Balancer's Soul (51 page)

Connor’s family was eating as some
male students came up to him. They asked for forgiveness for
interrupting, but had something to ask. Sarah looked at Connor
first with a smile as she drank a sip of punch before looking over
at the well built boys. All of his family watched closely as the
leader of their group asked “Connor, we were wondering what college
you’re going to?”

“Why?”

“We are all heading to Minnesota
State.” The middle guy spoke. “We were wondering if you would join
our college’s Football team?” He tried to sound confident, but he
looked skittish when Connor’s piercing gaze settled upon
him.

Connor’s grandfather sat beside him
and chuckled. Connor slowly stood up and the boys took a step back
instinctively. He unbuttoned his black vest and his grandfather
gladly took it off his hands. Connor glanced at him as he smirked
and put on the sleeveless vest. It was too large for him. Connor
returned his gaze to the boys and said calmly “I’m sorry, but my
answer is no.”

One of the other boys said “But we could use
someone on our team with your talents!”

“What talents?” He said, knowing the
answer.

“On the last day of school when you
held off all of those other guys by yourself, you showed us how
much power you have!” another guy said “Or how accurate your throws
proved to be at the Dunk Tank.”

Connor accidently overheard
Jillian’s thoughts, but didn’t turn to look at her.
“
… all you want? Please! My son now has
enough power to destroy this school in an instant. You children
have no idea how much power he does have!”

“That’s why I won’t play any sports. I
don’t like hurting people, ok. Do you remember how my body’s
built?” Connor emphasized by pointing to the center of his broad
chest.

“Who
wouldn’t
be able to remember that
and that tattoo? Plus my girlfriend wants me to train harder
because of what she saw from you.” The leader shook his head.
“Thanks for that by the way.” He added sarcastically.

“Listen to me for the last time. I
only use my strength to protect those I love. I will not use it for
personal reasons. My strength is for myself and mine to use as I
see fit.” He said, ending the conversation.

The boys walked away in confusion and
a little perturbed.

Connor sat back down next to Sarah and
everyone around smiled proudly. Connor took a bite out of the
hamburger on his plate before he asked “What’s with that
look?”

His mom answered for everyone. “If
anyone actually took the time to get to know you, they would learn
that you could seriously hurt someone. They would also know that
you are built like a tank. You’re humble, not prideful.”

“I second that!” His grandma chimed
in. “Plus, if you did join their little team, they wouldn’t be able
to feed someone like you. The school’s cafeteria would go out of
business on the first day.” She smiled at her own joke.

“He’s not the only one who is a pro
eater Grandma!” Kara added. “They eat just as much as Brother.” She
pointed to Sarah, Jillian and Jack.

“Really? Now that’s hard to imagine.”
Rhoda said with a grin. “One day I will have to see that for
myself.” And Connor knew she meant it.

“Jack, I never had a chance to ask,
but what do you do for a living?” David asked and changed subject
at the right time.

“I’m a custom mechanic mostly and a
bit of a handyman. I own a garage in the city.” Jack said brushing
a strand of silver hair behind his shoulder. David nodded because
he always respected a man who works with his hands.

“And you, Jillian?” David asked while
looking at her.

“I plan and make parties. Like
weddings, anniversaries, class reunions… those kinds of things, but
I’m best at being a wedding planner.” She chimed in, setting her
plate down on the bench between her and Jack.

Connor saw Sarah take another drink
and noticed that she just finished off her cup. “Let me freshen
that up for you.” He took her cup as she handed it over. Connor
started walking away when he stopped to ask “Would anyone like
anything while I’m heading that way?”

“Could you grab me some more finger
sandwiches?” Mark asked.

He nodded and walked into the
cafeteria when none voiced for anything else. Connor filled up
Sarah’s drink and filled a plate full of different finger
sandwiches. He turned and exited the cafeteria.

Then his instinct warned him to danger. Hair
on the back of his neck rose and the pit of his stomach went
hollow.

He wasn’t about seventy
feet away from where Sarah and the gang were when he heard someone
yell from the left “
HEY BLACK
SHEEP
!” Connor knew that malicious voice
and sighed. Everyone turned to look at the fool who called his
former nickname. He turned around slowly to make sure it is a
fool…It was.

Mathew stood about ten to fifteen feet
away wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. He was sporting the
smile of a sick and demented person about to do something extremely
foolish.

“What do you want now, Mathew?” Connor
asked in boredom, but he really was fuming internally. He was sick
and tired of Mathew’s petty games.

“To take my revenge on you for making
me look like a reject! How dare a mongrel like you step on someone
of my breeding and background?”

“It looks to me like the runt of the
litter wants to prove himself.” Connor sat down Sarah’s drink and
Mark’s food. He turned back towards the ingrate in an unafraid and
confident manor and stood with his arms crossed over his
chest.

Everyone who was watching started
slowly backing away; students, parents and staff alike. They were
smart enough to sense the hostility rolling off Connor.

Mathew’s grin widened as he reached
into his pants pocket and pulled out something black. The audience
backed away even more quickly at seeing a weapon. Thinking it was a
real gun, Connor became defensive. Mathew raised his hand to point
it at Connor. All eyes zeroed in on the object.

It was an electric stun gun.

Connor instantly assumed his battle
ready stance, prepared to take out his most despised enemy.
Instinctively his hand went to his waist line, but remembered
leaving Tool at home. A weapon would be a comfort, but he had
merely his wits. Connor crouched further and cautiously tried to
talk him out of this. “Mathew, why are you really doing this?
Especially in front of all these innocent people. Do you realize
someone could get caught in the crossfire? Even if you do hit me,
they are witnesses.”

His menacing smile returned. “No one
ever makes me look like the waste that you are. Plus since my
father is the mayor, he got wind of your escapade during the
carnival and he told me to take care of it!” Mathew raised the stun
gun and pointed it directly at Connor’s broad chest. “And I intend
to do just that.”

Things were rapidly spiraling out of
control.

Connor’s voice became just
as demeaning. “So
Daddy
gets involved in your fights and tells you what
to do? Grow up and be a man. If you want a fight. I’ll give you
one, but let’s go somewhere else so that no one else can be
potentially hurt.” Slightly he spread his arms and tightened his
fists. He needed to prepare to react incase Mathew did fire. “Fight
me one on one; no weapons.”

The vile smile vanished. “Do you
honestly think I’m that stupid? No, I’ll use this to equalize the
game.” His finger moved to the trigger and Connor knew that talking
him out of this would be useless.

***

“HEY BLACK SHEEP!” Sarah
clearly heard over Rhoda’s and David’s heated debate for a surprise
after party for Connor and the rest of them. She fervently wished
she didn’t know who called the name, but did.
“Well let’s see how he squirms away from Connor this time?
I’m not going to stop him from that ingrate again.”
And a tight lipped smile crept onto her
lips.

They all sat together in a circle,
watching each other. She looked around and spotted where the voice
originated from, but a clear view was obstructed by a mass of
people crowding around like spectators in an arena. Sarah could
hear Connor’s deep voice talking, but she sat too far away to hear
precisely what he said.

The group had a quit all
conversations. “Did I just hear someone call someone a sheep?”
Jillian asked confused. “Is that some kind of nickname?”

“Is anyone that childish?” Jack looked
down and asked his mate.

“That’s Connor’s old nickname that the
students offered him unjustly.” Mark explained to everyone, looking
outright angry. His fists were clenched tight and his knuckles
stood pure white in the blue contrast to the pulsating
veins.

The look on Jenny’s face was that of
torment and rage. Apparently this seemed to be the first time she
has heard that nickname for her son. Also Connor’s grandparents had
the same look on their faces as their daughter did.

Kara was the first of them to abruptly
stand. Her face flushed red with anger and her voice seethed cold
rage. “I hope Brother throttles him!” She stormed away towards the
crowd and suddenly vanished within the wall of bodies. Mark
instantly took off after her, looking ready to throttle someone
himself.

“Who would try to pick a fight with
him? He’s so big…” Jillian asked and everyone turned to look at
Sarah for an explanation.

“That would be Mathew.” she sighed.
“He would be the student who made me fall off the desk. Connor was
the one who caught me and scared him off.” Sarah looked at her
parents meaningfully.

“When did all this happen?” Jenny
looked at Sarah and it struck her that they didn’t tell anyone
besides her parents. And astonishingly, Kara kept the
secret.

“Two months ago.” Sarah turned to
David and Rhoda. “Also on the last day of school we had a carnival
and during some games, Connor held off seven people in a game of
tug of war all by himself. Then Connor, with Mark’s help, pulled
Mathew into the mud pit! Everyone laughed at Connor’s tormenters.”
and David’s smiled in satisfaction and a moment later it
vanished.

“I say we should see what all the
commotion is about!” Jack stated, standing up. The party followed
wearing expressionless masks on their faces.

Sarah stood up and walked in front and
pushed her way through the crowd. It took longer than she thought
to make it to the front, but only a few seconds passed in reality.
She was elbowed and had her foot stomped on twice. As she pushed
her way in Sarah felt the bond with Connor tell her that he wasn’t
afraid, but the danger was real. Since her stature wasn’t large she
used it to an advantage to slip closer till she reached the front
of the crowd.

It took only a moment to clearly see
the two combatants. Her knight was crouched in his battle stance,
back arched and arms slightly spread to react to a variety of
outcomes while his legs bent slightly, ready to leap. His fists
were tightly clenched enough to show that his knuckles were white.
Connor’s eyes remained focused an unwavering on the enemy while his
neck and jaw muscled bulged and flexed.

Mathew stood not far away wearing an
evil smile while he held up something up in his hand and pointed it
directly at her husband. Sarah heard the tail end of the
conversation. “…to equalize the game.” She finally made her way
completely to the front line and could finally see everything, it
all happened within an instant.

Connor quickly glanced at his sides
and didn’t sidestep knowing that someone else could possibly get
hurt. Instead he crouched down even more and she could see the
extraordinary muscles in his legs bunching up beneath the pants,
ready to be unleashed. He knew they had to hold onto their secret
so he did everything at his human speed. As Connor sprang forward
at him, head on in a tackling manner, Sarah finally processed what
Mathew held towards her love.

The stun gun in Mathew’s
hand shot two needlelike electrodes and what looked like confetti
directly at Connor. Both of the barbed electrodes pierced into his
chest and flesh. As Sarah heard the diabolical
Click, Click, Click
of the stun gun
sending the electricity through the cables she saw Connor crumple
to the ground hard. He smashed face first on the concrete as his
momentum looked to make the fall even worse. Mathew held the
trigger of the weapon and she heard it continuous clicking. Connor
started convulsing involuntarily due to the electric current
coursing inside his body. Connor couldn’t do anything at all as he
was being shocked and kicked in the ribs by Mathew.

“CONNOR!” Sarah shouted, but she
couldn’t even hear her own voice over the roar of the crowd’s anger
and outrage.

She tried leaping to Connor to see if
she could help, but thick, fat arms wrapped around her neck in a
choke hold. A menacing voice in her ear said “Stay where you are
traitor! This is the punishment that has been coming to that cocky
freak for a long time now.” Sarah tried turning her head to see who
held her and froze when she finally got a good look at the person.
It was her colleague. The morbidly obese and balding Mr.
V.