CROOKS-TO-GO Book 1Budwire: The Bumbling Crook

Chapter 3

MALALIM ANG INIISIP NI GELO, nakatitig sa painting na katatapos nya lang gawin. Isa itong counterfeit ng painting ni Picasso, ang "Woman Sitting Near a Window" na huling naibenta sa halagang $32 million. Gayang gaya ang pagkakagawa dito. Walang sinumang makakaalam na hindi ito ang orihinal.

​Tatlong linggo ang ginugol nya para magawa ang pekeng painting. Even the brush strokes and the drips are perfectly copied. Each layer of color added was painstakingly done to make it look as if it was painted in 1932. With the drying times and overpainting carefully applied, kahit sya mismo, impressed sa naging resulta. May kakambal ang painting na ito, nasa mentor nya.

Dating mentor. Napatiim-bagang na naman ang binata sa naalala.

It was his third time to do a fake painting. The third one is perfectly stored in another vault in the house.

"No one will know. No one can know." bulong nya sa sarili.

Nabaon na naman sya sa lalim ng iniisip. Ganoon sya kapag may binubuong ideya sa utak. Natutulala na halos. Kaya nyang tumayo o umupo ng nakatunganga nang ilang oras kung busy ang utak nya sa pag-iisip. Hindi kumukurap, steady ang paghinga, walang kakilos-kilos ang katawan. Nasa ganoon syang estado nang mapansin nya ang lalaking nakaitim na sumasayaw sa harap nya.

Noong una ay nalito pa sya kung sino ito at kung paano ito nakapasok sa kwarto, gayong walo ang lock sa front door at may alarm system pa ang sala. He also set booby traps along the corridor, na kapag nasagi ay magti-trigger ng lockdown sa buong bahay. Although admittedly, hindi pa kumpleto ang alarm system at para sa katulad nya ay madali pa itong maba-bypass.

He looked at his face. Oddly, he didn't look like a gangster. Parang mas gwapo pa nga sa kanya. Maliit ang mukha, manipis ang labi, malalalim ang mata, mestiso, parang bumbayin ang facial features, hindi katangkaran. He's 5'11" so probably he's around 5'4" or 5'5". He has a clean face, pwede pang mapagkamalang babae dahil masyadong soft at feminine ang features. He should know, he's a great painter. Kahit pa sabihing counterfeit pa lang ang nasubukan nyang gawin, he knows how to appreciate a good face when he sees one. Mukha lang tangahin itong isang to. His face looks smart, but his facial expressions make him look naive and stupid.

He decided to continue staring blankly. He's in good shape and he has tried MMA fighting in the gym, pero iba pa rin kapag nasa labas. Baka din may kasamahan pa ito at mabuti nang maobserbahan nya muna bago sya kumilos.

Nang marahil ay makumbinsi itong hindi sya aware sa nangyayari, ay ipinagpatuloy na nito ang ginagawa habang humihuni na parang nagra-rap. "Dapdap" nang "dapdap" eh, he's not sure.

When the thief moved his head on the side to look from his vantage point, muntik na syang matawa, kundi lang sya curious sa balak ng kawatan. My, he has guts!

Muntik na syang mapatayo nang kuhanin nito ang painting at isinandal nang basta sa dingding ng kwarto. He gasped but managed to suppress it in time. That's my masterpiece, you idiot!

He was confident the thief would just give up and leave when he sees the security system of the safe. Only to be shocked when he pulls out a stetoscope and starts to rotate the safe knob left to right. Damn, I thought it only works in movies! He heard a faint click after a few minutes. "Open sisame!" sabi pa ng magnanakaw na jologs. Well, there's still the fingerprint scanner. Beat that, you crook!

Ilang minuto itong tila nag-isip habang bumubulong-bulong sa sarili, biglang napadako ang tingin sa kanya nang nakangisi. "Why not?" sabi pa nito. Now, what is he up to. Don't tell me he's gonna cut off my fingers. Ah, magkakaalaman na. Bubuntalin nya tong lalaking to hanggang mawalan ng malay. Mukha namang walang kasama eh.

He was wrong. The stupid thief pulled him up, guided him even, towards the safe and took his arm. He tried all five fingers. Gelo could have easily subdued him there and then, but he's getting amused by this thief's modus. He's like a goon in the movies who dies after one shot or sleeps after one punch. Hindi pang-bida, ni hindi pang-sidekick! And when the safe opened, he called his pinky pangulangot! He was guided back to his chair, the asshole made him sit again, ibinalik pa sa pwesto ang braso nya, while chuckling, obviously pleased with himself.