Chapter 4 Manifestation

The group of unfortunate gangsters had lost their patience. They where now only contemplating calling the mission a day. They had waited for Mr Gonzalez to show up with the ransom but it seemed to them that he was indeed the coward they had thought him to be after the many years of hard work and toil in the dirty muddy environment of his fishing.

They were even occasionally asking themselves how to discard the women since things were obviously not turning out according to plans.

They continued in their contemplation wondering how things might end up eventually.

Valentina as still hoping that her husband ould turn up soonest to rescue them but things were steadily running out of hand. She knew he had never failed her in anyway and was certain that he would definitely show up to rescue them.

She started to wonder if he did not per se understand they they had actually been kidnapped and needing him as sharply as possible or if he had forgotten. Then a thought came to her mind that convinced her and made her certain that her husband knew that they had in fact been kidnapped because the man who came to the house in the morning as one among Mr Gonzalez' long time comrades who had come to warn her husband regarding some strangers who had come into town the other night an had a dress taste like their old native Mannetii cult attire. So was making him to delay, she thought.

Everyone had their own turmoil. Even Joan.

Joan only watched. She could no longer do anything about the situation at hand; she could only sit there and wish them well because there seemed not to be a viable solution.

But just like a thief in the night, or one who had just decided to visit and shock his true disciples, something felt right for once.

There was a kind of hope and assurance that fell upon her.

She looked about and realized that the men were also trying to make at the distance away.

Alas, when she was busy thinking about possibilities and impossibilities, she heard a sound. it was a car or was it many cars but only one was in view. it was their neighbor Mr Cleopas' car.

Everyone was shocked but only watched to see who will alight the vehicle.

Two men alighted while only one made it to the verandah where four armed men had awaited their arrival.

This Joan only made out through the blurry figures she grabbed through the laced windows.

"Wait!" she thought, could that posture and stance be who it seemed to be?

It was her father at last, she thought.

He had finally come to get them out of this shackle of a place. She looked about and realized a tenseness in the atmosphere and one of them whispered to the others,

"he's here, so be alert. He's dangerous and has never in his life bargained or agreed to put himself in a position of loss".

They all listened carefully before cocking their weapons and stood in alert.

"Papa!", screamed Joan as she realized he was finally truly there.

"Shut up, you!" Ordered one of them as he phased towards her.

"Don't you dare lay a hand on her you imbecile, lest you shall lose more than just an arm", interjected Mr Gonzalez.

Upon hearing this,the young man stopped,went closer to Joan and slapped her while he said, " do your worst!"

Mr Gonzalez jumped towards him, but stopped just on the way and began to laugh hysterically.

He continued to laugh and shake his head.

Valentina noticed this and held Joan close to her chest. She had also intended to take action when her daughter was touched but had to think better than cause any more harm. S

he only winced at the sight and bit her lips shakily. She hugged Joan for two reasons: theses men wouldn't be able to hurt her any longer and the impending disaster which Valentina knew was sure to come upon them was going to be catastrophic.

"God help you all," said Valentina as she looked at the leader in the eyes.

He (the leader) was actually younger than the rest of the gang of 27 men but there was something that has been torturing Valentina's mind ever since these men exposed their faces to them.

Yes,they couldn't recognize anyone of the men but their was something particularly peculiar about one of them.

It was as though she knew this leader somewhere sometime in the past. Or was it just some mere resemblance that he seemed to share with someone she possibly knew?

She couldn't get the name or face of the person whom this leader was reminiscent of but he sure had her mind on toes.

The young man had also noticed Valentina's dilemma and so decided to clear the air for her.

"Hello. God help our soul? Hahaha. You don't know me still. Do you?" He paused turn away and looked her in the face more closely and concentrated. "Well, I was still in my early teens when you knew me"

Valentina jumped. She couldn't believe who it was. It was Andreas' youngest child, Gallardo. He was so fond of her when his father was still her husband's lieutenant during the hot days of the revolution. After the rebellion lost its potency to internal conflicts that were all doctored by his father, lieutenant Andreas, she never saw the boy again.

Sadly, he had grown onto something else that Valentina didn't like to see for a bit longer.

"Surprised huhn?", asked Gallardo. "Well, my father cursed you and your husband to his deathbed." He added.

" My brothers and I are now the new heads of the Mannetii! And we run it more efficiently than you and your husband ever did" he concluded and gestured to Mr Gonzalez." Where is my money? " He asked.

Mr Gonzalez went out and beckoned on Mr Cleopas to bring along the bag of cash that was stashed in the trunk.

Mr Cleopas walked out and fetched the bag of cash. He came and offered God knows how much money that big bag contained to the men. He went and exchange pleasantries with the armed men which they took with contempt . it was as though they both knew who the other was.

To Joan, these young men were very very disrespectful to her father and so, she wondered where they got the guts from or who they thought there were but was too tiny to react.

She wondered where her father brought in all that money from .

She wondered many things and phenomenons and she was so anxious and she wanted to know .

After the captors checked the bag they had collected from Mr Gonzalez and Mr Cleopas, they went outside, handled the bag to other gang members and they allowed Mr Gonzalez to go in and claim his family and so, he went and uncuffed the legs of his wife and daughter.

He hugged them both and promised that nothing of the sort shall ever happen to them or shall they even ever set eyes on those men at all.

He turned around and told Mr Cleopas, " give the signal, they crossed a line by laying their hand on our own".

Mr Cleopas brought out his phone and said," goose in the air",and returned his phone to his pocket quietly.

Joan kept on wondering what was happening because obviously, something fishy was happening and she knew for sure that her father and mother had something to do with it.

They were a lot of questions she wanted to ask them like

Where did all that money come from?

What were this men talking about?

What was about to happen what has been happening?

and what doesn't she know?

But that was no time for questions, the seriousness in the room kept everywhere tense.

Joan wondered where in particular they were because there was no sound at all. All the church bells were not ringing as it used to. She kept on wondering about where they had been taken to.

Her mother was still emotionless her face dry and clean of emotion and so was her father , although he made the attempt to smile a little.

The man had gone out, they were happy and chanting songs of ridicule to Mr Gonzalez.

The two men who had been with them had also been called by those what collected the bag from Mr Gonzalez and said, "it was pleasure doing business with you " and just then a multitude close to 20 came around and joined "we have won the great Gonzalez is normal perhaps we should let them go with their family"

But one of them suggested , after all the great Gonzalez is down to the penny and so it would mean a victory for us how to kill them all".

" No!" one of them suggested.

" Brother we do not have to do this to the old man. C'mon he is a classic he will still be of immense inspiration for us. we will learn a lot of things from him. Let him be, he has hustled for all his crimes".

Then one of them came closer to Joan and sheepishly said, " she has been a gem indeed one worthy of mint"

" she is not our business" the leader responded and so they went away entered there vans and drove into the wilderness.

Joan just then started to hear gunshots in the distance a massive fire exchange that was very serious that it felt as though it was just next door.

Joan was the only one who was obviously surprised, unlike her parents who seemed to have been expecting this but there was no way she could explain this to herself. It was probably shock , she thought.

She realized that her father maintained stood his ground. He stood still and was not in the least, fazed by the sudden wild shots outside. He only cautioned them to get down and put their face on the floor.

When the strange sporadic fire had seized her father left the window came and hugged her one more time along with her mother and told them it is done, that were now free to go and so he escorted them into the car he had brought with the neighbor and they began their journey home. Steadily and stealthily.

In front of her she died a million times but was miraculously still alive and so had tons of stories to tell.

The next thing was to understand the reality hidden underneath her family who was her father who was her mother who had they been in the past and what had they done in the past, what then were these trophies that were claimed their names, what doesn't she know?

Her father drove the van carefully still looking about and checking the environment making sure that no one was seeing them, making sure that the bandit boys wouldn't come back and attack them once again.

By the time they reached home they found the bag that their father had taken to those men miraculously waiting for them at home.

And so Joan knew the questions she had to ask in the times to come like from who were those men, who are you, I know I might look like a child but I still have some senses in me please explain to me what is happening over the past few months I've begun to notice some things things that I couldn't explain but I cannot keep it down a longer can you explain to me what is happening what has been happening or what is happening who are you people, who am I.

All those she only muttered in her exhausted mind.

I need to understand you before I know who I am. if you continue to keep me in the dark it would not be very very sweet and easy for me I'm growing up and people are saying things about me. My friends continue to say that I didn't belong here. That we don't even belong here because we all came and bought land which huge sum of money.... The soliloquy ranand ran freely in her room until she lost the strength to fight against the beckoning sleep that she had tried to keep at bay all evening.

The subsequent day was indistinguishable from any other.

How shall you gradually uncover the truth?

The question was clear but the answers needed more working to them.

The dilemma had just started to make it's way into her story but she wasn't moved by it.

Her life had been endangered and she was going all in to find out.