The Wrath of a Son-in-Law: Stand Up, Fool!

Chased Out

After what happened in that situation, Harvey went home in a daze. He was holding his cheek and was just slapped rudely by the person that he thought would thank him and give him reward for saving her. He couldn't believe that he would go home without food in hand but rather a body filled with bruises. This is really the meaning of the adage that not everyone deserves your kindness.

When those people came, including the Vice President, he knew him since he had voted for him before, because he gave the people in the squatter area about a sack of rice for every household and cash money of fifty dollars, and it had been the talk of the town since then. He was only seeing him through the pictures in his campaign, and he could really tell that he was a handsome man in person and his daughters got it from him. But maybe the bad attitude also ran in their blood.

That girl, Alyanna Klein, as he heard the name of being yelled at by the Vice President, was certainly a pain in the neck. He could already tell just by interacting with her with only a very few conversations and one hard slap on the face that this woman was someone that was hard to get around with. He didn’t want to be near her again. If he was not just taught in the orphanage to respect women and the elderly, he could have smacked the whole out of that woman so she would know how to check who she was beefing about.

The only good thing that had happened to him earlier was the fact that he got the jackpot. He still got to have the things that he had gathered from the garbage, enough to calm him down at least. The clothes were enough for him to stay in his house even for a week. He was sure that he would be able to sell these things even without modifying anything.

The event earlier was slightly depressing and angering on his part. He didn’t wish to have another business with them nor even see a glimpse of any of their family. They didn’t know how to thank the person who had just saved them from a life and death threat. How could they leave him in the middle of the road and just go back inside the Elite Subdivision as if nothing happened? And without even a single ‘thank you’?

He guessed words of gratitude were hard for people at the top to articulate.

He arrived at the squatter area with all of their eyes looking at him in worry. He was limping, and his face and body were full of bruises. The good thing was that he did not come out of the place with holes in his body, especially when he saw how he was treated. He might probably just be left on the floor dying while they were dealing with the left issue.

“Harvey, what happened to you? Are you okay?” a concerned citizen, Mrs. Crew, the old woman in her neighborhood who always sweeps the space in front of her house, led her to also clean the rest of the neighborhood because she had nothing else to do and she couldn’t take a very dirty surrounding so she was doing the minimum. Harvey helped him when he had time, which was why she was fond of him.

“It’s nothing, Mrs. Crew. I just saved someone from being… kidnapped. This is nothing serious,” he answered as he tried to smile, but it turned to a frown as his face hurt. Those men really still got him good. He should have given them more, but he should never have involved himself there in the first place. It wasn’t like he helped her for something in return. A simple thank you was enough for her most of the time, especially when he knew that he was helping a person like him who had nothing but themselves.

It was just, of course, he helped a huge person. There should be something at least that he should expect, a pack of biscuits and a bottle of water would do. But what did he receive? Nothing but stares. Not even a single thank you.

“That doesn’t look like anything to me,” Mrs. Crew said insistently. She held Harvey’s wrist and led him to her house. She left him seated in her backyard while she went inside her house and, to what Harvey guessed, took her first air kit to tend to his wounds. After all, Mrs. Crew had been his standing mother since he started living nearby.

“Why did you even let yourself be beaten like this? Look at your cheek, it’s so red. Did you get slapped?” she asked while damping an ice covered with cloth on his wounds on his face so it wouldn’t swell tomorrow. It was slightly painful, but none that he couldn’t handle. If anything, it felt nice as it made him numb.

He couldn’t help but scoff at the prediction of the old woman. “That’s on point, Mrs. Crew. Is it very obvious? It hurts more than the other bruises I received.”

“Were you in a fight with a girl? If this was from a man, it would be bigger.”

“Man, Mrs. Crew! Are you an expert at slapping?” He joked, chuckling in amazement. “No, I didn’t fight with a girl, you know I wouldn’t hurt a woman. I fought with the men trying to capture the woman, who, in turn and in exchange for saving her, slapped me in the face. I guess that is her way of saying thank you. Don’t you think so, Mrs. Crew?”

“I don’t think so, what did you do that made her do that?” she asked, squinting her eyes at him as if she was sure that he did something that justified what that woman did.

He hated it. It felt like women could hurt men whenever they felt threatened, or just simply accidentally went past the restriction that they set for themselves. What would happen to men like him who did not know anything about it? Or was falsely accused? Do they get slapped every time when, in fact, they are just worried and concerned? Women were viewed as weak when they were the ones who had strong personalities, while men just simply did not care.

“I did not do anything but ask how she is, help her when she’s about to fall, and even save her life, Mrs. Crew. I don’t understand the need for a slap,” he complained with a huge frown on his face. Whenever he was with Mrs. Crew, his inner childlike attitude was getting out, maybe because he never had a mother before to do this thing when he was a kid and he found Mrs. Crew the perfect person to deal with him.

“Well, that is really an odd thing to do for a person who saved you. Most of the time, you even hug the person who saved you, but since you look like you just dove in a garbage can, it’s probably that she didn’t consider it. Who is even this girl?”

“The daughter of the Vice President. They don’t even thank me, Mrs. Crew! Is that how rich people are normally?” he asked with hostility. “I don’t ever want to be associated with them. If not for the luxurious dumpster they have at the back of their village, I wouldn’t have gone there.”

“Rich people are always like that, especially people with power? They are eccentric, they don’t think of other people, considering that you are poor and a smelly garbage man, they don’t care about how you feel. I have heard the Vice President’s family has dishonorable traits up their sleeves. That’s why I didn’t vote for them.”

“Harvey! Harvey Clarke!”

Just then, they both looked in front of where the people were running away, as if someone was running after them. But what confused Harvey was when his name was being shouted by the bystanders who were running toward his small house. He stood up, cold sweat running to his spine as he saw men in black approaching, the same men that he saw coming with the Vice President’s family. Just by their walk, he already knew they had brought nothing but terrible news.

What are they doing here? There’s no way I would end up being the main suspect after what I did to that woman. He thought to himself as he panicked internally. He knew it! Those rich people really meant trouble for poor people’s lives. They might be here to investigate. Should he face them or should he flee? But it would seem like he was guilty if he was going to avoid them. Tsk. He should have really stayed in his hiding place. Phew. No, he should face it. He was innocent, there was nothing to fear nor to hide, he had to tell them. It doesn’t mean that he’s poor, he would already be a suspect for a crime. He hated prejudice all the time.

He took the black plastic bag and gave it to Mrs. Crew who was also looking at the men with confusion. He pushed her inside her house quietly as he held the door knob. “Hide there, Mrs. Crew. They might be the Vice President’s men. If anything happens to me, like being jailed while hungry or being dispatched for no reason whatsoever, sell these things and give some of the money to the orphanage, and the rest is yours, okay? Thank you, Mrs. Crew.”

“Wait, did you do something-” She didn’t get to continue what she was going to say as Harvey had already closed the door and ran back to his small house using the back way and the back door of his house so he would not be suspicious. The bulky group of men were heading and the sycophantic bystanders were knocking on his frail door continuously to call him.

He let out a sigh, nervous about what might happen to him as soon as he opened the door. He waited for a while and practiced his expression like he was in pain and was just woken up by their noise. He disheveled his long, mussy, oily hair and opened the door harshly. “What in the world is your problem? I’m sleeping! I swear if it is just-”

He acted surprised and stunned upon seeing the men standing in front of him right at the back of those bystanders, grimly looking at him and watching the surroundings with disgusted eyes covered by their black shades. Then the man in front stepped in, bumping the two bystanders to the side and spoke, “Mister Harvey Clarke, we want to speak with you about something definitely important.”

“W-what? Who are you? Did I do something wrong?” he asked perturbedly. “Are you sent by that crazy woman who slapped me instead of saying thank you? Ha! If I just hurt women, I would have smacked her, too. It’s okay, I do not need anything in return, I won't come back to that place ever again, and I am not asking for any reward or anything. Most importantly, I am not part of those men who tried to kidnap her, I am just a mere garbage man.”

It seemed like he had said a lot of things and when he stopped, the men were just looking at him indifferently. He bit his tongue. Did he make it too suspicious? Was saying a lot something that they could use and hold against him? Did he sound apprehensive? The men seemed not pleased, and they looked like they would be dragging him out of his house to their cars and would cover his eyes and mouth, tie his feet and hands, and would throw him into a river. What did he do?

“Come with us, Mister Harvey Clarke.” He knew he was doomed.