70 A Mysterious Call (1/2)

The boys' spirit jumped upon seeing Dr. Alvarado who appeared to be jovially smiling at them or to Jamie in particular. What puzzled them was his intention which they had no clue.

”Why does he seem friendly to me?” Jamie asked himself.

”There is something he wants from you,” Tonton replied matter-of-factly.

”What could it be?” Kiko asked.

”Did anyone dream about this?” Bogart also asked.

Nobody answered.

Tonton: ”I did not have any dreams or visions about us or Subangdaku in the last few nights.”

Kiko: ”It's the dead end, right?”

Jamie: ”It feels like it.”

Bogart: ”Come on, guys. We can't give up now.”

Silence again.

Tonton: ”Can we really move forward from here?”

Bogart: ”Of course, we can!”

Tonton: ”But for what cause?”

Kiko: ”We might not only put ourselves in danger but our family and loved ones, too.”

Tonton: ”Does Dr. Alvarado know about us?”

Jamie: ”It is possible. Two encounters with him and by now, he could be investigating us.”

Bogart: ”Guys, what are you talking about? You are just assuming things.”

Kiko: ”But what if they are true? Then we are done.”

Jamie: ”Kiko is right. We now know that Dr. Alvarado is an evil man. He is dangerous and fighting against him may be a battle we cannot win.”

Bogart: ”But guys, we made it this far. We cannot go back now.”

Kiko: ”Bogart, you need to understand that this is not only about us.”

Bogart: ”I know! This is also about Subangdaku.”

The three boys stopped arguing with Bogart. There came a ring in their hearts when their friend mentioned the district's name.

”Can we really be Subangdaku's heroes?” Tonton whispered.

Silence. The day was hot and so was their argument. They had bantering before but nothing was as serious as this. Did they just hurt each other's feelings by being openly honest?

”If you do not want to go on,” Bogart said angrily, ”then fine. I will do this myself. I must do something.”

Quickly, Bogart turned around and left his friends. Instinctively, Tonton reached out and held Bogart's arm but the latter was so emotional that he forcefully flung his friend's hands. Tonton did not expect that so Bogart's action caught him off balance and he fell on the ground.

”What are you doing?” Kiko yelled. ”You are hurting him.”

”Sorry,” Bogart said crying, his tears streaming down his face. ”I did not mean to do that.”

Once again, Bogart turned around and ran away from his friends. He felt bad that they had come to a point that they would be quarreling about Dr. Alvarado. He felt worse for unintentionally hurting Tonton.