Chapter 68: Hardin

                                    

                                          
It's been four hours in the sky, and it's been fucking miserable. I've slept for about an hour, but this kid behind me keeps kicking my seat aggressively. I look over at Tessa every ten minutes, and she's been sleeping this whole time so far. Lucky. I am bored out of my fucking mind, and I've done all the work I need to for the next few weeks, plus I watched a whole movie about superheroes I don't even know the names of. Every time I close my eyes, this delinquent just kicks my seat. Isn't there a parent back there that would reprimand a child for this?
                          
I can't take it anymore. I get up and turn around quickly, slamming my hands on the top of my seat. The kid who is responsible for kicking the back of my seat has to be ten at most, and his mother is sitting next to him. She's reading a magazine, completely oblivious to what her son's doing.
                          
"Hey, can you stop kicking the back of my chair?" I ask nicely.
                          
He smiles before kicking my chair again. "No, I can't."
                          
What the fuck? Who raised this kid?
                          
"Listen, it's gonna be a long flight. Please stop kicking my chair." 
                          
"Nope." 
                          
I am not the one to tattle tale, but this kid needs to be put in his place. "Excuse me, ma'am." I reach my hand over and wave it in front of this woman's face. 
                          
"What?"
                          
"Can you tell your kid to stop kicking my seat?"
                          
She sighs loudly. "Henry, stop kicking his seat."
                          
"No!" The demon child yells back. She looks back at me and shrugs before returning to her PEOPLE magazine. My patience is being worn thin, but I have to remind myself that this is just a child that isn't at fault for his shitty parent who obviously doesn't give a fuck what he does. I look back over at Tessa to make sure she's still sleeping, and thankfully she is. I'm gonna use this opportunity to teach this kid a lesson.
                          
I get up from my seat and kneel in the middle of the isle. "Why are you being so disrespectful to me when you don't even know me?"
                          
"Because I can."
                          
"Says who?" 
                          
He definitely wasn't expecting me to ask him that, so he just shrugs. "I don't get told I can't."
                          
I grab the back of his seat and begin shaking it. "How does this feel?"
                          
"Hey!" He shouts. "Stop!" He shoves my hand off the seat.
                          
"Not so fun huh? So what if I didn't listen to you and kept doing it even though you asked me to stop?"
                          
He sighs loudly, just like his mum did a minute ago. "I would be mad."
                          
"Look, I'm gonna tell you something. You're just a kid, so you can get by with acting like a brat, but in the real world, people don't like someone who purposefully does things to make others mad." I look back over at his mum, who hasn't even noticed the fact that a random stranger is talking to her young child. "Does your mum ever tell you no?"
                          
"No, she doesn't."
                          
I can't believe I'm doing this lady a favor by teaching her children proper manners. "Well, have you ever heard of manners?"
                          
"No."
                          
"How old are you?"
                          
He holds up seven fingers.
                          
"Well, manners are very important. It's like when you say thank you after someone does something nice for you, or saying please when you want something, or stopping when a stranger tells you to stop kicking their chair." He looks like he's actually processing what I'm saying, which is surprising. "My mum used to say 'treat people the way you want to be treated', so don't you think you shouldn't kick people's chairs if you don't like having your chair kicked?"