Chapter 5

“Isn’t it nice to see me again?”

The delinquent said while his arms were wrapped around Pai’s neck. They were dragging him towards a part of town that was void of anyone who could pass by as they squeezed through narrow alleyways behind corner stores and mini marts that litter the streets of Metro Manila. His sense of direction was already in shambles after all the left and right turns they took while navigating the narrow passages as they squeezed through a tiny gap in a corrugated roof fence somewhere within the city. The place they ended up in looked like an abandoned construction site where all the unfinished rebar was dangerously sticking out of the ground ready to impale anyone not careful enough in traversing the landscape. The group sat him down by one of the concrete stumps that were sticking out of the soil as they surrounded him with scheming eyes and malicious smiles. ‘You really think you can run from us? Pee boy?’ The delinquent voiced out as the other boys in the group chuckled menacingly at Pai.

‘I think you’re forgetting your place in this world’ He states as he slowly unzipped his pants.

‘Tell me guys, when was the last time we had a nice proper piss huh?’ Pai’s knees were starting to shiver as he heard the various taunts and menacing laughter of the other boys in the group as he saw them simultaneously unzipping.

‘It’s been a while since we had a human toilet to pee on, thank goodness we found you. Now you have a purpose again.’ He said as he squeezed Pai’s cheeks to pout his lips before smacking him backhanded. ‘You should be happy.’The boy said whilst grinding his teeth in excitement.

The delinquent steps back a bit as he starts to urinate on Pai. Pai reactively dodges, leaping away from his stream of urine desperately trying for a way to escape. ‘Can somebody fucking hold him in place?!’ He demanded as his underlings surrounded him, leaving Pai with no choice but to be captured.

‘Fuck now I’m out of pee… kneel him down!’

The one of the boys restraining him kicks Pai behind his knee, weakening his stance easily forcing him to get on his knees as the delinquent leader moves in closer.

‘I just had an idea just now… maybe you can swallow something else besides my piss.’ He said as Pai witnesses the boy’s uncircumcised penis slowly gaining an erection. ‘I’ve always wondered why you liked being peed on by guys. We tried girls but you said no, well, you also said no to us but somehow you always gave in every single time which made me think.’

Pai braced himself and sewed his mouth shut as the delinquent slaps his erection on Pai’s face as the poor kid tried his best to dodge and weave away. The leader ordered his underlings to restrain his face and pinch his nose as Pai desperately held his breath while trying to escape.

‘Aww do you wanna scream? Do you wanna breathe? Do you wanna cry for help?! Too bad… but I’m waiting… I’m waiting for you to give up. I’m waiting for you to give in. Come on toilet boy I know you wanna eat this hog!’

-THUNG-

For a moment, everything went silent.

All the cheers and laughter from the boys that were around him had ceased and all that was left was an unconscious boy and a berserker with a muddy shovel.

Immediately fight or flight became the main question as half of the group went pale and fled while the remaining half, the ones holding Pai down, released their grip in exchange for clenched fists and a burning desire to express their loyalty.

The berserker’s grip tightens as he coils his body tightly, waiting for the enemy to strike as all five of Pai’s captors charge in a barrage of fists and rage.

They charged hard blinded with fury as they swung their fists without thought, running head first unarmed thinking they could overpower the berserker but they were only met with the same fate as their leader as they all fell on the wet mud beneath them. The remaining three held back, thinking of a way to balance their situation.

It was now the berserker’s turn to charge, taking advantage of the enemy’s hesitation, he leapt into a stride with a swing of his shovel, fluidly hitting one of them on the chest before blocking a swift kick from another foe. He was impressed for a moment as the boy continuously pelted him with non stop attacks but as soon as the enemy paused for a breath he countered with an elbow to his stomach, making the boy stagger backwards in pain but it was not enough to bring him down.

Immediately the berserker winds up for another lunge but he is yanked from behind by another boy, his arm squeezing around his neck desperately trying to block any wind that his lungs were screaming to acquire.

He lost his grip on his shovel as he violently gasps for air. His arms were already stretching behind him desperately trying to get a grip at the enemy that caught him but the moment had gotten dire as his vision darkened around the edges.

He noticed the other boy that he had beaten up has now recovered, exhausted as he approached his side to pick up the shovel that hurt his friends.

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Pai, seeing all of this happening, had wondered why his legs failed to move. He was saved by this person and was free to escape, his captors were more or less incapacitated and their attention was no longer focused on his existence but his legs and arms were numb and shivering that he felt powerless from where he stood. And as he saw the person who helped him, struggle with his last breath a voice from inside spoke. It was a choice: rise and strike back or flee and be the same as you’ll always be.

Strange enough, his answer was a pencil that he grabbed from his chest pocket.

Screaming at the top of his lungs he charged with the pencil grasped tightly in his hand. His legs felt like jelly from the fear he had experienced but his scream gave him the courage and strength to charge forward. He aimed his sight at the boys’ back as he winds his shoulder up and readied himself to strike. He had never felt anything this weird before as the pencil went through his opponent's flesh as easy as a hot knife through butter followed by a warm and sticky fluid covering his hands as he found blood dripping from his fingers. He could feel the urge to vomit and he did quite strongly afterwards. He looked up to see what had happened to his surroundings only to see none only darkness and the cries of help that somehow confused him.

‘Come kid we gotta go!’

A thundering voice brought Pai back to his senses as he felt someone grab his shoulders to violently shake him to oblivion. He didn’t know who it was that shook him but he felt enough at ease that he let his legs follow his tracks as the two of them ran away from the scene. Through the fence and round the corner they went as he lost track of how many turns they had taken through the back alleys once again where they stopped behind a dumpster somewhere in the back streets of the metro.

‘Fuck…’ The boy finally spoke. ‘I dunno what you did back there but you saved me…’

Both of them were catching their breath as Pai found it difficult to speak, his lungs gasping for air as his vision slowly returned. ‘Not a problem...’ Pai finally replied.

Seconds, minutes, hours passed, no one knows as they lost track of time behind that wall trying to regain their breath and their sanity from what had happened. The two had stayed silent during this time and neither felt the need to talk to the other. Whatever might have happened to those kids they do not know but they knew whatever the fate was, they were in it together. An ambulance happened to pass by near where they stood as the main highway was just over the tall wall they were hiding behind. The mere sound of the Ambulance was enough to send shivers down their spine as they knew very well that it was their bidding that sent it. Without any spoken word they decide to stay hidden a bit longer.

‘What’s your name by the way?’ The boy asked.

‘Pai…’

‘Weird name… you smoke?’

‘No…’ Pai responds as the boy beside him pulls out a hard pack from his bag. ‘Do you wanna smoke?’

‘No…’ The boy sneered while he lit the cigarette in between his lips, a long deep gasp followed as he bellowed a large puff of smoke upon exhaling. He looks at Pai with a piercing stare.

‘Denzo…’ The boy said, extending his arms to Pai as he, in response, reached out to firmly shake it. ‘Wow… that was unexpected…’ Denzo replied.

‘What was unexpected…’

‘A firm handshake… I don’t mean to judge but… I expected a weenie handshake…’

Pai looked upset at Denzo’s statement, but then again he thought he might’ve witnessed what happened back at the construction yard so he couldn’t really blame him if he thinks of him that way. ‘Hey, don’t feel sad, I didn’t mean it.’ Denzo said as he noticed the change in the boy’s expression, trying his best to keep Pai’s thoughts away from what had happened.

‘You saw it didn’t you?’

‘W-well… I mean…’

‘What those boys did to me… you saw it right?’

Denzo clenched his fists as he squeezed the answer from his lips. ‘Yeah, I saw it…’

‘I’m not a sissy okay?!’ ‘Woah wait calm down--’ ‘Okay I know but it’s not what it seems--’ ‘Alright, kid alright…’ ‘I like girls not boys alright?!’ ‘I’ve got sexy magazines and… and porn with girls nude girls and-- and boobs and--’

‘Alright I get it kid, you’re straight! Shit… I’m not blind… okay?!’

Pai fell silent for a moment as he goes to get to grips with himself and his emotions. Although the more he thought of it the more it burdened him, until finally he lost his strength to hold on as he burst into tears. Meanwhile Denzo stares on, not knowing what to do or say to the boy. He drew himself near to where Pai stood and gives him a pat on the back, repeatedly chanting that everything would be alright, hoping that the action would be of some help.

Being near the kid Denzo gets to notice how skinny and helpless he really was against those boys that were harassing him as pity for the boy was starting to seep into his mind. Right then he knew that Pai had really no other choice if he were to survive. He also noticed another thing about the kid. On the chest pocket of his uniform was a patch for his school’s badge most notably the school name that was stitched onto it.

-Scholastic Institute of Saint Rita-

‘It’s okay, I’m okay now thanks…’ Pai had spoken in between hiccups as he wipes his tears with his dirtied hands. ‘You sure?’ Denzo replied. ‘Yea… I just need to get home… I think I have to talk to my Mom about changing schools again…’

‘What? Isn’t that a bit too late? You just started the school year afterall.’

‘Yea I know… but they saw my uniform so they know where to find me now…’ Pai stated which made Denzo think about the repercussions, falling silent for a moment before leaping back with a response. ‘You know what… don’t worry about it.’ Denzo cheerfully responds. ‘What?’ Pai questions.

‘Just get home and when your folks ask about the dirt and the scars just make something up.’

‘But…’

‘But don’t tell the truth! Trust me… go to school tomorrow and forget about all this.’ Pai looked puzzled at Denzo’s proposal, he knew very well that his harassers would seek him out again eventually and that taking immediate action to disappear would be the best course but somehow this person that he just met was saying otherwise. Pai knows that he is indebted to this person and he wanted to trust him at most but he felt torn on whether to heed his advice or not.

‘But what if they come back? And they will…’ Pai finally answers.

‘You go to Saint Rita’s right?’

‘Yes…’

‘Then I got this!’

‘How?’

‘Cuz I study there!’

Pai looked long and hard at Denzo who at best looked like a bum wearing an almost tattered shirt, worn out cargo shorts and a pair of flip flops that looked like the most expensive article of his current wardrobe. ‘We had classes today… you don’t look like you even go to school.’

Denzo rolled his eyes as he struggled to find an explanation. He goes and leads pai out of their hiding spot with his hands on his shoulders as he tries to dismiss the whole subject of trying for an explanation. ‘Just trust me okay, I got this, now go home before your folks get suspicious.’ Pai quickly remembered the time, he had to be home before dinner or else his mother would be extremely worried. He said his farewells to the boy who saved him and went on his way, all the while he thought to give himself a deadline in trusting Denzo ‘two weeks’ He told himself as he walked away from him but another swift thought had itched on his mind. ‘Wait… how’d you get out of this place?’ Pai asked, abruptly stopping in his place.

‘Go straight, first left, left on the corner store and you should see the main road.’ Denzo answered looking on towards the frail kid he’d just met. He never cared much about studying in an institution for learning as it gave him nothing to look forward to. This time however, he had a reason as he felt a weird excitement towards attending a “school”

He threw down the cigarette butt that he exhausted and went on his own separate way

And as he boarded a jeepney ride home he remembered something important that slipped his mind as Denzo felt his tummy rumble.