JADE:
“Your illness… It had everything to do with this, Miss Sy. Everything began with it,” Captain Rigdon said in a very demeaning manner.
I looked at the faces of the other officers. I was surprised that they never intervened. Wasn’t their police captain behaving so unbecoming for someone in his position? But why? Why aren’t they doing anything?...
Now I knew the answer. They were looking at me with accusing eyes too… They also think I was some sort of lunatic…
“You started to act based on your imagination of who Marian was. You see her as a victim like you were four years ago when you claimed to have been forced to stab someone, right? You thought that if you could help her, you could redeem what happened to you or what you’ve done, didn’t you?...”
“But, Miss Sy, you and Marian were never alike. Maybe you identified with her so much to the point that you have thought of her as a victim...”
The captain bitterly continued. “Guess what? She’s not a victim. Her wounds were self-inflicted. She opened her arteries up with a knife. She ended her own life. Unlike your fixed, false, beliefs, she wasn’t forced to do it. So as you can see, this is all because of you… You’ve made all these possibilities by yourself…”
I couldn’t take it anymore. I stood from my seat.
“Let’s go, Liam! We don’t have to listen to this creep. Shame on you for calling yourself a police officer when you can’t even solve a crime like this,” I said bitterly, not thinking what the repercussions of my words might be.
I was already halfway to the door when the blasted officer spoke again. “Miss Sy, do you think I will let the two of you run away just like this? You ruined my police operation. I’d be a fool to let you off the hook so easily.”
“Hey, what do you mean,” Liam said after he had put me behind him.
“Miss Sy, you were caught stealing from Miss Rabelo’s locker. You were also spreading baseless rumors about our police work. Do you think you deserve to be let off that easily?”
“What do you want,” I shouted. The captain and I were eyeing each other, our gazes both ablaze.
“Unless you complete sessions with a psychiatrist or your school psychologist, we will proceed with filing a case against you and your boyfriend here for tampering with evidence and messing around with our official work.”
“What? You can’t do that,” I said. “Isn’t that an abuse of your state powers?!”
“I assure you it isn’t. I can’t let you get out here tonight with just a warning. This will stop you from impeding with our work and putting yourself in dangerous situations like this in the future.”
Captain Rigdon tilted his head in arrogance towards me. “You’re a walking time bomb, Miss Sy. If you don’t seek any professional help now, you’d endanger more people in the future with your precarious behavior… You can think of this as my way of helping you and those who are around you.”
That’s it! I won’t listen to this sh*tty officer anymore and take his abusive words in!
“Thanks but no thanks. Go ahead and sue me if you like, but I am not abiding by your stupid suggestion.”
I stomped away, clutching my boyfriend’s arm until we have fully exited the restaurant.
I was crying my heart out, bawling so loudly that I didn’t realize that Liam was calling me out as I dragged him away from the restaurant.
“Jade… Jade, hey!”
I crossed the street, oblivious of what was happening around me and of his voice.
Suddenly, the sound of a motorcycle became apparent in my ears. When I turned to my left, I was so surprised to see a black motorcycle right in front of me.
“Jade!”
Thankfully, Liam hugged me and threw me backwards while the motorcycle driver swerved into the right, missing me by several inches. He stopped by momentarily as he hit the gutter on the other side of the road.
“F*cking b*tch,” the driver swore as he drove away from us.
I was still trembling from what had just happened. Liam hit his shoulders in the pavement. He moaned as he tried to stand up.
“L-Liam,” I said, as I reached a hand towards him.
We struggled to stand up from the ground where we have rolled violently when he rescued me.
Thank goodness, the street wasn’t busy with cars… I could only wonder what could have happened to us if it that wasn’t the case…
“Liam, are you okay,” I said, reaching to the arm he hurt from the fall.
“I’m alright, hon… How about you, are you okay?”
I started to sob uncontrollably again. Liam hugged me even though he was still wincing in pain.
“Do you… Do you believe those things,” I asked my boyfriend after a long while of crying in his chest.
“No, hon, of course not… Why would I believe some random guy about you?... You are my girlfriend, and I believe you. You know that, right?”
I sobbed a little bit more again. His chest had been soaked with too much tears, he might get sick with pneumonia or something by still continuing to wear it.
“But, Jade, about seeing a psychologist… Are you really against the idea?”
“What do you mean,” I inquired as I gaze up towards his face.
“I mean, it’s not such a bad thing to go see one, at least for your peace of mind. I know you’ve been under stressed. You don’t get to express all your emotions with anyone, and that could affect you too,” he said while stroking my hair.
Despite the gentleness in my boyfriend’s voice, I was not fooled.
He may have coated his words with honey, but I knew what he was clearly implying…
“So that’s what you thought too, huh? That I am crazy? That I am some sort of delusional person who invented all these things about Marian – even the dreams and visions I had of her?!”