Outlaws (BrightWin)

Two || Win

“State your full name, please.”

Nakakatakot naman ‘tong interrogation room nila. Nakikita ko lang ‘yung mga ganitong klase ng kwarto sa mga pinapanood ko sa sinehan eh. Oh, that’s definitely a two-way mirror in front of me. Gusto ko sanang idikit ‘yung daliri ko sa glass para i-check kung two-way mirror nga ‘yung nasa harapan ko at may tao sa kabilang side tulad ng sabi sa Internet, pero mukhang hindi ko magagawa kasi may kasama akong pulis sa loob.  

I never knew that it would be this scary in real life. 

Not that I would know, of course. First time kong maaresto kahit na halos gabi-gabi akong nagwa-walwal at every week ay may nagbubugbugan na mga lasing sa mga pinupuntahan kong bar. Aminado ako sa sarili kong bulakbol ako, pero alam ko pa rin kung anong tama at mali.

Until I’m drunk, I guess. There’s absolutely no way of telling kung anong mga ginagawa ko kapag lasing na ako. But I hope I just pass out on the floor whenever I’ve had too much to drink. I mean... if this is the first time na maaaresto ako, then that only means that I’d never done anything stupid while drunk, right?

This place is seriously giving me the creeps. I know that I’m not guilty of anything in my life, but the ambience keeps on telling me that I’ve done something bad and I need to confess immediately.

I didn’t know that the color gray could be so terrifying until now. 

Good thing mukhang mabait ‘yung detective na nasa harapan ko kaya kahit papaano’y nababawasan ‘yung takot ko. Mas maliit lang siya sa akin ng slight… siguro mga hanggang leeg ko lang siya. Huling tingin ko sa height ko mga 6 foot flat ako and for a girl like her, matangkad na siya sa lagay na ‘yan.

Bakit ganun siya makatingin sa akin? May sinabi na ba akong mali? Tinaas ko ‘yung parehong kilay ko habang naghihintay na magsalita siya, but she just tilted her head as if she’s just as confused as I am. Wait.... 

Oo nga pala, tinatanong nga pala niya sa akin ‘yung pangalan ko.

“Umm…” It took me a few seconds before I could say my name. “Tine Teepakorn.”

Nice one, Win. That was very smooth. Ilang beses mo nang ginamit ‘yang alias mo, pero hanggang ngayon, hindi mo pa rin alam kung anong isasagot kapag tinanong ang pangalan mo? Oh my god, baka mahalata niya na nagsisinungaling lang ako.

“That’s a very interesting name. Quite unique, isn’t it?”

Oh fuck. She knows.

I laughed nervously in front of her, unsure of what I should say next. The detective in front of me smiled for a brief moment before bringing out a brown envelope from her lap and slid it in front of me, motioning me to open it.

And so I did. After gulping in fear, I opened the envelope to see what was inside.

It was the front page of a certain newspaper. Halos napuno na ng pagmumukha ko 'yung gilid ng pahina. Alam kong mula pa noong 80th birthday celebration ni Lolo 'yung picture na nilagay nila dahil natatandaan ko pa ang sinuot kong tuxedo doon.

Nakasulat naman sa tabi ng pangalan ko ang headline na may mga salitang "apparent heir of million-dollar company declared missing" na naka-capslock.

Binasa ko ang caption na katabi ng photo ko: "Metawin Opas-iamkajorn was declared missing days after the assasination of his multi-millionaire grandfather (more on page 12)".

"Care to tell me why you needed to conceal your name, Mr. Opas-iamkajorn?"

Ang tanga-tanga mo talaga, Win! You should have known better than to lie in front of a detective! Nagmukha ka tuloy katawa-tawa.