Extraordinary Losers 3 (9 page)

He moved towards the kitchen.

“We were just… just… just…” I said.

“We aren't scared of you!” Adam interrupted.

I elbowed Adam. That was easy for him to say.

“WHAT!?” the worker roared. “Get out of here now before I make you scared of me.”

“Please calm down,” Clandestino said.

“NO WAY!” he barked. “GET OUT OF HERE NOW!” He reached for a power drill on the grimy kitchen table and waved it at us!

Janice was biting her fingernails nervously.

I sensed danger in the air. “Guys, maybe we should really go.”

Then the door to the room from which the snoring was coming opened. A young woman walked out. “What's all this about, dear? Ah Kiat?” she asked. “Who are these awful-looking children?” She was wearing a party mask of Batman's Joker, so we couldn't see her face.

“Excuse me?” Adam asked. “Awful-looking?”

Adam certainly thought the world of himself and I guessed he didn't want to be lumped in the same group as us. I was sure he was about to tear his school uniform apart to reveal his six-pack underneath.

“These children want to share the same fate as Mundi, you see?” The man snarled, walking closer towards Janice. He pressed the trigger and the drill spinned hazardously.

“They do, don't they?” The woman laughed sinisterly. “You kids should have seen the way he looked when we grabbed him. He was shivering all over like a little drenched kitten. That silly boy uttered no sound. He must have been too afraid even to speak.”

She reached for a knife on the kitchen table.

“Guys, Ita canta stillta hearta theta snortaringta,” I whispered.

“Oh no, be careful, she has a kni…” Janice started to say.

Before she could finish her sentence, the lady had already snaked her arm around Janice's neck and pointed the knife at her. I could see Janice's veins throbbing in fear and hear her heart beating wildly.

“Please, please, not me!” she cried out. “Do something, people!” She stamped her foot.

I turned to Clandestino. He winked at us. The next thing we knew, he had vanished in a cloud of dust and was whirling around the man and the woman.

“What in the world?” the woman shrieked.

Kerpow! Everything was happening so swiftly I couldn't make sense of it. I could only hear what was happening.

“Clandestino, look out!!” screamed Janice hysterically.

“That's the end of you boys!” the man shouted.

“Ouch!” Janice cried. “Oh no….”

My super sensitive ears detected the sound of skin being slashed.

Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! Clandestino was spinning around the attackers at breakneck speed.

“Take that!” Adam exclaimed. I heard a strong, hard punch.

“You are going to get it from us!” the man said. “How dare you!”

“Ahhhh!” the woman shrieked suddenly.

“And you too!” Adam said.

Then there was a loud THUD. After what seemed like an eternity, everything came into view. The cloud of dust settled and on the floor lay the man and woman all tied up with blue electrical wires. The drill and knife were on the floor. Blood mixed with dust and plaster formed a paste and I could see red-stained footprints.

Clandestino wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. I looked at the two perpetrators.

“Where is the blood coming from?” I asked worriedly.

“How dare you, you hideous children?” The woman glowered at us. “Where is that silly man? He is supposed to be here by now!”

“What silly man?” Adam asked. “Uncle Andy?”

The man spat at Adam, who was guarding them like a hawk. “I am warning you, you'd better let us off. We belong to a gang and we deal with losers like you every day!” the man shouted.

“Guys, I don't feel well,” a weak voice muttered.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw Janice sitting on the floor. There was a deep gash on her hand.

“Oh no! What do we do?” Clandestino asked desperately. “Did you try to protect me from the knife, Janice?”

Janice breathed heavily. “Yes, that woman… tried to stab you… in the sc-sc-scuffle and I-I-I raised my hand to b-block her knife.”

Clandestino smiled gratefully. “Oh no! Thanks, Janice. We need to get you to the hospital quick.”

Then out of the blue, there was the unmistakable sound of something spinning. I looked down at the floor. The drill was gone! The man known as Ah Kiat had broken free from the electrical wires and had managed to get hold of the drill.

“Adam, LOOK OUT!” I shouted. With the drill in his hand, Ah Kiat was torpedoing towards him. The woman had freed herself too and was advancing towards us!

Then for no apparent reason, Ah Kiat dropped the drill. It swirled and bounced dangerously on the floor.

“Ouch!” he cried.

“Ouch!” the woman screamed.

We were stunned to see the man and woman fall to the ground, their eyes closed. Someone had hit them hard on the neck.

It was Uncle Andy! He was panting, a metal pipe in his hand. “Why you children leave the pick-up?”

“Are they dead?” Clandestino asked.

“How did you get here so fast?” I asked, quickly turning off the switch that was connected to the drill.

“I climb over from the back when I heard noise in the house. I know you all must be in trouble,” Uncle Andy explained. “You all okay?”

“We are okay, but Janice has been slashed,” I said.

“Are they dead?” Clandestino asked again.

“This is only sleep knock,” Uncle Andy said, flashing his gold tooth. “I knock them so they fall asleep for a while.”

I never knew Uncle Andy was so familiar with the human anatomy. I'd always thought I was smarter than him.

“You find Mundi? I run all the way here when I finish with the houses on the left. I called the police,” said Uncle Andy.

The snoring was still very audible and it was as steady as when I first heard it. I scooted towards the room, almost tripping over the two sleeping perpetrators. I crept to the door and slowly opened it. To my surprise, there was a boy slumped on a chair. His face was turned towards the ceiling and his mouth was agape. It seemed like he was having the snooze of his life.

“Mundi! Mundi! Wake up!” I slapped him on the cheek. He didn't stir. I put my ears to his chest. His heart was beating and his chest expanding and contracting rhythmically. On his lap was a plate of barely-eaten rice.

“Mundi! I found Mundi!” I yelled. “Wake up, Mundi!” I slapped him a few times till his glasses cracked.

Uncle Andy came charging into the room. “You find Mundi?” he exclaimed. “Mundi! Mundi! Thank goodness!”

Just then, I heard the distinct sound of a police siren.

“It's the police!” I said. “Hey Mundi, wake up!” I pinched him.

“Huh?” His eyelids fluttered and he opened his mouth, struggling to speak. “Darryl? Is that you, no?”

“Yes, yes, it's me! Quick! We got to get out of here! Janice is injured and she needs help!”

“Hi, Darryl,” Mundi sighed. He turned to Uncle Andy and he closed his eyes again.

I went out of the room and saw that two policemen had arrived.

“Oh no! There is blood on the floor!” one of them said and immediately dialled for an ambulance.

“Are you children okay?” the other one asked.

“Yes, but our friend Janice is hurt!” Clandestino held up Janice's hand. It now looked like an Egyptian mummy's hand since Clandestino had wrapped it with toilet paper.

“That's the best I could do.” Clandestino shrugged.

Janice was too weak to speak. She had lost too much blood. Either that or the pain was too excruciating.

After five minutes, the ambulance arrived. The policeman immediately took charge. “Quick! Take the injured to Tan Tock Seng Hospital!”

Uncle Andy instantly slung Mundi over his shoulders and laid him on the stretcher. The paramedics wheeled him out to the ambulance while Clandestino and I half-carried Janice out. There wasn't much space in the ambulance so they had to lay Mundi and Janice side by side. Meanwhile, the two kidnappers had slowly gained consciousness. The policemen had handcuffed them and were escorting them out of the house.

“Ah Kiat! You should have locked the house properly! I am never going to marry you!” the woman scolded.

“It is not my fault! That man was supposed to come back for the boy. Please, dear. Those ugly children are going to get it!” Ah Kiat sobbed.

As soon as the ambulance whizzed off, a silver Lexus pulled up at the house. Mrs Sakdipa stepped out hurriedly and tore towards the policeman.

“Where's my son? Oh no, where's my son?”

“Ma'am, your son is fine. He is just sleepy. He is on his way to the hospital at the moment. Tan Tock Seng Hospital!'

Without saying a word, Mrs Sakdipa hopped back into the car, rattled off some instructions and sped off. The policeman wanted to take our statements, so the three of us and Uncle Andy had to stay behind. The man and woman were taken to the police station.

“We didn't do anything! Ah Kiat, tell them!” the woman kept asserting while being led away.

“Yeah, it was that man. He paid us to do this!”

CHAPTER 12: THE MASTER MIND

We arrived at the hospital in Uncle Andy's pick-up. He had blasted his Chinese opera songs the whole way, singing unabashedly along. He must have been so happy to find Mundi!

We walked into the children's ward, where the walls were adorned with paintings of teddy bears. Outside Mundi's room, Madam Siti and Mr Grosse were giving statements to a policeman. We charged towards Mundi's bedside. The doctor was giving him an intravenous drip to flush out the sedatives in his body. His mother was sitting by his side, fretting.

Janice was already up and about, her injured hand in a bandage. As soon as Mundi was hooked up, she uttered, “DONUT?”

After a few moments, Mundi opened his eyes. He was first greeted by the face of his mother. “Mundi, are you alright?” She planted a kiss on his forehead.

“Hi, buddy!” I said, jumping right in. I initiated our girly handshake but Mundi didn't have enough strength to do it.

“Hi, Mama, my friends rescued me,” he said, turning to all of us. “Thanks, guys, no?”

“No sweat, Mundi.” Adam winked.

Mundi was a little stunned. “What is-is-is-is he d-d-doing here, no?”

“Don't worry! Adam had agreed to help us look for you,” Clandestino assured him. “He was quite kind.” He turned to Adam and smiled wryly.

Mundi's mother replied graciously, “Yes, they are nice, aren't they?” Then she stroked his wrist and noticed something different. “Who gave you this watch, Mundi?”

“Oh… Un-Un-Un-Uncle Andy, no?” Mundi shifted his cracked spectacles in nervousness. “He gave it to me this morning.”

“Woah, Uncle Andy gave you that watch? It is the latest watch phone,” I remarked. “So that was why you were so secretive this morning.”

“Yeah, he-he-he got it in a lucky draw and didn't know how to use it. He has no children, no? So he wanted me to have it. But-But-But he told me not to te-te-tell anyone.”