The tricycle pulls up at Kate's corner, and bam, there they all are. The usual suspects—Bilibid boys, some kids, Kuya Balong, and my mom and bro.
They didn't really clock that Pusa was with me; she was hanging behind me when we got off the tricycle, and everyone else was too busy yapping.
"Oh, there's Chris," says Mang Cris.
"Over here, buddy," he waves me over.
"Told ya, I know your mom. Ma'am Belen, right? I used to be a janitor at Librada too," he adds.
Sure enough, there's my mom, my bro, Kate, Aling Bea, and Mang Cris.
"Yeah, do that and we can fix this mess," says Mang Ben.
"We were talking earlier, Kate should transfer to Nueva Ecija—"
"Nah, no way!" Kate snaps, but Mang Ben keeps going.
"... and Arcy should go to Bulacan. Get you all outta this trouble. Damn, your group's got no chance."
"That kid you hurt at school—he and the girls squealed. Jeric, the one you beat up, hasn't shown up. The Osmeña kid you whacked, your mom's paying for his treatment. That's what was decided at the barangay meeting. You don't need to face them. We got folks there. His mom's clueless, old. They can't do anything. It's settled, boy! Just lay low for now."
"Those two you punched, they're gonna back off. Jeric's the stubborn one. He might come after you or someone you know."
Mang Ben keeps on yapping.
"Don't worry, we'll keep an eye on Jeric. He can't pull his tough guy act here. We'll alert the crew at Gagalangin, Road 3, and Sunog-Apog. If they see him, they'll rough him up," says Mang Nestor.
"Earlier, when we were picking up Kate at Laurel, we walked down Juan Luna like it was a funeral procession. So many of us! Even the kids tagged along. Traffic was a nightmare! We caught Jeric's group at Pag-asa. These kids were riled up, so they scattered."
Mang Nestor again.
"More of them showed up at Pampanga. Jeric and his crew were ready for payback. If you were there, it would've been a brawl. You're their main target, it would've been chaos. The kids were ready though. Our arresting officers were there, so we laid low. We just let them be."
"We can handle it, Mang Nestor. Those guys are all talk. If they were serious, they wouldn't show their weapons. They're just show-offs."
One of the kids chimes in.
"Jeric had a knife, his buddies had bats. Dumbasses showed their weapons right in front of the cops and got arrested."
"Chief Macaraeg took them to Moriones. They were cuffed and couldn't do anything. But boy, be careful. If they get marked in Bilibid, we can't help. Roman's at Moriones, hopefully we can talk to him."
"I'll talk to Roman. I already mentioned it at a party I went to," says Mang Cris.
"We'll send Kate to the province. That's the best we can do. They might take advantage if we slip up," adds Mang Cris.
"You'll transfer to our place, okay? I'll handle everything. Today, we all go home together," says my mom.
My bro stays quiet while Kate's fuming, face all scrunched up.
"I'll handle the medical costs. We have to, to avoid more trouble. Twenty grand, clear as day," my mom says, quite relaxed.
"Hey, did you lock the house properly? No lights left on, no fan plugged in?"
My mom's ready to leave and says goodbye to everyone. I say I'll stay to talk to Kate. When my mom and bro stand to leave, I sit beside Kate. Pusa joins us.
"I don't wanna transfer!!" Kate whines.
"You shouldn't have done that. I could've dodged them," Kate keeps sulking, and I stay quiet.
"Kate, go upstairs. Let today pass so you can think. I've let you get your way all the time. Now, follow us," Mang Cris says seriously, making me nervous.
"You, son, go home. This day has been long enough for this problem."
So I stand up and say goodbye. We all pile into the tricycle to LRT Abad Santos Station. Kate storms upstairs angrily.
_End of Chapter 2_