2. Did he have to exhaust his manpower on me, a nobody?

Leonard looked at the rod on the ground, his anger intensified, and he was literally red now. He lunged for Sebastian, punching and kicking but Sebastian blocked or dodged most of it.

Leonard whistled, calling for backup. Men emerged from the corner, some were barehanded and some had sticks in hand. There were around ten men who appeared.

“Woah woah bro, there’s no need to go this far. You damaged a car, it’s only right you pay for it, there’s no need to get violent over such a simple matter” Sebastian raised his hand in defeat

Leonard laughed darkly. “Your first mistake was telling me what to do, then added to your crimes by trying to report me and you dodged my blows just now! If I do not make you crippled today, my name is not Leonard”.

Sebastian tried to run but more men appeared from behind him, encircling him. There was no getting out of this without fighting his way through. His plan was to fight through an opening and then make a run for it – at this moment he felt a presence in the rooftop watching what was happening but he ignored it – life first.

He used a new formula – a sequence of attacks he had been practising for some months now. It was a formula fit for group fights where the odds were one against twenty and more. He started creating an escape path using the formula but tried not to heavily injure the men, however, it seemed the more he fought, the more they kept appearing.

If he wanted to escape with his limbs intact, he needed to be more serious with his fighting. Someone lunged at him from his right and he used his left foot to kick at their ribs, cracking it. Another came from above and he used his right fist to break his jaw. Another tried an uppercut but Sebastian threw him to the ground, cracking his shoulder blade.

Silence fell temporarily in the parking lot, it was getting darker, the moon was starting to show little by little. Leonard and his men stared in shock at the three men who were on the floor with broken bones, bleeding. Sebastian used the opportunity of the silence to try to make an escape but Leonard called for reinforcements and this time, they appeared with knives!

It was getting harder and harder to merely run away without mortally wounding these men, and he was also trying to escape responsibility for their injuries. How would he bluff his way out of it now, after causing so much damage? Not to mention the police around this area were wrapped around Leonard’s thumb. At that moment the fear of being a university drop out flashed in his mind – that was the last thing he was going to let happen. For him, it was better to be in debt than to drop out.

With that thought he shouted, “Stop!” He knelt down with his hands up in the air.

“Leonard, I’m sorry for telling you what to do, I’m sorry for trying to tell on you. I recognise my mistake. How do I get your forgiveness?”

Leonard scoffed, “It’s a little too late for that don’t you think?”

“No, it’s not. As long as you’re willing to forgive me.” Sebastian replied.

Leonard was still fuming in anger but he paused to think for a bit, looking at the men on the floor, either unconscious or with broken bones. He knew that if this fight continued, with Sebastian’s mysterious fighting skills, he was going to have a lot of wounded men on his hands. Given the insecurity of the city at that point in time and the tension between the Mafia and underground dens, it was risky to walk around without sufficient protection, especially because he was an heir to a top conglomerate. They may see his men are badly wounded and decide to strike – he never wanted to experience being kidnapped in his life.

“I am willing to consider forgiving you if you become my personal bodyguard, doing exactly as I say. You will continue your normal menial jobs, but you will answer when I call and I will not pay you a dime for your impudence today. I will consider your wages when I have seen you have thoroughly learnt your lesson”

Sebastian shook his head, being a bodyguard was among the things he was never allowed to do, despite his skills. It was also a promise he made to his dad – that no matter how low he stooped, with his skills, he was never allowed to stoop low. He didn’t know why he still honoured this promise with his dad, given he was abandoned, but he did. It made him feel he still had a father figure in his life, even if he was absent, his word was not.

Not minding the promise, people whom Leonard recruited in such a manner never had good lives or a good end. He had seen them; he had heard their stories and he did not want to end up as one of those stories. He spoke up,

“Um, is there something else I can do to get your forgiveness?”

“Why? You don’t think you deserve to be my bodyguard? It’s a rare honour I’m offering you here, considering all you’ve done” Leonard scoffed.

“I’m really sorry but I don’t have what it takes to be a bodyguard,” Sebastian said

“You can remain the brute you are, you don’t have to do any thinking or anything special, just answer my call when I call for you, like the dog you are” Leonard laughed sarcastically

Sebastian’s expression changed when Leonard called him a brute but he maintained his calm.

“I can do any other thing for you” Sebastian said slowly, keeping an even tone.

“No. It’s either you become a bodyguard or a cripple. Why do you turn down my offer?” Leonard bends down, staring at him sinisterly

“Like I said, I don’t have what it takes” A punch lands on Sebastian’s cheek after he said those words and he turned to glare at Leonard

“Let’s try that again. Why won’t you be my bodyguard?” Leonard asks

“Because…” Another punch. Leonard landed a very heavy blow, he had to shake his hand from the effect. Sebastian adjusted his jaw, saying nothing but his eyes started getting colder.

“Why should you have a ‘because’ in your statement? I want to hear, ’yes I will be your servant master’ not a bloody excuse!” Leonard screamed, his anger rising. “So, should I ask the question again or do you now know what to do?”

“I will not be your bodyguard” Sebastian gritted out, not thinking of the consequences.

“Men, make him worse than a cripple” Leonard ordered his men.

Twenty men pounced on Sebastian and he didn’t fight back. One hit his head with a bat, and the bat snapped in two but Sebastian didn’t move, he remained kneeling. Another kicked his side, another punched his face, and another stabbed his arm with a knife! It was at this point that someone screamed from behind –

“What the hell do you think you are doing to him, Leonard you bastard!”

Leonard turned to the direction of the voice, and Sebastian was able to catch a glimpse of who screamed just now from between two men and it was his best friend!

.

Max, Sebastian’s best friend was very strong, he was well known around the school as one of the top five strongest males in the entire school but what people didn’t know was that he learnt everything he knew from Sebastian.

He fought his way into the middle of the circle that was created around Sebastian in mere seconds asking, “Bro, why are you letting them beat you up like this? Do you have money for the medical bills this would cause?”

Sebastian gave a self-deprecating smile, not wanting to move. His best friend was right but the truth is, he was getting tired of this life – the constant insults, the condescending looks, the way he lived – there was only so much a man could bear. Sebastian did not have time to wallow in his sob thoughts because he saw someone lunge with a knife to Max’s blind spot, around his lungs. He quickly spun Max and blocked the blow with his palm – the knife piercing through Sebastian’s hand.

He stood up and looked around, the look in his eyes was menacing, so menacing that the men circling him backed off a step. He brought out his handkerchief, tying his palm he said,

“You can punch me all you want. You can hit me half dead even, but my best friend? No. No one lays a hand on him, much less wounding him and have their limbs intact”.

Max being there gave Sebastian a new reason to keep fighting. The battle continued, Max and Sebastian, fighting back-to-back. Men were falling to the left and right, badly wounded one by one but, the number of reinforcements Leonard had did not let up, they kept pouring into the parking lot like a broken tap.

Sebastian was sure they had fought off around two hundred men and wounded one hundred and fifty men badly at that point. Did Leonard really have to exhaust his whole man power on a nobody like him? The guy was nuts! He began to think of a way of escape, Max was already losing breath.

They began to fight a path to escape and just when it seemed impossible to escape, the Gateman from before who took Sebastian as a son shouted,

“Son, over here, through this pathway, it would lead you straight through the small gate.” Sebastian gave a smile filled with hope but it vanished as quickly as it came when he thought of Gramp’s safety.

Gramps, reading his expression assured him with a smile, in his usual cheery tone,

“Don’t worry son, what would they do to an old man like me? Even the police would not side with them if they bully me”. Sebastian was still reluctant but cleared a path towards Gramps with Max. He told Max to take Gramps and go ahead, that he would follow behind.

They were close to the gate at this point and about to escape when Leonard noticed they were succeeding in trying to escape him. He quickly ran to his car, pulled out a gun and aimed at Sebastian through the men. A lot was going on for him to aim well and he wasn’t exactly a skilled marksman. So, he made his way through the men and found a good spot, very close to Sebastian.

Sebastian noticed Leonard’s movements and wondered what he was doing. Upon looking closely, he saw a gun? A gun! He tried to hide between the men but they were way too many and they kept him pinned at a spot.

A shot rang out.

Sebastian’s life flashed before his eyes.