quick about it. “

The lads strode forward in small steps, approaching Wisdom slowly.

“ All of you; STOP. Please. I don’t want to hurt anyone. “ Wisdom shouted at the scums. Alas, his words only earned him ridicule, as their laughter sprouted as soon as they heard it.

Soon, they got to him. The lad who got to him the earliest wasted no time in throwing a blow. Then the rest reached and surrounded him from all sides, beating him mercilessly.

Suddenly, a very huge hand grabbed the shoulder of one of the lads. With a not so strong draw, the hand sent the lad flying backwards.

The other lads took note of what happened and turned to see who the perpetrator was. Behold, before them was an extremely large man. Several times fatter than Wisdom. Also a lot taller. The most eye catching thing about this man was his striking resemblance with Wisdom. He was like an older and larger version of Wisdom.

“ Ohhhhh. You beat up the chick then the chicken comes to fight for its youngling. * Laughter * “

“ Wow, he’s so huge… Seems like fatness runs in their blood. * Laughter * “

“ But he’s really strong. Aren’t you guys afraid you will get beaten up. We better be respectful. “

“ That’s true. Big sir… don’t tell me you are really going to beat us little children up. * Laughter * “

The lads recognized who the perpetrator was at one glance. Next, they switched to him as their object of humiliation.

“ … “ Mr John, Wisdom’s father stayed silence for a while before finally speaking. “ I won’t banter words with little kids like you. Get out of here now before I do something hazardous to your crew. “

Hearing his words, the lads immediately felt provoked. No matter what, he was just a single person, albeit a very large and fat one. But they were many, numerous. As the saying goes, power lies in numbers.

“ You! Do you really think we are afraid of you. Let me tell you, we aren’t. If you want a fight, we will give you one. You are only a single person, while we are numerous. I would like to see how you would take us down. “ One of the lads challenged.

Hearing his words, fury flashed in Mr John’s eyes. His fist clenched as if he was about to make a move. But soon, he regained his cool. “ I will count to three. None of you should remain here. “ He spoke once more.

The lads already had sweat dropping from their faces. Though they sounded defiant just now, they didn’t really dare to fight a large person like him. Especially after seeing how their companion was flung back earlier.

Meanwhile, the one who was flung back earlier still bore some resentment. Thus he was unwilling to retreat. He did rather go for a low chanced fight than retreat with his tails in between his legs.

“ He’s really counting for us. Why don’t we rough him up right now… “ While in the midst of his rebuke, he felt a pinch on his shoulder. Tilting his head, he found out it was a comrade of his. “ Why are you pinching me! Are you really suggesting we run from this… “

Just then, “ One “ Mr John’s voice resounded.

His companion pinched him even harder. “ Ouch! Stop that. “ He said as he tilted his attention to the rest of the crew. Surprisingly, he found them staring at him with a gaze similar to that of the one who pinched him.

“ What! You all want us to… “

“ Two “ Mr John’s voice resounded once more.

Without any further pleading, a fellow of the rascal proving stubborn grabbed hold of him and ran away with the others who had already started eloping earlier.

“ You fat old hag. We shall see. Remember my name; scorpion. For that fling, I will teach you a lesson you will never forget. I will. “ Scorpion yelled as his fellow dragged him away. But he didn’t consider stopping his fellow as he was afraid his fellow might just dump and flee on his own, leaving him to face Mr John alone. That would be disastrous.

Mr John watched them flee without making any sudden move. He was not interested in hurting anyone, to talk of a bunch of little kids who knew not of the immensity of the skies above.

Returning his attention to his son in a pathetic state, he stretched forth his hands, offering it as a support so he could get up.

“ Come on boy, get up. “ He said.

Without much words, Wisdom grabbed his hands and got up.

“ Sorry I didn’t beat them up. “ Mr John consoled.

“ Ohhhh, no worries. In fact, I am glad you didn’t. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. “ Wisdom shrugged his shoulders.

This was the other aspect of his reality. His low self-esteem issues was only when this man standing before him was not around. As if he were, Wisdom always seemed to get a confidence from no where. This was the nature of his father-son relationship with his father.

“ Let’s go home. “ Mr John said.

“ Alright. “ Wisdom replied.

While on the way home, Mr John suddenly spoke up once more. “ By the way, you would be going camping tomorrow morning. It’s for a few days only. “

“ Sir!!! “ Wisdom exclaimed in shock and denial.

But a little smile from his dad and the words; “ Will you do it for me. “ caused him to nod his head with a fake smiley face. Thus it was sealed. He was going camping tomorrow. A camping that would last for several days.