Kofy Richmond Mysteries

Chapter 10: The Spotted Band Part II

We found ourselves in Matthew's hostel room where he served us very small juice boxes. One of Max TV's Filipino telenovelas was playing on his television - you know, the kind of show which is watched by everyone I know but not me... because I'm cool.

Jordan, Rynn and I were seated on the bed. Matthew was curled up in the corner with a block of ice on his nose.

"I'm really sorry for breaking your nose." Rynn said.

"Oh, it's okay, Miss." Matthew said, putting the ice pack back on his nose right after the last word.

Jordan gave a sharp shake of the head and a look of disapproval to his brother.

Matthew slowly let down the ice pack with a look of comprehension mixed with confusion. "I mean, it's okay... Sir."

This time, both Jordan and I shook our heads.

"Yeah, we're even." Rynn said.

We continued to sit in silence till I asked for a third juice box.

"It's one per guest, please." Matthew stated.

"Really?" I asked. "With the income of a drug dealer, I thought you'd be able to afford everything."

"Oh, I can afford it, all right." He said. "I actually don't need to be a drug dealer to afford juice I never drink. I just don't want you to have more than you need to."

"How long have you been a drug dealer?" I asked.

"Always!" He stressed on the word so much, it couldn't go unnoticed.

"He said with a high degree of pride!" Jordan whispered, failing to keep it from our ears.

"I'm kidding." Matthew said. "It's pretty recent. I'd swear tonight was my first time, but you'd know it's a lie. After the incident with Kate, we parted ways."

"She dumped you, didn't she?" Rynn asked.

"I am the one who felt betrayed that she would believe for a second that I would ever take advantage of her." He said, his hand on his chest and everything. "However, you are right: she dumped me. She knew I hated her for what she had done."

"Sometimes, I hate it when I'm right." Rynn said, succeeding in drawing confusion out of all of us.

"Anyway, after the break-up, I felt depressed and fell-in with the wrong crowd."

"It's been what...?" Jordan asked. "... eight weeks since Kofy and I solved the case?"

"It's still long enough for me to have a mid-life crisis or whatever this is."

"Well, we believe the drugs you sold Troy may have had some unforseen effects." I said.

"And you know this for sure based on...?" Matthew asked.

"Do you want to be part of the case or not?"

Matthew thought for a while. (Or at least he tried to make it appear that he was actually considering something, touching his chin with his fingers and looking up at the ceiling in unnecessarily dramatic fashion.) "Okay, what are these unforseen effects?"

Rynn stood and rolled up the sleeves of their sweater.

Matthew was apparently stunned by what he was seeing, frozen in place with the ice pack still pressed against his nose. "Well, this doesn't occur in nature."

"And these spots are everywhere." I added.

"Okay, that's too much info." Matthew said, swiping his back against the wall as he stood with a prolonged groan.