Page 112 of Once in a Lifetime, Part 2

“Where were you, sweetie?” She froze.

Mano stood in the doorway, clothes streaked with dirt, lip split, hair a mess.

She’d seen him like this before.

She walked to him, her hands hovering before settling on his shoulders. “My sweet boy…”

Mano met her eyes, then looked away. “Auntie...” One hand pressed to his stomach. “I want you to take me somewhere.”

“Where, honey?” Her voice trembled.

The next day, she took him to a boxing gym. The smell hit him first. Sweat. Leather. Fists slammed into heavy bags, bodies collided.

“Are you sure about this, Mano?” she asked.

He didn’t look at her. His gaze stayed on the men. He nodded.

Six Months Later

Mano stepped into the schoolyard. Black track pants. A dark hoodie, despite the mid-May heat.

“That four-day trip to Athens is gonna be wild,” the dark-haired boy said.

“You think the freak’s actually gonna come?”

“No way.”

“We should make sure he doesn’t.”

They spotted him as soon as he stepped into the yard and moved toward him.

“Tell me you’re not thinking of coming on that trip, nerd,” the boy said, slinging an arm around his shoulders.

Mano stumbled into him and a few of them laughed. Then Mano shoved his arm off. The laughter cut off.

The boy’s gaze hardened. “What the hell did you just do?”

Mano met his gaze and didn’t flinch.

The dark-haired boy shoved Mano’s shoulder, a bitter laugh slipping out. “You just shoved me, nerd?”

“You’re dead!” one of them said, as they closed in.

Mano stepped back, his movements slow and calculating, gaze locked on the boy in front of him.

“You’re dead and don’t even know it!”

“You don’t push me ever again, got it?” the leader snapped, his hand already curling into a fist.

He swung. Mano tilted his head just enough for it to miss, then drove his fist straight into the boy’s nose. The boy dropped, clutching his face, a strangled scream tearing out of him.

“What the fuck did you do?” another one lunged.

Mano stepped in and punched him hard across the cheek, sending him to the ground beside the first. The remaining three rushed him at once. Mano moved before they could reach him. He ducked one punch, twisted out of another and drove his fist into someone’s jaw. Another came at him, and Mano swept his legs out from under him. The last one barely got close before Mano’s fist connected.

One by one, they hit the ground.

He stood there, breathing hard, fists still raised. Students had gathered around him, watching. Mano lowered his hands. Someone stepped back when he looked their way. Then another.