RICO SPADES

Episode 16

Episode 16

"The man from the bus?" asked Blanco.

"Sorry. I forgot you were sleeping back then," Zenith replied. "I knew there was something wrong about him when he approached us."

"Do you think General is in danger?"

"I should not have left him alone."

"Here's some calamansi juice," Blanco's mother said, placing two glasses on the round table in front of the two friends.

"Thank you," expressed Zenith. "And I apologize for what I did last time."

The woman smiled sincerely before going back to the kitchen.

"Where was I?" Zenith asked.

"Regretting you left your brother alone."

"Yeah. But that's just one of the things I want to tell you."

"What are the other things I would get to hear today?"

"The true account of how you ended up inside General's apartment."

Meristin looked at the clock on her phone. There are only a few minutes left before the cut-off of her daughter's playtime in a paid kid's hub inside the mall.

"I think this proposal's good. I hope the actual event turns out even better," her client told her.

Working in the events industry while upbringing a child all by herself has been very challenging to Meristin. There were times when she wanted to go back to stage acting, but pursuing her passion felt like it will make everything harder for her and for Tintin.

"Ms. Shana, I'm here to pick up Tintin."

"Okay, Ms. Meristin. I'll have her fetched by our staff," the owner of the kid's hub replied.

While waiting on the guardian's lounge, Meristin received a call from an unregistered number.

"Hello. How may I help you?"

"Meristin?" asked a familiar voice from the other line.

She let silence be her answer.

"This is Ratshi. May I know where are you right now?"

"Why?" she asked but decided to end the call before he could utter a response.

"Ms. Meristin. We got a situation."

"Tintin was just in this part of the hub, then..."

She was not able to watch the CCTV footage attentively because her mind was wondering whether it was only mere coincidence that Tintin went missing and Ratshi called her or these two events were connected.

"Why do I feel like I'm about to be involved in a chase scene again?" General told himself as he watched Ratshi and Tintin walking together with their hands holding each other.

He was too busy worrying that he did not notice where they were all heading to.

"Her mother must be probably looking for her right now," Ratshi told the female receptionist in the information center.

"Excuse me, Sir. May I know your name?" the lady asked after making a broadcast that a missing child has been surrendered to her area.

"Tintin!" shouted Meristin.

"Mommy!"

While she was hugging her daughter, the receptionist approached her.

"The two men who found your daughter and turned her over here have left their contact details."

The note she received read two names: Ratshi and General.

Ratshi smiled widely while he watched her ex-girlfriend hug their daughter.

"Are you sure you don't want to show yourself to her?" General asked.

"I want to, but I don't think she deserves to be reminded even further of all the shitty things I did to her."

"Maybe you can both try to work things out for Tintin's sake. You don't have to get back together to do that, right?" General pointed out.

He was supposed to add something more when his phone rang.

"Hi, Tintin!" he greeted the child from the other line.

"Meristin wants to speak with you," General told Ratshi, handing his phone over. "Come on, take it," he urged.

Ratshi hesitantly took the call. "Hey. I didn't mean to take Tintin earlier. I have no intention to abduct her. I'm sorry for making you feel worried."

"I haven't said anything yet," Meristin replied.

After a short silence, she went on to invite him: "Would you mind having dinner with us?"

"Are you sure about that?"

Tintin shouted to the phone: "Daddy, please eat with us!"

"Is it okay with your mommy?"

"Hi. I'm General. I'm Ratshi's friend and apartment neighbor. I was actually the one who found Tintin when she went missing."

Meristin touched his shoulder and told General: "You don't know how grateful I am. I was just wondering where have you found her?"

"Kuya General found me inside a bathroom," said Tintin. "Then he said he knew my daddy and then we went to find you."

"I kind of figured out that she's the child that Ratshi had told me about before," General explained. "And she probably means comfort room."

General felt very full after eating a late dinner with the cheerful Tintin and her parents who were having casual exchanges from time to time. He waved goodbye to them as he went home by himself.

Arriving at the apartment complex, he saw DJ back on the post.

"Good evening, General," greeted the guard.

Despite not expecting an honest answer, General still asked: "Did Zenith pass by here today?"

"She did. But I told her you were not here, which was actually true. You went out with Ratshi and his daughter, right?"

General's right palm grew painful while DJ was closing the gate. When the locks finally clicked in, the pain became so unbearable that he fell on his knees.

"Are you okay?"

The question was not from DJ, but he saw no one else when he lookedaround.