The Flower's Sunshine (Fitzmael 4)

24: Dead End

ILANG ARAW ANG lumipas at parang feel at home na masyado si Cedar sa unit namin. Gusto ko sanang sumama kina Zius pero hindi pa magaling ang aking mga sugat. Ang sabi niya ay nagpaplano na sila kung paano hulihin ang mga drug lords.

"Hindi ka ba uuwi sa inyo?" tanong ko kay Cedar.

He immediately shook his head. "Bakit ako uuwi, eh nandito ka?"

Biglang uminit ang aking pisngi. Hindi ko maiwasang 'di mapangiti sa sinabi niya. "You should work, Broom. Baka next week mag-ta-trabaho na rin ako."

Dahan-dahan siyang tumango. "Kailan naman kita makikita ulit?" malungkot niyang tanong sa akin.

I shrugged. "Maybe after a year or two?"

He sighed.

"But we can FaceTime each other," sabi ko saka malawak na ngumisi.

Nakita ko ang pagkislap ng kanyang mga mata. "Really?"

I nodded. "Ayaw mo ba?"

"Gusto!" sabi niya saka napahiyaw. Niyakap niya ako pero hindi 'yon mahigpit. Hindi naman 'yon masakit dahil maingat naman siya. "Gustong gusto!" dagdag niya.

Hindi ko maintindihan ang aking sarili. Galit pa rin ako sa kanya at hindi pa ako nakakaahon sa lungkot ng nakaraan. Pero hindi ko kaya... Hindi ko kayang hindi siya makausap sa mga susunod na taon.

"I love you, sunshine. You won't regret this," aniya.

HINDI NGA AKO nabigo. Kahit sobrang nagging abala kami ni Cedar sa kanya-kanya naming buhay at palagi pa rin kaming nag-uusap. Kahit minsan sobrang ikli lang ng oras nang pag-uusap namin dahil parehas kaming pagod, alam kong ginagawa niya ang makakaya niya para bumawi sa

But it only lasted for a year. In that year, we managed to infiltrate the drug cartel and capture one of them. Our mission became my priority. We were almost there. Then I ghosted him. The following year, we were planning to capture the remaining two. The plan was successful. But our mission was not yet over.

I missed Cedar. And I was aware that Zius missed Lilac too. Hindi ko nga lang siya tinatanong dahil alam kong ayaw niyang pag-usapan namin 'yon. Alam ko kung ano ang tumatakbo sa utak ni Zius. Hindi naman na niya mababalik ang panahon nila ni Lilac kaya wala ring silbi kung sasabihin niya sa akin.

I'VE BEEN WAITING for this moment. We've been doing this for six whole years. Zius and I's lives were on hold because of this. I was hoping that maybe... When we capture them all, I will be able to move on. It just felt like we were playing hide and seek for those years, and when I thought we already had justice...

A bomb suddenly dropped, and we're back to square one.

"Apat kami. Pero hindi namin kilala ang isa dahil lagi siyang wala at sa phone lang namin nakakausap. He's the brain of the operation," Raul, one of the drug lords, said after Hunter threatened to kill his family.

It was a dead end for us. We captured the three of them, but no one knows the other one. We tried to investigate more, but this guy loves hiding. It seems like he didn't exist. This guy must be dangerous, and we have no idea who he is.

Our parents only wrote twelve names, and little did we know that there was a thirteenth member. We had no idea.