Jake was curious why the egg yolk was being drained off from the eggs. The alien mentally replied, Patience, little grasshopper. That will all be revealed in due time.
(Note: that mystery will be explained in Book Three.)
The gentle alien asked JT to accompany him to an area roughly halfway between the henhouse and the mango grove. Once they arrived there, the alien gave Jake a device that would alert this Amboy that the giant humanoid was back on Earth, and would also allow JT to contact the alien. After a tight farewell embrace, a gateway magically appeared. The outer space giant entered the portal and disappeared into another universe.
Just when the college kid was feeling good about his heroics, out of the shadows, the mean-spirited Dominic the bully, with his iPhone video still recording, emerged.
CHAPTER 33
BAD NEWS REVEALED
Dominic told JT that he had recorded the miraculous recovery of the alien on his knock-off iPhone. He tried to intimidate Jake into turning over the vials, promising a severe beating should the college kid refused. But this super boy knew now that he possessed a devastatingly powerful kick, and also a newly discovered ability to outrun anybody. Besides, JT was a full four inches taller than the bully. Even though the chicken-farm worker had a very taut, lean, and ripped body due to the hard labor of his chores (which he abhorred doing but had no choice) at the farm, Jake felt he had the necessary survival skills to defend himself against this menacing adversary.
But his dad taught JT to be a pacifist at all costs. “Never engage in any physical fisticuffs,” Jerry used to advise his son. “Rather, use your creative mind to wiggle out of any spot.”
So the unnaturally gifted JT put his amazing speed on display. He shifted to hyperdrive, orphanage-bound, without breaking any sweat. Just as he passed the farm bully, he yelled, “Eat my dust! Catch me if you can!”
He arrived at the orphanage at around 6:45 p.m. He muttered, “Dang! How time really flies!” He tiptoed past the room where the speaker was giving his speech about positive thinking, barely glancing at the faces of the captivated, eager audience.
Holding the super-cold alien kit like it was a hot potato, he hastily went to his room. Once there, he opened the kit, lifted the tray, took out the smaller container that was neatly folded under the tray, and molded it into its intended shape. It formed a rectangular box (similar to a cigar box) that had space for six vials. He held his right hand just above the box, trying to feel if it was giving the needed subzero temperature. Satisfied, he transferred five of the vials, leaving the “decoy” vial in the larger kit.
He intended to hide the smaller kit containing the precious elixirs at the bottom of his traveling bag, but in the process of doing so, he came across the unopened letter from his mom. A rush of emotion filled him.
He knew that the letter contained bad news, the severity of which he didn’t know. He promised his mom that he wouldn’t open the letter until three weeks of JT’s semestral break had elapsed, and today was only day eighteen. But he got the elixir needed to potentially cure his mom of whatever sickness she might have.
Conflicted, but elated at the prospect of having a miracle cure, he opened the letter. He was still floored by the gravity of the bad news: Mary had stage four breast cancer, and was told that she had, at most, two months left to live. He was quite saddened and distraught, unwilling to accept the cruel fate that befell his mom.
He then made a resolute decision to catch the next plane back to California as soon as possible.
CHAPTER 34
UTTER CRAZINESS
Jake did not bother to listen to what the farm bully was trying to say, for he knew that this mean-spirited dude would want to use this opportunity to grab his fifteen minutes of fame. Dominic was talking excitedly in Tagalog, arms gesticulating and flailing. Then the TV (television) played the poor and grainy video that the bad dude recorded.
Jake was thankful that the lighting on the video was dim, it being recorded during twilight. Both JT’s and the gentle alien’s faces were barely discernible. All that could be inferred from the three-and-a-half minute of recording was a giant of a being that seemed mortally wounded; a vial of something that did what appeared to be a miraculous thing, magically transforming what seemed to be a near-dead humanoid into one who was super alive and alert; and that the giant looked to have disappeared into a weird portal.
This news event sparked a frenzy like no other. Most of the news for the following days suddenly focused on UFO (unidentified flying object) sightings, alien abductions, alleged presence of aliens among humans, cloaking technology that allowed aliens to hide their presence, superior alien technology that let them alter humans’ perception of extraterrestrials‘ physical features, human women being used as breeders for Earth-alien half-breeds, and Earth Valentinos and Lotharios being enslaved as boy toys of sex-crazed alien amazons.
Some celebrities and business leaders who were alleged to be outer-space entities:
• Harvey Weinstein was alleged to have acquired a physically-altered Earthling appearance, but was an abused and maltreated alien from a faraway galaxy where he came from
• Kevin Spacey
• Bill Cosby
• Tom Brokaw
• Matt Lauer
• Charlie Rose
Hilarious and weird books started coming out in prints, too, with titles like:
My Alien Lover
My Uncle the Martian
The Insatiable Alien
My Aunt the Venusian
Diary of an Extra-Terrestrial
Alien Abduction: Part 9
Intimate Encounter for the Fifth Time
My 2 Alien Lotharios: The Dashing Mexican and the Energizer Bunny Plutonian
Not to be outdone, the snake oil salesmen came out in droves. Useless concoctions and ineffective liquids were being sold as the real McCoy.
All these craziness might just be more than enough reasons for the aliens who were probably already living among humans to scare them off and prompt them to take an extended vacation in their alien homeland.
Even the egg-layer poultry farm wasn’t spared. It got turned into a novelty site: an amusement park!
Admission fees were charged for entry to the henhouses. Seven scheduled daily tours of the farm always got sold out. A dollar fee was charged for taking photos with alien-costumed characters. Berto made it, minting oodles of money by charging for the privilege of showing his freaky chicks.
What a BIZZARRO world!
But the big bad dude Dominic wasn’t only going after his fifteen minutes of fame. He craved to be rich, too. He knew he couldn’t force Jake to hand over the vials of elixir on his own, so he enlisted the assistance of the meanest and most ruthless of them all, the infamous Kumander Karding.
CHAPTER 35
THE SWAP
Kumander Karding started as an ideologue and practitioner of Communism. He and his fellow communists would rob the rich plantation owners and distribute the loot to the poor. But as they became known and feared by the community, they started to impose “revolutionary taxes” on the well-heeled as well as the poor.
This ill-advised move diminished whatever good will they had initially built. Their reputation as modern-day Robin Hoods suffered even more when the group started committing abuses and atrocities.
Seeing the success of other bandit groups that were now engaged in new criminal enterprises, Karding, the chief bandido, decided that his group might as well reap the rewards of those devious schemes, too. His group initially picked on the easy targets: middle-class travelers and the plain, old hardworking businessmen. It was easy pickings, like stealing candy from a baby. Just by threatening to extinguish their comfortable lives, those poor souls got so scared that they willingly forked over what they had in their wallets or in their possession.
But the mean “Bandit King of the South” wanted more action, and decided to go big time. So he resorted to kidnapping the wealthy merchants. He is now playing in the
BIG leagues, and this type of criminal activity could be hazardous to the health of both him and his men.
In the big leagues, the rules of the game are different. First, the rich are high profile and semi-celebrities, so any bit of news, whether good or bad, would definitely be an item on the news broadcast. Second, these are well-moneyed folks, which mean they could afford the services of highly trained, very skilled, and heavily armed bodyguards. As a consequence, the specter of heavy fighting and possibility of debilitating injuries or casualties between two equally armed groups were not to be discounted. Third, these elite, powerful, and ultra-rich folks had cultivated great relationships with top generals of the armed forces and police chiefs nationwide, so it is easy to request assistance or reinforcements from governmental forces at any time.
Despite all these factors, Kumander Karding had some success as the head of this kidnap-for-ransom group. Oh, they did lose some members in a couple of intense firefights, but they were also able to score big in three or four highly lucrative operations. With the lion’s share of those ransom money, the chief bandit, by all measures of wealth, is now considered a rich man. He is now at the stage of contemplating retirement, hoping to finally enjoy the ill-gotten spoils by buying a gigantic hacienda or several coconut plantations.
But he needed to make one more big score, one that would catapult him into becoming a newly-minted multimillionaire.
So when the chicken farm bully approached Kumander Karding with a kidnapping proposal that could potentially yield millions of dollars, he was a willing and eager listener.
Dominic presented a simple plan: kidnap one of Jake’s relatives and exchange that hostage for one or more of those magical elixirs. Since the footage documenting the miracle curing effectiveness of the elixir was shown throughout the whole world, it is a cinch that both of them could reap tens of millions of dollars for each of those elixirs in a highest-bidder type of auction.
The crime boss liked the simplicity of the plan. He marveled at how a simpleton of a farm worker could concoct a harebrained scheme that might actually work.
They figured JT’s maternal Uncle Reggie is the college student’s favorite Philippine-based relative, so they focused on using him as a kidnapping target. The added bonus is that they are familiar with the copra trader, since some of Karding’s men had already participated in robbing Reggie once.
It wasn’t an extremely difficult task, but it came with casualties on both sides. Both Reggie’s bodyguards were killed, but the group lost two members as well.
Dominic the bully then began the negotiations with Jake. The Amboy showed more resolve and maturity than they expected. At first, JT refused the idea of an Uncle Reggie-for-elixir swap, even showing the temerity to threaten them by promising to report their kidnapping scheme to the authorities. But when Dominic threatened to have Reggie executed via decapitation, the youngster from Glendale, California relented.
Jake was adamant, however, on his condition that only one vial would be traded in exchange for Reggie’s life. Dominic the bully wasn’t willing to budge, since he wanted at least two of those wonder drug-elixirs. But his instincts told him to consult with Kumander Karding. The evil boss knew he would still be able to get tons of money for that lone precious vial, so he OK‘d the deal.
JT was forced to exchange a vial for the life of his favorite uncle. After the exchange was made, both nephew and badly-tortured uncle were covertly transported to Manila, the ancient capital of the Philippines. It was done using the cover of darkness and under heavy military escort.
On the road to Manila, Jake was telepathically thanking the gentle alien for having the prescience to have an elixir-less vial ready for a situation such as this.
CHAPTER 36
ELIXIR FOR MOMMY DEAREST
Jake wasted no time. He asked his dear Uncle Reggie to accompany him to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. His uncle reluctantly agreed to drop off the anxious youngster for his return flight to the USA. Both uncle and nephew hugged tightly, with the young man planting a tender kiss on the left cheek of his dear relative. They said their cursory good-byes, then JT went straight to the departure lounge, awaiting the boarding call for the Los Angeles-bound PAL (Philippine Airlines) flight.
While waiting patiently to board, he received a sweet text message from his dear Julie, which read, “Au revoir and bon voyage! Good-bye is not forever. See you soon!”
He was a bit puzzled with the last part of the message. Was it in the literal or figurative sense? Did the object of his affection, the always-thoughtful and loving Julie, had travel plans that he wasn’t aware of? Hopeful of such a possibility, it made his heart skip a beat or two.
The young man was able to catch the last flight of the day. He couldn’t help but be excited about the prospect of having the miracle cure for his dying mom right there in his carry-on bag. Upon his arrival at the Los Angeles International Airport some twelve hours later, he immediately hopped inside an Uber for the forty-minute trip to his mom‘s condo. Not finding her there, he texted her, but there was no response. So he texted one of her US-based sisters.
His aunt responded, “She is confined at Kaiser Sunset, she is quite weak, undergoing radiation and chemotherapy combo treatment.”
Jake hurriedly went down to the underground garage where he left his Toyota Camry some twenty-one days ago and drove his car impatiently to the Kaiser hospital at Los Angeles. Arriving there, he broke into a sprint after leaving the car with the valet, and quickly reached the receptionist’s area. He requested a visitor’s tag and got his mom’s room number from the friendly receptionist. He didn’t even consider using the elevator, deciding on using his hyper-speed instead to get to his mom’s room.
Finding the room, JT knocked softly and then let himself in. His mom was sedated and seemed to be trying her best to get out of her induced dreamy state, in her attempt to acknowledge the presence at the door. He rushed to her side, gently and tenderly caressing her back. He was quite shocked at the complete change of her appearance from several weeks ago. She lost a lot of weight and clumps of her hair had fallen off. JT was on the verge of tears when he saw his dear mom in such a sorry, pitiful state. There were several IV tubes attached to both her arms, and a breathing tube was dangling, too, all the way to her chest. Worse, needles punctured her hands, and there were terrible, deep-purple bruises evident on both of them.
He found himself being eyed and gazed upon intently by his still-groggy mom. When their eyes locked, the gravity of her situation and the realization that his mom was definitely at the terminal phase of her life caused both to burst into tears. The ever-loving son rushed to give Mary a tender embrace, careful to navigate his way around the dangling web of IV tubes. Mother and son were locked in this tight and loving embrace.
With tears now flowing free from his handsome face, Jake excitedly narrated the fortuitous events that led up to his possession of the miracle elixir. Mary was somewhat skeptical, yet, at the same, welcomed the possibility that opened a way for her to get out of her life-ending situation. The now-rapidly maturing son opened the lid of the outer chamber of the vial and poured the liquid on the outer surface of his mom’s hands, where there were many needle puncture marks. Having accomplished that, he then poured the miracle cure, that precious elixir, into his mom’s now open mouth. Then he allowed his exhausted mother to slip back to her dreamy, sedated state. He then sat on a chair at the foot of her bed and waited.
CHAPTER 37
WHERE ART THY STING?
“Where, O death, is thy victory?”
1 CORINTHIANS 15:55 (WNT [WEYMOUTH NEW TESTAMENT])
Mary slowly but surely recovered from her near brush with death. After two months, her oncologists were astounded at her cancer-free status. Not only was her disease in total remission, all the symptoms associated with this deadly malady were now gone. The doctors attributed this miracle to either being a loving act of God or through Mary’s prayerful ways. One thing was certain, though, the evid
ence was indisputable.
Jake’s mom was now slowly gaining her weight and strength back. The doctors mentioned that she should be able to be back to work in ten days‘ time. Mother and son spent the last three weeks of JT’s semestral break, which Jake was supposed to spend in the orphanage, bonding and basking in familial warmth. Although he periodically lamented the abrupt termination of the latter half of his supposed six-week stay at the orphanage, all in all, he was happy about the eventual turn of events. The only regret he had was the missed opportunity to develop something special with Julie. He used the last three weeks of his summer break to care for and help nurse his mom back to health.
But the three weeks went by so fast. It was now mid-September, and so with a sad and heavy heart, he reluctantly left his mom and moved back to San Diego. A brand-new school year beckoned, ushering him to the start of his junior year in college.
………
Needing to do a bit of math, Jake tried to account for all the seven vials of the elixirs that he found in that alien kit. One vial was used by the alien behemoth. The elixir-free vial was used to buy Uncle Reggie’s freedom. Another vial of elixir was used to save her mom from stage four cancer. So that still left him with four vials.
He was now inundated with pleas for the wonder drug, thanks but no thanks to that farm bully Dominic. Generous offers of cash, houses, cars, limited-mintage gold coins, diamonds, rare stamps collections, and such were proposed as barter for these miracle potions. He was embarrassed when he was bombarded with several propositions of marriage in exchange for the much-in-demand wonder medical elixirs.
Jake knew there was only one person he could turn to, somebody who could make the most logical and smart decision regarding the fate of these four vials of elixirs—his dad.
Elixir Page 10
