A way towards home (chapter eight)

People live their lives every single day without noticing how far they have come in life. Richard was walking home from school when he decided to meet Mae first, Noel was not with him today for Noel told him that he has some things to take care of. He took a turn to the left where he saw someone peeking inside Mae's store.

"Is there something that we can do for you?" Richard asked.

The person that he saw was a petite girl with a tan colored skin and black hair tied with a red ribbon.

"Do you work here?" asked the girl.

"Not really but i know who owns the store and if there is something that you need you can ask me or the store owner herself." Richard is wondering who the girl was cause he has doubts that this girl is a customer.

"So you know Mae? Tell me how is she?" the girl was very cheery and reminded Richard of Noel.

"I'll tell you but first i must know your name." Richard is getting suspicious.

"My name is Allisa i'm Mae's cousin and i just came over to visit."

"If you're her cousin then why are you outside, why not come inside and talk to her?"

"Well there is this circumstance that kinda makes me have some trouble talking to her but if you know her then maybe you can help me."

"Tell me about this circumstance of yours."

"The truth is Mae is considered an outsider in the family and my parents told me to come here and check if the store is ok so-" Before Allisa could finish what she was saying Richard interrupted her.

"You're here to see how is the store doing but you don't visit with the intention of seeing how Mae is. As you can see the store is fine and Mae is very successful in handling it."

"Wait! Why are you acting rude all of a sudden? Did i said something wrong?" Allisa was surprised by Richards change of tone.

"You already saw that the store is fine then that means you have no more reason to be here."

"You know you're very rude! What are you to Mae exactly?! Allisa is getting agitated by Richard but she wants to know why is he pushing her away from Mae.

"I'm her boyfriend and i don't want people like you who cares only for something that you desire to gain."

"Her what?! Look here even if you are her boyfriend that doesn't mean you can butt in to our business and act like as if you know what is going on with our family!"

"The reason why i'm acting like this is because i am fully aware of Mae's position in your family, you also told me earlier that she's an outsider in your family so i can help her for i am an outsider as well."

"Hey it's not like we don't care about what is going on with her life but everyone in the family is just concerned that her fathers store may get bankrupt because of her!"

Richard looked at her then walked away towards the store's entrance.

"Don't you dare ignore me a*****e!" Allisa was very angry at Richard.

"Sorry but i don't have any more time to spare on the likes of you." Richard did not showed her his face and just kept on walking.

Richard entered the store and greeted Mae while she was tending to the customers at the counter. The door of the store opened wildly and Allisa strutted towards Richard.

"How dare you ignore me like that! Who the hell do you think you are?! No one makes a fool out of me b*****d?!" Allisa went inside the store without thinking and Mae was wondering how Allisa knew Richard.

"Allisa? Why are you here?" Mae was looking at Allisa and thinking why her cousin is very mad at Richard.

"Hey this boyfriend of yours is very cocky and he's acting all rude to me so tell him to apologize right away!" Allisa was telling Mae to make Richard say sorry as a command and not as a request.

"Richard what did you do to her? Please say sorry to her..."

"I don't think it's necessary cause i don't apologize to arrogant people."

"What did you say a*****e?! So you're not saying sorry to me huh?!

"Before you blow your top, why don't you look around cause i think you're humiliating yourself even further." 

The people inside the store was all looking at Allisa and Allisa stopped talking and realized that everyone was already whispering and she knows that they are talking about her. Ashamed by what happened Allisa walked out but before she left she told Mae something that worried Richard.

"My dad said that you should pay your debt early this month cause he needs some money, and as for you b*****d, don;t think that this is over."  Allisa quickly stepped outside the store and disappeared.

Richard looked at Mae and started thinking about what Allisa had said to her.

"Mae. What does she mean about a debt?"

"I'll tell you later but please wait for me inside." Mae had her sad face again that makes Richard very worried every time he sees it. 

Richard sat on the couch and thinks about Mae, he had spend time with her but he can feel that she still hides something. Richard is always looking around town to find some info that may be connected to Mae's family but all he can gather is a bunch of rumors and Allisa's purpose in visiting Mae made it more clear that Mae is an outcast but a debt that she has is very peculiar. 

Mae walked inside the room and sat in front of Richard, her head was down again just like the first day that he met Richard and clear sign that she was depressed.

"Can you tell me about this debt that you have Mae?"

"Well my uncle was always telling me that spent some money while taking care of me and that my father was not sending any."

Richard knows that it was not true, Mr Victor who owns a shop had told him that Mae's father was sending money and the fact that Mae also inherited her fathers bank account is more proof that he did not forget his responsibilities on her daughter.

"How can you be so sure that your dad was not sending any money?"

"My uncle told me that. I also lost contact to him two years after he left me in his friends house and that was also the time that my uncle took me."

"So your uncle took you from his friend and told you that your dad was not sending any money? How is it that your uncle himself complains about money but your dads friend is not even mentioning it?"

"Well yes. and to make up for some of the expense i always do all the house chores."

"Tell me Mae. Where does this friend of your dad lives?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Because from what i can see is that your uncle only took advantage of your dad's death and he is scheming something that is not good. If we want this problem to be solved then your dad's friend can tell us about why your dad had stopped sending money cause for me your dad did his job and even left everything in your name."

"But my uncle said that-" Richard interrupted her.

"What your uncle had said doesn't convince me one bit. Mae i won't sit idly by while someone is taking advantage of you and even if you don't tell me i can still find someone else who knows the whereabouts of the person that i want to find."

Mae knows that Richard is serious about what he was saying and there is no stopping him once he gets this way.

"Ok i'll tell you. His name is Jhon Patrick White and he lives in a town called red field it's about a 3 hours trip from here and he owns a small fruit shop near the bus station.

He took good care of me and i can say that he was a very nice person but i can remember him arguing with my uncle days before i was taken to my relatives."

"Is he still there?" Richard wants to make sure if Mr white is still in the same town.

"Yes i'm sure of it because before going here i stayed over to their place and he is the one who gave me the key to this house and told me that it was sent only for me."

"Then why don't we take a trip this Saturday and pay him a visit, i'm sure that he knows full well that your father didn't failed in sending financial support."

Mae was gazing upon Richard, he shows a different character that she has not seen before and she can feel how much Richard is worrying about her.

"Sure let's do that." Mae is smiling now and she feels safe after Hearing Richard.

Richard stood up and went behind Mae while she was still sitting on an opposite couch and gave her a warm and tender hug, he kissed Mae's neck and whispered to her.

"Everything will be fine and i won't let them hurt you as long as i'm here Mae."

Richard was in his room working on his project when something made him think that perhaps Mae's mother is still alive somewhere and that she is aware of Mae's problems, he also remembered about Mae real mother and why did she also disappeared after the fire. There were no reports of any dead bodies found in the burned resting home of Mae's family but he is certain that there is more to it but the info that Noel gave about the fire is very simple and the cause of the fire is strange.

The news paper was handed to him by Noel who found it in the town library Noel also found out that Mae's mom was working on some legal actions pertaining to restriction order that she filed a weeks before the fire but any other info is still vague and even her former co-workers has no idea to where she is now. Noel has been busy lately so he has no time to irritate Richard but he still pass him all the info he can find along the way. The rest house was made from bamboo and a grass roofs, it was surrounded by trees and located near a beach. Mae and his family stayed to their rest house for more that weeks and perhaps the reason for this was that they are keeping away from the baby maker. The baby makers name was still unknown and this was making things hard for Richard but he plans to search Mae's house and see if he can find some transaction receipts that may indicated the baby makers name. There are a lot of things that is needed to spin the wheel and there is also that matter of the person who keeps appearing and disappearing in front of the store but Richard has plans for that guy. He talked to Mr Victor again yesterday and all he tell Richard was a description of the baby maker he also confirmed that Mr white is one of Mae's father's closest  friend who can be trusted and Mr Victor promised Richard that he will help out. Richard visits Mae very often to make sure if she's ok and he also told the local authorities about the suspicious character who goes to the store.

Mae was listing some items on the shelves when the glass on the door of the store was shattered all of a sudden. She ran to see what happened when suddenly two persons on a motorcycle passed by and threw a large rock that shattered the glass on the left window, Mae got scared and she called Richard telling him to come over.

Richard received the call and rushed over with his motorcycle. He found some people outside the store and inside was Mae telling the police how scared she was, Mae did not see the faces of the suspects because they were wearing full face helmet but the motorcycle type was very distinctive and only a few in town has the same type. Richard came to Mae and asked what happened.

"there some guys on a motorcycle who threw some rocks at the store and i'm scared that they might come back."

"I'll stay over tonight we should close the store early." Richard was very worried but Mae's safety comes first and the people who did the crime comes later.

Mae was inside her room and Richard was outside closing the store, he thinks that maybe it's his fault that the store was targeted by some thugs. He can think of some people who may be responsible but he was not sure but all that matters now is Mae.

He opened the door and Mae was lying on her bed, Richard approached Mae and gently placed his hand on her head. He can't let a problem like this to go on so he was planning to do something about it before they go and visit Mr White. He was going to sleep on the couch but when he turned away Mae took his hand.

"Where are you going Richard?"

"I'll be sleeping on the couch don't worry i wont leave you tonight."

"NO. Sleep here beside me. I don't want to be alone."

Richard changed his mind and he agreed to sleep with Mae so he lay down beside her and they shared the same blanket while Mae was resting her head on his chest hugging him. Mae was still shaking and Richard held her hand tightly and gave her a kiss on the fore head, minutes later Mae was asleep.

Carl Denton is a police chief and a friend of Richards mom Mrs Claire west and he was requested to investigate about what happened to the store, Richards mom also asked Carl if he can find some info about Mae's uncle. Richard opened up to his mom and he told her about Mae's relatives she was got concerned for Mae after hearing that her relatives may be taking advantage of her so she asked some people to help out. It was the very first time that Richard talked to his mom and his attitude was clearly changing for the better, she asked Noel about the Richards behavior and he told her that his son was starting to trust other people in order to help Mae. She told her son Richard that it's better if he is to stay with her until the case is solved and this can be a good chance to strengthen their relationship. Mrs Claire is happy that Richard is showing some emotions now unlike before where he would just lock himself up and keep his emotions to himself. She doesn't know everything that Richard and Noel had found out all the info that they told her was that Mae inherited the store but her relatives wants to keep what she has for themselves. 

"Well Claire why are you doing all this for that girl? Carl asked out of curiosity.

"That girl you're talking about may become my daughter in law and this is the first time my son asked me for help. Mae has a positive effect on Richard and His best friend is very sure that my son may become an even more open person."

"Wow. Your son is only 16 and his girlfriend is 20 but it's ok for you that they share an intimate relationship?"

"Age never matters and i don't think Richard would fall for her if she doesn't have any good qualities, he may not talk that much but i can tell you that he is a good judge of character."

"Ok whatever. I asked my colleagues to help out in the investigation and maybe within a week or two we can provide some results on the case."

"That's nice to know but we can't waste time cause i think my son knows more than you and there is no way of knowing whether he will tell us or not."

"He's only a kid how much can someone like him know."

"Richard is a talented boy and his way of thinking is complex unlike the other kids, once he had his mind set on something he will not stop until he finds a way to deal with it."

"So in other words this will be race against your son and find out who can solve the case first?"

"No. What i really want is to support him in protecting the person that he loves and i can see a bright shine on hi now. As his mom i would like to make that shine glow even brighter his friend Noel is doing all that he can to help so i don't see a reason why i too shouldn't help him."

"Noel? The kid who almost killed his brothers?"

"Noel is a good boy and i don't blame him for what he could have done, their family was deep in chaos and Noel was the only one who took good care of his little sister when everyone in his family had gone insane, he did what he did just to protect his sister and now he is protecting my son's happiness and i'm thankful that Richard has a friend like him."

"Your son sure does have a strange taste with the people that he chooses to be close with."

"It's one of his charming characteristics that makes people like him."

"I'll send some officers to keep watch on the store and don't worry i won't tell Richard that your overdoing things again."

"Thank you Carl.. i'm sure My husband will be grateful for your help."

"Your husband is more nicer when he asks for help unlike you. Tell him to drop by when get back home cause the other guys are waiting for him."

"I'll tell him for you."

Mae sleeps comfortably knowing Richard is besides her and she can face everything for Richard is there to be with her. The two lovers share the warmth but what awaits ahead is unsure and only their love can tell if they will succeed.

"No one can fight alone but some chooses to fall alone"