The foreigners were easy to find. Four large men were carrying a Japanese sedan chair through the streets around the church. These men were easily recognizable because they were much taller and muscular than the average Philippian male. Plus they were all dressed in black with black motorcycle helmets masking their faces. A Japanese woman was lounging in the sedan chair looking intently at the nearby buildings. Their way through the market was led by another black clothed and helmeted figure who was using a large walking stick to clear her way through the crowds. When the Japanese woman in her fancy red and black satin clothes decided to stop, the giant in the front of the process would lean on the walking stick, possibly to give her hip a chance to rest.
"Kashmira was walking beside the chair, Ramón," the young boy said.
But she wasn't there now. Ramón had heard the rumours about a Japanese woman buying up buildings and leases, so he decided to follow her. Fifty members of his red-capped army fell in behind.
The giant in front saw them first. She barked something in a foreign language and the four men put the sedan chair down in perfect synchronization. They turned and faced the red-caps. The giant barked something else. The four men pulled a black handle out of the belt around their waist. Another bark, and those four black handles projected shimmering swords of light.
Every boy and man in the street knew about the Star Wars characters. Hans Solo, Luke Skywalker, Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vadar, R2D2, lightsabres, and some hottie dressed in white. The four Japanese Star Wars troopers advanced in unison, their lightsabres flashing through the sky in intricate circles of impending death. As the troopers approached the redcaps, the thugs could hear the sizzle of the lightsabres. Everybody knew that Luke Skywalker had lost an arm to a lightsabre. To a boy and to a man, they broke and ran. The Force wasn't with them that afternoon.
# # # # # # # #
After making her appearance in Maasin City as Kashmira, Winnie left immediately to meet with William who was waiting for her in the skies above a city named Baltimore in the United States. There, they TiTr'd to April 15, 2028 and entered a large auditorium in a place called John Hopkins Hospital. Winnie had changed her clothes to a black burqa – hoping to hide her youthful appearance that way. William was dressed as he normally was. That didn't matter because he was there as an invisible protector. The doctor speaking in this conference was a Muslim who had developed a radically new way to heal compromised organs. This was the last opportunity they'd have to hear him speak. The Troubles were starting.
After the speech, Winnie waited in a long line to ask her question. She showed him a picture of Kashmira. "All of her internal organs are compromised by years of starvation. Did you find anything in your research that would help her?"
"If you plan to wear the burqa again, you should wear it properly," the famous doctor said and made a few adjustments. "This is not your normal dress. You are afraid of being seen?"
"No. I was afraid of being shut out of this line because I am too young."
He nodded. "I know the feeling. But wearing a burqa is very dangerous these days."
"I know. I had to ask the question."
"Who is she?"
"A sister."
"Nothing in my research will help her. You might get some help by reading research on the use of stem cells. Their use has been met with violent reactions on religious grounds. Do not tell anybody that you're looking into it. You could be killed on the spot. Especially if you are wearing this."
"Does my sister have any hope?"
"There is always hope."
Back to the Table of Contents
Chapter 38
Another Monday meeting had been held in El Patrón's garage at the end of September and money was once again examined. Kashmira was now storing her money in a small carton that was full of paper bills.
"This will pay off a large part of what she owes for her music table, Patrón." Paterfamilias voiced that conclusion and backed out of range. He really didn't want to be here today.
"Lots of 1,000 peso notes," Ramón observed as he shuffled through the carton. "But these 50,000 notes... No man would pay that amount of money for a prostitute. Not even the wealthiest of our acquaintances."
"She didn't earn all of this from turning tricks," El Patrón concluded. "Where is she getting this money?"
"She was seen talking with that Japanese woman," Ramón replied.
"Do we know what the foreigner is doing here?"
"No. She has bought up a great deal of land near the church; she owns many leases as well. That's all we know, Patrón."
"They're planning to build something. Find out what their plans are. Somebody in the city government will know."
"And our three acquaintances?"
"Keep following them. Also try and find where the Japanese are based. Kashmira may be staying with them."
# # # # # # # #
That same Monday morning, Kashmira and Doc were sitting in the living room, sharing a bot. They had been looking at a three dimensional view of the Earth as it rotated around the sun. Kashmira wanted to see Maasin City on the globe, so Doc found the area and gradually zoomed in.
"Brunei is not very far away from us, is it?"
"Not when you're looking at the entire globe."
"Can you show me where Mathias grew up?"
Doc did.
"That's a very long way away from Maasin City, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is. So, when the sun is shining in the Philippines, what's it like where Mathias grew up?"
"It would be dark."
"Good."
"Is that where I'll be living?"
"Yes. Would you mind that?"
"I don't know. Your home is far above the equator, isn't it?"
"Yes. You remembered about the equator."
"Will I have to wear a snowsuit whenever I'm outside?"
"No."
"Do grizzly bears in Canada still eat people?"
"No. And nobody wears snowsuits. Where'd you get that idea?"
"Pablo had a Superman comic that he shared with me. Superman saved Lois Lane from being eaten by a grizzly bear that was as big as a mountain and she was in a red and white snowsuit. It wasn't very flattering on her. He should have saved her from that."
...
Her geography lesson for the day over, Kashmira was nibbling on her two hour snack. Doc had the remains of a butter tart on the table in front of him. He was wetting the tip of his index finger, picking up the little crumblets, and putting them in his mouth.
"Does Granny know that you do that?"
"No. Are you going to tell on me?"
"No. But it's gross what you do. Why must I have all these needles and eat food every two hours?"
"Because your body is not as healthy as it should be. We're trying to build up your strength."
"I don't feel unhealthy. I feel like I always did."
"Tell me, when you were a little kid at school and you had recess, what did you do?"
"I stood in the sunshine by myself."
"What were the other kids doing?"
"Running around. Chasing each other."
"Why didn't you do the same?"
"I had nobody to chase. But I wouldn't have wanted to."
"Why not?"
"I'd never be able to catch anybody."
"Why not?"
"I couldn't run far. I'd get too tired."
"You should have been able to run as fast and as long as all the other kids in your class. You couldn't because, even back then, your body wasn't healthy."
"Huh."
...
"When you were a little kid, did your class all eat lunch together in your classroom?"
"Yes."
"Did you finish your lunch before everybody else?"
"Uhuh. How'd you know that?"
"Why did the other kids take longer than you to finish lunch?"
"They had way more to eat than I did."
"These were poor kids, right? Th
e parents had hardly any money. And their lunches were way bigger than yours. And your dad was rich. Poor kids ate a lot. A rich kid ate only a little. What's that tell you?"
"Huh."
...
"Remember when you were looking at that bot about the human body. Why do people eat food?"
"So that we'll have energy to do things."
"What happens if you can't eat food for a day or two?"
"You get tired. You could die if you don't eat food. Water is even more important."
"Right. What does that tell you about the amount of food that you ate when you were a little kid?"
...
"My father didn't buy me enough food? Why wouldn't he? He bought me anything else I wanted."
"That's a good question. It's possible that your father wanted to punish you by not giving you enough food. But did your father pay any attention at all to what you were doing when you were a little kid?"
"No."
"So why would he decide not to give you enough food?"
"He wouldn't."
"I agree. There has to be another explanation. Can you think of one?"
...
"I don't know what the other explanation is. Are you going to tell me?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"You're smart enough to figure it out on your own."
"You know the reason?"
"I believe I do."
"If I say please, will you tell me?"
"No."
"If I said that I'd keep your secret about how you eat tarts from Granny, would you tell me?"
"I eat cookies that way too, but you're the only one who knows my secret. Nobody else in the family has seen me do that. You wouldn't tell on me."
"Sometimes you're infuriating, you know."
"That's a good word. Where did you find it?"
"Language arts bot."
"You know the answer to your own question, don't you. You just don't want to say it."
"Have I told you that you are very infuriating?"
"If you're going to keep using that word, you should come up with a synonym."
"Maddening."
"Good one."
"The cook did the shopping and dished out my meals. She made them very small on purpose."
"Anything else?"
"The maid would have noticed how small those portions were when she brought the plate to my room. She could have said something to my father but didn't. Why did they do that to me?"
"That's a good question. How will you find the answer?"
"Eres un hombre muy exasperante."
"What's that mean?"
"You are a very nice man."
"That's not what it means."
"Yes it is."
"I don't think so."
"That's irritating too. When you copy what I like to say in exactly the same tone."
"Irritating is good. I knew you could come up with another synonym."
"You don't want to hear the Spanish words I'm thinking about."
"Probably best."
Kashmira giggled.
# # # # # # # #
That same Monday morning, Doc had listened to Kashmira's plan on how she would find out why the servants had given her such small portions. "You're going to walk up to them when they come out of the church, yell at them, and beat them. After that, they'll tell you why."
"Yes. That's what my father did when servants broke the rules. They always go to the church after work to pray. I'll discipline them there. They'll tell me the truth when I get mad at them."
"So you're planning to grow up to be like your father now?"
"No, but..."
"They aren't your servants. You aren't your father. You are too small to beat two bigger women. You are a lowly prostitute. In Maasin City social circles, you are the lowest of the low. Besides if you approach them like that, they'll deny everything."
"What should I do instead?"
"Find out why they were giving you small portions. Follow them around in your sling when they finish work. Listen in to what they say. Follow them home so that you'll know where they live. You need to know more about these two women. They aren't possessions. They are people. They had a reason for what they did. Find that reason."
# # # # # # # #
That Monday evening, at suppertime.
"They're stealing food from my father and smuggling it out of the house under their clothes. They go to the church, sit in the back, and pretend to pray. But they're actually taking out all the food they've hidden, splitting it up, putting it into bags, and then going home with it."
"Did you hear the cook and maid say anything when they were alone?"
"No. They only wanted to go home. I took pictures of them pulling out the food. I can use that to prove they are thieves."
"Pictures can be useful, but how would you explain how you took them?"
"I'd say that I was in my invisible sling, hovering above them, and... Oh."
"Right. Oh. You can't use those pictures. But now you know for sure that they have been stealing food. Probably for years. What does that tell you about your small portions."
"They gave me small portions so that they'd have more food to take home."
"That sounds right. But you don't know why yet."
"Because they hated me."
"Perhaps. But they're still stealing food and you're not in the house to hate. So there has to be another reason. Find out what that reason is and you'll understand them better. Do you know where they live?"
"The cook, yes. But I can't go into her shack in my sling and listen in with so many people there."
"How many?"
"I don't know. I didn't count."
"Let's find out. Has anybody told you what a spider is?"
"A little insect that makes spider webs and catches flies."
"There's another kind of spider too."
# # # # # # # #
Tuesday evening, after dinner.
"The cook has..."
"What's her name? She's not the cook. She's a person with a name."
"Her name is Constanza."
"Last name?"
"I don't know. I only hear people call her by her first name."
"What did you find?"
"She has a husband and seven children. Four are boys and they work with their father as a bicycle cabbie. They rent two cabs and, between the five of them, they keep both of them on the street from dawn to dark. They live in one of my father's shacks. It has a kitchen, a bathroom, and a single room to sleep in. They have pads to sleep on and they use those to sit on during the day."
"Who goes to school?"
"The three girls. When they're not in school, they are preparing food for meals. The cook... Constanza... is teaching them to be a cook. The four boys do not go to school. They have to work with their father."
"Have to?"
"Yes. They have to pay money to rent the two cabs each morning. If they don't have at least six customers each day, they won't have enough money to rent the cabs the next morning. They try to save money on good days so that they will have extra when they have bad days. I heard them talking about that."
"The whole family talked about it?"
"Yes. Everybody in the family knows about their lack of money. The young boys aren't strong enough to pedal the cab so they try and find customers. They also bring food and water to their older brothers and father."
"What will happen if they can't pay rent for a second cab?"
"The owner will rent it to somebody else. Then they'll only have one cab and would have to wait until some other poor family has a bad week before they can have a second cab again. They can barely live on two cabs."
"Who's the owner of the cabs?"
"I don't know."
"How many cabs are there in the city?"
"I don't know."
"Tomorrow, see if you can find that information."
"I was planning to look at the maid... Mariangela's f
amily."
"That can wait. You have found some very useful information today. Do you know what that is?"
"Constanza's family works hard?"
"Tomorrow, count the cabs. Find the owner."
# # # # # # # #
Wednesday evening, after dinner.
"I counted over 150 cabs in the city. I don't know the exact number because they were always moving. I found the place where the poor families go to rent the cabs for the day. If there aren't enough cabs to rent to everybody who wants one, the extra men sit in a shack the whole day in hopes that they can rent one."
"Can they rent cabs in only one place?"
"Yes."
"Who's the owner?"
"I don't know his name. He came down to the shack twice today. The men called him Jefe."
"Where does he live?"
"In a big house on the hill."
"He's rich?"
"Yes."
"Do you know why he's rich?"
"He takes most of the cabbies' money."
"Yes. What would happen if there were only 100 cabs in the city instead of 150?"
"The cabbies would have more fares. They wouldn't be so worried about not being able to pay the rent."
"So why doesn't he reduce the number of cabs?"
"The more cabs he rents, the more money he makes. Only the cabbies are hurt on a bad day."
"What did you learn today?"
"That owner is like my father."
# # # # # # # #
Thursday evening, after dinner.
"Mariangela has a large family like Constanza. She has eight children, three are girls and five are boys. Her husband works for the city with a shovel. The two older boys work with him. All three of the girls work as maids in one of the hotels. The three boys go to school. When the family cannot work, the three youngest boys pick pockets in the market. They live in the same kind of shack as Constanza. They all sleep in one room."
"Why would the family not be able to work?"
"The hotel owner hires only the number of maids that he will need for each day. He keeps a list of the people who worked the previous day. They get first chance at the next day's jobs if they are sitting in the basement of the hotel by 5 a.m. If they are not there, he will give the job to the people who were in the basement the earliest. If there are not enough guests in the hotel, maids won't work even if they were on the list to work."
"And the men?"
"Mariangela's husband has to rent his shovel by the week. The three boys as well. Some days they have no work. When that happens, they still have to pay for the shovel but they receive no pay in return."
"Do you know the owner of the hotel?"
"Not his name. He owns three of the hotels in the city. He visits each one every day. He is very wealthy. He has one of the biggest houses on the hill."