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8
- LANGAA RPCIG
- Chapter
- Additional Information
57 8 he morning sun had already peeked behind the clouds when Sam left his room to go to the construction site. He could clearly see its golden dazzle of bright shimmering colours. That morning, he walked with the timidity of a wounded man. He held his head in downcast posture, and his dazed mind raced in many different directions. He passed droves of people, but he did not look at them. He did not see anyone or anything. He simply walked in silence. Every so often, his feet stabbed on sharp pebbles along his path, but he felt no pain. Inwardly, he knew he was in deep trouble. Only that he did not know how to evade it. He even contemplated not going to school for the day, but changed his mind against it. To do so would only delay the inevitable. As he drew close to the construction site, some of his classmates had already arrived, dressed in their usual brown overalls and ready for the hard back-breaking work. He was not the first person to arrive as he customarily did. He was the last, even Judas preceded him. No sooner had Sam set foot at the site, than his heart started pounding. His eyes glossed over his classmates and then, as he turned around, he noticed Judas near the wheelbarrows. He was walking with a slight limp. Their eyes met. Judas’ eyes were red hot, as red as cayenne peppers, but Sam’s were filled with fear. No sooner had Judas spotted him, than his eyes darted around in his eye-sockets like those of a cheetah that had finally cornered its prey, and ready to sink its teeth into its already wounded victim without mercy. Immediately, his demeanour changed. The air around them thickened. Judas bit his lower lip; the folds of skin beneath his chin puffed like a frog, and the veins on his face throbbed. The twitching of his facial muscles alerted Sam of an impending attack. To stand his ground, Sam’s eyes, which were now full-orbed and unblinking like a toad, gazed into Judas’. This was a show of force, a moment of reckoning. Unfortunately, Sam’s moment was short lived. He lowered his eyes to T 58 the ground as it dawned on him that he had no power against his opponent. His foe’s eyes were fierce and demoralizing. Unable to contain his rage, Judas roared, “What the hell are you doing here?” Sam did not answer. He simply looked at him, but shook to the core. He was afraid of causing a spectacle. His eyes crawled behind his eyelids, and his pupils constricted. A sharp jolt tore through his body, but he could not move. He raised his head up again and gazed into Judas sharp piercing eyes, which remained unflinching. It was a reminder of who had the Might. Sam was defenceless against such a brute force as he felt completely incapacitated to retreat. “What the hell are you doing here?” he said in a menacing tone and edging towards Sam. All the boys, who were present startled by Judas’s tone, looked at both men with dismay. None of them had privy to what had happened, and neither could they understand the present. Befuddled, they simply looked on as the air thickened and the dark clouds above them moved sluggishly. “I . . .” Sam was about to say something in a rattling voice, but Judas cut him short. “I want you the hell out of here right now!” Judas roared. “But I am supposed to . . .” “No! I want you out, right now! Out of my sight you dirty-filthyrotten maggot!” Judas bawled. “Mr. Ju . . . ,” but the man silenced him completely. “I’ll see to it that you leave here empty handed. As empty as you came!” he barked. Sam did not make any attempt to speak any further. It would have been pointless. He simply looked at the man with a blank stare. “Today, you are going to know who the man is . . . Me Judas! You messed with the wrong man boy,” he yelped contemptuously, edging even closer to Sam. “You scoundrel!” Sensing Judas’s intention, Sam stepped back before he could be struck. There was confusion. Other students did not know what to do. That is what happens when a lion attacks a flock and devours a lamb; the rest of the lambs panic. Such was the tumult that broke [3.236.18.23] Project MUSE...