“Chill out.” He looked at me with his hard demeanor fading. He stood up and walked to the other side of my desk, taking a seat in the chair across from mine.
“Things are going to change at Grantham University.” I took a seat in my chair and glared at him. “It’s time for someone to clean this place up.”
“The only thing you clean up is the shit in your pants.” He folded his arms. “You can’t do anything to me—I’m fucking untouchable. Do you know who my father is?”
“Honestly?” I shrugged. “I don’t give a shit. You’re suspended.”
“You can’t do that.” He shook his head back and forth. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You disrespected me, you disobeyed me, you even tried to hack my computer.” I motioned to the screen in front of me.
“What the fuck?” He shook his head again. “You’re delusional.”
“And of course—the fucking profanity. I think three days at home sitting on your ass would do you a world of good.” I picked up one of the discipline slips that hadn’t been touched in so long they had dust on them.
“My father will hear about this. He’s going to fuck you up, Mr. Thorne. You don’t know what fuck you just did!” Braden’s voice got louder and he stood to his feet. “Or maybe I’ll just fuck you up myself.”
“Take a swing.” I stood up and put my fists on the desk. “You won’t be walking out of this school, you’ll be going straight through the window.” I motioned to the window next to my desk.
“You know what—fuck you. I’ll let my father deal with you.” He sneered at me and started walking towards the door. “You’re fucked, Mr. Thorne.”
It wasn’t over with Braden. I knew he would send his father to the school to deal with me, and I was fine with that. My brother cowered in fear of the students and their families, but I wasn’t going to do that. It had brought him nothing but torment. Braden was just the warning shot, but the warning shot did the job just fine. I followed him into the hallway and watched as he exited the school. The second I turned towards the group that was still huddled around their locker, they broke rank and started scurrying towards their classes.
By midday, word seemed to have spread around the school. Teachers that passed me no longer looked at their feet and picked up their pace—they actually nodded to me. A few of them even smiled. After lunch, they started sending a few students my way for discipline issues. I spent time reading through the handbook, trying to figure out exactly what I could do to them. Some of them got suspended, some of them got in-school suspension, and a few of them got detention. By the end of the day, I was exhausted and my eyes were heavy.
“Mr. Thorne!” I heard a voice echo through the front office as the last bell rang.
“Yeah?” I walked out of my office and looked towards the door where I saw a man in a suit glaring at me.
“What the hell did you do to my son?” He nodded to his left and I saw Braden with a smile on his face.
“I suspended him.” I took a step towards the duo. “He was acting like an asshole.”
“Do you know how much money I donate to this school? Do you know how much of your salary I pay?” His face flushed with rage as he spoke.
“Money got your son into this school—it doesn’t mean he runs it.” I took another step towards them.
“He can do whatever the fuck he wants as long as he’s not at home. You’re supposed to give him a diploma and send him to college.” He put his hands on his hips.
“So he doesn’t have to earn it?” I raised my eyebrows.
“He’ll be running my company one day, so if he wants to run the school in the interim—so be it.” He took a step towards me.
“Sorry, it doesn’t work that way—not anymore.” I shook my head back and forth. “Your son can come back to school in three days. If he’s respectful and does what he’s supposed to do, he can earn his diploma.”
“Let me tell you how this going to go.” He took a step forward and poked me in the chest with his finger. “You’re going to apologize to Braden, you’re going to tell him that you’re sorry for disrespecting him, and then you’re going to beg me not to call the school board to report this misunderstanding.”
“I would advise you to take a step back.” My blood was boiling, but I tried to keep my cool.
“Or what?” He poked me in the chest again.
I grabbed his finger in my right hand before he could drive it into my sternum a third time. I tightened my grip and twisted it. His eyes opened wide with shock as the pain shot through his body. I pushed his finger backwards towards his hand until his knees went weak and his lip started to tremble. He tried to get away from me, pulling against my grip with all of his might, but I had him firmly in my control. He tried to swing with his other hand, but I pushed his finger further which caused his fist to drop in midair as he fell to his knees.
Braden took a step back, afraid to even step up and save his father from what was happening. I locked my eyes on him as his father whimpered in my grasp. His father was his hope—the one thing he relied on when he got in over his head. I watched that hope fade from Braden’s eyes. I had asserted my dominance and that was the clear message I needed him to walk away from the encounter with. I looked down at the man whimpering on the floor, twisting his finger a little more to bring a cry of agony from him before I finally released it.
“Your son is suspended.” I adjusted my jacket and walked back towards my office.
Chapter 4: Bethany