Diamond in the Rough

Chapter 4

It was a Saturday, so there were few people in the city library; there were only three other people beside Ella and Jasmine, not counting the librarian. The agreed time was one in the afternoon, and the two cousins left their home at around 12:45 PM. Their house was only a few blocks away from the venue they chose, although Patrick messaged Ella earlier that he was probably going to be a bit late because his dad sent him on an errand for a bit. That didn’t bother the two cousins much. After all, Filipino time was never on the dot.

They arrived five minutes after one. Ella and Jasmine chose the table that was right in front of the door. Since they had to wait for Patrick first, Ella brought out her phone to listen to some music while Jasmine immediately took a selfie, probably to it post into i********: and f*******: where she had lots of followers. Ella remembered her aunt’s reminder: Jasmine had to go home early because their whole family would go  shopping later. She wasn’t invited, but she understood. It was a family affair anyway.

Ella looked down again at her watch. It was already 1:15 PM but there was still no sign of Patrick. She could see that Jasmine was also getting bored, because she now stopped typing in her phone and was merely fiddling it while looking back and forth in her watch and the door to the library. Jasmine caught her eye and leaned into her, whispering:

“What time did he say he was coming?”

Ella grimaced. “He said he just had to run a short errand for his dad. Maybe by 1:30 PM, he’d be here already.”

Her cousin sighed in response. “I hope he gets here before mom calls and demands me to go home.”

She smiled tightly. “Yeah, I hope so.” 

Damn, this day was not going the way she wanted. Why, of all days, did her aunt and uncle decide to go shopping today? At this rate, Patrick and Jasmine would have an hour at best to talk. Ella wouldn’t even try to study a lesson probably. As soon as Patrick arrived, she would have to scram to give the two some alone time.

Come on, Patrick. Make it fast! She was chanting those words in her mind.

Patrick was walking down the street very fast. He looked at his watch: it was five minutes after 1 PM. He could make it to the library in 10 minutes if he took the shortcut on the alley near the abandoned basketball court that led to the street where the city library was located. It was also a bit of a secret passage that only those who grew up in their subdivision knew. 

This alley was between two big houses on the block, so it was a bit dark. Patrick surmised that he’d only find some cats in there, which mostly lived on the garbage bins. He was stopped, however, when he noticed three guys standing right beside the alley, smoking rolled sticks of what he was sure was some weed. He wouldn’t have had given f***s about it and would have had just pass by them to go on his merry way if he didn’t know these three, but unfortunately, he did.

These three were part of the high school of the next district that their team soundly beat last year. It was a sweet victory for Patrick’s team, but a bitter one for them. Needless to say, these three were part of their rival school and were still sore about their loss on last summer’s district sports fest.

Patrick kept his head down and kept walking, pretending to not notice them. He wasn’t looking for any trouble, not right now when he was due to meet up with Jasmine. Fate had other ideas, however.

“Hey,” Patrick heard one of them say. He stopped in his tracks, debating if he should continue walking or cast them a glance. He chose the former and continued on his merry way.

“Hey, you!” This time, the call was insistent. He had no choice but to stop and look into their direction, his face showing boredom.

“What?” Patrick asked back. His outward composure was calm, but he readied himself if this encounter turned ugly. 

The tallest guy in the trio (Patrick remembered him as the center of the team) sneered at his insolence. The guy then dropped his roll of weed on the ground and walked towards him with a menacing gait.  Patrick stood his ground and faced the guy head on. He was just an inch shorter than him anyway. If this weed guy tried anything, he could very well match him.

“You…” Tall weed guy squinted his eyes. “I know ya. Yer the guy from St. Jude High that beat us last game!”

After hearing the tall weed guy, his two minions dropped their rolls too and rushed toward them. “What?!” They both exclaimed at the same time.

“Dude, this was the guy who got our star player Jake out of the game for fouls last time!” The shortest guy of the trio spoke up. This was the point guard of the team, if Patrick remembered it right.

“He wasn’t that guy, was he?!” Tall weed guy then smirked widely, as if he was planning to something.

The other guy who remained silent all this time c****d his head at Patrick. “I don’t see anyone with him right now.”

Tall weed guy smirked all the more widely. “Tough luck then.”

Patrick was ready when the first hit came near to his face. Damn! Of all days for another fight to find him again, it had to be when he was meeting with Jasmine! He dropped low to avoid the fist of the second guy and planted a kick on the shortest guy’s stomach. He might as well finish this fast because these three would not let him be. It was not the first time he had to fight outnumbered anyway.

Patrick looked at the three unconscious guys on the ground. They weren’t seriously injured, but Patrick, because of his weird luck of getting into fights since he was 11, knew how to swiftly end a fight with a single punch. He escaped with a few minor bruises like the one on his temple and the graze on his upper arm that was beginning to turn blue. 

He dusted off his clothes and threw one last look at the three guys on the ground before turning his back to go hurry to the library when he felt something hit him hard on the back of his head. He was falling down to the ground before he knew it.

Forty-five minutes passed but there was still no sign of Patrick. Jasmine lost interest in pretending to read the fashion magazine that she got a hold off while waiting. Ella, who had been checking her watch every two minutes, finally sighed in resignation. 

Ella turned to her cousin, showing her phone screen. “I’m really sorry about this, Jas. He said he was going to be here in a few minutes in his last text message.” 

Jasmine read Patrick’s text message and then pouted. “I wonder what could have held him back…” She said in a sad voice. “Maybe he doesn’t really want to meet me…”

Ella quickly shook her head in disagreement. “No, I don’t think so. He really was interested in meeting you, I swear. Maybe, whatever his dad told him to do just took some time. Let’s wait for a few minutes more. Is that okay?”

Jasmine nodded. “Of course. I just hope mom does not call me yet.”

As luck would have it, it was that exact moment when Ella’s cousin’s phone vibrated. Jasmine mouthed ‘mom’ to her and she already knew what was going to happen. Her beautiful cousin answered the phone right away while Ella listened in silence.

“Yes, mom. I understand.” Jasmine said before tapping the end call button. She then turned to Ella, looking disappointed. “Cousin, I gotta go. Mom said Dad was already waiting for me to get back home. She also told me to tell you to cook your own dinner because we’re eating at the restaurant at the mall.”

Ella sighed. This day was a waste. “I understand. I’m very sorry about Patrick too. When I see him next time, I’ll make sure to lecture him,” she replied, which made Jasmine chuckle softly.

“No need to. I didn’t want to bother him if he was busy anyway.” Jasmine answered. “I’ll go now. Bye, Ella!”

She waved her goodbye at her cousin and watched as she exited the library. When Jasmine was out, she slumped on her seat and frowned at her phone. And here she thought that she would finally pay off her end of the deal…

There was nothing much to do, nobody was home, and the library was just as boring. Ella then decided to take a walk and visit the alley cats and street dogs around the neighborhood’s corners. She hadn’t been able to do this since last week. 

She was walking on the main street where the library was located when a big tom cat crossed her path. Ella knew him as the boss cat. He had a bulky body covered in gray tabby fur, big jowls and cauliflower ears that only meant that this kitty had been into many a turf war, and the fact that most of the newborn kittens around the area had the same fur pattern as him, meant that he definitely was the king of the hood. The tom had no name; he didn’t appear to need one anyway because everyone knew him and his exploits. In her mind, she only called him The Dude.

She stepped aside, as every sane person did when they crossed paths with The Dude, but it surprised her when the tom cat meowed loudly and ran ahead of her, looking like he was intentionally blocking the way.

Huh? Was she just imagining things? Just as when she thought this day was getting weird, four dogs came out from behind her, running, and jumping, and barking at her before going towards The Dude, who merely turned his back and walked ahead of her again.

Oh, yeah. Well, The Dude was not only the king of the hood, but also the de-facto leader of a pack of dogs, even if he was a cat. Everywhere The Dude went, the four dogs were sure to follow, and this tom cat always put them into their place when they went out of line with the help of some sharp claws. Ella named the four dogs Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and Private after the penguins of Madagascar, since they behaved a lot like these characters anyway.

The Dude stopped walking and turned back to look at her. The cat again meowed when it saw that she was not following. What the hell? Why did it look like the cat had a quest for her? When Skipper, the brown colored dog barked in her direction, that was when Ella decided to go f**k it and see what these animals wanted from her. 

They walked for a few moments until they stopped in front of a dark alley between two big houses just a few meters away from the library. She knew this alley. This was her secret shortcut to the abandoned basketball court. Few people use this alley because it was dark and smelly. There were garbage cans stashed in here and Ella herself seldom used this way unless she was in a real hurry to get back home after feeding her strays at the basketball court.

The cat and the dogs went ahead, while Kowalski ran beside her, nudging her hand a few times. She was closest to this black dog. She followed, and went she reached the end of the alley, the bright sun greeted her, blazing down all of them, and one man was lying on his back on the burning asphalt.

It was a bleeding and a badly-beaten Patrick, who gazed up at her wide-eyed, still conscious.

“H-hey…” He weakly greeted.

Ella knelt down right away and shook her head, alarm etched on her face. “Hey yourself, Patrick. What the f**k happened?!” She asked him, her voice shaking a bit in shock.

“I-is it really you, Ella?” Patrick grimaced as he tried to smirk in his torn lips. “I thought I was seeing things since my head was hit kinda hard.”

And the bastard even had it in him to joke. Ella shook her head and got her phone out, already dialing the hospital when Patrick stopped him, saying, “Don’t. Please… please call my old man’s clinic. He’ll know how to p-patch me up.”

She remembered that Patrick’s dad was the resident Family Doctor of the neighborhood. She had it in her phonebook as this was where her aunt always went for checkups. She sighed and did what he told her. Ella looked down again at Patrick. It seemed like she did not have to scold him as it appeared that he had valid excuse. But damn, what an excuse it was.