Prologue
Savvy looked at the door when somebody knocks. She is currently reviewing for their monthly exam but she is disturbed by a knock on the door of an unknown creature.
She's a grade seven student at a certain Catholic, all girls school in the town. She's a Daddy's girl and an only daughter. She has a younger brother but she's not allowed to meet him because the little boy lives with his mom. When her grandmother was still alive, the mom of her father, she wasn’t allowed to visit her younger sibling. Her grandma never liked the little boy because the old woman kept on saying that Yesmond isn’t her brother. Her grandma always told her that Yesmond has a different father and it’s not true that it's her dad. It was explained to her that her Dad was still in abroad by that time Rachel, Yesmond's mom got pregnant.
Though she has a doubt about it because in every angle whenever she takes a look at Yesmond, he really had the face of their Dad but being an obedient granddaughter, she just kept her piece and didn’t pay much attention to her brother. Besides, Rachel doesn’t like her neither because the woman is jealous, perhaps because of the love and too much attention she gets from her Dad. Rachel said that she was a fruit from the very first woman her Dad loved. She doubts, too. If it’s true then why she isn’t with her mom. Why is that she never even met her, not even once.
Her known mother was her grandfather who had been a president of a Union, died in a rally. Her grandma was just a plain housewife who took care of her and also died because of heart attack.
Savvy was brought back into her reverie when another knock was heard. She stood up after looking back at the kitchen’s door, looking for her father but he wasn’t there. She decided to walk towards the door to check it. It could be their housekeeper for the laundry.
Savvy opened the door but she blinked when she saw policemen standing at their doorstep and a police mobile outside the gate. She suddenly felt so uneasy and afraid. Her father doesn’t have cop friends and she doesn’t know these men as well. What she has in mind at that very moment is tragedy or crime.
"Danilo Valencia Zamudio?" one of the cops asked her and she swallowed.
She felt like her blood run dried and she knew she looked so pale in an instant. Why are these people looking for her father? Did her father violate the law or did a crime?
“M-My Papa?” she stammers and quietly pointed at the kitchen’s door, the way to the mini farm they have.
It’s a place where her father raises and breeds chicken, especially roasters for cockfighting. Her Papa spends thousands of pesos for that.
She was so eager to follow the cops that stepped inside and walked toward the door she pointed at but another cop held her arm.
She instantly looked at it and saw a big hand against her slender arm.
Savvy looked up with her cold stare, tears pooling her eyes already. She heard nothing yet something's bothering her inside. Her heart is strirring, emotions banging her mind and chest. She saw the cop’s face and found out that he’s kind of different from the others. He’s gorgeous. He’s also in full uniform, armed. He’s quite tall and compared to the others, tallest. He has gun in his other hand and he has the lightest shade of brown eyes, matching the color of his hair. He tucked his gun in his waistband and so she gulped, staring at the metal thing that looks so heavy.
"Stay." He softly commanded, grabbing her a bit harder because she wanted to free her arm from his loose grip.
Confused, Savvy looked at the kitchen’s door when those opened it, positioning.
My God.
She wanted to cry when her chest pounded harder. Those police officers seemed to catch a criminal. Who’s the criminal? Is it her father? They are moving quietly, so light as if they’re not moving at all.
What's happening? What did her father do? All that she knows, her father just goes to the arena to watch and play cockfighting, sometimes online, other that that he’s just alcoholic and nothing more. Her father is not a murderer.
She frightfully squeezed herself against the cop’s body when those policemen in their kitchen pulled out their guns.
Natatakot siyang napasumiksik sa katawan ng pulis na humahawak sa kanya dahil nakita niyang bumunot ng baril ang mga pulis na iyon.
“Why is that?” Savvy began to cry, crumpling the officer’s uniform.
“They will not hurt him,” he said in a husky tone, calming her she guesses.
She couldn’t even look now because she’s so afraid but her hears are listening, sensing what is happening around her. It seems like the time had stopped and the world already also stopped revolving at that point in her life.
As seconds pass by, her anxiety keeps on flocking, as if breaking her ribcage, trying to unleash.
She heard the door creaked and her heart almWe are arresting you for pushing a d using illegal drugs,” one of the cops said loud enough for her to hear.
Her mouth hung agape, trying to process what she just heard. She heart it right. Her father is a drug addict and a p****r, too.
That was the time she had the courage to look, with her tears already rolling down on her pale cheeks.
She almost shook her head and whispered, "Papa?"
Another cop started reading something. She couldn't figure out what it was but he could hear the rights being said while handcuffing his Papa. Danilo didn't fight back and was like a wet kitten, drenched and poorly weak.
Her sobbed became so audible when her eyes met her father’s eyes.
She's the manager of the house, budgeting at her age of twelve. She's the boss but what happened? What the fuzz just happened?
Savvy was even more distracted when the police started searching their house, specifically the bedrooms.
She, as a child who knew nothing of the world and what is happening just remained crying. All she knew was, her Dad had done something illegal and that was about what they called, ‘drugs’.
She started screaming as she pulled her father out of the house while a policeman carried a plastic, with full of salt-like thing in front of her eyes.
"Two million worth of Shabu in my analysis. That's a hefty sum of money but what will happen now?" The policeman who was standing beside her looked at her. He speaks the king of all the cops but she continued to moan, crying and hugging the notebook she has for her review.
"What will happen to this, beautiful girl?" His eyes are showing pity but later, he smiled at her.
He offered his hand to her and she was so hesitant to accept it so she just looked at it. She doesn't want to put her hand on his but her shaking hand has its own mind, slowly putting her wet and shaky hand on top his palm. He deliberately grabbed her hand and he tightly locked it in his palm, at the same time pulling her towards him.
"I got you, sweetheart,” He told her.
Savvy looked at the name tag with tears in her eyes but she could not analyze the name because there were only two initials. The surname other than the two last name, Hernàndez Gonzàlez.
"I'm Anthony Stanley. I won't hurt you. Trust me," A warm smile flashed across his face, as warm as his hazel brown eyes, "I'm a hero, not your villain."
Kontessa1620