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Chapter 18 General Ver
General Ver was the right-hand man. He was the executioner, the one who follows every order to the letter. He also planned the bombings around the country, to make it sound that it was under rebellion and sedition. He made this chaos in order for the president to declare a state of emergency.
After the fiasco at the airport, the General was holed up in his office thinking of ways to get away from the blame. His mind was traveling far away, although the television was on, divided between the news and the storm he was facing, with him at the center. He saw Guion Bluford who became the first African-American in space aboard Space Shuttle Challenger on the STS-8 mission. He thought it was a waste of money to send people to space. The space venture was drowned out by the news of the assassination. More particularly, by the footage of the Japanese tape which was aired over and over.
The General had never been wrong. He rose up to that level becaus
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BUNGLED Chapter 19 Tessa Lopez
That night in his room JC was uneasy, tossing and turning. Although the lights were out, his eyes were wide open due to what he thought was jet lag. The sheets smelled new. They felt comfortable on his skin after having been exposed to the tropical climate. In the middle of darkness, he found himself staring at the ceiling. Red and blue lights deflecting from a neon sign came in through the glass window. It was mesmerizing but sleep was long in coming for him. He lay awake and was thinking of the voice, weighing the consequences of her revelation. Who was she? Was she for real? If she was, then what she would be giving would be perfect evidence for the case. And our newspaper will benefit from it. Mr. Mc Millan will be happy. Perhaps, he would promote me to senior editor. A tape of the assassination would clearly show who the perpetrators were. Would she
BUNGLED Chapter 20 Coronel Follows
Hope was Coronel Follow´s last card to keep his job. He was hoping he could stumble on a solution that could redeem his fate with General Ver. He was intelligent and had never failed the general before. So, he pondered deeply. He knew that the airport security depended on surveillance recording around its parameter. He let his mind travel from one point to the other. He examined the buildings, and indeed there were several cameras in-place for security. Immediately, he went to check the facilities personally. The airport security office was small on the first floor of the main building. This was where images of lesser or greater import were seen first. Inside, more than twenty blinking close circuit screens covering practically all corners of the airport was in front of three personnel in uniforms who were manning them. Smoke floated in the air. On their desk, the ashtrays were full of butts, for all of them were heavy smokers. Years of wo
BUNGLED Chapter 21 JC´s busy schedule
After his interview with General Ver and two opposition leaders, JC asked his office to get a date for an interview with the Palace. He wanted to know what the president thought of the assassination, although he tend to be biased, he nevertheless wanted some facts from the other side. As he expected, there was a denial from the General- a denial of responsibility in all four corners. After a busy day, he proceeded to the department store at the corner to take home things he needed: a white cotton t-shirt, toothpaste, and a shave. He walked through the promenades of the mall. Then he headed to his apartment, passing through some shops to familiarize himself. His height and unique features always attracted some unsolicited attention from young girls. A handsome tall young man with glasses, he was a new sight. And it was expected of them to take a second look. This barely bothered
BUNGLED Chapter 22 The Breakfast Club
It was raining. The stream from heaven flowed down along the side of the mountain, dragging along branches, leaves of fallen trees, and whatever it found on its way. One isolated driftwood bobbed and rocked, slowly. It picked up speed, winding its way until it landed on a whirlpool at the mouth. In its moody disposition, the surging stream rambled to eventually become a torrent of angry waters, never letting up. The subdued opposition whispered and started mobilizing. There were condemnations of the blatant transgression of a person´s right to life. Scattered groups all over the country could not keep quiet. Little by little they raised their voices. One of these informal conglomerations was the Sulog or Breakfast Club. The Breakfast Club condemned the assassination through the media, still in their covert way. Their idol, hope, and last resort had gone, eliminated by the monster. Now the
BUNGLED Chapter 23 At the party
Not so many nights were as tranquil and filled with merriment as this one in this ancestral house in Makati. There was soft music in the air, drinks were passed around and nice people mingled to celebrate Tommy’s grandma’s birthday. JC had been busy socializing with Tommy’s old folks, kowtowing to each and every one of them. It was a big family house in Forbes Park, a residential area in the center of town. Sergio Mendezwas playing from somewhere in the house. Tommy’s officemates were there, too. All of them. Tessa Lopez who arrived later hardly escaped everyone’s attention. She was the focus, the center of their admiring eyes, who looked gorgeous in a black Armani dress that revealed her sensuous beauty. It was an evening dress matched with black high-heeled shoes that emphasized the shapely form of her body, and this made JC’s heart skip a bit. He thought she was
BUNGLED Chapter 24 Tessa´s childhood days
Tessa Lopez’s childhood days never suffered economic downturns in spite of the national crisis. A good paediatrician, his father had a stable practice that never ran out of patients. He was a doting and devoted father who saw to it that his family had the best of everything. Her mother was once a model. So that in her married life, she did nothing but to spend all her time at the beauty parlour, which her father tolerated. The only responsibility she felt she had to do was to see that all of Tessa’s needs were fully met. Oftentimes, Tessa’s mother would treat her to an ice cream sundae at Greenbelt Mall. They would take a walk around and shop. When her mother saw that she was tired, she would bring her to the ice cream parlour at the side of the mall. Thus, they sat at a table by the glass window one afternoon. Young Tessa licked her ice cream at the sides to stop it from flow
BUNGLED Chapter 25 The chase begins
That night after the party, JC went home in Tommy’s car. On the way, he praised him for having a lovely family. He chose to be dropped at the corner so that he could walk toward his apartment building. While on his way, his intuition told him something inexplicable, out of the ordinary, was about to happen. A sudden sense of foreboding washed over him and a vague and uneasy vibrating chill rose up in his body. It was his daily meditations that had sharpened his third eye and enabled him to see what was coming. He was already at the lobby when he decided to go somewhere else, away from his condo, so he turned back. Just as he was about to go out of the building, he noticed a black sedan car that was parked about a few yards from the entrance. Its presence would have been imperceptible if the windows weren’t tinted dark. This alone raised his suspicions. He could make out the movements of two men inside.
BUNGLED Chapter 26 His escape
AFTER hours and hours on the road, JC believed that they were driving inward toward a plantation. The car chugged slowly when it entered a narrow dirt road. Its headlights threw dark shadows of the tall sugar cane at the sides. He looked back and he was blinded by dust recoiling upwards. Some blocked their view, so it was necessary to drive slowly to avoid swerving out of the road. The summer house was hidden completely and one who was unfamiliar could easily be lost in the dark. From this dusty road, the car slipped out into yet another mile of the dusty road leading to a house with an iron gate. It was a mansion by local standards. Surrounding it was the plantation that made it a dot from a far distance. It was one of those houses made of bricks and strong logs in the heart of nowhere, a complete hideaway, hidden from the rest of the world by tall sugarcane. JC saw a middle-aged man coming to
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- BUNGLED EPILOGUE
- BUNGLED Chapter 59 His last visit to the Raj Guru
- BUNGLED Chapter 58 The wedding
- BUNGLED Chapter 57 Tessa´s visit to the States
- BUNGLED Chapter 56 Their next date
- BUNGLED Chapter 55 Celia and Jeanie
- BUNGLED Chapter 54 Tessa´s invitation
- BUNGLED Chapter 53 Love´s first enounter
- BUNGLED Chapter 52 JC´s return
