Know one's weakness

I now have more clues about my grandpa's case. First, the CCTV footage was tampered with, which means there was dirty play. Next, there were two people involved in the case. What's more suspicious was… Lara was in an accident too. Now I need to find out when and where she had the accident. She may or may not be involved. I remembered then that Sir Diego had said that the director of the university deleted the CCTV, and now that I know who it is, it is certain to make me suspect more. Lara mentioned that she had an accident before adding fuel to the fire.

I don't want to entertain the idea that formed in my mind because I was hurt while thinking that Lara might be the one who hit Grandpa, but on the other hand, I also want to prove that I might be wrong. That maybe it's not him, that maybe something just happened, and it's not related to my grandfather, but why? Why does your dad have to erase CCTV footage?

I received a call, but I didn't know the number, but despite that, I still answered it.

"Hello?"

"Kaesu? Is this you?"

I immediately recognized the voice on the other line, so I smiled and replied, "It's me Sir Diego, how are you? Arwin and Gimley? How are you? How did you get my number?"

"I apologize for calling you suddenly. I just asked Anthony for your number. I mentioned to him that I had discovered something important about the case related to the CCTV footage. But Anthony told me to better tell you directly."

I nodded and told Sir Diego that I would go see him right away. So I grabbed a taxi and went straight to his place.

A tight hug from Arwin and Gimley greeted me, so I smiled and hugged them tightly as well.

"How are you?" I asked gently while ruffling their hair.

"We're fine. Where is Kuya Anthony? Why aren't you with him?" Arwin asked with surprise on his face. Even Arwin was surprised.

I couldn't speak because I didn't know what to say to them. Fortunately, Sir Diego and his wife came immediately and greeted me and invited me to their home and made me sit down.

The children and Aunt Lus left first, so only Sir Diego and I were left.

Sir Diego sighed before speaking.

"I tried to contact my former colleague and get the information from the second guy who came to erase the cctv record for me, and he didn't let me down."

I sat up from what I heard, and Sir Diego continued to speak.

"He only gave a picture, and we are still finding out his name and other information."

Sir Diego handed over the picture he was holding in his hand and I looked at it carefully, but I didn't know him, and he wasn't familiar with me either.

"Are you okay?" Sir Diego asked me. He seemed to have noticed the surprise and concern on my face, but I only nodded to him.

Even I can't understand my feelings. It looks like someone but I can't guess who it is.

"You know, you'll have dinner here first, I cooked you some delicious boiled fish, because Arwin and Gimley were fishing there in the river." Aunt Lus offered me a smile and I couldn't refuse because I couldn't help but be drawn to the begging faces of Arwin and Gimley.

"Come here." I grabbed both and tickled them.

It was already dark outside when Aunt Lus and I finished sitting at the dining table. While they were fixing the bed, I went outside for a while to get some air when I suddenly slipped. I immediately fell asleep and was stunned when I saw the clear night sky, full of sparkling stars.

"It has been so long since the last time I watched the stars like this that I almost forgot how beautiful they were."

"It is indeed mesmerizing."

I shook violently because of what I remembered. I think I'm delirious and all I can think about is Antonio.

I heard a loud crash that made me get up from my position and rush inside the house.

"What's happening?" I immediately asked with a worried face as I looked for the others.

Sir Diego just scratched his head and tried to explain. "It's Arwin and Gimley, I think they overplayed and fell under the bed."

I took a deep breath and was overwhelmed by what I heard. I went to see Arwin crying and Gimley being scolded by Aunt Lus.

"You don't really stop until you're hurt, do you?" grandfather's face showed a mixture of anger and worry, so I couldn't cry because he might worry even more.

I was struggling with the pain when I felt his soft caress on my head, causing the pain to ease a little.

"It's okay to cry if it hurts too much."

I was confused by what grandpa said, so I confronted him.

"You said you shouldn't show any sign of weakness?"

A sweet smile appeared on his lips and he said, "You're not brave all the time, it's exhausting. You don't know if you're still brave, or if you're only trying to look one. When you let yourself go to be weak, you know where you are weak, and that way, you know what to fix in yourself. You know how to start."

"How?"

"You are strong and brave if you know your own weakness. Remember that!"

I smiled and approached Arwin who had been sobbing and trying to stop crying.

I stroked his head, then spoke. "You can cry."

"But I don't want to look weak, besides, mom might scold me again when she hears that I haven't stopped crying yet."

I hugged him tightly while caressing his hair and after a while I felt that Arwin was getting heavier and heavier, so I thought of taking a peek at him. That's when I knew he had fallen asleep.