Salvaging Salvation

CHAPTER 14

SA ISANG HOTEL NA NAGPALIBAS NG GABI sina Mike at Ryosuke. KInaumagahan, ginising siya ng isang tawag sa kayang cellphone. "Hello..." wika niya na halatang inaantok pa.

"Mike...nasaan ka? Pwede ka bang makausap?"

Napabalikwas si Mike sa narinig na boses ng isang matanda at halata niyang nanginginig ang boses ng nasa kabilang linya.

"Nana Lina, bakit po?"

Si Nana Lina ang yaya ng pamilya niya mula pagkabata. Ito na rin ang tumayong pangalawang ina niya mula ng sabay na namatay sa aksidente ang mga magulang niya. Dahil kasa-kasama niya iyon sa bahay, napakdalang nitong tumawag sa cell phone maliban na lamang kung emergency.

"May ilang gabi na kasing may mga umaaligid sa bahay. Mga lalaking nakaitim na damit, mga may takip ang mukha at mukhang may dalang mga baril. Tapos kagabi parang mas dumami pa sila kaya nagpasya akong i-lock ang bahay at umalis muna. Yung mga importanteng papeles at gamit na iniwan ng mga magulang mo para sa iyo, dinala ko na rin," sumbong nito sa kay Mike.

"Nasa Intercon ako. Nasaan kayo?"

"Papunta ako ng Muñoz, sa kapatid ko. Pwede mo ba ako katagpuin?"

"Sige, dumiretso ka muna sa Walter-Mart, sa may Tokyo-Tokyo sa ibaba. Doon tayo magkita."

Nagmadali si Mike na mag-ayos at saktong pasok sa inupahang kwarto si Ryosuke. "What's the hurrying all about?"

"I will explain to you in the car. For now, let's go."

Mabilis silang nag-check out sa hotel at si Mike na ang nag-maneho ng kotse. Habang nasa daan, ikinuwento ni Mike ang isinumbong sa kanya ng kanyang yaya. Napailing si Ryosuke sa narinig. Nang sila'y nakarating sa bandang EDSA-Santolan, nag-ring ang cellphone ni Ryouske. Sa wikang Nihonggo kinausap ng Hapones ang tumawag. Sa pakiwari ni Mike, posibleng yung kasama niyang isa iyon. Tumagal din ng ilang minuto ang tawag na iyon.

"It's Kenji," panimula niya, "he just checked on us. He was glad that we are both okay. I already told him what happened in your house." Hindi kumibo si Mike kaya nagpatuloy siya. "We have already guessed that they might go straight to your house that's why I decided to have us checked in the hotel."

Napabuntong hininga si Mike na tila malalim ang iniisip, "What happened to him?" Batid ni Ryouske na si Lex ang tinutukoy niya kaya pati siya'y napabuntong-hininga na rin. "Kenji returned to the place where you got attacked to help him but when he arrived, all he found was burned ashes. He tried calling him on the phone but all he gets is a 'cannot be reached' message."

Kapwa sila natahimik na tila ba naghihintay kung sino mauuna. Pagsapit nila sa lugar ng EDSA-Cubao, naipit sila sa matinding trapik. Dito na hindi na mapigilang magtanong ni Mike, "How did you and Kenji met this guy...this Harper-san that you call?"

"Kenji and I were trying to escape the Yakuza. Though our parents were Yakuza members themselves, we never wanted to be part of it but the bosses does not want us to simply go away. We were simply too valuable for them..."

Tumango-tango si Mike na tila ba umaayon sa sinabi ng pasahero niya. His driving skills were far better than him. He assumed na pwedeng madalas na driver ng getaway vehicles itong taong ito. Nagpatuloy sa kwento ang Hapones.

"They chased us all over the backstreets of Tokyo. One rainy night, they managed to trace us from our hiding place and even blew up our cars. We had no choice but run on foot until we got cornered in a dark dead-end alley. They made us choose between going back or die trying to break free from them. We chose the latter, of course."

"How did he get into the picture," usisa ni Mike and he was referring to his doppleganger.

"Well, we tried fighting with our fists and limbs at first but there were so many of them. But when one of our chasers pulled out a gun on us, a tall, hooded figure jumped in appeared and jumped over that man, broke the arm and knocked him off. In a matter of seconds, it was chaos. It was like a scene from this Hollywood movie...you know...the one with Keanu Reeves..."