"It is a map of his inheritance," Ethan announced again, typing on the system without looking up. However, Mr. Harry and Mr. Franks stood up, while Mr. William remained seated.Mr. Harry and Mr. Franks walked up to the screen while I watched from behind Ethan."The inheritance has been hidden in different locations around the world," Ethan announced."Specifically, in five given locations," Samantha said.Ethan and Samantha's words confused me, and I couldn't help but wonder why my father had kept his inheritance a secret in different locations."There is some footage here. Should I play it?" Ethan asked."Play it," Harry instructed, and I saw him stand more upright and look into the screen with more attention.I stepped closer to Mr. Harry and Mr. Franks as the footage played. Mr. William also rose to his feet, and we stood together.At first, there was no sound coming from the black and white footage, and it suddenly looked pixelated. I focused on the screen and listened."Hold on.
It has been two days, and I have been staying at Mr. Harry’s house since he inquired about my returning to sleep on the street. He said that since I met him, I should never have to experience the street’s kind of lifestyle again.And truth be told, I agreed completely with him, and they had been treating me nicely at his place. Especially for the cook, every piece of meat served was a happy cow's leg.Mr. Harry seemed to be earning a lot of money as a private investigator. His home was fully furnished with everything that you could ever want in a home, and he had more than two nice cars, even though I did not know the names of their brands. I could tell they were nice from the kind of designs they had.For all I could tell, I cherished this kind of lifestyle, and for what it's worth, I knew it was only a matter of time before I started to have my own beautiful home and nice rides as well. After all, it was why we were going to China in the first place.It was in the evening of the thi
We got into one of Mr. Harry's fancy cars; however, Mr. Harry was not the one who drove. Michael did.As he drove, there was no conversation in the car among us. Mr. Harry, who sat next to the driver, continued with his cigar, and Ethan, sitting at the end of the back seat, had already opened his laptop and was staring right at it.Samantha, who was still with me in the middle of the back seat, brought a lollipop out of her pocket, and she began licking it. Emily and Benjamin, who sat next to Samantha and were at the other edge of the back seat, were the only two staring right out of the window.Michael did not drive through the road that I know of, but through a different road, which made me stay focused on the road and on how Michael grabbed the wheels.It was my deepest wish that someday I could grab the wheels as well and drive a fancy car by myself. However, not as fast as how Mr. Harry had handled his wheels, but certainly as fast as Michael drove in my presence on our way to th
I looked at Mr. Harry. This event made me remember the lessons I learned on the street: you do not have a friend, you do not have an enemy, you are by yourself, and you cannot be loyal to anyone."Has Mr. Harry set me up?" I thought as the officer looked at me with a suspecting look and as more officers were coming at me, taking strategic positions against me.At this moment, Mr. Harry stepped back, and the others with him took further steps away from the X-ray machine.Even Samantha, who should have been screened after me, was immediately nowhere to be found."Why has Mr. Harry done this to me? What is he framing me for exactly?" I asked again and again.The officer dragged me closer to himself. "Your hands above your head," he said, and quickly I complied."What is the problem, officer?" I asked. But even then, he answered me with a tough face and maximum silence.He patted his hands down on me from my chest to my pockets. And before I knew it, he dug his hand into my pocket and bro
"Shhhh!" Samantha sounded, revealing a gun to the old man which was tucked into her belt. "Move it, blondie," Mr Harry said. And just like a little child, the old man scurried away far from us to get another seat.I could not be more confused. This was not because of how the old man ran because he was shown a gun, but because Samantha had a gun. How was she able to have a gun in the first place?I knew that Mr. Harry was a private investigator, and if he had a gun, it was okay for his kind of profession, but Samantha was just a tech-savvy under Mr. Harry. Why does she have a gun? And was she not screened? How was she able to bring the gun on the plane?Too many questions persisted in my thoughts, and there were none I was able to get an answer to except Mr. Harry's voice, which had suddenly interrupted me."Sit, son, the old pig is gone for a while now," Mr. Harry said as he was already sitting and buried his head into the newspaper he started to read.In the same way, the five other
The guys were about four and did not look American; instead, they appeared Chinese but spoke English. The more I observed them, the more I noticed their lack of coordination. Even the street kids were better at ambush missions. Besides the guy collecting the passengers' valuables, the other three were confused about their leader and kept fighting over authority."Hey! Go check the-""Who do you think you are ordering me around? Why not check it yourself?"Suddenly, a commotion broke out right in front of us."Put your f***ing valuables into the bag, or I'll put a bullet in your head!" The thief collecting the valuables yelled at an old woman."Hey, she's too old for this. Can't she be an exception?" Mr. Harry voiced his opinion, which frightened me to the bone marrow.The reason was simple; I knew from my experience on the street that a gun is a type of coercive power, and whoever holds it has the authority. For this reason, we must not challenge, disobey, or confront them, but simply
Five minutes later, just as the airplane captain announced, we were already landing, and it was such a wonderful sight to behold as well.Though the takeoff from the ground to the air was not easy for me, the landing was a sweet one.Every passenger rose to their feet, including Mr. Harry, the five others, and me. We walked gently in line, stepping down the airplane stairs and finally setting our feet on the ground.I could feel the tropical air envelope me. The airport was bustling with activity. Mr. Harry, the five others, and I started walking towards the exit.Just like before, there were individuals in their uniforms standing at the arrivals, as the sign on the wall indicated. In this manner, we made our way through it, claiming our baggage before emerging into the arrivals area.As I looked around, reading the words on the wall that read "Chek Lap Kok Airport" and on the other wall that read "The Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA)," Samantha whispered to me, "That is our rid
The night was so long, especially since I hadn't gotten any sleep at all in the hotel room. All my thoughts were that they would be back, but I was wrong. The cold night must have been such a good sleep for Mr. Harry, Samantha, and the others.Mr. Harry was not in the same room as us. He was in the other room adjacent to us, alone. Samantha and Emily, who were ladies among us, shared another room beside ours.Michael was such a loud sleeper, and Benjamin was no different from him. Only Ethan slept quietly, and more often than not, he kept waking up throughout the night.At first, I also thought that it was the same reason I could not sleep. It made him not have the "good sleep," but thinking twice about it, it could be all because of Samantha."Are you okay?" I asked him one of the times he opened his eyes. It was exactly three in the morning. There was a cloak of darkness outside, except, of course, for the hotel light that killed the darkness in some areas.The only sounds I heard w