The Juvenile - Part I

Today - Afternoon

It is unnerving how a shot from a gun can bring a sense of fear into people. You either cower down with fear or get frozen with fright, it brings a sense of foreboding as the heart skips a beat and the mind prepares for the worst - a death or an injury. The aftermath had left people reeling with shock over what had happened, it was supposed to be a normal afternoon on a weekday with teachers taking classes and students pretending to take down notes while they actually were whispering about the cricket match that happened the last night and other petty issues that kids of that age talk. It was supposed to be a normal afternoon on a weekday with kids in the schoolground arguing over a foul committed by a kid in a game of football. It was supposed to be a normal afternoon on a weekday with the principal of the school on his normal rounds, surveying his campus chasing away students into their respective classrooms who were planning to bunk the afternoon session.

But the gunshot changed it all. 

As seconds passed after the first gunshot was heard a few hoped that the victim would survive.

When the second shot was heard that hope withered away with the sound of the shot.

Teachers advised the kids to stay inside the class hidden under the desks as they tried to muster the courage to peek out of the doors and find what happened. Students who were a minute ago playing in the ground arguing with their mates over a foul committed stopped dead in their tracks with their mouths agape looking towards where the sound had come from. 

As the seconds passed Bedlam ensued in the school campus, kids shrieked with fright as teachers tried to calm them down, a few curious students ran towards the spot but were pulled by their collars by a teacher. A few teachers decided to take charge of the situation reluctantly and headed towards the site preparing themselves for the worst.

A few minutes ago...

When the boy saw the teacher walk into the restroom he realized it was time. Time to pay for all the humiliation, the punishments, the lack of faith, the umpteen beatings that had scarred his soul and his name among his peers. It was time to pay for all that with a heavy price.

The teacher had finished his lunch in a hurry, with classes back to back in the whole morning session he never had the time for a coffee break with his colleagues, "To hell with filling in as a substitute" he thought as he cursed the Social Science teacher who was on leave.

He just wanted to get through with the week and take a day off the next week. He went to the restroom to clean up his plate, he wanted to waste no time as he had a surprise test scheduled for the ninth grade. When he turned around, little did he expect the sight that he now witnessed.

"Roll No. 17?, what are you doing here? This washroom is reserved for teachers only." He said.

"I had a doubt sir" Roll No. 17 said as he revealed a gun tucked under his shirt.

"What are you doing?" he asked as his mouth went dry with the sight of the gun.

"If I shot a bullet from this distance x, at what speed would it travel to hit you in the chest?" he quizzed with the barrel aimed at his chest.

"Why are you doing this son?"

"....And if the bullet pierces your skull, what percentage would you give for your chances of survival sir?" he pondered whimsically.

"Son...." was all he could blurt as he was cut short by the sound of the gun. The next thing he felt was his head hitting the ground with a thud.

(To be continued)