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145 | Press Conference
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2021-08-14 23:07:13"Hey, guys?" I asked Ray, Ivan, and Fred. "Should I wear my mask?"
"Yeah," Ray replied, "I thought it would be more fun if you were mysterious to the press."
"Yes, I agree," said Fred.
"After all, that's your trademark," Ivan said. “And until now, no one knows who the person behind Che's mask is. I also agree to keep it hidden.”
"How about you Quinn?" I asked.
"That's up to you," Quinn replied, "but I agree with them."
"Okay, I'll put my mask on," I said.
"Okay, let's go to the back of the auditorium," said Quinn.
Together we walked through the back entrance of the hotel auditorium. Inside, as we prepared ourselves for the press, I looked around for where I had kept my half-face mask. Besides, I forgot I wasn't wearing a hoodie jacket.
"Here!" said Kacey, “I know you must have forgotten it."
I saw Kacey hand me the mask and hoodie jacket that I usually wear. I wonder how she knew where I kept it.
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After the press conference, we laughed knowing that the press was no longer interested in asking questions because of the Boomerank members' careless answers. That was how journalists are. The bad news is good news, they say.But it's a shame we gave them the really bad news. When pressed for reasons why we are like them and that, we always answer because we are rockstars who do what we want.After a short chat, Ray asked me about my plans for the evening. I replied that I had no plans.“You came with a pretty girl but you don't have any plans? Seriously," Ray sneered."I don't know, I'll leave it to Kacey," I replied, "she has the notes on where we need to go.""Yes, and I had it all planned," Kacey said."Hahaha, so you guys really take advantage of the concert as well as a vacation," said Fred."That's it," I said, "then what about you guys. What are you going to do after this?”"As usual," Ivan said, "they're go
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"Why are you crying?" I asked."Oh, nope," Kacey replied, rubbing her eyes. "I'm just being happy.""Because of what?" I asked again."I don't know," Kacey replied, "I just feel like it."“Want to go back to the hotel?” I offer."Yeah, let's go back to the hotel," Kacey agreed.We walked together to the hotel. I didn't felt it was already night. Along the way, Kacey was like never before, running or dancing. She was calmer and looked more mature.We finally arrived in front of the hotel room. I opened the door, and Kacey walked in gracefully. She then stopped in front of the bed and turned to face me."I can sleep on the couch," I said awkwardly.Kacey didn't answer. She just looked at me. There was a moment of silence for a moment.I ventured closer, Kacey didn't move. I grabbed the two half-blood girls' hands and caressed them. I could feel Kacey's joints loosening. A moment later, she leaned against
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"LANG, hey Langley," a female voice whispered, calling my name.I slowly opened my eyes. There was Kacey's face sitting in front of me. The fragrance then wafted into my nose."Did you just take a shower?" I asked, straightening up."Yeah," said Kacey, "and you'd better take a shower too!""What time is it?" I asked."Nine in the morning," Kacey replied."It's still morning. I want to sleep again," I said as I lay down and closed my eyes again."Come on, don't you want to see the Rock in Rio?" Kacey sulked.My eyes immediately opened hearing that. Shit! I forget. Watching the Rock in Rio sounds like fun. Besides, I could feel the atmosphere first before the gig tonight."Okay, I'll take a shower first," I said."Hurray!"In the bathroom, I went back to what happened last night between Kacey and me. Her scent still lingered in my sense of smell. I could still feel Kacey's smooth skin in the palm of my hand.
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KACEY and I were at Barra Olympic Park, where Rock in Rio was being held. Loud sounds of music could be heard from outside the football stadium. Like concerts in general, this place was full of visitors. The difference was, people from different parts of the world are here.I could see Kacey's face was shining. I think it's because there were various ethnicities in the same place. It's also interesting to me. Being able to see different types of people with different languages was a joy in itself.Like Kacey and I, they all came to Barra Olympic Park to witness live concerts of world-class bands and musicians in action. Not just musicians, Rock in Rio was a special rock music festival.The Barra Olympic Park itself was originally a City Sports Complex for nine sports venues in Barra da Tijuca, in the western zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Barra Olympic Park previously served as the Olympic Park for the 2016 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Paralympics.
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"Alright, Che!" Alen quipped, "do you want to see the concert in the stadium?""Yeah, we're going in," I replied.“Is this your first international music festival?” asked Alen again."Yes," replied Kacey."Okay, I have two tickets if you want," Alen offered."So you're selling tickets too," I replied. "How much it costs?""1000 dollars," replied Alen. "If you buy two tickets, I'll give you 1900 dollars.""Very expensive. At the counter it was only 857 dollars,” said Kacey."That's if you want to stand in line. While I only help visitors to buy tickets,” Alen defended himself."Should we just use an invitation card," I said to Kacey in Indonesian."No, you'll be caught as Che," Kacey replied."It's okay. Just use my money," said Kacey as she took her wallet from her sling bag.I was stunned for a moment to think about how much money Kacey had."Okay, we'll take two ticke
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"HAH?" Kacey still doesn't understand."That's the title of the song," I said."Oh, I see now," Kacey responded."Okay, let's go in," I said.Kacey and I entered the soccer stadium area at Barra Olympic. The atmosphere inside turned out to be wilder than outside. From a distance, I could see a giant stage. Even from the end of us standing, I could see the performing band. In front of the stage, thousands of people were moshing. Korn was a cool band."Would you like to come closer?" I asked."I think we're over there," Kacey suggested, pointing to a little empty area near the goal."Okay, let's go there," I agreed.We walked towards the goal post. The closer to the stage, I could felt the heat of the situation. The enthusiasm of the audience was insane.When it comes to summer concert vibes, excitement could easily overshadow safety. In a poll on concert behavior, nearly 50% of those surveyed admitted to doing something a
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THE fun of watching the Rock in Rio concert finally ended. We didn't expect international concerts to be that wild. Just like music festivals in Indonesia. No fights, but still dangerous.We went back to the hotel, but Kacey told me to go to the room first. She said there is still something she needs to do. When I asked if I could accompany her, she just said that I should rest for the gig tonight."You rest," said Kacey, "I still have things to do.""I can accompany you," I offered."No need," Kacey replied, "this is a woman's business.""Okay. All right then," I said.We parted ways in the hotel lobby. I went up to the second floor while Kacey came back out of the hotel. I thought this is my chance to call Amelia, Aisha, Julia, and Zoey.In the room, I went to the balcony and saw the daytime view on Copacabana beach. I sat on the chair and took my phone out of my pants pocket.Amelia. She asked me to call immediately. Okay. I
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"Assalamualaikum, Langley!" a male voice answered my call. "How was your concert there?"“Ahmed, where is Aisha?” I asked."She's fine, and she's praying," Ahmed replied."Why can you answer Aisha's phone?" I asked."A lot has happened since you left, Langley," Ahmed replied again.What?!"What are you doing at Aisha's house so early?" I asked."Well, as I said, a lot has happened since you left Indonesia," Ahmed said, not answering my question."I've only been gone two days," I said.“In two days it happened a lot. Say, Aisha, and I will start a new life,” said Aisha.What?!"Up to you. Tell Aisha I called her," I said, then hung up without saying 'Assalam Alaikum.I paused for a moment to digest what Ahmed meant by starting a new life with Aisha. I tried to relate how he could answer calls from Aisha's cell phone so early.My mind has been clouded by bad things that I
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In the Name of the Sacred Tree 283 | The End
News of my arrest spread rapidly and wildly - from surrender, twisted by the Indonesian Herald by forced arrest. The wave of mass demonstrations was getting bigger in Surabaya.Until one day, a man was demonstrating alone carrying the body of a woman in the Surabaya House of Representative building yard which was recorded by television broadcasts. A moment later, he poured gasoline over his body and the old woman's body. Then, he started a fire which quickly burned himself and the body he was carrying.Everyone knew that he was Mr. Wayan who intended to show his protest by presenting himself and his wife in front of the people's representatives. He had a desperate on the government.When that happened, I was in the detention room.All the prisoners present stood up to learn of Wayan's self-immolation on television. I thought the prisoners would kill him for being the instigator of this distressing incident. Apparently, they even cursed the authorities. Th
In the Name of the Sacred Tree 282 | The Black Mask Movement
Julia then revealed that her pregnancy was actually from my seed. Therefore, Julia asked in return whether it meant that the child she was carrying was a bastard child too. That was why Julia was forced to accept Gerald's marriage proposal to cover my disgrace.I asked Julia why she hadn't said that earlier. Julia admitted that she had tried but was afraid to ruin my happiness. At that time, I received a phone call from Quinn if I was appointed as Hendryx's replacement at The Boumerank. Besides, I was already a famous person. Julia was afraid of damaging my image and defaming Bradley.I also asked how could this happen? Julia reminded me of when I lay in the courtyard of a closed Middle Eastern restaurant. That night, I forced Julia to make love to vent my frustration.I asked why Julia didn't refuse or fight me. Julia admitted that if she fough
In the Name of the Sacred Tree 281 | The Bastard
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In the Name of the Sacred Tree 280 | Saltyroth Rhapsody
I visited Aisha at her palace at Royal Certajava. There, I asked Aisha if it was true that the Rasheed's were eyeing a new source of oil in Saltyville. Aisha said she knew, but was not involved.I asked, why didn't Aisha try to block her family's intentions? There were thousands of people living on the land of Saltyville. Aisha replied that she was only a Muslim woman. She had no power to decide. I accused Aisha of enjoying the result.Aisha started crying, telling me this was not what I accused her family of. I asked, then how exactly. Aisha replied she couldn't expose it.Then, I clashed with Aisha by accusing her of being hypocritical because she pretended not to know what was going on. We both mourned each other and move away from each other.So it was with Kacey.
In the Name of the Sacred Tree 279 | Investigation
Knowing that I again urged my mother to talk. However, Lidia did not budge. Then, I said goodbye and would find out for myself and continue Bradley's struggle. Lidia strictly forbade my intention. But I was determined.Based on clues from Brad's book and Zoey's notes, I and Amelia, with Vincent's help, discover the mode of money laundering by the Rasheed and Schielhort families. Bribes to and from Jamaal, Syahnaz, Fatima, and Malloch, were deposited through the CLIF Foundation and Islamic boarding schools and houses of worship as a form of charity.Besides, some were used to establish Islamic boarding schools in Jombang and Madura. This was done by asking one of the pesantren students to be used on his behalf. That way, the Rasheed and Torstein families were not legally touched. An example was Bowie.While tracing this dirty practice, I continued to experience terror.Exploring further to Jakarta, I also discovered a flow of money to state officials. The
In the Name of the Sacred Tree 278 | Bradley's Diary
The next day, I asked my mother, Lidia, about Saltyville in more detail. The village elders refused to talk about it unless Lidia had already told me. And how did Bradley relate to all of this? But Lidia refused to talk about Bradley and Saltyville.I insisted that I read old documents at the Dr. Sue Thompson Regional Hospital. The document stated that there was the name of Lidia Tanoto, who gave birth to twins without a father. Lidia didn't budge.I was not broken. Then, I rushed to the warehouse of my house. I unpacked old chests and suitcases that were there. Every old document I read to find what I looking for. But, actually, I didn't know what I was looking for. I only knew Bradley and Saltyville.Then there was a clean pocketbook, tied with ropes from torn cloth. I opened it slowly because the book had rotted with age. In the book, apparently, Bradley wrote his daily life up to three days before mysteriously disappearing.In the book, Brad wrote abo
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After Brody investigated, it was Troy who was about to collect Zidan's debt from Jamaal. Troy told Jamaal that Zoey was somewhere in Newton and would kidnap her as bail. Shortly after, there was an IMD raid into the Guysville prostitution complex that left three people dead.We said Brody - referring to himself and Troy - concluded that the mastermind behind the brothel attacks was the Rasheed's. Brody also revealed that the most responsible behind Calliope's past to bring down Jamaal was Vincent. I was surprised.Brody added that Vincent found out from Zidan. And the Zidan was pretending to be angry and running away from the house so as not to stand out, that he was the one who leaked it.I also asked, how did Zidan know if Calliope was Zoey aka Melody? Well, therein laid the mystery. Who told Zidan? Said Brody.I further asked why Brody was willing to let Zoey go to me. Brody answered because I was his nephew.Then, I was reminded of Troy. Actual
In the Name of the Sacred Tree 276 | Climax
Then, suddenly the rumor spread that Vincent Limantoro was a descendant of communists. Vincent's family said the issue once defended Saltyville because they wanted immorality to continue in Saltyroth. George Limantoro was touted as a dissident against the regime.Shortly, Mayor Jamaal announced three villages, not two, whose citizens were asked to leave immediately. The problem was, the three villages would be evicted by the authority in a couple of days. The three villages were Saltyville, Wigan, and Certajava. For Saltyville in particular, the eviction would be the next day.Those facts made me even angrier. I ignored Brody's advice to remain silent. At a concert that refused the eviction in Saltyville, I participated in openly voicing my rejection of Jamaal.At that concert, I was no longer wearing Che's robes. I wanted the world to recognize me and the voices I represented.Then hundreds of IMD masses suddenly attacked Saltyville. There were clashes b
In the Name of the Sacred Tree 275 | Dangerous Teror
It was Santos. To me, Santos confessed that he and other service officials travel to Singapore for a comparative study on the construction of city parks also the cleanliness rules. He gambled in his spare time. At first, I understood Santos's reasons.We then talked about music and other things. We didn't have much time together because Santos had to leave, while Quinn and I went back to the hotel.The next day, I had a concert with Boumerank. As usual, the atmosphere is always lively. After that, we all returned to Indonesia.Day by day, Zoey's life began to improve. I had also kept his promise to fulfill Zoey's dream of becoming a singer.However, when everything seemed fine, I and Zoey were suddenly hunted down by strangers. They demanded me and Zoey shut our mouths or be killed. Zoey and I at first thought it was someone from Zoey's past.In the midst of her popularity, news spread that Calliope was a former drug addict and prostitute with the
