Monty looked around some more and never found Joao. He was long gone, disappeared out into the alleyway, and marched home. It would've been wiser to catch a cab but since the mafia was having a ball on this side of town the drivers were using alternate routes. Then again, some of the drivers are part of the family but it would probably take a long time for them to get here.
Joao removed his phone from his pockets to get it out of silent mode and found tons of missed calls and even more messages. The number was not registered, a private number to be more specific. Sim card companies were not allowed to let any sim card work without proper and complete registration along with a monthly subscription of service which varied across major networks. After this, your government name will automatically appear on a phone you're calling, it can be altered if that person has your number.
Private meant either this was a hacker or a very rich person. None of the above choices were favorable to Joao, rich meant family, and hacker meant enemy. For technical purposes, he ignored the missed calls and opened the messages. The first one almost got a scream out of him.
[I'm at your school.]
[Where are you?]
[I found you.]
[Don't ignore me.]
[Why are running away?]
[Nevermind I'll look for your house.]
[You live at the Oasis right?]
[I asked around and I found it.]
[Fight me.]
[Fight me.]
[fight me]
[fight me…]
And so on and so on, his heart raced, he was not worried about his house. Tumi doesn't sound like he was smart enough to break-in. Even if he was, the house was booby-trapped, a lack of that knowledge was bound to lead to disastrous consequences. Still, there was something about this blind rage Tumi was throwing at him which made Joao uneasy. It had a stench of death.
Joao froze in place his hands closed up and clenched so hard he almost cracked his phone. He was quickly brought back to reality by people bumping on him, apart from a curse thrown here and there most people were unbothered by him.
'That's right, I took this road to hide in these people. I should get going before I get found out.' He swam through the crowd of people until he was back on his school block. It was smooth sailing from then on.
As he approached the Oasis, he slowed down and started to take in the area around him. He observed the cars, electrical and traditional, he looked at the parking meters, and then at the children playing in the streets.
This side of town was truly one of the best, for some reason it had more light to it than the other areas, it has even become a nest for officers of the law. Maybe that was why only Monke and his bodyguards lived this side. It was not favorable for everyone to be within their reach.
What was also interesting about these officers was that they were slowly bringing resources to third Babylon. It was if the government had finally launched a plea to fix it. It wouldn't have come as a surprise to Joao who was keeping up with the news the City of Beloni had fallen from number 2 to number 4 in the must-see cities of the USSA.
It was about time the money-hungry ministries ordered a change. If it was happening that would mean most people would be shipped to towns and villages in exchange for the more productive ones.
Joao was not worried, the news of development was better than the ghost stories about witches and stuff people like Monke were interested in. If there was anything to be worried about was the upgrading police weaponry.
Guns weren't an accessory just anybody person could easily get, but somehow robots were. There was a belief that they cannot do any evil, but since they were just as rare as guns they ended up becoming invisible to people. Joao thought about this because the entrance to his building had a fully automated door that only lets tenants and employees in. After a whole day of opening doors with his hands this caught him so off guard he thought Tumi was on the other side.
The rest of the building was sloppy though, the doors to the staircase didn't have any locks. The elevators were abnormally fast, and the kids who lived here would always crowd up in the lobby since the computer would not let them out without anyone with an ID.
Joao was not in any hurry to go to his room so he took the stairs, every time he got on a new flight he would slow down a bit. He was nervous, he only had about three small dark black foldable clipper knives on him and his phone. After checking if they were still there he sighed and started to recall his fight with Tumi.
Tumi's attacks were wide and heavy, he was able to deliver huge blows from a distance since he was also taller than Joao. If Tumi attacked first, Joao's chances of winning without incriminating himself dropped by a whole half.
Joao inhaled and exhaled rhythmically, each breath deep and almost loud but not loud enough to mask the sound of his reverberating heart. All of a sudden his steps started getting audible and he knew why it was because he was approaching his room. Wad was supposed to be a 5 minute ascend turned into an instant.
Walking into the 17th floor Joao stood by the stairs and looked around the almost empty hallway. To his right was a cleaning lady who waved and smiled at him, and to his left was a kid who kept tripping over a ribbon as he made his way to the elevator. He appeared to be chasing after his older sister.
Well, it was normal and no one was acting like something special had happened. Joao sighed and with a smile turned to exchange pleasantries with her.
"So has anybody come by looking for me?" Joao chuckled nervously.
"Not that I…" She said as she scratched her head. "AHA!"
Joao almost jumped back when she turned to him with a triumphant look on her face.
"There was a tall dark good looking boy here a few minutes ago who was looking for you." She said as she happily shook him.
Joao cringed and she immediately let go, "I am sorry. I forgot that you didn't like that."
"Nevermind. So where did he go?"
"He is in your house waiting for you."