Under No Illusion

Right Reserved
ShinichiLaaaabs©
Tammii Gomez
01042020

Prologue

COOLER

I was brought inside the precinct the same time a small built woman with rainbow-colored hair was cuffed on the chair. Same old precinct. May mga pulis na nag-uusap, some were sipping on their coffees, others looked honest with their jobs while some looks like they’re here for attendance purposes only.

Oh crap, I was caught again. Ilang beses na ba akong nahuli ng mga pulis? They allegedly saw me shoot some guy. “allegedly” because none of these allegations has been proven and I was always innocent.

I mean, why would I shoot a guy?

Maybe I did but it’s not like I killed them.

I could, but it would be a waste of energy. I’m up for the success of the shipment, not to death of some traitors. The killing part would be done by someone, not me.

I sat on the chair and none of the officers tried to cuff me on the chair like they did to the rainbow girl.

Ah, I hate precincts. They smell, it’s boring, no good coffee aside from instant and they need to invest in cleaning program unless they want to die due to mosquito bite.

I bet my money that the mosquitoes are feasting on rainbow girl’s legs. She was wearing a torn fishnet stockings, a fitted cropped top shirt with Daddy’s Little Monster print and short shorts plus heavy makeup.

Oh Harley Quinn. I got the reference.

Is she some prostitute?

I watched her grinned at particularly no one as she pulled a pin using her free hand from her rainbow-colored hair. Twisting it a bit, she used it to unlock the cuff on herself.

She did what?

Ngumiti siya nang dumaan ang isang pulis sa harap niya. She grabbed a flyer from the table and reached for the telephone on the side. I ignored her and waited for the damn lawyer to come, the one who knew the drill if something like this happens. It’s not like it’s the first time.

Pinanuod ko siya habang komportableng nakaupo, ignoring the police who was walking back and forth at abala sa kung anu-ano. No one has yet noticed how she freed herself from the handcuff. Ilang minuto na siyang nakaupo roon at tila bored na bored.

“Tumawag ka na ba ng abogado?” tanong sa akin ng isang pulis na kakalapit lamang. If I will categorize him, he looks like one of the cops who were actually doing good in their job. Younger than most of them but definitely has some sense of responsibility.

“Yup,” sagot ko sa kanya at naupo ng naka-dekwatro, much to his annoyance.

He cleared his throat as he got a handcuff from his side and cuffed me.

“It’s the standard procedure kaya kailangan kitang posasan,” sabi niya habang ina-attach sa akin ang posas.

“Yeah sure,” matamlay kong sagot. It’s not like I’ve never been cuffed my whole life. It’s not even hard to get out of it.

Matapos niya akong posasan ay lumapit siya sa babaeng nasa tapat ko. Rainbow girl sat straight, keeping her free hand on her back.

“Ja, ano na naman ‘to?” tanong ng pulis.

Oh so they knew each other. Is he one of her regular customer? Heard some cops like to have some thrill other than gun fights and operations.

“Nahuli ka dati dahil sa riot na kinasangkutan mo. Last time you’re here, nahuli kang may illegal na armas. Tapos ngayon? Ja, you knew possession of prohibited drugs is serious.”

Rainbow girl sat relaxed, keeping her hands at the back. “Hindi iyon sa akin.”

“Hindi ito nakakatuwa Jaja,” sagot ng pulis.

Oh so Rainbow Girl is trouble in different colors. Was she a juvenile delinquent? She’s so tiny I could mistake her for a teenage girl.

“Panahon na para hiwalayan mo ‘yang boyfriend mo,” sabi ulit ng pulis.

“Bakit ko iyon gagawin?” she shot back.

“Masama lamang ang impluwensiya ni Jules sa’yo.”

She sulked, crossing her arms, forgetting she had uncuffed herself. “That’s for me and Jules to decide.”

Napakamot ang pulis sa kanyang ulo. “At tinanggal mo ang posas mo.”

Rainbow girl suddenly pointed her lips towards me. “So as he.”

Oh shit, she caught me.

Yup, I did pretty much as uncuffing myself. And how did she notice? I never thought she was actually paying attention to me. Napabuntong-hininga ang pulis. Looks like he’s in great perplexity right now.

He stood up from his seat and walked towards me, probably to cuff me again. The same time he approached, the door opened at iniluwa niyon ang abogado ko.

He’s a little late though.

And who’s with him?

“I am Cooler Vander’s lawyer,” pakilala niya.

Bahagya namang sumilip ang lalaki sa likuran niya. He wore a cap and a jacket printed with a pizza parlor’s name on it. “Pizza delivery.”

All the cops looked confused.

Who the hell ordered pizza?

Then rainbow girl stood from her seat, skipping happily as she went for the door. “Yes, I’m here! Magkano po lahat?”

She ordered the pizza?

Ah that explains the flyer she had over there and the phone call.

Natampal ng pulis ang kanyang noo. The last name written on his chest was Rustia. Officer Rustia looked pissed. “Ja, hindi ito ang tamang oras para umorder ka ng pagkain.”

Rainbow girl smiled, sniffing at the box the delivery guy handed her. “Bakit hindi? 24 hours open naman ang pizza parlor na ‘to. Hindi pa ako kumakain. Everyone cannot offer me a decent meal maliban sa kape na lasang kalawang. Do you mind changing your water dispenser? Iba na ang lasa ng tubig ninyo.”

The police around coughed few times samantalang halos matawa naman ang iba.

Rainbow girl is so daring. I mean, who would order pizza at 12:30 in the midnight at nasa police station pa?

“Three hundred seventy five plus fifty pesos delivery charge po ma’am,” sabi ng pizza delivery guy.

Kinapa niya ang kanyang bulsa gamit ang kanyang isang kamay. “Oh, I forgot the police confiscated my phone and money.” Bumaling siya sa akin. “Hey you look rich, pahiram naman ako ng four hundred twenty five, no, make it five hundred para may tip na.”

“Ja!” saway ni Officer Rustia.

Oh, no problem pero gaya niya ay kinonfiscate din ang pera at mga gamit ko. I turned to look at the lawyer. He got the message. He pulled his wallet and handed the rainbow girl some bill.

“Thanks buddy!” masiglang wika niya at inabot ang pera sa delivery guy.

Officer Rustia called one of the fat guys to handle the girl samantalang siya naman ang nakipag-usap sa amin ng abogado ko. He brought us inside an office as he faced on his computer after closing the door.

“Mabilis lamang ‘to, kailangan n’yo lamang sagutin ng maayos ang mga tanong ko,” he said.

Of course, I know the drill.

“Name?”

My lawyer was the one who answered. “Cooler Vander. Do we really have to go through this?”

But Officer Rustia is not the type you can bribe. Like I said, he looked like the cop who’s serious with his uniform.

“Not because you let my sister borrow some money, hindi ibig sabihin ay abswelto na kayo sa nangyari ngayong gabi. Attorney, kung hindi ninyo alam ang nangyari, your client was at the crime scene kung saan pinatay ang isang businessman. He’s got blood on his sleeves kaya siya ang aming primary suspect. He also had a gun with him.”

The lawyer nodded his head. “I heard this happened at Howmart Avenue, right? Kung hindi ninyo alam, Vander Trading Inc. is situated in that area. Hindi malabong makikita mo ang aking kliyente sa daang iyon.”

But Officer Rustia was getting none of that. “With a gun and blood on his clothes? At ten in the evening?”

“Do you question my client’s work schedule? Masama bang mag-overtime? If you’re not aware, he’s the COO of Vander Trading. We can assure you his gun is registered and the blood on his side is his busted wound due to operation he had last week.”

Bumaling sa akin si officer Rustia. “Operation?”

Drug operation. I’ve got a gun shot on my side.

“Yup, faulty organs,” sagot ko sa kanya. I know they’re gonna ask for medical certificate and such. We own hospitals so faking one isn’t hard. They can scribble ‘organ transplant’ instead of stitched gun wound.

It wasn’t me who killed the businessman.

It was Poseidon from somewhere as agreed. This fucker Roy Lau, the victim, was not admitting his mistake and decided to fight. He busted my wound as he tried to kill me, but no, Officer Rustia is not getting that part and will consider this as a wound from an operation.

“You should consider putting police patrol in that area, napakarami ng mga snatcher at hijacker. I got my gun because someone tried to steal my car. But there are two of them kaya anong panama ko? Also, I suppose there were CCTV around the crime scene. See for yourself okay?” sagot ko.

I’m sure the reapers had done their job in staging my car like it was supposed to be carnapped. My cousin Ryu can do the wonder. He can tamper the cameras with his excellent skills so like I said, I am good as innocent.

“You see, my client has excessive blood loss already. Hindi sapat ang inilapat ninyong first aid sa kanya. Will you be responsible for it?” tanong ng abogado. “And this is illegal detention.”

Knowing he’s got no match for us, the officer sighed. I knew he watched the videos. The tampered videos but he didn’t know the tampering part.

“Pwede na kayong umalis,” pagsuko niya. “But if anything comes up, you will be called again for some questions.”

I winked at him as I stood up. “Noted.”

My lawyer guided me as we went out the room. Nang makalabas kami ay napansin ko ang babaeng masayang kumakain ng pizza. She raised her head and looked at me. Saglit na nagtagpo ang aming mga mata.

She stood up and grabbed a slice of pizza from the box, offered it to us nang makarating siya sa harap namin. “Pizza?”

Nagpalipat-lipat ang tingin ko sa kanya at sa pizza.

“I know I owe you okay, so take a slice as down payment?” she grinned.

No I’m good.

I snapped in front of her, doing one of the magic trick I learned. Humugot ako ng pulang rosas mula sa likod ng kanyang buhok na kulay bahaghari. “Well, don’t bother paying it.”

Inilahad ko sa harap niya ang rosas. She didn’t even look amazed like everyone does when someone performed magic in front of them. Sa halip ay sumimangot siya.

“That’s it?” tanong niya, grabbing the rose from me with one hand and throw it on the air. Sinundan ko iyon ng tingin but it was fast like a blink of an eye. Nalaglag iyon ngunit hindi na rosas, sa halip ay kulay gintong confetti.

What? Did she just overlapped my magic trick with her own?

Interesting.

“What’s your name?” tanong niya sa akin.

“Cooler Vander,” sagot ko. “Yours?”

Sa halip na sugtin ako ay kumuha siya ng isang ham na nasa toppings ng pizza, kinagatan iyon nang maliit at inilagay sa chest pocket ng suot kong polo. “Check it kapag nasa sasakyan ka na. Nice meeting you Cooler Vander!”

Tinalikuran niya ako at naglakad papunta sa pwesto niya kanina, continuing to munch on her pizza. Napatingin ako sa bulsa ng suot ko, tapping it a bit bago lumabas ng presinto. I slipped inside my lawyer’s car on the backseat.

“Babalik na ba tayo sa mansiyon, Zeus?” tanong niya sa akin. Yeah, he called me with the name I go by in the business. Zeus, Zeus of Vander Mafia.

I nodded as a reply and he started the engine. Kinapa ko naman ang bulsa ko, feeling something inside pero hindi iyon ang ham na nilagay ng babae kanina.

I took out the thing from my pocket.

An ace of spades card.

It was a normal card, except that there’s some letters and numbers scribbled on it.

Hi I’m Jaja Rustia
Ur trick sucks
Call me instead
0956 22xx 00xx

Oh well.

This calling card will come in handy one of these days.

#

A/N:

Heavens forgive me but I just realized Jaja and Cooler’s shipname is #JaCool

Me: *sips holy water*
wasn’t enough!
Me: *bathe in holy water*

Gramber and Ticket is shaking HAHAHAHAHAHA

ShinichiLaaaabs