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PROLOGUE “Come on, baby Nic, choose which one you like,” the sweet voice of a lady cooed the 2-year-old in her arms, hoisting him up so that he can point out his favorite toy. 2-year-old Nicholas Tse stretched his arm high up to the black sleek Ferrari control-car toy that stood out impeccably striking on the shelves. “You like this one?” Debbie, his mommy took down the toy for him, “You’ve got good taste, Nic boy. You really want this car?” she asked the little one, and he bobbed his head up and down in excitement, while grasping to his toy car tightly. Debbie gave a little laugh, “Will you drive mommy around with this car then? Mommy would really like to sit beside you in this cute little car,” Nic nods his head and smiles at his Mommy. She couldn’t help but smile back warmly and kissed her son’s cheek, “Okay, we’ll take this one then!” ~ZAP! ~ “Come here, you bitch!!! You good for nothing whore!!!” Johnston, the bulky man bellowed as he drags Debbie Li across the room. She yelped in pain as he put pressure on his grasp and tugged at her hair forcefully. “I said move!!! You whore, didn’t I asked you to work?! When I said you gotta work, you gotta work!!! No questions raised!!!” Johnston slapped Debbie across the face hard, and a trickle of blood seep out from the corner of her already bruised lips from all the beating she’d endured earlier on. “Mommy!!!” 7-year-old Nicholas cried. Tears flowing nonstop, he pleaded for the men to stop hitting his mother, “Mommy! Mommy! Don’t hit her, please don’t…” he pleas cryingly and tried to get to his mother but was held back by a pair of strong hands on him. He looked up at yet another vicious-looking man, “What do you think you are doing boy?!” the man bellowed. “Please, I want to see my mommy… please…” Nicholas pleaded, tears flowing from his eyes. Without a warning, the big man slapped Nic on the face so hard that the little boy could not take the force of it, and fell to the floor. The big man came over and hit Nic on the back over and over again, making him winced and cry in pain. “Mommy! I want to see mommy! Mommy…” Nic cried again, ignoring the pain from his back. “Please, don’t hurt him!!” Debbie Li yelled when seeing her son being beat up by those men. Johnston pulled her hair back jerkily, “Ahh, your precious son is here. Now, you wouldn’t want any unnecessary bad things to happen to him, would you?” With a flick of his fingers, those men carried Nic over to the balcony and raised him up high. Nicholas screamed in fear, looking down to the 10th floor high building and he cries. “No!!! No, please don’t!!! No, Johnston, please, no! Don’t hurt my son! He’s innocent!” Debbie got down to her knees and cried for help, her eyes pleading. Johnston loomed in front of her small form, “Now, if you’d listen to me earlier on, these…wouldn’t have happened…” Johnston said softly and touched her cheek, making Deborah shrunk further back, “You have such nice and smooth skin. Too bad, Patrick doesn’t have the chance to… stroke it…” his face loomed nearer to her, and she could smell the alcohol breath from him. Debbie gasped, inching away, “Oh no, no, Debbie… Don’t blame it on me. Blame it on your dead dear husband, Patrick, if you would like. If he wasn’t that bad and if he really loves you so much, he wouldn’t have sold you to me for a mere couple of thousands. Look how bad he is. He doesn’t even care about you!” he chuckled menacingly. “You are still young, Debbie…so young, and so pretty… you could make loads of money for me… but of course, I will teach you some nice techniques on how to please a true man like me…” he snickered, and his depraved gaze traveled down her slim body. Licking his lips, he stood up again, “Come, Debbie… tonight you are mine!” Johnston laughed wickedly, and dragged the resisting Debbie into the small filthy room. “Mommy!!! Mommy, no!!!” little Nicholas cried again. Two big and beefy men were holding him firmly, making him unable to break free. He could hear shouts coming from his mother in the room, but he could not see what’s happening to her. He was too young to comprehend things like this but whatever it is, he knew that the bulky man is hurting his mother. He wants to see his mother badly, wants to save his mother, but he can do none of it. And, in saddening state, with his innocence deprived from him, he watched his mother being took down just like that on that night… ~ZAP! ~ “Nanananana! You are a loser! A loser!!!” some boy yelled at Nicholas. “Yeah! And I bet you are a loser son of a bitch! Your mamma is a whore! A whore!” somebody else taunts the rigid Nicholas. “Nic’O! Loser! Loser!” another boy shouts, following by the same jeering and taunting words from his schoolmates at once. 13 years old Nicholas stood rigidly and taut in front of all his schoolmates, facing them squared-off. His fists clenched at his side hearing all those mocking taunts about his mother. He would not allow, anyone at all to hurt his mother. And he certainly would not allow these boys here, who knew nothing at all about his hard life, to make fun of it either. “Loser!” some boy shouted at him and raised his hand to attack Nicholas. Nic immediately dodged the strong fist coming his way. His clenched fist shot up and got the menacing boy standing at the front in his jaw. His notable strength sent the boy flying upward and dropped to the floor, moaning like a little kid. “You are gonna get it!!!” Some other boys came over and tried to grab hold of Nic but he send a kick flying their way, breaking one of the boy’s arm. One boy came over and managed to heave a punch onto Nic’s face, causing his lips to bleed. With a grunt, Nic regained himself and pulled back his arms, landing his fist onto the boy’s stomach, sending him reeling and gasping. “Stop!!!” somebody yelled. Nic and the rest turned toward the sound; it was their headmaster, Mr. Cheng, standing firm on the field, arms resting on his hips, his expression angry. “Stop it right there, all of you!!!” he bellowed. The boy with the broken arm walked slowly to Mr. Cheng, “Mr. Cheng, it’s Nic… h-he… he beat all of us up!” he managed weakly, twisting the story the other way round while starring at Nic with hatred. “Yeah, yeah! He wanted to kill us!” some boy from the crowd muttered. Mr. Cheng’s eyes narrowed at Nicholas. “Nicholas Tse! You caused troubles again!” he said in an angry tone. Nicholas leveled back the stare at the headmaster and kept quiet. He knew it’s useless to say anything. They would never believe him anyway! He always got the blame for things he didn’t do, just like this time. “Why is it that you like to cause troubles?! You never learn and you never know how to apologize! It’s troublesome to keep you! Nicholas Tse, you will be dropped out of this school from today onwards!” Mr. Cheng bellowed. Nic stared at all of them for one last time before picking up his backpack from the floor and walked out of the school without even looking back. The school doesn’t need people like him, and he doesn’t need schools like those. He was never accepted in there anyway. He was never accepted anywhere at all! He was an outcast, a good-for-nothing guy, a trouble-causing fellow… And all these years, he’d learnt life the hard way, and he’d accepted himself for who he is. And that is that, he needs no one! No one, except for his mother. ================= Setting: Wanchai Alley ================= Nic walked down the Wanchai alley, a dark notorious place where ghettos and poor youngsters like him stays. Some drug addicts were smoking pots and weeds in small groups by the corners. And further down the road, he saw some poor soul was being beat up by a bunch of menacing fellows. During his years staying here, he’d gotten use to these scenes pretty much. He reached where he stayed. The building was ramshackle, with worn-out paints peeling on the wall, and a smelly stairway to go with it.
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