XL
2145 Words
Helen wanted to jump out of the car’s window upon hearing the man’s name. The stranger who took her and who was driving the car she was in right now was no less than the man who killed her bestfriend Nadia, she realized. Helen felt the tiny hairs at the back of her head immediately rose. She realized she was in a far more dangerous situation today than she was last night. Miguel, somehow, read her mind so he started driving again without saying a single word. Helen tried to act normally while sitting at the back. But she could already feel needles on her feet and her palms. She needed to find a way to get away from this man, she thought. But she could not just open the door and let herself fall on the concrete road for they were travelling faster now than before. A free fall against that speed could surely guarantee her a broken skull at the least. And then she had an idea.
“I need to pee.”
Miguel slowed down a bit.
“What was that?”
“I really need to pee.”
“The nearest gas station is five kilometers away. They have comfort rooms for women there and there’s a mini grocery store nearby so you can buy whatever you need there. We’ll be there in just a couple of minutes.”
“I can’t. I really need to, like right now.”
“Can’t you hold it a little longer?”, Miguel asked frustratingly.
“I said I can’t. You want me to do it here?”
Helen smirked as he rolled his eyes. Then, she felt the car slow down to a hidden part of the road. He took of his seatbelt and got off his seat to open the door for her. Miguel offered her his hand but she just ignored it and went out of the car on her own. Then he followed her to a secluded area and stood there to guard her.
“You have ten minutes. We can’t stay long in this place. It is not safe here.”
Helen waited for him to go back to the car, or at least to turn around, but she saw that he had no intention to do so. So she crossed her arms and faced him with a look of utter incredulity on her face.
“Nine minutes left.”
“Great! What, you’re gonna watch me pee, is that it? Have you bought yourself a front seat ticket just to see me leaking? Is that it, Sergeant?”
Miguel was embarrassed. The idea never crossed his mind and he knew it was a rude thing to do. So he turned around and headed back to his seat. He sat there waiting impatiently for her. Miguel regretted giving her ten minutes for it felt like so much time wasted. They could have reached the gasoline station at the bottom of the hill if she wasn’t so fussy. Besides, there was something more threatening at the moment than her private needs. Miguel felt a stab of pure pain on his lower abdomen as he looked at his wristwatch. It was eight already in the morning, and he knew that her aunt would be busy already by that time. He longed to be back to his war room and continue his own investigation. He had his subject with him now and as soon as they reach home, he could start asking her his questions.
Miguel checked his watch again. She has been there for more than ten minutes now and he wondered what was taking her so long. Ignoring the pain that he was feeling, he went out of the car once again to fetch her. He called her first to announce his presence for he did not want another embarrassing moment shared with that woman. But there was no answer whatsoever. He called again, a little louder this time. Still, all he heard was his own voice echoing through the surroundings. Miguel was starting to lose his patience. He marched angrily to her makeshift comfort room, ignoring the chances of seeing her naked on her lower half. The woman needed some lessons to learn, he decided. But there was no Helen Sandoval at the place where he left her. He checked the ground to see if she really took a leak but the ground was still cracking dry. The woman, it seemed, fooled him into letting her escape. Miguel wanted to go and find her. But he was feeling dizzy and he could feel his strength slowly vanishing. So he stood there and shouted at the thick bushes and wild vines for he knew she was hiding somewhere out there.
“Okay! You want to go, you may go! But you just need to know that this place is a no- man’s land. Rebels roam this place every time and I bet they would be more than glad to see a lovely woman lost in their woods. But I wouldn’t want to even imagine what they are going to do with you. So it is still your decision, Miss Helen Sandoval. I would still give you five more minutes, but that’s it! Whether you come back here or not, I will leave. I don’t wanna be butchered by some bunch of insurgents in a god-forsaken forest!”
Miguel felt his abdomen being twisted around from too much shouting. So he went back to the car while putting pressure to his lower abdomen. He thought he was going to faint. He sat behind the wheel with his eyes closed and he mentally counted every second that passed.
A hundred meters to the peak, Helen was crouched behind a big leafy bush. She had heard his words but she paid little attention. He could just be scaring her so that she would come back to him as his poor prisoner once more. She figured she would be better off taking her chances. Miguel mentioned about a gasoline station five kilometers downhill. She decided she would wait for him to leave and then wait a little more time after he was gone before walking down to the gasoline station he just mentioned. From there, she would call for help again. Helen was confident she would find a payphone down there and if there was none, maybe she could borrow a staff’s cellphone and place a call. But she would not get back to that damn car ever again, she told herself.
She was still occupied with her plans when she felt a gripping hand on her shoulder. She was caught off-guard and the shock of it made her leap backwards. Her sudden movement sent her and the person behind her out of their balance and they both landed on their butts at different places. Helen looked at the other person and saw that the bearded man had a wide malicious grin on his face. He was holding a rusting rifle with a wooden handle
“Are you lost, honey?”, the man asked Helen, his yellowing teeth all visible to her.
Helen screamed as she got up and ran towards the direction of Miguel’s car. She did not dare look back at the rifled man. Instead, she just kept on running even after several branches smacked her on her face. Now, she realized that what Miguel said a while ago were all true. Halfway down to his location, she heard a familiar sound and it made her call his name out loud. He just started the car and he was already planning on leaving her behind, for good.
“Sergeant Miguel, wait! Please wait for me! I’m coming with you!”
Miguel heard her initial scream and he instantly knew what was going on. But he was feeling awfully tired of her stubbornness so he ignored her at first. And then he saw movements from the thick vegetation just above where he left her before. She was almost back. He turned the key and the car’s engine ignited at once. When he saw Helen broke through the leaves and branches with a messy look, he started to drive slowly away just to scare her. He saw her through the side mirror waving her hands and shouting at him to wait for her. Miguel pretended he did not hear a thing. She was almost catching up when he saw a man appeared on her tracks with a rifle aimed on her. A loud bang reverberated all around. He started to panic when he saw her fell flat on the ground. He jammed the car’s hand brake and then he got out with his revolver in his hands. With his shaking right hand, he pointed his gun to the man and fired. The shot missed his target very badly for it hit the coconut tree ten meters to the man’s right. But the very loud sound it made sent the man running back to the woods. Seeing the man was already gone, Miguel ran to where Helen was lying face down. He searched for blood on her pajamas but there was none. Then he checked the back of her head for it may be an unintended headshot bit she was good.
Miguel flipped her over and searched for gunshot wound. She may have turned around when she heard the sound of the rifle, and she might be hit on her front body. But there was no sign of any wounds. Miguel saw her eyes opened as he was still looking for any wounds when she suddenly hit him hard on his face. He was dazed for a long time.
“Jesus Christ, Helen! What was that for?!”
“That was for attempting to leave me here on my own! And for taking advantage of a woman who lost her consciousness for a short period of time.”
Miguel looked at her blankly, and then he shook his head.
“You’re an impossible woman! First of all, I did not want to leave you behind. It was you who ran away suddenly. And if I haven’t fired a gun, your guy out there might have you by now. I never told you to run and I’m pretty sure I already told you that I’m not gonna hurt you. Secondly, I was not taking any advantage on you. I was just checking if you were hit, that’s all. Besides, you’re not my type!”
“Yeah, as if I care!” she said childishly.
“Well, if you are done complaining, can we get back to the car now? I still have something urgent in my mind right now so time is of great importance.”
Helen stood up, brushed the soil and leaves on her pajamas and went inside the car again. Miguel was left kneeling on the ground as he wondered how hard-headed she was. A few seconds later, Helen poked her head out of the window and shouted at him.
“Are you coming or not? I thought you were in a rush?”
Miguel stood up and when to his seat. He put his seatbelt on and released the car’s handbrake before he geared the car. But before he stepped on the gas, he heard Helen from behind.
“Mind if I ask you a question?”, she was looking out of the window again.
Miguel sighed. He thought he knew what she was going to ask so he answered her right away.
“I know what it is. And I’m telling you right now that I did not do it. I did not kill her and I would never dream of killing my own wife. It is up to you to believe that or not.”
Miguel waited for her disapproval but she remained silent for the whole minute.
“That’s not what I want to ask.”
Miguel’s right eyebrow rose at her reply.
“Back there when I was hiding from you, you said a lot of things. Were they all true?”
“Yeah, all of it. This place is their hunting grounds. They seize and take whatever they – “
“So you think I’m lovely?”
Miguel could see her looking at him sideways. He never had been in a more awkward situation than that and all he managed to do was look expressionlessly at her before blinking twice. Then he returned his gaze on the road ahead and then he prepared himself for driving.
“Do you?”, he heard her asked once again.
Miguel knew she wouldn’t just drop the issue until he responded to it. So he replied in the best way he knew – denial.
“Did I say something like that?”, he asked her back
- Writer
