Ronnie was in his office, drowsy and exhausted from the pile of tasks he had to finish. He was able to accomplish most of them and since it was late and he could not do anything more, he called it a day. He put on his coat and left. It was past eleven o’ clock in the evening when he got to the elevator. “Going home, Sir?”, politely, the guard on duty asked him. He sighed quietly and replied, “Yeah. You have a good night.”, as the elevator opened. He got to the ground level, walked out of the building and as he crossed the street, it started to rain. There was also a news that a typhoon was coming the next day.
At the bus station, he noticed something unusual when he realized he was the only one standing there, aside from the parked motorbike that looks very old. There were also very few vehicles passing by. A couple of weeks ago, there were reported incidents of robbery and mugging at the place. He stayed alert and kept himself awake while he waited. He braved the moment, but still a little bothered that someone might suddenly jump on him any minute.
A guy wearing a leather jacket at mid-50’s got out from a nearby store. He put on a Dodgers baseball cap and lighted a stick of Mild Seven as he stood by Ronnie. “Here, to fight the cold.”, he said as he handed a stick to Ronnie. “No, thanks. I quit last year.”, then gazed from afar. Still no bright headlights nor loud horns. The guy jumped on his motorbike and started to roll, as he told Ronnie to watch his back. Ronnie just nodded and said “Thanks.”
After a while, a bus came by. There were no more seats and the aisle was already crammed by standing passengers also wanting to get home. Ronnie got on the bus anyway, keeping himself alert for possible pick-pockets. He looked around and somewhere at the other end of the bus, a guy with thick beard was looking back at him. Ronnie thought he was someone he knew, but he was not able to recognize him. He looked away and before he knew, he was catching forty winks on his way. At the next stop, the guy slightly bumped at Ronnie and dropped off the bus.
The rain poured harder as Ronnie reached his apartment on the 2nd floor of a 4-storey building. He was living by himself since his mother passed away two years ago. Whenever he arrives, he would always look at the wall at the end of the stairs. He put his mother’s picture on that wall so he could always see it every time he gets to his room. He took off his wet coat and as he reached to its pocket, he noticed his wallet was missing. “It must be that guy on the bus…”, he utter the words then he slightly lifted his shoulders, and let it go. He laid himself on the bed to get a good rest. Outside, flood started to rise as the rain continuously poured harder and harder.
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