“How do we teach someone like Yuri a lesson?” asked Ahmad, looking at Lela. She shook her head firmly as if to signify that she didn’t want to get involved.
“There are ways,” said Chen mysteriously, almost to himself.
“What do you have in mind?” asked Tom who was keen to seek revenge.
“Sorry, did I say that out loud? Hmm, I’m sure we can think of something,” replied Chen who wasn’t giving anything away.
“It sounded as though you had thought of something,” said Tom.
“No, no, just thinking to myself. I do it all the time, sorry. What did you have in mind, Mia?” asked Chen nervously.
“Not sure, but I’ll think of something. I really hate bullies. It’s so unnecessary,” she said.
“Yes, anyway, there’s not a lot we can do now. Why don’t we head back for lunch and decide what to do this afternoon?” Tom drew the discussion to a close.
The group packed up their beach stuff and headed over to the restaurant. The restaurant was quiet as most of the students were still out enjoying their last day of freedom. As they went to take a table, a waiter stopped them and directed them to the Maitre d’ who was standing next to a podium with a seating plan.
“Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen,” he announced.
“Good afternoon,” they responded.
“A table for seven?”
“Yes please,” said Tom as they looked at one another.
“Excellent, please follow me, Messieurs Dames,” said the Maitre d’ as he showed them to their table, pulled out the chairs and lay napkins on each of their laps.
“Is this a special lunch for our first day?” asked Tristan looking at the Maitre d’.
“Not at all Monsieur. All meals are a la carte with full service. That is, helas, with the exception of breakfast.”
“Are you teasing us?” asked Mia.
“Not at all, Mademoiselle. This is my full time job. I was Maitre d’ at the George V in Paris before accepting this illustrious position. I do not do the teasing.”
He handed out the menus and left the group to choose their food.
“I just need to nip to the loo, if you’d excuse me,” said Chen adopting the formality required for their surroundings.
“Me too,” said Ahmad.
The two got up and made their way to the toilets. Ahmad washed his hands and shouted into the cubicle that he was heading back to the table.
“Where’s Chen?” asked Mingmei.
“He’s just coming,” said Ahmad.
The waiter arrived to take their orders. They asked for a few minutes longer as Chen had not yet returned. After the waiter returned, Tom offered to go and see if Chen was alright.
“I need the loo, so I’ll come too,” said Lela.
As Lela was making her way into the girls’ toilets, she heard Tom’s voice.
“What the hell are you doing? Put him down!”
She raced towards the boys’ toilets.
Tom could not believe his eyes. Yuri and his gang were crammed into the toilets and were holding Chen upside down over the toilet bowl. Before Tom had a chance to react, two of the gang grabbed him and dangled him in a similar position in the adjacent cubicle.
“Put me down at once!” Tom demanded, not as forcefully as he had wished. He was worried.
Lela crashed through the door.
“Put them down now!!!” she screamed.
“OK,” said Yuri. “Guys, you heard her, put them down.”
All seven laughed as they dunked Chen and Tom into the toilet bowls.
“Boys, I’m afraid your cavalry failed to rescue you,” said Yuri laughing at Lela.
“You’re making a big mistake,” said Tom spluttering.
“Get her out of here,” said Yuri to two thugs, nodding towards Lela.
Lela was enraged. She had not retaliated earlier as she believed retaliation would have risked injury to her friends. However, the situation was different now. Firstly, Tom and Chen were being physically abused. Secondly, by doing nothing, they would not stop. Thirdly and most importantly, they had messed with Tom. Nobody messed with Tom.
One thug went to open the door and a second went toward Lela. Neither knew what hit them as they suddenly collapsed in a heap at the door. Yuri, however, had seen everything. Lela had high kicked the two thugs, lifting them both two feet off the floor, propelling them across the bathroom and into the door where they fell and remained motionless.
Yuri stepped back. The four thugs dropped Tom and Chen and rushed towards Lela. Again, Yuri saw everything. In a confusion of punches, the thugs fell to the floor, one by one, not having thrown any punches themselves. Lela had been so quick, it had been like watching his friends being hit by bullets fired from a machine gun.
Only he remained standing. Tom and Chen were pulling themselves together in their cubicles. Yuri did not know what to do.
Lela knew she had hurt the thugs but not permanently. She hadn’t broken any bones but had shattered their pride. She had certainly broken Yuri’s pride even though she had not laid a finger on him. He made his move and, as expected, it was for the door and not for Lela. He was a coward. Lela turned and noticed that somebody had opened the door slightly and had been watching the action. The obscured face moved away the moment it was spotted and the door shut tight again. Lela moved towards a now apologetic and trembling Yuri who was trying to push his way past his injured friends to get out.
Tom had jumped up to help Lela but by the time he was able to assist, only Yuri remained standing. Tom could sense the fear in him. They had all just witnessed six guys, twice the size of Lela, being beaten senseless in less than ten seconds. This was not a common occurrence. Tom looked round at Chen who was sitting wide eyed next to his toilet bowl. They both looked over at Yuri as he tried to make a break for the door. Lela moved almost before Yuri, her first contact with him spun him round, the second sent him head first into the third toilet bowl, unfortunately for him un-flushed. Lela followed him into the cubicle, bent down next to a very wet and smelly Yuri and whispered in his ear. They couldn’t hear what she said nor see what she did but they heard him scream and watched as he dropped to the floor and cowered away.
“Chen and Tom, are you OK?” asked Lela as she left the cubicle to wash her hands.
“Fine thanks,” they both said.
“A bit wet but we’re better off than they are,” said Chen.
“Come on, I don’t want to be caught in the boys’ toilets,” joked Lela.
As she walked past Yuri, she said “Remember, 6.00 p.m. or I’ll come looking.”
“What was that about?” asked Tom.
“You’ll see,” was all Lela would say.
As they walked back to the table, Tom and Lela asked Chen to play down what had happened as Lela was shy about her talents.
“Oh my God, what happened?” Mingmei jumped up as they approached, Mia following just behind.
“We just had a bit of a run-in with Yuri and his gang.”
“Are you OK? What happened?” asked Ahmad, feeling guilty at having left Chen.
“We’re fine, not so sure about them though…,” said Chen catching himself just in time.
“Oh, some other guys came in and sorted them out,” interrupted Lela.
“That’s it. We’re definitely reporting them now,” said Mingmei.
“NO, it’s fine. They learnt their lesson. They won’t be annoying us anymore.” Tom was very firm and Mingmei backed off.
Chapter 29
The rest of the afternoon passed without incident. The eight new friends used the electric carts to explore the rest of the complex and the island itself. Every turn revealed something new, an Olympic sized swimming pool with retractable roof, football, rugby and American football pitches and of course, an eighteen hole golf course which provided the carts.
One thing that did surprise them was the army base. Not the fact that it was there but the sheer scale of it. There were barracks at th
e centre of the compound which housed some 200 troops, there was the fuselage of an airliner, an office block and what looked like a small street with shops and houses. At the opposite end of the compound, stood a few small hangars surrounded by attack and transport helicopters. Tom explained to everybody the type and performance of each one of them. Nobody had asked for this information but they all listened patiently. The compound was surrounded by a high wire fence and the sea. A small marina was lined with a number of secure boatsheds and what looked like a comprehensive selection of high performance boats.
As they looked on, bangs and flashes could be heard from the street in the compound. Six soldiers appeared a few seconds later, dressed entirely in black and screaming “CLEAR!!!” This really was a fully operational anti-terrorist camp.
It was 5.55 p.m. when they made their way back to their block. Lela turned to Oleg and asked him whether he had received any telephone calls.
“No,” said Oleg, “but I don’t have my mobile on me. Why?”
“Oh, no reason, just wondered,” said Lela mysteriously.
It was not until Oleg was back in his room and noticed his phone on the bedside table that he thought back to Lela’s strange question. He walked across and picked up the phone. He had two missed calls and one message. He dialled the voicemail number and after hearing the message, he dropped the phone and screamed.
Tom was the first of the group through the door to find Oleg sitting in a daze on his bed.
“Oleg, are you OK?”
“Perfect,” came a subdued response.
“What’s happened, is everything OK?”
“They couldn’t be better.”
“What the hell has happened? First you scream and now you’re like a zombie who can’t speak.”
Oleg stood up and faced the group.
“I have just picked up the most wonderful message ever. I need to call my father back. But basically, Yuri has been kicked out of school. He went to the Headmaster and confessed to being the leader of his gang and that he had bullied three students including me. The Headmaster expelled him immediately for having hit me and severely reprimanded the rest of the gang. If they even so much as swat a fly, they’re out. It appears the school rule is very serious. My father also apologised for not believing me when I complained about Yuri. He’s going to have a very frank chat with Yuri and his mum which should prove very interesting.”
“Unbelievable,” said Chen.
“Yep,” Oleg agreed.
Tom had been watching Lela. At no point had she shown the least sign of surprise. He caught her eye and mouthed “we’ll talk later.” Lela smiled back and winked.
Oleg called his father back and after a very emotional call for both of them, he updated the group on the rest of the breaking news.
“It just gets better and better. My father has just had a huge fight with my step-mother or should I say ex step-mother. It turns out that when my father got tough with her, she confessed that she had only married him for the money and would take him to the cleaners in a divorce. He’s got the whole thing on tape which means she’ll more than likely get nothing.”
Chapter 30
As the group dispersed and the students made their way to their own rooms, they bumped into a number of other students. The rumours about the expulsion had quickly done the rounds and a number of outrageous versions of events made their way through the block. One story involved the ritual sacrifice of a student which had resulted in the expulsion of twenty students. The group had agreed to meet in the foyer of the block an hour later. Tom followed Lela to her room, eager to find out what she had done to Yuri. He would have to wait, pinned to her door was a note “SEE ME IMMEDIATELY,” signed “The Headmaster.” They looked at each other, panic evident in each others’ eyes.
“Guys! I’ve got a note telling me to see the Headmaster!” shouted Chen, running down the corridor towards them. Tom looked at Lela and then looked at his own door. He had the same note.
The three made their way in silence to the main administration block. Tom was surprised that Chen had been called in, as he had been nothing but a victim. Chen looked very worried.
“Chen are you OK?” asked Tom.
“I can’t be expelled, I will be killed.”
“We all will but you’ll be fine. You’ve done nothing wrong, they attacked you remember,” said Tom trying to allay Chen’s fears.
“You two will be fine,” said Lela dejectedly. She had been the only one who had struck anybody and resigned herself to the fact that she would be heading home sooner than expected.
They entered the block and made their way to the top floor. The elevator pinged and the door opened onto a large office with double doors at one end. The three walked into the office and were met by a very stern looking woman in her fifties. Her name plaque was perfectly placed in the centre of her desk and read “Ms Anderson.” There was no doubt, judging by the tweed suit, the efficient glasses and the hairy lip, that she was definitely a ‘Ms’ and had never been a Mrs. Tom looked to see if she had cat, a long coat, a pointy hat and a broom cupboard in the corner.
“Yes?” she barked.
“We’ve been told to come and see the Headmaster,” said Tom confidently. He was not going to be intimidated.
“He’s in conference. Take a seat and wait,” she said pointing to a seating area in the corner. There was no broom cupboard.
The three sat down and Tom whispered to Lela.
“Well at least we know what to get her for Christmas.”
“What?” whispered Lela.
“A pair of tweezers. Those hairy moles on her face are gross.”
Chen kicked him. The stare from Ms Anderson would stop a bull in full charge.
“She couldn’t have heard us,” Tom said to Lela.
“Just shut up,” she replied. She wasn’t in the mood for humour. She was in enough trouble already.
After waiting ten minutes, Ms Anderson got up and opened the double doors. Two men ran out of the room with their heads down, quickly followed by a book which flew through the air and would have taken their heads off had they not ducked in time.
“NEXT!” came the roar from the office.
“Tom and Chen, you are to go in first but just give me a minute,” said Ms Anderson as she went into the office and shut the door behind her.
All three looked at each other. Tom’s confidence had evaporated but Lela seemed remarkably calm. She had resigned herself to the fact that she was going home. Chen remained petrified and was trembling. The humiliation to his family would be everlasting and he could see no way around it. Perhaps he would beg the Headmaster to have mercy on him.
Ms Anderson came out of the office and nodded to Tom and Chen.
They stood up and made their way through the doors into an enormous office. At the far end of the office, just in front of the window, was a massive solid oak desk and behind it, the back of a chair. The Headmaster was facing away from them and was looking out across the grounds.
“Take a seat,” he growled.
There were two chairs in front of the desk and they sat down gingerly.
Lela, who was waiting outside, was beginning to panic again. She was certain to be expelled for what she had done but was confident that Tom and Chen would be fine. However, the Headmaster’s behaviour suggested otherwise. She couldn’t believe it, they had done nothing wrong. They were the victims. There was no doubt that she had used force but it was in self-defence. She was being attacked. She decided there and then that she was not going to stand by and witness this injustice. She rose from her seat and strode over to Ms Anderson.
Meanwhile, the Headmaster’s chair slowly began to turn round. Tom had also begun to think about the injustice of what was about to happen and started to regain his confidence. This was an outrage and they had committed no crime. They had, afterall, been attacked. And, in fact, was the school not at fault? It had clearly failed to ensure their safety and wellbeing. Tom turned to Chen and tr
ied to catch his attention but he just sat there, frozen with fear.
Lela was getting nowhere with Ms Anderson. She adamantly refused to let her in with the boys. The Headmaster had instructed that they were to remain separate and that was exactly what would happen. Lela promptly decided that she would have to bypass her.
The Headmaster came into view and revealed himself to the boys.
“Mr Sakamoto!!!” Tom exclaimed.
“Hi Tommy-boy, how are you doing?”
Before ‘Tommy-boy’ could answer, the doors to the office flew open and Lela stormed in.
“THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!!” she shouted with Ms Anderson close on her heels.
“Aah, the most beautiful Lela, how are you my dear?”
“Mr Sakamoto!!!” she exclaimed.
Chen did not know where to look or who to look at first. He was very confused.
“Not now Ms Anderson, please shut the door on your way out,” said the Headmaster, as he winked at the students.
Chen pulled himself together.
“What’s going on? Do you know him, I mean, Mr Saka…”
“Know him? We’ve known him forever,” said Tom.
“Lela, come and sit down,” said Mr Sakamoto.
“You scared the hell out of us!” Lela exclaimed releasing some left-over anger.
“I’m sorry. You know I love practical jokes,” he said.
The next ten minutes were spent explaining to Chen how they knew Mr Sakamoto. He had been a brilliant businessman and had owned and run one of the most successful organisations in Japan. He had lived for work and had worked twenty hours a day, seven days a week, building his empire. Everybody believed he loved nothing more than growing his business. This, however, was not true. He loved his family much, much more. The day he discovered that his wife was ill, he left the office and never returned. He nursed and cared for her until she died two years later. He then looked after his children and became their mother and father as they grew up. He sold his business and vowed never to work again, ruing every hour he had missed with his wife over all those years. Donald had met him just before his wife had fallen ill and remained a close friend throughout the years. A trip to Japan always meant a visit to the wind-up merchant. Mr Sakamoto always played tricks on the Kennedys.
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