Game Over

Chapter 37

Chapter 37

I was stressing... but it's probably nothing. I mean, at the end of the day, it's just work, right? Alam naman siguro nung mga pulis na 'yon na trabaho lang, walang personalan.

But god, this was so stressful! Tuwing pupunta ako sa precinct for work, kinakabahan ako. Hindi ko naman kasalanan na ang dami nilang lapses sa procedure kaya ang daming nadidismiss na kaso. Trabaho nilang manghuli at trabaho ko naman na iensure na na-apply nang maayos iyong batas—at least during the preliminary. The cases wouldn't have been dismissed had they done their due diligence.

"What?" I asked nang mapansin ko na may mga naka-tingin sa akin habang naglalakad ako. It was making me feel so uncomfortable. Parang nagkaroon ng warflashbacks kasi ganito din sa dati kong workplace.

"Nothing," Julia replied.

"Really?" I asked, my brow slightly arched.

Julia grabbed me by my arm tapos ay naglakad kami hanggang sa maka-labas kami. She offered me a stick of cigarette, but I politely declined. Lui and I made a deal na hindi na kami maninigarilyo pareho. I'd been so good! Kahit parang mababaliw ako kasi sobrang stressful ng work, hindi pa rin ako naninigarilyo.

"So?" I asked nung nasindihan niya na iyong sigarilyo niya.

"May bagong case," she said. I patiently waited kasi ano naman kinalaman ko sa kaso na 'yon? As far as I was concerned, focused lang ako sa workload ko. May personal quota ako na sinusunod kasi goal ko talaga na maubos iyong pending cases.

"Alam mo 'yung sa initiation?" she continued.

Slowly, I nodded. "What about that?" I asked because as far as I knew, dismissed na 'yon. Lui did tell me about that. He told me na wala talaga siya doon sa mismong venue at pinatawag siya nung nagkaloko-loko na. He didn't name names pero sinabi niya na maraming malalaking tao iyong present nung initiation na 'yon. If I were being honest, I wasn't all that surprised when the case got dismissed...

Was I disappointed? Yes. Surprised? Not at all.

"Na-approve daw 'yung petition for new trial."

Napa-kunot ang noo ko. "May bagong evidence?"

"Apparently," Julia replied.

"And they're looking at me because..."

Julia shrugged. "Beats me," she said, but we both knew she's lying. Naka-tingin sila sa akin dahil ano? Pakiramdam nila dahil lang boyfriend ko si Lui, ano? Ipapa-dismiss ko iyong kaso? Seriously? Ganon ba ang tingin nila sa akin? After ko maging enemy number one ata ng presinto dahil sa mga recommendation ko.

The whole day, I was just focused on my work. Hindi ko inisip iyong sinabi sa akin ni Julia. 'Di naman siguro maaassign sa akin iyong kaso... I mean, not saying na hindi ako impartial, but magkakaroon pa rin ng look of impartiality of magiging part ako ng prosecution. Ang laking kaso pa naman nito.

"Thank you," sabi ko nung ilagay sa lamesa ko iyong bagong batch ng kaso na hawak ko. Medyo kinakabahan ako nung isa-isa kong tinitignan iyong mga pangalan doon. So far, wala naman akong nababasa na new trial para doon sa initiation case.

"What?" I asked nung may kumatok sa pinto at nakita ko na sumilip si Julia. She's usually busy with her own caseload kaya sigurado ako na 'di naman siya pupunta dito para maki-chismis.

"New case?" she asked, pointing at the mountain of papers on my table. I nodded. "Ano 'yung cases mo?"

"Why?" I asked, a bit confused with this sudden interest.

"Humor me," she replied.

I began telling her about the new cases. There was no change on her expression, but for some reason, something was telling me that she had personal interest sa isa sa mga kaso na nabanggit ko sa kanya.