«Why waste time on someone who won't even remember you in ten years?»

The man straightened up.

«Love is just a collective concept, isn't it? What are we waiting for under the word «love»? Beautiful promises, prickly rose thorns, loud vows, a warm bed, and estrangement in the end?»

Thomas nodded, humming politely, choosing his words.

«Don't you think it's worth looking at from the right angle? You don't think so, do you? Beautiful promises are promises that give a part of the soul. Prickly thorns are part of the beautiful roses, and the bed is warmed by two, without them it is cold. Too many contradictions, Miss Yung. »

The girl chuckled.

«Not for me. You are a literature teacher and you tend to romanticize everything.»

Tom stifled a chuckle, wishing he was still a romantic in her eyes, not the leader of a gang that had hundreds of ruined lives and many times as many broken destinies on its hands.

«What about your passes? Is the issue resolved?»

Lily nodded, passing the answers to the man.

«Well, let's see…» the man raised his thin glasses, through which the paper text was reflected.

The elements were raging outside the window. Rain lashed through the slightly cracked old windows, letting in a biting chill.

On Wednesday afternoon, Thomas was in a hurry to go about his business, but the thought of the student's absence bothered him. What if she had already been killed and thrown into a ditch on the way home? She must have been hitchhiking. Anxiety and curiosity consumed him, and Tom took her personal file from the Director's office, studied it with interest, and went to the right address. No information other than that her father is an attaché and her mother is a homemaker. Address and phone number, that's all.

«Not really,» he said, looking at the report card.

An hour later, he reached a run-down, God-forsaken village and stopped at an old two-story brick-coloured log house. The flimsy door with its cracked and crumbling paint made feel terribly sad, and the iron handle was completely broken. Brown Windows with rotten frames and a small porch with a short roof. Now Tom wanted to go back to his mansion and get rid of the memory of that awful house, if it could still be called home. Shulman knocked politely when he heard a child's screeching and footsteps. The door swung open, and for a moment he thought he was being attacked by a pack of crazy bats, but it was much worse – they were her younger brothers. Three identical boys, about seven years old, circled around Tom, waiting for something delicious, which He brought, serving the boys sweets with liqueur. Shulman didn't say that he didn't like children, but when there were women around him, he preferred to end up in rags or on a sheet. It is better to listen to five minutes of dissatisfaction about a spoiled bed, than to spend a lifetime dissatisfied about how bad the offspring turned out. The children sorted out the candy, shouting a triple «thank you» and giving one each to Thomas and his driver, who returned to the car.

«Where's the sister? Shulman asked, chewing on a piece of candy and looking around the room.

«In the bathroom. What's it? » one of the boys asked, touching the chain on his arm with his fingers, while the others flew up curiously, fiddling with the wide gold braid.

Tom looked slowly at the faded maroon Wallpaper, the whitewashed ceiling, and the broken linoleum. Two sofas, a coffee table and a huge library. A short flight of stairs to the second floor, a beige door, and the silhouette of a girl who came out of the house holding only a white towel. Lily looked down at the children from the railing and gaped when she saw Thomas below.

«Is that you?»

Tom just nodded, beckoning to her, knowing that he was going to give her a good spanking, but she was careful.

«You want to kick my ass? Go ahead!»

«Better fuck you in the ass, then you won't be able to sit in class, but maybe you'll get smarter.» Tom thought, feeling a pleasant shiver run down his back and groin.

It didn't take him long to relax when the living room fell silent and he saw a young girl, wet from the shower, her hair dripping in a light blue cotton house dress. Her brown eyes, framed by wet, curled lashes, fascinated him.

«You've been gone for a week!» The Jew swore, looking at her tired and pale face. «Where the hell have you been? I don't need this certificate!

Thomas scolded her like a little girl who blinks guiltily with her head down.

«Why don't you just calm down and have Breakfast with me? I'll explaineverything. »

«What the fuck? Breakfast? She's laughing at me, mocking me!» Tom drove almost seventy kilometres to get Breakfast? He came here to give her a good spanking, and instead he's sitting in a small kitchen like a fucking family man with three kids and a new wife, eating pancakes with honey. What had he come to? This girl torments him as she wants, and it is he who should torment her on his cock. By the way, which of them is Thomas Shulman?

«Very good, » said Tom, looking at her almost empty plate and washing it down with sweet tea and milk.

He didn't want to talk about business anymore, so they just ate, glancing at each other from time to time.

«When are you going back to College? When will you become an uneducated idiot from a distant village? »

Yung poured iced tea into it and slammed the Cup down on the table. At this point, Tom realized that he had overdone it, and took it all on himself.

«When you stop interfering in my life! »

The Jew almost fell off the chair, barely keeping his fucking balance and wanting to beat her with the same chair, enraged by what was happening, by the arrogance of a girl who swore never to help or do well, who always came out of it sideways, shaking sweet drops from her beard. Lily was already regretting what she'd done a hundred times when she handed Shulman a towel to wipe his irritated face. If it had been anyone else, he probably wouldn't have held back, but Lily had been on his mind for the past month. The ringing in his ears was getting louder, and it was getting harder for Thomas to keep his composure.

«If I don't see you in class on Tuesday, we will do our best to have you kicked out of College with a kick up the back side! Is this point clear?»

Thomas tossed her a tea-soaked towel, put on his coat, and headed for the hall.

«You're evil! Lily will never leave us! » One of the boys violently grabbed the Jew by the hip, striking him lightly with his fists. «Dad left us! And you're bad, too! »

Lily turned to the window, looking out at the may greenery. Tom stroked the boy's fair head, wondering at the little protector, knowing that he was mistaken. But it was too late to move, and Shulman silently left the house, closing the door guiltily behind him.

A group of Pakistani were waiting for Thomas in the pub, and they demanded that he lower the prices for the supply and sale of alcohol.

«Suck my circumcised fucking penis! Do I look like a bitch who gives her ass to every dog?» he asked, looking back at a black-haired, dark-skinned jerk with the same black eyes and soul named Safar, the leader of the loonies in the Pakistani quarter. «Well, hell, no discounts for you and your buddies, man!»

Tom wasn't going to bust his ass to have these fools refuse to pay his bills. You see, things are going very badly for them.

«Thomas, you are a reasonable person. Why do you need all this trouble?» The leader put his brown flat paws on the man's polished oak Desk and looked him in the eye with disdain.

Today was not a good day for Thomas, so he was in a bad mood and frankly angry.

«Don't you dare, do you hear? Don't look down on me, you damned, » the Jew's voice was more like the warning growl of a wild beast.