Alejandro's Hombre

Ch. 14: The Tanutchais

"we won't be able to identify the person who drop this ice bucket in front of your gates, Ma'am. kahit isailalim pa natin ito sa editing, pixelated images na lang ang makukuha natin dahil sa sobrang dilim ng paligid." paliwanag ng MPPD officer sa kanila matapos nitong tingnan ang footages ng CCTV. "and based on the loud bang heard on the background, it's  confirmed that the surveillance camera attached to your gate was shot from a distance, dahilan upang dumilim ang paligid ng property. and the light from the motorbike is not of help, either."

"the person is wearing an all black ensemble, so he/she blended in the Dark of the night." dagdag pa ng isang opisyal. "we can't identify who that was."

"Angelus Mortis." Khairie said.

"Sir?"

"the person who sent that to my cousin calls him or herself Angelus Mortis." he said, giving the people around the living room a bored look. kanina pa nya gustong sapakin ang inutil nyang kamag-anak. malakas ang kutob nya na may kabalbalan na naman itong ginawa. "that's a Latin word for the angel of death."

The police nodded.

"Sir, wala po ba talaga kayong pinaghihinalaan na maaaring gumawa nito sa inyo?" tanong ng opisyal sa pinsan nyang aligaga na tila ba sinusurot sa upuan nito. "this is a serious kind of threat, you shouldn't take this lightly. tell us something Sir, so we could have our person of interest. pwede po natin silang ipatawag for questioning."

Patrick remained silent, lalo pa at kakauwi lang ng kanilang Lola galing sa isang convention sa New York. the matriarch sit there like a marble statue, not saying anything---yet. but Khairie could feel his cousin's wrecking nerves even where he's sitting.

"we will bring this amputated hand for cross examination. we have an incident just this day about a drive by shoot out, and one of the victim----His hand got severed. They're involved in the illegal drug trade." one of the officers said, giving Patrick a dubious look. ang pinsan nya naman, nag-iwas lang ng tingin. Khairie just observed them. this is getting interesting.

" are you saying that my grandson is involved in illegal drugs trade, officer?" their grandmother finally spoke. nang-aarok na tiningnan nito ang pulis. "hindi ba't pambibintang yan? you're not supposed to do that, you're suppose to be fair."

"Ma'am, pasensya na po kung ganyan ang pagkaka-unawa nyo sa sinabi ko." the officer said. "no one is accusing anyone here, I'm sorry. that's why we're urging your grandson to cooperate with us, para matukoy namin ang mga nasa likod nito."

"magsalita ka, Patrick. cooperate with the police kung wala ka talagang kabulastugang ginawa." wika ni Khairie sa kadugo nyang parang na-stapler ang bibig. Patrick keeps fidgeting his hands, both his legs are shaking. "the more silent you are, the guiltier you look."

"Khairie June." it's his grandma. Khairie on the other hand just shrug his shoulders and did not speak further. as if he's intimidated with this old grunion's warning tone. He just rolled his eyes and turn away.

the two-way radio of the police officers resonated and one of them answered it. The two officers nodded at each other and stood up.

"we'll bring the ice bucket with us. and Sir," the police called on to his cousin who still had his head bowed, refusing to even give them a glance. "I hope you'd cooperate with us for the investigation. you can dial our hotline number of you're ready to talk. we'll be going, good day to you."

Shiro showed them the way out of the Mansion. Khairie motioned his hand and all of their household helpers fleed the living room area. they knew what is about to happen.

"it's not enough that you have been useless all this time, you brought in yet another set of mischief in our household." Matilda Infantes Tanutchai said sternly, looking with utter disappointment at her grandson. "don't you have anything good left in you, Patrick Daniel? puro kahihiyan na lang ba talaga ang kaya mong dalhin dito sa pamamahay ko?"