CHAPTER 4 - THE COMMOTION

“Sweetie, please stay here, I’ll just need to do something important.” Timotheus kneeled in front of Cally, busy eating her cotton candy. “ Daddy will be back immediately. Stay and wait for me, okay?”

“Whele’s Kuya?”

“He’ll be here soon. Don’t go anywhere and don’t talk to strangers, understand?” She nodded. Timotheus kissed her daughter’s little forehead before he left.

Cally was sitting on a wooden bench near the carousel. She’s not afraid to be alone because she knows that her father or brother will be there soon. 

While eating a pink cotton candy, she noticed someone behind a store nearby. 

The lady, wearing a uniform of the amusement park’s staff, was vomiting something red, and it looked like blood. Her body has some purple spots and looks like she’s sick. 

She went down on the bench and was about to walk toward the lady’s direction when someone held her shoulder.

“Hi Cally!” Her classmate, Dylan Trevon Torres, called her.

“Dylan!”

“Oh! Is she, Cally? Your cr---“

“Mom!”

“Just kidding, young boy.” The lady with slightly fair skin smiled sweetly at Cally. “Hey, little girl. I’m Dylan’s mom, Keila but you can call me aunt Keila.”

“Nice to meet you, aunt Keila.”

“You’re alone? Where’s your parents?”

“Hm… my father left me a while ago to do something impoltant.”

“Her father is a policeman, mom.”

“Oh? Is that so? If you want, you can go with us while waiting for him.”

“But daddy told me to stay thele.” She pointed to the bench where she sat.

“Then we will stay and wait for him, okay?”

“Okay!”

Cally looked at the place behind the store where she saw the lady but she’s not there anymore.

“What are you looking at?” Dylan asked her.

“Nothing.”

+++

After a while…

“Daddy!” Cally ran toward her father, and Timotheus lifted her.

“Sorry for taking so long, sweetie.”

“It’s fine. I’m not alone though.”

“Who are they?”

“He’s my classmate, Dylan and his mom, aunt Keila.”

“Oh.” He walked toward them. “Thank you for staying with my daughter.”

“No problem. Besides, she’s my son’s classmate and seatmate, to be specific. Your daughter is so lovely.”

“Thank you. By the way, I’m Senior Police Officer II Timotheus Alfarez.”

“Keila Torres.” They shook hands.

“And I’m Dylan Trevon Torres.” Timotheus smiled at the young boy who confidently introduced himself. 

“Nice to meet you young boy.” He patted his little head. “Again… Thank you.”

“See you at school, Cally!” Dylan waved his little hand.

“See you!” She said while waving her hand too.

On their way home, Cally was fast asleep because she got tired after playing around the amusement park, and she was sleeping on Trestan’s lap. 

“How’s your injury?” Timotheus asked his son while driving.

“It hurts like hell, dad. Damn that brat.”

“Why? What happened? And who’s that brat you’re talking about?”

“A stranger.” He lied.

“What did she do to you to curse like that?” He chuckled at his son.

“I got injured and he stomped at my foot. It doubles the pain.”

“Ohh! That’s so unlucky of you.” He seemed to be teasing his son.

“Tss.”

“By the way, that young Ferran was too brave to chase the psycho. I’m amazed. Like uncle, like niece.” He was shaking his head.

“Mom told me before that you’re close with Ferrans? Is that right?” Trestan said while looking outside the window. Timotheus looked at him without turning his head.

“Yeah. Before an incident happens between us.” He gripped the steering wheel when he remembered the memories of the past. “We’re enemies now. To be specific, with that arrogant Simeon Ferran. I don’t have a problem with his entire family. Anyway! I don’t want to talk about him.”

Trestan felt the anger from his father’s tone so that he never spoke again and just looked outside.

They arrived safely at home. Someone’s car was parked in front of their gate and that someone was comfortably sitting on their front porch while smoking an expensive cigarette. 

“Grandpa.” Trestan whispered.

“Tss. What is he doing here? As if he’s welcome at my house.”

“Dad.”

“Entertain him, then send him away immediately. I don’t want to face that old man.”

“Fine.” Trestan sighed heavily and went outside the car while carrying Cally and walked toward his Grandpa.

Parking in their garage, Timotheus’ phone rang and when he saw the caller’s registered name, he immediately answered it. 

He looks at his son while listening to what the caller was saying. Trestan was talking to his grandfather and soon they went inside the house. Timotheus sighed heavily.

“I’m on my day off.”

“This is an important and urgent meeting. Be here in an hour.”

“But---”

“See you, officer.”

The call ended and Timotheus doesn’t have a choice but to attend that so-called ‘important and urgent meeting’.

When he reached his room, he immediately wore his police uniform. While buttoning his short-sleeve shirt, someone knocked at his door and he heard it slightly open. “Dad, I---Uhm... I thought you’re on your day off?”

“Did he leave?” 

“He left.”

“Good.” He sighed in relief. Just the thought of facing his father made him furious. Timotheus doesn’t want to be involved in that old man’s life, whatever life he has.

“But he’ll be back here soon and join us with uhm… simple dinner.”

“Just inform me… when. I will not go home until he leaves.”

“That’s so childish of you dad.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Then let me understand so---“

“I have no time for this, Trestan Joern. We have an urgent meeting today and I must leave. Please... Take care of your sister.”

“Yeah. I will.”

When all settled, Timotheus tapped his son’s shoulder before he departed. 

“That old man really knows how to piss me off.” 

On his way, there’s an argument on the other side of the road, and it was in front of a supermarket. The beeping of vehicles made an uproar in the wide road of San Lorenzo. 

“Another trouble.” Timotheus shook his head, heavily sighed, chose to park his car on the other side of the road, and decided to mediate between the argument of two people.

“Look what you’ve done! You made a big scratch on my car. I will call the police!” The man wearing khaki shorts and dark gray polo shirt shouted but the other man kept silent and blankly stared at the angry man.

“No need to call the police. What happened?” SPO2 Alfarez asked with calmness but in a tone of authority. His low-pitch and very manly voice will give you goosebumps.

“O-Officer! He bumped into my car! Look!”

“In the first place, it’s not my fault that your car got a scratch. I have mine too and I don’t have time for this. I’m in a hurry. Here... Take this for the damage.” The man, in his mid-40s, wearing a black leather jacket lent ten thousand pesos in his hand before checking the time. 

Alfarez checks on the cars and looks at the angles. 

Objectively speaking, there is no big deal and proper conversation will easily solve the issue. Timotheus concluded that the man with khaki shorts is at fault.

“Hah! Do you think---”

“Stop.” The man suddenly stopped talking and looked at SPO2 Alfarez with a little fear. “To settle this, kindly accept the money and leave before I take both of you to the police station.”

“B-But Officer---”

“You’re at fault here mister,” He said without hesitation. “As you can see, you’re the one who bumped into his car. He’s already passing when you move backwards. You should have stopped right away when he passed but you didn’t, so you damaged the tail light of his car.”

“W-What? No! He is the one who's at fault here.”

“Mister, he’s trying to settle this issue though he is the aggrieved. If you don’t accept that money given by this man,” SPO2 Alfarez darkened his face. “I will put you behind the bars.”