The patrol car stops right in front of my house and I alight from it. The driver, Officer Tyler also steps out of the vehicle.
"Thanks", I say in gratitude.
"Which one are you specifically grateful for: helping you find your phone or driving you home?" He asks.
"For everything", I reply.
"Well, I was just doing my job. I should rather be thanking you for collaborating with the police. Many don rely on us nowadays", he says.
"Thats true. Officer Tyler, I will be going in then", I bid goodbye before heading for the gate. He stands motionless and waits for me to go inside before driving off.
Once I am inside, I see a lot of seizure tags around. Hence I ask mom: "Mom, whats going on? Why are there so many seizure tags?"
"Mia", mom calls out my name and heaves a heavy sigh.
"The bakery was in bad condition so I went in for a loan from the bank…" she starts narrating.
"Mom, why didn you tell me? I would have worked harder or have found a means to support you. So are they responsible for this?" I ask referring to the numerous seizure tags around.
"Im really sorry honey. I shouldn have gone for the loan but I didn know that things would turn out this way", she says tearfully.
"So what exactly did you use the money for?" I ask her based on my hunch.
"Well, I invested some of it into this promising stocks company but…" she hardly finishes her statement before sobbing.
"Mom… Why? Just why?" I ask in frustration. I was owing enough debts and now that hers had also joined, I was confused of what step to take.
"How much do you owe the bank?" I finally ask.
"Over three…" she is not able to add the rest.
"Over three thousand dollars?" I ask.
"No, over three hundred…" she gets stuck once again.
"Three hundred dollars? Or… three hundred thousand dollars? Mom, are you crazy? How do you expect us to pay that money? It will mean selling both the house and the bakery. We will have to live on the streets mom", I tell her the reality which she already knows.
"Im sorry honey. I really am", she apologizes.
"Saying sorry won put three hundred thousand dollars on the table mom! You are old enough and should have thought through before going in for a loan of that sort!" I yell angrily at her.
"Stocks? What do you know about stocks mom? Why did you try to make money the easy way and get swindled in the end? Why mom?" I ask the woman whose face is covered in tears just like mine.
I angrily walk into my room and slam the door behind me. She comes to knock on it but I don mind her. At that moment, I just needed to cry and think.
Nevertheless, I was not the only one facing an unexpected situation.
At his apartment, the doorbell rings and Harvey goes to get it. He sees his older brother through the intercom.
"Harvey, its me Jeremy. Can we talk?" he asks.
Though Harvey wants nothing to do with his family he couldn ignore his brother so he unlocks the door and welcomes him in.
"Your apartment is just as I expected, messy and scattered. Isn this studio too small for you?" he asks.
"Did you come to ridicule and make fun of me or do you have a better agenda?" Harvey asks with real seriousness.
"Take your time bro. I came here because Dad asked me to. He wants his long lost son to return. Thats why I visited", he says.
"Tell him that I won be coming home, I already have a lot on my mind. Adding his concerns to mine would only result in more stress", Harvey replies.
"Sure, I will make sure he hears you loud and clear. By the way, before I leave, I heard that you have not been making any paintings. Why, are you out of ideas?" his brother, Jeremy, mockingly asks.
"What makes you think that I am out of ideas? Didn I tell you back then, I don need to copy the ideas of others as you do. I have a billion originals in my head", Harvey replies confidently.
"Whatever. As the saying goes, Empty barrels make the most noise. There would be an exhibition at the Asphalt Gallery which is opening in two weeks. Bring your over billion ideas and make it sell at a good price. Then I will know that the rumors I am hearing are falsehood", his brother says.
"Sure thing. I will come in with the most expensive painting of the century. Just wait and see", Harvey says so confidently like someone with bountiful ideas.
His brother smirks at him and takes his leave. However, once outside, he tells his secretary: "Make sure to sabotage all of my brothers paintings. If he even sets one painting at the event, I will make sure the dogs eat you for supper. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir", the male secretary obediently replies.
Now, Harvey has a task at hand. And hes got only two weeks to prove his point. He takes out his phone and tries calling me, his muse, however, it does not go through. He tries several times and grows more anxious than before. Not leaving the matter to rest, he goes out to search for me.
Back home, Juliana comes to check on me. She first meets my mom who narrates everything to her.
"So how is Mia doing?" she asks mom.
"She doesn want to eat neither does she want to see me. Maybe she might listen to you. Please, help my daughter for I am scared what she might do to herself in that room", mom replies.
"Don worry Maam. I will speak to her on your behalf", Juliana assures my mom and approaches my room. She knocks on it severally before realizing that it was not locked. She enters and sees me lying on the floor, unconscious.
"Mia!" she screams and runs towards me. Mom also follows as she heard the scream. The two can hardly breathe as they pant continuously after seeing me in that state.
"Juliana, call the ambulance!" Mom orders.
"Sure maam", Juliana replies and quickly takes out her phone. Her hand trembles rapidly that the phone drops from her hand. She picks it up and finally starts calling. But before the emergency line was responded to, they hear a queer sound, an unexpected yet calming sound.
"Juliana, wait… I think shes…" Mom hardly ends her statement before I make the sound loud and clear in the room. I start snoring heavily.
Juliana heaves a heavy sigh of relief before saying: "I guess she was just sleeping. Thank goodness nothing has happened to her."
Together with mom, Juliana helps me onto my bed and covers me with a blanket. Though I had not attempted suicide, the two looked like lifeless patients who had no blood in them.
On the other side, after Harvey has left his apartment during the early parts of the evening, he goes to the school where he had first met me. He searches the neighborhood for a security camera and after finding one near a convenience store close to the school, he goes inside to meet the owner of the store.
After finding him, he asks: "Hello sir, can I view your CCTV footage for a while? It won take long."
"And why do you need it?" the store owner asks.
"Well, there was this motor I asked to deliver something, however, it seems like it delivered it to the wrong person and I have not been able to contact it for a while now. Maybe viewing your footage might help me access its number plate and hence help me find the rider", Harvey explains to the shop owner.
"Got any money?" the shop owner asks.
And with that Harvey gets the footage. After playing it for a while, he sees the video of me riding my motorcycle and captures the number plate.
He then contacts the license plate owner and discovers that it belonged to the Lukes. Hence, he went to their mechanic shop.
"The girl who borrowed my motorcycle? Ah, Mia? You can find her at…" Luke Men tries to reply Harveys question but is stopped by Luke Man.
"Why are you searching for our Mia?" Luke Man asks.
"Your Mia?" Harvey asks back.
"Thats right. Our Mia", they reply in unison.
"Okay, I get it. I need to find Mia because theres something urgent that I need to discuss with her", Harvey replies.
"And can that urgent something wait?" Luke Man asks.
"No, I have to attend to it now", Harvey replies.
"Why, how important is this urgent thing?" Luke Men asks.
"Listen guys, Mia has an opportunity of a lifetime. But I am not able to give her this opportunity since I can contact her. Thats why Im asking for your help. Tell me, do you want Mia to miss this lifetime opportunity?" Harvey plays with their emotions.
"No, not at all", they reply in unison.
The next moment, the Lukes explain in detail.
"Listen, to get to Mias house, youll have to follow the path with trees, then branch left to the mountainous side of the town. Climb the mountains till you are the near peak. Then branch right and walk towards a tree house. Once you get to the tree house, youll see a path that looks like a thick forest. Don be scared, pass through it. Once you are out of that path, return to the paved road and walk for about an hour, then run once you see the rocky path. After youve left the rocky path, youll see a tarred road. Walk along it for about thirty minutes and you will surely get to Mias house", Luke Man explains.
"Thanks Luke Men", Harvey replies in gratitude after writing down the lengthy direction.
"Welcome, but bro, it is Man not Men", Luke Man corrects.
"Sure, thanks Luke Man and Luke Men", Harvey says it well and takes his leave.
INSIDE STORY
Scene: After Harvey has left the Lukes
After he has left, Luke Men asks Luke Man: "Luke, why did you deceive him. I mean, Miss Mias house is just a stone throw from here. But it seems like he will use over ten hours to get there."
"Listen bro, when a king wants to offer his daughter, does he give out a light request?" Luke Man asks Luke Men.
"No, he usually gives difficult missions", Luke Men replies.
"Exactly, so should we give the princess of Sugartown for free?" Luke Man asks.
"I now get it. Then, his mission was even easier", Luke Men replies.
"Exactly. We were extremely lenient on him", Luke Man replies.
"But do you think that hell be able to complete the mission?" Luke Men asks.
"Well, thats up to him. If hes really serious about Mia, he would go to the heavens just to find her", Luke Man replies.
Novel Bin 