“So be it. I’ve put up with him for two years. As long as I stay out of his way, I’ll be OK. If I go against him, he will kill me. He has promised me that if I ever betray him, it will be the last thing I ever do.”
“What about your father, can’t he help you?”
“I’ve tried but my step-mother gets involved, twists my dad around, she tells Yuri and I get a beating. Trust me, I can’t win.”
Everybody was lost for words, angry and disgusted at Yuri and his friends and what they had put Oleg through.
“Look,” said Lela. “We need to calm down and think about what is best for everyone involved. Let’s take some time out and consider our options.”
The rest of the morning and early afternoon were spent on the beach. The temperature was perfect, it was spring on the island and to Tom and Lela, it felt like a perfect summer’s day. The beach was very popular and by the time they got there, it was swarming with students, most of whom were well known to Tom and Lela.
“Is there anybody on this beach you don’t know?” Chen asked Tom.
“A few people. I don’t know her, the one Tristan is drooling over,” Said Tom pointing to the girl Tristan could not keep his eyes off. “No seriously, I know about half of them.”
“How come?” enquired Chen.
“Ever since we could walk, my father took Lela and I on business trips to see the world and so we grew up meeting people from governments and businesses from everywhere. To make life easier for him and more amusing for us, he usually arranged for us to meet and play with the children of whoever he was visiting.”
“Wicked! You must have been to lots of cool places.”
“Yeah, I think that by the time we were ten, we’d seen a third of the countries in the world,” replied Tom.
Oleg and Tristan interrupted the conversation as they came running up the beach having just been for a dip in the water.
“So how are you doing Oleg?” Tom asked.
“He’s absolutely fine. Don’t worry, he has the girls circling round making sure he’s OK,” said Tristan.
“You’re just jealous!” shouted Oleg.
“Damn right, I am!” Tristan shouted back. “Perhaps Yuri can whack me later and I can get fussed over like you!”
“I’m sure that can be arranged!” offered Oleg.
“On second thoughts, I’ll give it a miss thanks,” replied Tristan.
“What, don’t you want our nursing skills, aren’t we good enough for you?” teased Lela.
“No, no not at all, it’s just I’d rather..”
“She’s just winding you up Trist, don’t worry,” said Tom rescuing his friend.
“I really do think we need to report Yuri and his gang,” said Mingmei breaking the silence.
“I think we just need to teach him a lesson,” said Mia.
“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
