The Judge of Hell is My Phone Pal

Chapter 14 Scarper Punk!

Ivan returned to the office. Mr. Green had arranged to take the afternoon off to deal with some personal matters.

Sitting alone in the office, Ivan lit a cigarette and began flipping through one of Mr. Green’s textbooks. After attending Mr. Green’s lecture that morning, he had developed a deep interest in English literature.

Someone knocked on the door. Ivan put out his cigarette and called for them to come in. The door was pushed open and a curly-haired boy sneaked a look around the room as he stood in the doorway.

"Sam Lawrence, what a surprise. Come in."

Sam entered the office with a devious smile on his face, “Mr. Frank, are you busy?"

Ivan looked at him, “How can I help you?”

Sam took a note out from his pocket and handed it to Ivan, "Mr. Frank, I'm here to give you a written request for leave."

"You want to ask for a leave?" Ivan asked as he glanced at the note.

“No, not me. Its Gino. He has some family business."

"Why didn't he come himself?"

Sam scratched his head. "I don't know, Mr. Frank. Anyway, that’s his request.”

As Sam turned to leave, Ivan called him back, "Sam, are you close to Gino?"

"I get along well with all my classmates, Mr. Frank, not just Gino. I love making friends."

Sam's eyes narrowed.

What a devious little snake this lad was!

"Sam, it's good to make friends, but not to help them do bad things, okay?" Ivan warned.

Sam winked, "Yes, Mr. Frank, I understand. Anything else?"

"No."

“See you then."

Ivan smiled as he looked at the written request. Gino would be taking two days off. His handwriting was awful! Afternoon lessons were due to begin, so Ivan left the request on his desk and set off for the classroom.

Looking through the classroom window, he saw that all the students were present except for Gino….

Wait a minute. Where was Demi?

He entered the classroom and pointed at the empty seat, "Sam, where's Demi?"

Sam, who had been whispering to the boy next to him, stood up, "I don't know, Mr. Frank. She didn't ask me to bring you a leave request. She lives on campus. Isn't she in her dormitory? Perhaps, she went for a lie down and fell asleep."

Ivan found the constant sly smile on Sam’s face extremely irritating!

"Who shares the dormitory with Demi?" Ivan asked, and looked around the classroom.

"Mr. Frank, she is the only border in the class,” someone responded.

When the teacher due to take the next lesson arrived, Ivan stood outside the classroom for a while, but there was no sign of Demi.

Back in his office, he checked the student files and found Demi's mobile number. He tried it, but Demi had turned her phone off.

Ivan cursed in his heart.

What an annoying class! He had just finished dealing with Gino, and now Demi had gone missing. It appeared that one of his students had skipped classes for no reason. As their form teacher, Ivan couldn't ignore it.

He rushed to Demi’s dormitory.

Located behind the teaching building, the school dormitories were surrounded by a red brick wall with a gate in the middle. Students who weren't local lived here. There were two buildings, one for boys and the other for girls.

Ivan passed through the gate, and following the signs, went straight to the girls’ dormitory. As soon as he pushed the door open an officious-looking woman in her fifties emerged from the security office, “ Hey. What do you want?"

Ivan gave her a friendly smile and hurriedly explained, “I’m the Grade 2, Class 3 form teacher. My name is Ivan Frank. Demi Randall has skipped classes this afternoon and I’ve come to see if she’s here."

"Oh, so you’re the new Class 3 form teacher we’ve heard so much about!" The supervisor looked Ivan up and down.

Ivan took out his identity card and handed it to her.

After checking Ivan’s identity, the supervisor informed him, "Demi isn’t in the dormitory. She just left."

"Where was she going?"

"I assumed she was going to class. She was carrying her schoolbag."

"What?" Ivan was shocked. "Madam, are you sure she was heading for the school building?"

After giving it a little thought, the supervisor shook her head, "No, come to think of it she was going towards the school gate.”

Ivan went straight to the school gate. Eric was standing outside reception and staring into the busy street where a man and woman were quarreling.

Ivan stopped and asked, "Eric, have you seen Demi Randall go out?"

"What? You’ve lost a student?” Eric asked with a smile.

Ivan was in no mood for idle chatter, “Have you seen her or not?"

“Yes, I saw her leave a short while ago."

"She should be in lessons. Why didn't you stop her?" Ivan asked, showing his displeasure.

"She told me she had a stomach ache and was going to see a doctor,” Ivan replied, “How could I stop her. I couldn’t exactly give her a medical check myself?"

Ivan really wanted to punch this disrespectful guy.

How could a security guard be so incompetent?

Suppressing his anger, he asked, "Eric, in which direction did she go?"

“To the left, that way," Eric pointed down the street.

"Thank you.”

Ivan walked out of the school gate and sprinted left.

There were a lot of new buildings here, some advertised for sale and some still under construction. After searching for a long time, he still hadn’t found Demi.

She can’t have got far if she was on foot. Maybe Eric told him the wrong direction.

Ivan muttered to himself as he surveyed the street, checking all the buildings. He looked at his watch. The first lesson was almost over. People walking up and down the street looked carefree in the autumn sunshine. Only Ivan was sweating with worry.

Forget it. He might as well give up.

Anger surged inside him.

He’d never even put in so much effort looking for his girlfriend! Such an undisciplined student must be punished severely when she returned to school.

Ivan turned around and was about to leave when he had second thoughts.

No, he couldn’t leave. As a form teacher, he was responsible for his students. What if Demi had an accident, how would he explain it to Ailsa? Maybe Demi was in danger. He must find her!

Ivan took out his phone and pointed it at one of the buildings, "Andy, please help me find Demi."

He was just about to press the buttons when he saw a girl run from one of the apartment blocks. She was being chased by two burly men who caught up with her and grabbed her arms, intending to drag her back to the building. The girl struggled and one of them slapped her.

Seeing it was Demi, Ivan quickly put the phone back in his pocket and ran over.

The two men had pulled Demi to the door to the apartments when Ivan yelled out, "Stop. Let go of her."

Looking up, Demi saw him, “Mr. Frank, please help me!”

With buzzcuts, both the thugs wore black vests and were adorned with tattoos and gold jewelry. They were obviously gangsters. The larger of the two glared at Ivan, "Who the f**k are you? Mind your own business. Scarper punk!"

Ivan stepped forward, "I’m her teacher. Let her go."

“Teacher?”

The well-built thug looked Ivan up and down, "f**k off back to school. This has nothing to do with you."

"Let go of her and we’ll talk,” Ivan reasoned.

"Demi, is he really your teacher?" the man asked.

Demi nodded.

The thug grinned at Ivan, "Okay. Since you want to save her, I will tell you what this is about. This girl owes us money. If she doesn’t pay us, she has to sleep with us both."

Demi winced as he stroked her face.

“f**k off. I owe you nothing. You cheated me," Demi protested as she cringed and shrunk away from him.

"My ass! If you don't pay up today, you have to let me have my fun with you. If you refuse, I’ll ruin your pretty little face."

The thug reached out in anger to hit Demi again.

"Stop," Ivan yelled immediately, "You say she owes you money. Do you have proof? It's illegal to kidnap someone off the street. If you dare hit her again, I'll call the police."

Ivan took out the phone.

The man glanced at Ivan and took a note from his pocket, "Here’s your evidence."

“Let me see.”

The thug slapped the note in Ivan's hand. It was a payment contract for $10,000. The specific product was not stated, but it was clear that the agreed payment had not been met. Demi's signature was on the bottom.

"See? She took our goods but now refuses to pay the bill. She wants to cheat us. If she doesn't pay the bill today, she won’t be going anywhere,” the thug threatened.

"Demi, is that true?" Ivan asked, looking at Demi.

"Yes, I signed the agreement, but the goods were fake and shoddy. I was conned. Why should I pay for them?" Demi shouted.

"You f*****g liar. I’ll skin you alive!” The fat man reached for Demi's throat.

Ivan dashed forward and grabbed his wrist, at which the thug reached for a cosh attached to his belt.

Ivan immediately grabbed the man’s other wrist, "Look, guys, let her go. If what you say is true, I will give you the money."

"You’ll give us money? Are you her boyfriend?" The thug squinted at Ivan.

Ivan shook his head, "No, I am her teacher. If you don't believe me, you can come with us to Cincinnati High School to check. My name is Ivan Frank, I am Demi’s form teacher. I’m warning you, kidnapping and assault of a minor is an offense and is punishable by imprisonment."

The smaller gangster approached his pal. He looked worried, "Dude, what should we do?"