Chapter Text
Air walked home from school with his face flushed and his heart pounding, not daring to look back. He was afraid of the five delinquent boys who had been following him ever since he left the school gates, taking pleasure in insulting him and mocking him. Each one of them seemed to dig out the filthiest words from the swamp within himself while the others laughed in delight, as though none of them had ever received proper upbringing at home.
Air spoke to himself in bitter sorrow: Where are you, Tanah, my brother? Why didn’t you wait so we could go home together? If you were with me now, they wouldn’t dare do this to me.
His heart nearly broke when their mockery reached his parents—those two noble pillars—who also became targets of the fools’ curses. He truly could not understand the mindset of such delinquents. How could a person enjoy hurting another human being? How could they laugh at what they were doing to him while he was on the verge of bursting into tears? Didn’t each of them have parents who taught them values? Hadn’t any of them read the Qur’an to know that God Almighty forbade mocking others, when He said: “O you who believe, let not one group ridicule another; it may be that they are better than them” (Al-Ḥujurāt: 11).
When Air refused to respond to them—and they were longing for him to trade insults with them so their excitement would grow and their pleasure be complete—they became enraged.
One of them ran up to him and grabbed his arm, shouting mockingly, “Hey! Are you deaf? Can’t you hear?”
Air yanked his arm free and continued on his way amid the shouts of the delinquents.
Another stepped forward and blocked Air’s path, standing defiantly before him. Air tried to slip past him to the right or the left, but suddenly found himself trapped in a circle formed by the five boys, who began tossing him back and forth—one shoving him forward, another pushing him back—while their laughter grew louder.
Air tried to break free from their grip, but how could a helpless mosquito escape the web of a powerful spider?
One of them frowned and said, “Why don’t you answer us?”
Air replied nervously, “I can’t utter the kind of words you’re using.”
Another sneered, “Why? Are you mute?”
“No,” Air said quickly, “but my upbringing won’t allow it.”
A third scoffed, “Oh! So you’re well-mannered!”
The five burst into hysterical laughter.
Then the fourth stepped forward and began choking Air with both hands, saying in a terrifying tone, “Defend yourself then… or does your upbringing prevent you from that too?”
Air’s face turned red from suffocation and overwhelming shame as he tried to pry the boy’s hands from his neck amid the frenzy of the others. He had never harmed even an ant in his life—so why were they hurting him?
The fifth came up from behind and slapped Air hard, a blow that burned his face and wounded his dignity.
A tear escaped Air despite himself, and he said in a choked voice, “May God forgive you.”
The delinquents laughed even harder. The one who had slapped him mocked him, imitating his voice: “May God forgive you! That’s because you’re weak and cowardly. If you were really a man, you’d defend yourself.”
One of them snatched Air’s schoolbag, heavy with books, and the strap that held it on his back snapped.
Air cried out through sobs, “My bag! Please… give me my bag!”
“Come and take it,” one of them said.
Air moved toward him and reached out to grab the bag, but the boy hurled it to another. Air rushed after him, and it was thrown to a third…
Air found himself spinning within their circle, tears streaming from his eyes, trapped in a vicious loop.
While they were lost in their cruel delight, enjoying the humiliation of that noble boy, one of them suddenly froze in place. His limbs trembled, and the bag slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.
The other delinquents noticed what had happened to their companion, whose eyes were fixed in terror on a single point behind them…