The Truth Berries

XXVI

        Her flight lasted for almost seventeen hours and her plane experienced a number of turbulence as they were flying over the vast waters of the Pacific. That never happened to Helen before, and it made her think that the thing she was carrying had something to do with it. Her sudden fears brought her into praying fervently. For the first time in her life, she wanted something for herself alone and she wanted it so bad. That was for her plane to have a safe landing. Still, she promised herself she would never look at flying the same way after that. The sudden soft bump that she felt when the landing wheels touched the ground made her pray rapidly. When she opened her eyes, the man sitting beside her had a foolish grin on her face as he stared at her.

       “First time?”

       She swore she could have punched him on the nose.

       “Actually mister, yes. Got any problem with that?”

       “That explains it”, the man chuckled.

       Helen looked at the other way and rolled her eyes.

       A few minutes later, the passengers stood up and disembarked one after the other. She was relatively closed to the door but she remained on her seat until everyone was out. Then she took all her luggage and walked towards the arrival area. Helen never expected it but her earlier nightmare at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was repeated at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. A man with a leashed Belgian Malinois in tow and two other airport police dragged her forcibly to their own holding room and questioned her about the wrapped jewelry box. Helen instantly knew that these men were far from the man who stopped her in Seattle. She could tell that by the brute force they used when she refused to go with them at first. She knew at once that empathy would probably not work at that moment. Now, it was about time to practice what she learned on Intimidation 101.

       “I will sue all of you for this! This is serious illegal detention! This is nothing but pure harassment! I will make sure that you will pay for this dearly!”

        The three men were not moved. They still got that same stern look on their faces.

       “Calm down, woman. No one is detaining anybody here. And this is standard protocol, not harassment. Now, you can tell us what’s inside that box or we’ll rip that apart until we get the answer ourselves.”

       “You do that and I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that my brilliant lawyer can stick the whole bunch of complaints to your stinking ass, you i***t!”

       If the leader of the three men ever had a heart, Helen was sure it was not of human nature. Or was he just the perfect professional? Either way, the man questioning her did not even flinched even if she was scolding her right in front of his face.

       “I don’t worry about those kinds of things, woman. That kind of matters belongs to our Legal Department and their group of bright and decorated lawyers. Now, we go back to the question. What is inside that box?”

      “I demand to see my lawyer!”

       “Oh sure! You can call your lawyer but I’m telling you right now that if I say the word, your lawyer can do nothing but wait for you until I set you out. So let’s cut the play and get down to the business at hand. What . . . is . . . in . . . that . . . box?!”

       Helen grudgingly opened her wallet. Then she took out the jewelry store’s receipt. She spread it and then she slammed it on the table.

       “Suit yourself, dead meat.”

       Traces of annoyance started to appear on the man’s face. He also slammed his hand over the paper when he took it and Helen was taken aback. The man examined the paper for a long time, unaware of the fear that was secretly consuming the woman before them. When he has read the receipt twice, he took the box and considered opening it. He looked for the places where the scotch tapes held the wrapper in place. Then, as if studying how to dismantle it, he raised it up then turned it over. Helen was so closed at admitting what the box truly was. This is it, she thought. There seemed to be no point in delaying the inevitable. She swallowed hard and took a lungful of air with her eyes closed. Then she heard a soft thud as the man put the box on the table. He then pushed it lightly towards her so that the box was sitting exactly at the middle of the table.

       “Jewelries, huh? What kind of jewelries?”

       It took three seconds before her mind could process what the man said to her.

       “Yes. Jewelries. Only jewelries. Gold . . . precious stones, too”, she stuttered.

       “Are you sure?”

       The man was leaning forward now, looking her dead in the eyes. She could have say no at that very moment but the last string of self-confidence held on. And so she defended her claims. Helen’s indignant tone returned.

       “Of course I’m sure! I bought that myself, a gift to my mother. You even saw the papers. You can call the store if you want. But I’m warning you, gentlemen, they don’t entertain people unless they know you can afford to buy their stuffs.”

       The man suddenly stood up recklessly, making the plastic chair tumble down the floor. Then, he approached her in measured steps. Helen could hear him make a grinding noise with his teeth and she felt her knees buckling. But she tried her best to stand up and match the man’s radiating intensity with her own. The man only stopped when their faces were just a few inches away from each other.

       “Take your jewelry box with you and get the hell out of my airport!”, the man hissed.

       Helen could not believe it. She has succeeded. She was free to go. Now, all she had to do was meet Nadia.

       The dead Nadia.