Chapter 35

 Sumama ako kay Pavan kahit na walang kasiguraduhan sa kaligtasan ko. I don't have my phone with me to alert Raj. Wala 'yong idea ngayon na pumunta si Pavan sa bahay niya at ngayon ay kasama niya ako. Ayokong gumawa ng bagay na magpapa-init sa ulo ni Pavan. Bukod sa mga nangyari nitong nakaraang linggo, iniisip ko na lamang na hindi ako sasaktan ng lalaking 'to kahit na anong mangyari.

Tahimik lang ako. Mahigpit din ang pagkakakapit ko sa seat belt dahil medyo mabilis ang pagpapatakbo ni Pavan ng kotse. I didn't ask where we are going, pero kung dadalhin niya ako sa isang lugar para ilayo sa mga mahal ko sa buhay, this would be a bad thing for me.

Twenty minutes ang itinagal namin sa biyahe. Hindi na ako gaanong pamilyar sa lugar na pinuntahan namin. Inihinto ni Pavan ang sasakyan sa driveway ng isang establishment na halos walang katao-tao sa paligid. Mas lumalim ang kaba sa dibdib ko dahil maaaaring maging katapusan na ng buhay ko ito.

"Where are we, Pavan?" I asked as he started taking his seat belt off. 

His eyes raised to meet mine and chuckled. "I'm going to let you meet my friend, Kash. I don't think you should worry about it. They're friendly. They were good friends. They're foreigners so you don't want to mess with them."

Sa puntong iyon ay napalunok na lang ako ng laway. If he was threatening me that they would somehow hurt me, I should prepare my life for whatever they would do to me. Inutusan ako nitong tanggalin ang seat belt ko. Sinunod ko ang sinabi niya dahil baka siya pa mismo ang magtanggal no'n sa akin. I can't let him touch me and do much worse things.

Nauna siyang bumaba ng sasakyan. I thought about taking his car away, but he took the keys with him. 

He went roam around the car and opened the door next to me. Pinabababa niya ako ng kotse at muli iyong ginawa. Nang sinara niya iyon ay nagsabay kami sa paglalakad patungo sa building na nasa harapan lamang namin. It was a three-story building and it has a weird feeling for me. Ni hindi nga fully-furnished ang labas nito at mukhang kulang ng air ventilation. I started to feel worry about my safety—I should really be careful.

I hoped Raj would show up out of nowhere and save me from this man once again.

As soon as we stood in front of the door, we were asked who we were. Si Pavan ang sumagot sa intercom at ilang segundo lamang ay narinig namin ang pagbukas ng pinto at saka kami tuluyang pumasok sa loob. As expected, there was an eerie feeling as soon as we stepped inside. It also had a weird smell that I tried to ignore.

May isang foreigner na lalaki ang sumalubong sa amin at dinala kami sa isang lugar kung saan kami pinaghihintay. May sofa, center table, at magazines pa sa ilalim nito. They were trying to make it comfortable, but no one would feel it that way. Malayo ang agwat namin ni Pavan. Nangangatog pa ang legs ko dahil hindi ako mapakali.

"Are you nervous, Kash?" Napalingon ako kay Pavan dahil sa tanong niya. Was he crazy? Bakit niya pa kailangang itanong 'yon sa akin? Hindi niya ba alam na hindi normal 'tong ginagawa namin. "Please stop acting weird. I won't hurt you. They won't hurt you. I just brought you so you could see what my life like is right now."

"Okay, but why?" I asked.

"My life turned upside down, Kash," he said. "I thought I was doing good, but I put myself in so much trouble and one of them was making a deal with these people. . . Bad people," he lowered his voice as he mentioned his last words.

"What did you do to them?"

"They gave me money in return for doing something for them," he admitted. "This is an underground syndicate group that runs all over the world that's why I know why you were in Vegas. They've been hunting the Carrington's and now that you have connections with them, they want something from you or else it'll be the end of everything for you here in Mumbai."

"But why?"

He shrugged off. "I don't know. They didn't tell me. I just have to follow what they told me, and now we're here. I could've brought Rajendra here, but it would be hard for me to do so, so you were the one I took with me. I hope that's clear to you now."

I shook my head. "No, it will never be clear to me."

Pavan shrugged off. "Well, that's unlucky, Kash. But don't worry, they will only ask you something that could help them with this situation. I promise you, they won't harm you or anything else. You can live as normal as you want after this. You won't be seeing me again. This would be the last time we'll ever have to see each other again. Mark my word, Kash."

Hindi ako nagbigay ng komento dahil hindi ko sigurado kung papaniwalaan ko ba ang sinabi niya sa akin. If he was telling the truth, there could only be thing that I'm after and that was to get out of this place alive.

For the past few weeks, my life in Mumbai had never settled on a good note. Lagi na lang akong nadadawit sa mga sitwasyon na hindi ko naman dapat intindihin. Malas nga ba talaga ang pagpunta ko sa Mumbai? Nandito nga ba talaga ang buhay na para sa akin? It seemed every situation I went into wasn't fair to me and I'm getting so low every time it happened.

Kung pwede langs sukuan ang mga hamon sa buhay ay matagal ko nang ginawa.

Ilang minuto pa ang itinagal hangga't sa may tumawag sa atensyon namin. My heart started beating so fast na para na akong aatakihin sa puso. Tinawag nila ako at pinapunta sa isang closed room.

"Good luck, Kash," pahabol na sabi pa ni Pavan matapos akong sunduin ng lalaking naka maskara.

Binuksan nito ang pintong closed room. May lamesa at upuan doon. Para lamang iyong interrogation room, pero malala dahil hindi pulis ang kaharap ko kung hindi ay isnag miyembro ng isang underground syndicate group.

He told me to sit on the only chair there and the next thing knew, someone joined me and started asking me about all the things that I knew about the Carrington in Vegas. I tried to be so careful in telling them what they wanted to know. 

I only answered what he asked me. Hindi ako nagbibigay ng impormasyon na alam kong ipapahamak ko rin. At that moment, I knew they wouldn't be getting much information from me, but they continued asking for whatever reason it would be. I wasn't sure how long it took us before he called it done and walked me out of the closed room.

Kasunod ko ang lalaki, pero ang kaba sa dibdib ko ay hindi pa rin naaalis. Nang makasama ko ulit si Pavan ay may inabot sa kanya ang lalaki na puting sobre na sa tingin ko ay naglalaman ng pera. Hindi ko na inusisa kung anong laman no'n. Gusto ko na lamang umalis ng lugar na ito ng buhay.

When it was our time to leave, gusto nang magmadaling maglakad ng mga paa ko palabas ng building na 'to, pero kailangan ko pa ring umakto na hindi ako natatakot o kung ano man. Nang tuluyan kaming makalabas ng building at tumuloy sa sasakyan ni Pavan ay kanya agad na sinuri ang laman ng sobre. Labis ang tuwang nararamdaman nito nang makita niya pera.

"Did you get what you want?" I questioned him.

Nilingon niya ako na may malaking ngiti sa labi niya. "Well, I did. You were such a great help, Kash. I told you, nothing bad would happen. I'm glad you complied and that's all I ever wanted for you to do. Now, I can't take you home, but I'll drop you off somewhere. I can't let Raj see me, you know? Put on your seat belt now, Kash."

I did what he asked me to do. He drove the car away from the drive way and after a while, he dropped me off at a spot that was far from Raj's house. Nang iwanan niya ako mag-isa ro'n ay hindi ko alam kung anong sunod kong gagawin. Nanghihina ang tuhod ko. I walked back to his place, but before I could even do that, a car stopped at me and Raj came running to me. Niyakap lamang ako nito nang mahigpit at halos wala akong energy para magsalita. Natulala na lamang ako sa nangyayayari.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, looking straight into my eyes.

"I—I think so. . ."

"I'm sorry if I wasn't able to keep you away from Pavan, but you'll be safe from now on with me," he said, assuring me. "Someone would like to mee you back at home. Let's get you home. . ."

I have no idea who he was talking about, but I'd rather go and sleep after this stressful day. If things still didn't go well, I would rather go back to Manila and live my life there.

***