2 Chance Meeting in Tragedy

<Chapter 2>

Two men rode a motorcycle southbound along EDSA, coming out of the back of a mall in the Ortigas Center area where the two initially met through a third party organizer. There they were provided with a motorcycle and a .45 caliber handgun. They didn't see who left the items there, but they did what they were instructed to do and everything had been legit so far.

At first the two men thought it was a scam when they received a text message offering them a job from an unknown number. The tone of the message was too familiar, like a friend who had been out of touch for so long and only now had the chance to talk to them again.

"Good day! How have you been?" The message started off with a greeting.

Naturally, the two men did not respond. There have been too many scams that have popped up over the years through text messages. First, they would talk to you like they know you. Next, they would promise to give you something but only if you give them something first. An example of this was about an old woman who had not been in contact with her daughter who was living abroad for more than 5 years. That piece of news had been the talk of the town since it was reported a couple of years ago. According to her account, an unknown sender had sent her a message and asked her how she was doing. It even apologized for not being in touch for so long! The scammer had pretended to be her daughter.

When the old woman was totally reeled in believing she was conversing with her daughter, the unknown sender began to talk about sending the old woman money to support her lifestyle. However, the old woman would have to send money to her "daughter" first so she could establish a local account or something of the sort. Whatever lousy excuse was used just to lure the prey in and it usually worked. Most of the victims were old people with families living abroad.

Even when ignored, the mysterious messages kept coming one after another until they mentioned facts that nobody could possibly know.

"Hello, Ronnie. How is your family? Are they still ignoring you like you're a scum of the Earth? Don't worry, I know just the thing that might help!" The two men who received these messages could no longer ignore them.

Until today, the driver of the motorcycle was a construction worker named Ronnie. The guy sitting at the back was called Jun, a part-time janitor at the St. Paul High School in Pasig City. The two did not know each other prior to riding together. However, both men had one thing in common: they were both desperate.

Ronnie wanted funds to support his family. After drinking himself silly every day, his family decided that enough was enough. Ronnie's wife took their three kids away and moved to the province with her parents. Jun, on the other hand, wanted to escape from reality and the only way he could do that was to take another lick from Madame Crystal's jewelry, otherwise known as crystal meth.

When the two met each other through the guidance of the third party organizer, they both thought of the same thing: they couldn't care less who the other one was. They were each given a job to fulfill and they were hell bent on completing it by the end of the day. What awaited them was a chance to turn one's life around and the chance for one to escape life altogether.

However, there was one thing the third party organizer did not put into consideration. Although the two men were willing to do the dirty job in exchange for a few bonds of paper, Ronnie and Jun were not murderers. One was a deadbeat father who wanted to make his family see him again in a good light, while the other was a high school dropout who became a junkie after gallivanting with some bad apples. Both were hapless individuals, but they were not murderers.

"Sh*t! I missed the turn point."

It was because of this reason that Ronnie and Jun have been making mistakes the entire night of the operation. Ronnie, in his haste, managed to drive past the U-turn point where they were supposed to turn to cross the other side of EDSA. Instead of driving onward until they saw another U-turn point, Ronnie drove the black Suzuki motorcycle to the right into an alley which would bring them back circling along Boni Avenue.

On any other day, this could have been called a smart move. Unfortunately, Mandaluyong City had an ordinance in place that prohibited two males to be on the same motorcycle when driving. It was the Riding-In-Tandem ordinance which was first signed into effectivity in the year 2014. To outsiders, it was surely a peculiar ordinance to enforce. This ordinance, however, was put into place to help eradicate the rising cases of riding-in-tandem snatchers whose modus operandi was to snatch valuable items from unsuspecting victims on the streets while using a motorcycle as their getaway vehicle. Naturally, two people were needed for such a crime; one to drive and one to do the snatching. Hence, the riding-in-tandem monicker. Because of this ordinance, many CCTV cameras had been strategically placed all over Mandaluyong City for the purpose of catching such individuals violating the said ordinance. Whether Ronnie and Jun managed to fulfill their contract or not, the police would have no problem identifying their motorcycle and their mugs to boot.

And then there was Jun. For a guy who had become dependent on Madam Crystal, his nerves had become chaotic, his hands trembling like a vibrator on overdrive. A hitman with trembling hands is definitely not a good combination.

They finally spotted the man they were looking for. The target was wearing a brown leather jacket over a dark blue shirt and washed out jeans. It was just what was described to them. For a moment, the two felt chills in their bodies. Just who the heck was their employer to have this much information?

The target was walking -- more like staggering, really -- on the sidewalk while being supported by a tall woman with red hair and a male friend wearing a blue long sleeve shirt. Ronnie pulled over under an overpass while Jun discreetly pulled out the black caliber .45 handgun he was supplied with. It felt unusually heavy and unfamiliar in his hands like it was some rare metal he had no right to hold. His hands began to tremble again.

'I can do this. Just one shot. One clean shot and it'll be done!'

The men waited a couple of minutes for the target to come within their range. Their plan was to perform the deed and instantly bolt out once it's over. They would then drive all the way back to Pasig City, abandon the Suzuki motorcycle somewhere secluded, and go on their separate ways. Once the third party organizer confirmed the results of their actions, the previously agreed upon sum of money would then be delivered to the two hitmen's accounts.

Ronnie and Jun were keenly aware that there were some people coming down the overpass. In particular, they could hear someone from above running really fast towards the stairs leading down. The two did not have anymore time to bother with the newcomer as their target came directly in front of them. The target with his two supporters were obviously drunk as a skunk and were in their own separate worlds.

"I think I had too many tequila. Hehehe."

"You think so?"

"No, I think you need another bottle to wipe off that dumb look on your face!"

At this moment, Ardes who had finally reached the bottom of the stairs stopped in his tracks when he saw Jun pointing his gun at someone. He tried to swallow his saliva but his throat felt as dry as desert sand. Jun, with his trembling hands, aimed and pulled the trigger once but missed the mark by a hair's breadth. He quickly followed up with two more shots and the last one finally went through the center of the target's neck.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Blood immediately spurted out of the target's neck and stained his clothes, turning his already dark blue shirt an even darker shade than before.

"Kyaaaaaaaaa!"

"Holy sh--!"

The woman with the red hair and the man in blue long sleeves screamed and cursed, respectively. It seemed that the sound of gunshots and the sight of blood were indeed enough to sober their senses. Their friend was now on the floor, convulsing lightly as blood leaked from his neck wound and mouth.

The hitmen immediately drove off as fast as they could. Ardes' face was pale and his body was stiff from both shock and fright. Yet despite this incident in front of him, Ardes managed to take out his phone in his shaking hands. He dialed 911 and pressed the send key. He heard a generic ring and patiently waited for the dispatcher to pick up.

By now other people have started to gather around them and some were even taking pictures with their phones! This sight made the color on his face return and he felt quite angry.

'What the heck are these people doing? A man was just shot!'

"This is 911. What's your emergency?" A calm voice of a woman spoke in his ear and brought Ardes back to the situation at hand. He looked at the unmoving man on the ground, then he looked at the blood slowly spreading, and finally to the direction to where the hitmen drove off.

"Someone has been shot dead." He then proceeded to recount what he had witnessed just a moment ago starting from the moment he heard the motorcycle pull over.

<Chapter 2> End.