Walt looked around as everyone left his classroom. It always struck him that not once, not once one would stop to ask him a question. No-one, never. Which always led him to conclude that his lesson had been not only unnecessary, but also painful. He felt no less like he was keeping a bunch of hungry wild dogs in a cage cell, and at last opening the door to make them feed.
'Feed on what they appreciate, what they understand' he thought, thereafter 'I would be bored too if I had to attend to something I hated. But how can somebody hate this?'
Thinking about his own purpose as a teacher, he mindlessly headed for the school's courtyard, when he overheard a heated conversation going on. Stopping under the buttress, he tried to take a peak, and saw his nephew Theodore, back almost stretched to the wall, facing four tall guys in football uniform.
"How the fuck are we supposed to beat them now, uh? You tell us! Who should we get to play? Your crippled cousin?"
"First of all, you shut your fucking mouth or I'll knock your head off! You can get Winston to play, does it make a difference?! Thought this was your one-man team!"
"Nobody's giving us a spare chance to get to the finals, Schrader! Who gives a shit about your test!"
Knowing how that was going to end, Walt started to think. He was going to call the school principal, but feared that, by the time they arrived, it would've been too late.
"As a matter of fact, I give a shit! So much that I'm studying for it! And even if you make me play, I'm going to study anyway, so I wouldn't even be trained enough! I'd be useless!"
"Guys, his father's a cop. Thinks he's gonna get away with this, no matter what!"
"Worse than that, a fed! If we don't stop harassing him, he'll have him arrest us for a joint of weed!"
"What if we fill his pockets with it? What's he gonna do, then, huh, Teddy? You're the one getting jailed!"
"You're the one getting fucked up!"
"Really? See nobody backing you."
"Wait for it. After school"
Everybody laughed and they started to approach him. At that point, Walt couldn't indulge anymore. He couldn't disappoint him, so he took a stance and intervened.
"You're all suspended" he stated, plainly, suddenly coming at his side.
"What? Everyone except him? He threatened us!" the tallest opposed, taking a step forward.
"Chris, he's his nephew" one of them warned.
"So what?! He said he's going to meet us after school with a bunch of his folks! How does he not get a punishment for that?!" Chris insisted adamantly.
"That's not my concern, but as long as you're here, you're bound by school rules. After the bell rings, you can go and do whatever you want. Now, it is my understanding you were going to strike him, here, together in the school courtyard. Plus, four against one? And I thought football relied on fairness. That's shameful, really. I know all your names and I'm going to talk to principal Molina about your behavior as soon as I can"
Theo's smirk couldn't be more glaring. One by one, they left the school courtyard and went back inside.
"I'm speechless. Can I even thank you enough? Anything I can do for you"
"Uhm, yeah, what about: don't fight after school?"
Theo's smirk turned dimmer.
"Are you devoid of common sense? You think I can hear you say something like that and just let you off like nothing happened?" he scolded him, raising his hands " What's your father going to say?"
"My old man used to do much better, back in the day. He would've taken them all on his own. And won" Theo shrugged, in a prideful yet sarcastic tone "I mean, they cornered me!"
"What difference does that make? You're going to repeat all his mistakes just... well, just because? You're way better than that"
"I suppose that's true" Theodore admitted, lowering his head "About that... I was going to tell you later and still don't really know how to say it, but... I'm sorry about last evening. I know that things just didn't roll out the way you wanted them to. He acted like a complete asshole the whole time. The gun, the toast... everything. I would've stopped him, if I could."
Walt gulped. He knew, had he said the wrong words, he would've got in a bear trap. But he had already dealt with this.
"That's not your fault. If there are apologies to make, I don't expect them coming from you. There's no use discussing it"
"He's not going to apologise!" Theo asserted, irritated "It's up to you, if you want to tell him off or not. Or maybe I cou-"
"For the love of God, don't say anything!" Walt yelled, inadvertently provoking an echo.
Theo looked at him, dumbfounded, not batting an eyelid.
"Why the hell not? It was your birthday party and he fucking acted as he owned the place!"
Walt did not reply. He stood silent, before him, just letting him accostum to his disappointment.
"Ah, and don't film the crime scene if it bothers you, I'll talk to Jr. Would you mind explaining that to me, at least? What's with you, lately? Does aunt Skyler know? Does Walt Jr know?"
"No, and if we're ever going to talk about it, it's not going to be here. Alright? Go back to wherever you need to go"
Theo's astonishment grew further.
"I just wanted to know what's the matter with you, uncle. It's your loss if you don't tell anyone" he mumbled, as he turned to go inside "You know you can always count on me"
Walt held onto his sweater as he left, turning his back and facing the wall he had been stretched on.