Paul got the news from Richard."Sir Clyde, they got Cathy"s confession this time and Miss Beauty won."
"Good, don"t let them do anything more. They"ll just continue to be vigilant."
"Yes, Sir."
"Paul, will you please stop calling me Sir. I really hate this."
"I owe you my life."
"I did that to save a friend. I believe you would do same thing for me."
"I know. Just let me be. I want people to see that you have someone like me to make them behave."
"Fine, but if there"s no one else but the family, please take away this unnecessary politeness."
"As you wish."
"I wish you treat me back like how we were during our college years. Carefree but annoying sometimes." Clyde smiled remembering something.
"Hahahaha, I only did that to keep those girls away from you."
"You were only following what Claire said."
"If I didn"t obey her then I couldn"t get any a.s.signments. No a.s.signments, no pay. You know that."
"I know. Life was more adventurous those days."
"I miss it, too."
Both of them couldn"t help themselves from reminiscing about the past.
These two men were the best of friends back in their college years and probably for life.
Paul Stevenson was born from an American soldier and a Filipina entertainer back in the Subic Bay. His father took them together to j.a.pan where he was based. He spent most of his childhood there. He grew up with the strict discipline of the military, at the same time, embraced the Filipino and j.a.panese culture. When his father retired from the military, they settled permanently in Chicago, Illinois.
In his college years, he met Clyde. They were both studying in the University of Chicago with different majors but Filipino blood brought them together. Paul worked part-time as a trainee of the private investigation company newly opened by his Uncle, Claire"s father, who retired early from being a policeman. There, Clyde met her and fell in love. As a fellow Filipino American, Claire spent more time with the two boys and got along well.
Paul received small a.s.signments from time to time. However, in one of his investigations, they stumbled to a huge human trafficking syndicate leading them to Asian countries, including the Philippines.
Both of them saw orphans, street children, and girls were even kidnapped from good families to be sold and be used for whatever purposes the buyers would do. This made Paul strongly made a decision to save these kids and stop this syndicate. However, he was just one small fly against a giant spider that created a huge web.
As his lead led him to the Philippines, Clyde and his family"s restaurants suffered from setbacks in return. In the middle of the chase, Paul was trapped in a dilapidated sugar cane farm. His best friend came for his rescue and received a bullet for him. Clyde was in the brink of death. The bullet didn"t hit his heart but didn"t spare some vital organs in his body. They really thought that was his last.
Paul was full of remorse while holding his best friend"s almost lifeless bloodied body. "Why? Why? Why did you do it? It would"ve been better you didn"t come. You were right, I"m not a G.o.d. I can"t save those children alone. I should have listened to you. Now..." His tears streamed down his face non-stop. There were no words to express what he felt but cry.
An old man, his sure was not a Filipino, patted his shoulders, "Boy, I have no heart to insult you. Don"t get entangled in this mess again. Leave this job to us the Interpol. Go, save your friend and don"t come back in this place ever again."
The man threw a key to him and left. He carried Clyde to the only car left in that area and brought him the nearest hospital in the vicinity.
"G.o.d, if there is really a G.o.d, please save Clyde. If you"ll save him then I promise to commit myself to help orphans, street children and other kids from becoming delinquents and victims of this despicable syndicate. Please save him. I beg you." He knelt down and cried in front of the cross in the hospital chapel.
Paul didn"t rest until he heard Clyde was no longer in critical condition. He was saved after hours of arduous surgery. From then on, Paul promised to become his bodyguard for life.
As for Clyde, after he learned he almost died, he proposed right away to Claire and got married in the Philippines. Paul kept his word. He didn"t leave Clyde"s side. To make things easier for him, he applied for a dual citizens.h.i.+p and been approved.
One day when Paul walked around the streets of Manila, he encountered some youngsters and thought of his prayer. He started to plan for a juvenile program.
. . . . .
"Please, Sir, let him go," said the young boy Richard.
"He stole my wallet. He needs to go to jail," answered Paul. He was looking straight into the eyes of this begging boy. His eyes were clear and void of evil.
He is just a victim of circ.u.mstance, thought Paul.
"Sir, I beg you. He is not really a bad kid. He"s just hungry. We"ve never eaten well for days now."
"Where are your parents?"
The pickpocketing boy, Kyle, answered,"my parents really don"t care about me. They are just busy scavenging in the garbage dump and gamble what they earned."
"How about you?" Paul asked Richard.
"I don"t have anyone anymore. Please, Sir, he won"t pickpocket again. I"ll make sure of that."
Paul looked at these boys. They were not really thugs but more like being street kids made them thugs in people"s eyes. However, he perceived them as diamonds in the rough.
"How about this? I need boys like you to clean my house, wash my clothes and dishes. I"ll pay you so you won"t worry about food anymore everyday. You can go to school as well. After work, I can teach you karate. How about that?"
"Are you going to make us do bad things?"
"Of course, not. In truth, I"m just a simple bodyguard of a rich man who owns lots of restaurants. You can work under him if you like." He called Clyde. The couple appeared not for long and gave the two a free meal in one of their famous restaurants.
After knowing Clyde, the two boys agreed happily. From there, more boys were gathered and became pioneers of Paul"s Stealth Vanguard Juvenile Program. With Clyde"s support, the program was acknowledged by the government. Paul started to work hand in hand with the office of the Department of Social Works.
A gym was opened mainly as a hostel and training ground. The former street kids studied in public schools and came home training Aikido, Taekwondo, and others.
Clarence couldn"t be considered one of the delinquents, but it was decided that he would become his Uncle Paul"s student before he could walk or talk. Other rich kids, like Leonard, was fascinated and begged to be in as well. A new project was developed to cater to this children. This made Paul"s influence grew wider.
These kids good performances led him to open his own security and investigation company later. These boys saw the adventurous life of an investigational agent, simply put as detectives, and joined willingly. As needs arose from certain influential people, the company"s reputation was getting bigger. Thus, men like Richard were trained well and a.s.signed to become hidden bodyguards.