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─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
"okay, everybody fall in." johnny ordered as he stepped into the main room. he noticed there were fewer people, "where is everyone? crater face? nose ring? slingshot?"
"they quit, sensei." miguel explained.
"something about being threatened more here, than at school." gioia mumbled.
"are you serious?" johnny sighed, "i mean, good. that was a test. i wanted to see who the quitters are. not you guys. you're in it to win it. right, you could be at home, playing your icomputers, playing your video games, eating candy."
"icomputers?" miguel whispered to gioia.
"i do not know. he is old, yeah?" was her reply.
"instead you're here, doing pushups, learning how to fight." he then pointed at eli, "lip. look. even lips's tougher than those guys. he's no quitter."
"could you please not call me that?" eli said very quietly.
"excuse me, what?" johnny's face scrunched up.
"i-i said, could you please not call me that." the boy spoke louder.
"um, i'll warm 'em up, sensei." miguel stepped forward, wanting to change the subject.
johnny refused, "no, no, no. lip has something he wants to say."
"are you sure? i do not think i heard him say anything." gioia chuckled, nervously.
"zip it, sushi." he silenced her lie and trotted over to the boy, "sorry, speak up, lip. or is your tongue messed-up too? are you one of those challenged kids?"
"um, the doctor said i... could be on the spectrum," eli confessed.
"i don't know what that is, but get off it pronto, all right?" johnny demanded, "if you don't want me to call you lip, then don't have a weird lip. can't you get surgery for that?"
"i was born with a cleft lip." the timid boy explained, "this is the scar from the surgery."
"you mean it was worse before that? or did the doctor just screw up?" johnny interrogated.
"sensei-"
"because if this is the after photo, that sucks, man." johnny told him, "you should sue."
"can we just please change the topic?" eli pleaded, clearly uncomfortable.
"you don't think i want to?" johnny inquired, "it's tough when it's right in front of me. if you want to be something other than a nerd with a scar on his lip, then you gotta flip the script."
gioia put her face in her hands and sighed at the man's harsh words.
"okay? get a face tattoo. or gauge your eye out." he suggested, "we'll call you 'patch', all right? no, don't do that one. you'll still look like a freak."
