Prospero a heftier cousin embraced Maddox and pushed him back to prevent further violence. Maddox struggled to shove him out of the way but two more pairs of restraining hands wrapped around his flailing upper arms to keep them pinned down. Maddox kept up the offensive with a verbal tirade, “You swindled our grandfather out of his rightful share in your business when you used the garage and refused to pay rent for years. The entire clan is entitled to inherit that share as part of grandpa’s estate, you usurer.” Maddox let out into the open the undercurrents of envy which festered in the gossip circles of the relatives.
“I will not even dignify that ridiculous claim with a proper reply, you worthless buffoon,” Abe regained his composure and his footing and nursed his stinging left cheek. “I promise you as long as I live you will never get that right of way. The suffering of your family from financial hardship is your bad karma. You have to wallow in your misery like a man cognizant of the logical consequences of your irresponsible actions. You have tightened the noose around your own neck and those of your family.” Serves you right and I hope you burn in the fires of hell with your entire kin!” Abe let loose a broadside that was the only weapon he was capable of hurling to injure the psyche of the wide eyed Maddox.
“The law says I am entitled to a right of way. A court order can force you to grant me that. Your wealth does not exempt you from the law!” Maddox shot back with his limited grasp of legal matters.
“You really are an uneducated ignoramus,” Abe began to cackle like a witch; “you have that frontage to the feeder road so you are not hemmed in. The law you are talking about does not apply in your case.” “And besides if its litigation you want I can throw a handful of attorneys to engage your every move so that the case will drag on for a hundred years till we are all dead, har, har !”
Abe stomped out of the place in a huff with Maddox bellowing threats in the background and with Dona Ester playing chorus with her mellifluous shrill shrieking.
The shiny car zipped through Taft Ave. in a leisurely clip as if the time and day belonged entirely to the gaiety of the riders with plastered smiles on their faces. Alex nosed it forward with a quiet ride lifting his foot a wee bit easily on the gas pedal to rein back the the recessed horsepower straining to mesh gear. “Wow it feels softer than my bed,” Mar’s gushing remark snapped Abe back to the serendipity of the present journey.
As the car drew abreast of the hospital, Alex spied the mujadeen fighter running blindly to cross the street with a machine pistol too late. The car bumper nudged him and the startled urban guerilla rolled on the ground in front of the vehicle. Bader following closely behind reacted instinctively and squeezed off two rounds to puncture with two gaping holes the front windshield in front of Alex’s face.
Abe saw Alex’s face blowup to splatter blood all over the dash and the windshield. Both Abe and Mar screamed in terror. “Wait, wait,” Abe got out to bargain for his son’s mortal wounds as if he could still turn back the clock. What he got for his frantic effort was a short burst of submachine gunfire which pulverized his chest and catapulted him backwards to the pavement. Jason Burke saw the gunner turn his aim back to the car to pepper Mar who was hoarsely gesticulating like a madman.
Jason dove to the ground to be level with the downed commando and fired instantly to crack open his skull. In one fluid move he rolled backwards and somersaulted to his feet just in time to feel Bader’s return fire wheeze close by centimeters. Jason Burke didn’t bother to engage Bader. His main concern was Ellebana who he knew was tagging behind him and will attempt to fire at Bader without a bullet proof vest. His instincts proved right as he dropped like a linebacker over Ellebana’s crouching shooter’s posture.Together they rolled harmlessly to the curb in a ball of entangled forms. Bader’s potshots went wide off the mark.
Bader ran to his fighter but saw his brains scattered all over the street. He scampered towards the panicked crowd and lost himself in their confusing melee. Bader headed towards the Pedro Gil Station of the overhead rail system.
In San Pablo City 80 miles away, Paula prepared the favorite nourishing broth of beef ribs and joints known in those parts as “bulalo” of the men of the family who were due to arrive in time for dinner. She made it so special to be fit for the celebration of the unbelievable good luck the family has come to in many years.
In the heavens, the solar storms lapped in predictable patterns, and the planets and the stars grooved according to their orbits. The Father Creator found no cause to intervene in the speck of forever.
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