"They didn't tell me the full detail on how they sneaked in my room. Basta nailabas din nila ako kaagad nang hindi namamalayan ng bantay ni dad. Ang naalala ko na lang, hinatid nila ako sa port at iniwan doon para sila ang humarang kay dad oras na malaman niyang nawala ako sa bahay."
"Why port and not at the airport?"
"Dad is a stockholder at every airports located here. He'll be notified by the staffs once they saw any of us in the vicinity-mom, kuya, and kuya Amiere—wala kaming ligtas sa kaniya, Luch. That's how powerful dad is here in Europe. The safest place to go that time were ports because dad despises cruise and ferries."
"W-what happened, then?"
"Sinabi sa akin ni Ajax na nasa isang kainan si mom para hintayin ako. The plan back then was to meet up with mom and leave the country. We don't know where kuya and kuya Amiere was. Inakala ko na nauna na silang umalis ng bansa gamit ang koneksyon ni kuya Amiere..." Cadikh's eyes darkened, "...only for me to find out that dad already made a move to the Leveres. He corrupted the company of kuya Amiere's family while I was locked up inside. He did it in a short span of 5 months. Bumagsak sila ng gano'n kadali kaya lalong nanaig ang galit ko kay dad. Pero hindi pa do'n natatapos ang lahat, Luch..."
"Dad immediately found out about my disappearance, so he quickly made a move to trace me. Alam niyang hindi kami tutungtong sa airport kaya lahat ng port na malapit sa Athens, pinabantayan niya sa mga tauhan niya. Unlucky enough, his right hand managed to run after me even before I could meet up with mom. Pinuwersa ako ni Theo sa loob ng kotse ni dad, pero sa pangalawang pagkakataon, nakatakas ako. Everything was fast-from the moment I escaped from him to sneaking at the cruise that's about to take off the port."
"H-Hindi mo nakita ang mama mo?"
Mapaklang natawa si Cadikh. "Hindi. Hindi kami nagkita."
"What...?"
"Nawalan ako ng contact sa lahat nang makatungtong ako sa barko. I didn't know how many hours have passed ever since I hop on until the ship stopped at its destined dock and I quickly sneaked out from the guards. Doon ko napagtanto na nasa Istanbul ako."
"That's far from here."
"It is," He nodded and took a sip of his coffee. "Ilang araw akong nagpalaboy-laboy sa Turkey. Wala akong tinawagan ni isa dahil ayokong may madamay. Sigurado akong may mga tauhan din si dad doon dahil imposibleng hindi niya aalamin ang route ng nasakyan kong barko. He's a witty man. Hindi siya titigil hangga't hindi niya nakukuha ang gusto."
I feel bad for them. Naranasan kong hindi maging malapit sa ama pero kahit kailan ay hindi maiisip ni papa na ikulong ako. Grounded pa, pwede pa. Pero ang ikulong? Mas magaan pa ang naranasan ko sa sarili kong ama kaysa ang naranasan si Cadikh sa ama niya.
It was terrible to even hear. Hindi ko maisip na may amang kayang gawin 'yon sa sariling anak dahil lang sa kasarian? Dahil lang do'n? That's absurd!
"I also have an idea that Damon is looking for me. Hindi rin 'yon papayag na hindi ako makita."
Right, Damon is the heir of Spyrotec. It's not impossible for him to not trace Cadikh's whereabouts back then.
"Who found you first?" Kyuryosong tanong ko pero kaagad na kumunot ang noo ko nang umiling siya.
"Wala. I continued on hiding until the 8th day of September came. Pumunta ako sa Haydarpasha port nang mabalitaan kong may aalis na ferry papunta sa kabilang port. It's a discounted ferry so I decided to take the chance to go there and finally call Damon to ask for his help."
I stared at Cadikh when stopped talking and looked at me. My eyebrows are frowning because I don't know why he stopped.
"What?"
