CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: LEO

Three days ago…

I was the only one at home today because Austin was at work, and I couldn't visit Shane because they needed to run some tests on him and he wasn't allowed to receive visitors. This made me nervous, but the doctor assured me that it wasn't anything serious, and that it was just a routine test due to the mild concussion he suffered.

And I couldn't call Athena because her plane should've already taken off, so I decided to watch the list of animes I'd missed because of school, but just as I was about to press play, my phone pinged, indicating that I had received a message.

When I picked it up, I discovered that I had received a video message from an unknown number, which was unusual because I don't often give out my phone number to strangers. This made me hesitate for a moment because my mind wandered to Mikey, the owner of the Void, and whether or not he had found us, but I squashed that thought because I had hidden my tracks well enough that he, and no one else, could find us here before I opened the message and hit play.

I felt anger, pain, and fear all at once as the video started to play, and my heart sank. It was a recording of what had happened the day Shane was assaulted. I watched Shane being dragged by Zack the punk and his little asshole friends to the playground where no one could see them attack him.

He was getting punched and pushed around by the boys without being given a chance to defend himself. Zack then threw him to the ground, and they continued punching and kicking him while laughing and saying horrible things to him.

Shane, as I taught him, protected himself by covering the most vulnerable parts of his body with his hands. Then I saw Summer running towards them, crying, trying to stop them from hurting Shane, but one of the group of boys pushed her aside before continuing to kick Shane. Summer tried a few more times before giving up and running into the school, and the video stopped.

I then saw a text under the video that said, "I hope you get justice," and as I was trying to think of who could have sent the video, I began calling the number but it wasn't available, not knowing what else to do. I just sat there staring at the video, feeling a surge of rage and frustration because seeing what Shane had to go through that day made my blood boil.

Then, as if everyone today was trying to make him lose his mind, the principal of Shane's school called just as I was about to get up from my desk and go for a walk to clear my head after watching the video. "Hello?" I answered, trying to keep my voice calm.

"Hello, this is Principal from your brother's school," said the principal on the other end of the line. "I'm calling to let you know that we've discussed the situation with your younger brother."

My heart began to pound as I tried to keep my breathing steady and refrain from yelling at her over the phone, which would only make things worse. "And what are your conclusions?" I investigated, my voice shaking.

"I and the other teachers reviewed the medical report sent by the hospital of Shane's injuries to determine whether they were accidental or deliberate," the principal explained. "So, after Shane is discharged from the hospital, I'm going to meet with him, the boy responsible, and his parents to talk about what happened and figure out how to move forward."

As I listened to the principal speak, I was overwhelmed with anger. I couldn't believe someone with a degree would say something like this; based on Shane's injuries and the video I saw, the beating was one-sided and definitely wasn't accidentally, and even an illiterate could see that.

"I'll be there," l said firmly. "I want to be there for the meeting."

"Of course," said the principal. "We would appreciate your presence. It's critical that we all work together to address this situation and make sure your brother feels safe and supported at our school."

"I see," I simply said, 'what a load of bullshit, if they actually cared about his safety, this would never have happened,' I thought as my rage and frustration grew with each passing minute, I wished for this call to end as soon as possible.

"See you then, Mr Smith," the principal said as I hung up the phone, my mind racing with thoughts of what I would do about this situation now that this video has come to light there was hope. But one thing I was certain of, was that I needed to remain calm and collected in order to come up with a plan, but I swore on my life that they would pay for hurting Shane.

I think it's best to wait and see what Austin has to say about this because I was planning on taking this video to the police and filing a report.

Austin returned from work a few hours later, and upon noticing my demeanor, he realized something was wrong.

"What happened? Is Shane okay?" He asked as he placed his bag on the chair and took the seat next to me on the couch.

"You need to watch this," I said as I handed my phone to Austin, who had a puzzled look on his face.

Austin took the phone and watched the video, his face tense. As the video ended, I saw him clench his fist by his side as he turned to face me.

"What the hell?" Austin said, his voice slightly raised as he handed the phone back to me, his expression murderous.

"Trust me, I had the same reaction when I watched it," I said, looking equally furious. "I got it this morning from an unknown number, and I tried calling the number, but it was unavailable; the person just left a text."

"What exactly did the text say?" Austin asked, his eyes narrowed.

"I hope you get justice," I answered.

"Do you think it's Shane's teacher?" Austin questioned

"I'm not sure, but whoever sent this wants us to get justice for Shane, and I'm grateful to that person."

"So, what are you planning to do?" Austin questioned, his face concerned.

"I think we should call the cops; they might know what to do," I replied, and a frown formed on his face.

Austin nodded slowly, but he looked hesitant "Yes, I understand what you mean. But do you really believe that going to the police is the best option?"

"Why not?" I asked, my voice tense, not liking the expression on his face when I mentioned taking the video to the police.

Austin let out a sigh. "I hate to say it, but the police in Anwood aren't always the most helpful when it comes to this kind of stuff, especially when it involves Zack, the child of a very important figure in Anwood. They may simply tell you there is nothing they can do and send you on your way so as not to offend Mr Sanders."

"That's absurd. Shane was seriously injured; the police should be able to help." I said this with a scowl on my face as I stared at Austin.

"I know it's sad, but they won't help," Austin explained. "The law enforcement here in Anwood is completely different from New York, Leo, all the cops here are corrupt, and there are no good cops among them."

I paused, trying to think of another solution. "What are we going to do? Because a few minutes after watching the video, I received a call from Shane's principal informing me that there would be a meeting to discuss the accident."

"I see," Austin said with a nod. "Perhaps we can use the video as a bargaining chip to gain an upper hand since no one knows about the video, so we can use it to our advantage."

"We can do that as well, but let's keep this video between us until the meeting."

"Agreed," Austin said firmly. "We'll figure this out together, man; you're not alone."

"Thanks man, I appreciate your help and support," I said with a small smile.

"What are friends for? But do you think we should try to figure out who sent the video?"

"I don't think so; maybe the person should remain unknown because he or she has reasons for not revealing his or her identity, so let's just leave it at that," I explained.

Austin slowly nodded. "Yeah, I understand what you mean."

"Let's just forget about the video and go get something to eat; I don't think staying inside will do me any good," I said, and Austin gave me a sad smile.

"Let me change, we can go play basketball at the park to get your mind off things," Austin said as he patted my back, "all you should care about now is that Shane is okay."

"Yeah, I know," I replied, and Austin smiled and raised into my room to change, and a few minutes later he was out of the room and we went to the pack to play a few rounds of basketball. With this video, we have an advantage, and that gives me hope that we can get justice for Shane, this time they won't get away with it.