CHAPTER 1

His Trampling Starts.

Liam turned to a slap that landed directly on his cheeks. "How dare you come near my girlfriend," a deep voice roared.

"No, please, he was wounded and I had to assist him," Lindy scowled at Roberts, her light voice showing her disappointment .

"Shut your traps, bitch! You're a cheat. I have warned you severally," the tall guy snarled, his eyes red in anguish. "Look here, young man, I don't tolerate people coming around my babe," he snorted.

Lindy couldn't believe what Robson did; she knew him to be so possessive but never to that very extent.

"I'm sorry, man," Liam said, his eyes clouded with tears as he struggled to blink, cleaning his eyes repeatedly. "Get the fuck out of here," Robert grumbled.

"Man, always be calm; you can't tell what tomorrow ho..." Liam didn't finish his statement when another slap landed on his face.

"Liam, can you stop it," Lindy screamed as several other individuals laughed at him with contempt.

A tear dropped from Liam's eyes; he couldn't believe he was prey to several predators.

"Loser, you ain't got any strength, some sort of a rat-face guy like you," another guy from the group screamed, the words piercing.

He stood up, clung to his bag, hugging it lifelessly, and turned to walk away as other members of the class laughed at him.

"Go get a life, man," a lady hissed as she threw an empty can of drink on Liam.

*********

Liam walks pitifully into the school restaurant, trying to find a place to get a plate of dinner before taking his medication. He opens the door, then yawns to express his tiredness. "Can I have a snack?" he asks the seller politely as he hands out a few currencies to her. A tray of chilled soft drink and 2 rolls of burger are sent to the desk where Liam is seated.

"Thanks," he says, raising his brow gently, as he grabs and begins to have a bite of the snack.

"See who we've got here," a voice echoes from behind Liam; he recognizes it to be Macho's voice. A group of six huge guys walks into the cafeteria. "What a poor weakling?" they laugh as Macho sits facing Liam.

"What is this shit in your neck?" Macho scowls, pointing his hand at Liam's amulet, a necklace given to him by his late mother.

"Don't touch that, man," Liam replies, covering it with his left hand to stop Macho from touching it.

"That's too poor to be a necklace, and never touch my hand when I try to touch that," Macho grumbles, raising his brow.

"What's that shit you're wearing?" he drags through to cut out the amulet.

"Stop it, man," Liam laments as he stands up to walk out of the cafe.

Macho pushes him to the floor, the drink flips and empties in Liam's face as he lays on the floor. Some other students in the cafe bring out their phones and begin to video, cheering Macho and humiliating Liam.

"Go, man, hit him harder," one of Macho's group members sneers as Macho boots Liam continuously.

Just as Liam lies on the floor, a man from the office runs out. "Hey, let him go, do you want to kill him?" he pushes Macho away from Liam.

"Get up, man, run away," the man says, then turning to Macho. "You don't act that way; he is just a young guy."

"Fuck off, man," Macho groans. "Can't he find another place to eat? It's my zone for crying out loud."

"Waiter," he screams as a young lady walks from the other room, "you are welcome, guys," she says.

"Get us something more expensive," he wails. His pride is filled; he can sense some students turning to look at him.

Liam heads to the hostel, pains running through every point of his body. He folds his arms, which are bleeding profusely.

"I'm fucking tired of this," he says to himself as he walks through the pathway.

"Hello," a voice shouts from a distance. He turns to see Lyndy running towards him. "Wait, I'm sorry, man. I didn't expect that to happen to you. I hope you've forgiven me."

"Yes, ma'am" Liam says as he hurries, though trying to escape the prying eyes of Robert.

"Are you leaving just immediately?" Lyndy doesn't finish her words when she turns to see Liam hurrying through the path heading to the hostel.

She shakes her head pitifully and turns to walk away.

That night is filled with pains for Liam as he folds into his bunk, his elbow hurting him badly.

He tries to force himself to sleep amidst the noise from the other students in the hostel.

*******

In a moment Liam is asleep, but then he dreams of paradise lost, not like Milton's but truly his was lost as he temporarily escapes the pains .

"Wake that guy up, " a guy roared.

"How can he be snoring that way?" Another added,

"I've got a perfect way for it, Willie," a slim dark-skinned guy exclaimed.

He picks a bottle filled with water and empties the same on Liam, who had just closed his eyes to sleep, a means of escaping the agonies he had faced that day.

Liam jumps from the bed instantly, hitting the injured elbow on the iron stand of the bunk.

"What the fuck, man, How dare you snore that way?"

"I'm sorry, guy, but you didn't need to do it that way". Liam's response was calm but frustrating, showing how displeased he is about his life.

He wipes off the drops of water on body using the already wet bedding. The other guys laughed scornfully as Liam jumped out of the bed.

"You're a fucken clown man" , I wish I could capture that, a guy with a deep voice sounded from the left wing of the room as they all laughed in unison.

*********

The next morning seems like a different day for Liam. He walks into the classroom with a positive mindset, but immediately he steps into the room, everyone's head snaps towards the door. Just as he takes his seat, they all laugh in unison.

"Man, what happened last night?" a dark guy asks him, pointing out his phone to Liam to watch a video where he was poured water in the hostel.

"The damned thing snored like a toad," another guy snorts, and they giggle again.

"You can't imagine that Wills emptied a whole bottle of water on him to stop the idiot from snoring," Alexandria, a fat guy, says while pointing his fingers at Liam.

Liam is disconcerted; he never expected the day to be just like the other. He stands up to leave the class. His countenance changes; he looks behind to pick up his bags, but then he bumps into a lady. Just as he turns his face, he sees her phone on the floor; he had mistakenly made it fall, causing the screen to crash.

Liam opens his mouth in bewilderment, his eyes fixed to the broken device on the floor.