Something about what she said made me snap to attention. Incredibly difficult? Why had that jogged my memory? Then, I remembered. A while ago, after the Vandal Scandal had been resolved, we had received a threatening note from someone calling himself the Credible Hulk. It had read, “This is not over, losers! Watch out!” Could the kidnapping be the Credible Hulk’s way of getting back at us? Who was he? We had our suspicions…
I looked at Clandestino and Janice. Clandestino was glaring at Leonard and Adam, rage burning in his eyes. He knew for sure they had sabotaged him in the race. I tried getting his attention. I needed to tell him my suspicions about the Credible Hulk. But something was distracting him. I could hear a faint vibration coming from his pocket. He grabbed the phone in his pocket in shock. Who would be messaging him now? On a school day, during school hours?
He slid out his phone, careful not to be noticed by Miss Jacobs. When he read the message, his face took on an eerie pallor.
“Psst!” He signalled to me, then threw the phone at me with a swift flick of his wrist. Fortunately, I was a PRO at catching, and I caught it quickly enough before Miss Jacobs noticed anything. I looked at the message and was stunned. The message read:
A message from Mundi Sakdipa? But how could it be him? His mobile phone was in his bag! I saw Clandestino taking out Mundi’s phone which he had kept in the other pocket earlier. With his talon-like fingernails, he separated the casing.
“Wait a minute, Mundi’s SIM card isn’t here!” he muttered, but loud enough for me to hear. “How did he even…?” He scratched his neck.
Why was Mundi’s SIM card missing? Phones are the most important thing to students like us. Most of us communicate through our phones! That’s because we can say whatever we want without worrying about our facial expressions, our clothes or the flow of our hair. Adults claim that texting destroys our social skills. But how can that be? When we text, we speak from our heart to our fingers. It is a special language. Quite like sign language. And who says we do not have social skills? We can LOL, something we won’t do in public. So when a kid’s SIM card is gone, it is a major emergency. It is as if a part of us has gone missing, or worse, it is as if someone has invaded our privacy, especially if the phone has fallen into the wrong hands, and by that, I mean the hands of parents or teachers.
So if Mundi’s SIM card was missing, maybe he actually planned to escape? Or worse, he knew someone was after him?
I fidgeted in my seat, dying for class to be over so that we could discuss what to do. Fifteen minutes into her lesson, Miss Jacobs left us to use the washroom. We were supposed to solve the case of the balloons. But of course, we had a higher purpose now. I walked up to Janice and showed her the message.
“WHAT?!” She gasped. “That’s Mundi?”
“Sssshhhhhh… We don’t want people to be alarmed.”
Clandestino, in the meantime, couldn’t forget about the morning’s embarrassment. He seized his chance. He sauntered up to Adam, Justin and Leonard. “Hey, I know what you guys did. I am not going to wash my shoe. I have evidence that you dribbled some glue on the track to slow me down. And the evidence is all over my shoe!”
Adam, being the biggest and strongest of them all, stood up. He loomed over Clandestino, but said nothing.
“What are you going to do, re-race?” Leonard laughed. “It’s too late for that! Besides, the teachers are too busy looking for Baby Mundi, why would they care about this?”
“Yeah, don’t be a sore LOSER, Clandestino,” Justin said, sniggering.
I walked up to the three boys. “Hey, we are not going to drop this matter. All three of you already have a bad record in school,” I said. “If the teachers find out that you had something to do with sabotaging the race, they will definitely not let you off.”
“Yeah, maybe even suspend you,” Clandestino said as he tossed three pens in the air simultaneously and caught them all with one hand.
“That’s right!” I quickly added. “Maybe even public caning.” I laughed. I could tell that the threat of another suspension had gotten them worried. We had exposed Justin and Leonard before. They could not afford to get into trouble again.
“What are we going to do? Suspension? Caning?” Justin whispered into Leonard’s ear. Leonard shrugged him off while Adam tried not to let his anxiety show. He puffed out his chest.
“Unless…” I eyed Adam. “There is something you can do.”
“What?” Leonard challenged. “We do not need to submit to LOSERS like you. We can take care of ourselves.”
“Wait, wait. Let’s hear them out.” Adam came closer. The CH tattoo was still imprinted on his hairy skin.
CH, CH, CH… what could it stand for? Suddenly it dawned on me and I couldn’t help blurting out, “The Credible Hulk?”
Adam ignored my question. “So, what do you want us to do?”
“Find Mundi,” I said. “We need your help.”
“Are you nuts, Darryl?” Clandestino yelled. He had not seen that coming.
“Find Mundi?” Adam laughed. “Easy peasy.”
“It is okay, Clan, we need them. You don’t know who we are dealing with. Adam has strengths too,” I said as Adam smiled and nodded approvingly.
“He’s the Credible Hulk. He has to be,” I whispered into Clandestino’s ear. “We could use him. Really. Trust me, for Mundi’s sake.”
Clandestino still looked doubtful, so I added, “If he’s the Credible Hulk, he may be involved in the kidnapping. I want to keep him close to monitor him.”
Leonard looked at us. “And after this you won’t kick up a fuss about the glue?”
Clandestino sighed and whipped out two pens to spin. He was the ultimate pen-spinner and he could spin two, three, and even four pens with his eyes closed. Spinning and mulling over what I had just told him, he weighed the pros and cons of getting Adam come with us to look for Mundi. Finally, he hurled the two pens in the air and they somersaulted magically. He seized them with two fingers and said, “Okay, I have decided. If Adam comes with us, I will not say anything about the glue.”
“Wow, how do you do that, every single time?” Leonard asked.
“Okay, we are in!” Adam said. “Now, what do we have to do?”
“Okay, Adam comes with us,” I said, taking charge. “Leonard and Justin, you guys stay here and wait. If there are any new developments, call us!”
“Hey, why do we have to stay?” Leonard blustered. “We want to come too and get in on the action!”
“We need the two of you to stay here! If Mundi returns, contact us immediately.”
Clandestino was still hesitant about Adam and his friends – our enemies, our daily tormentors – embarking on a mission with us. But he knew he was doing the right thing. He had to give up his pride and rightful medal for one person whose very life was in danger. He had to give it all up to save a friend.
“We have to go soon! Like now!” Janice said. “Mundi could be hanging upside down this very minute.” She always had a knack for painting bad scenarios and imagining the worst! She wasn’t called the Drama Queen for nothing.
“But how?” Adam said. “Miss Jacobs will not let us leave. At least till we have solved the case of the missing balloons.”
“Every second wasted could mean the difference between life and death,” I said. “Hang on, Mundi, we’re coming.”
Adam, Leonard and Justin walked off and formed a tight loop and began whispering. None of them knew, of course, that I could hear them perfectly. Down to every last syllable.
Adam whispered, “So should I go?” He crossed his arms, and his muscles bulged menacingly.
“Yeah, you should,” Leonard jumped in right away. “Your chance to skip class and to spy on those losers. I have a feeling there’s more than meets the eye.”
Justin parted his hair nervously. “What if he gets caught?”
“We’ll just blame it on them!” Leonard said, pointing at us. “If we don’t help them, they might tell on us, about the gl
ue thing and every wrong thing we have done. They seem to know everything!”
Justin looked at the gold medal dangling from his neck. He had won it earlier in the 100-metre dash. Adam fingered the gold medal dangling from his neck too. They weren’t about to take them off anytime soon. Suspension? Public caning? No way.
“Okay! Go do it, Adam! Go help the losers!” They high-fived. “Just blame them if anything bad happens.”
Adam popped his collar up and waltzed towards us like a gang leader. He wanted to establish his status. Although we all have the same kind of uniform, everyone wears them differently. The ring leaders always pop up their collars and leave a part of their shirts untucked. The average students don’t really bother about their uniforms. The vain ones always make sure their skirts are a little shorter, and for boys, the shorts a little tighter. The nerdy ones make sure theirs are well-pressed, crisp and stiff.
As Adam high-fived his gang, I wondered, had I made the right decision?
CHAPTER 9: WHITE NOISE
When Miss Jacobs got back to class, we hurriedly went back to our desks to resume drawing models on our Math exercise books. Some of my classmates were using rulers while others took pride in drawing straight models freehand.
I was busy decorating my model when Janice toddled up to Miss Jacobs and said, “Er, Miss Jacobs, I really need to be excused. Can I go now?”
“NOW?” Miss Jacobs asked. “Show me your model first.”
“Here!” Janice held up her book. There was a neat working column filled with impeccable handwriting and a perfect model in the centre. It was indeed an answer worth copying!
“Sure then!” Miss Jacobs immediately consented. Janice was the most responsible student in class and not one who would play truant. As soon as she left the classroom, a bell went off and the PA system sounded with an incredible announcement:
“Good afternoon, everyone! This is Mrs Priya, your principal. (There was even white noise in the background.) Will Darryl De, Clandestino Chang and Adam Ali meet me at the basketball court, please? I need to see you now! It is urgent. Thanks.”
Miss Jacobs was puzzled. She must have thought that the announcement sounded a little different this time.
“NOW?” A look of bewilderment crossed her face.
“Yup, I guess we have to leave NOW, Miss Jacobs.” I shrugged.
“Okay. All three of you can go, but do come back when you’re done!”
As soon as we left the classroom, we spotted Janice waiting by the stairs. She was sticking her head out from behind a wall. When she saw us, she ran to Clandestino, giggling sheepishly.
“Was I great? Was I great?” she probed. Janice could really mimic all the sounds and voices in the world! Nothing was impossible for her.
“Of course!” Clandestino replied. “Even white noise?”
“Yes, you were awesome, Jan!” I said.
“That was you?” Adam raised an eyebrow. “Seriously, this jumbo-sized meatball just mimicked Mrs Priya on the PA system?”
“Hey, no name-calling if you are to follow us,” Clandestino warned.
Janice looked at Adam and became stubbornly silent. She was definitely not going to divulge her secret to the bullies and those who always made fun of her.
“The biggest loser is suddenly quiet?” Adam challenged her, wanting Janice to admit that she had special abilities. But she just glowered at him.
“I said no name-calling,” Clandestino warned again. Adam backed down.
Whipping out his iPhone, Clandestino said, “I will try calling Mundi again.” He dialled quickly and listened intently. “It’s not ringing now!”
He tried again. “His phone is dead!”
Janice imagined the worst. “Oh no! Oh no! What if Mundi’s attackers found out that he had messaged us so they tortured him and took away his phone or whatever it is he is using?”
“Okay, okay, hanging out with you guys is getting weirder by the minute,” Adam remarked. “Are you saying that Mundi messaged you without his phone?”
“Whose bright idea was it to get him involved?” Janice glanced over her shoulder, displeased.
“Er, mine?” I replied. “Come on, Janice. Mundi needs to be found quick and we need help!”
Janice held my wrist. “Then let’s hurry to the teachers and Mundi’s parents!”
We secretly raced one another to the staff room, hoping the adults hadn’t left for the police station. Of course, Clandestino was the first to arrive, followed by Adam. I was only slightly ahead of Janice, which didn’t make me look too good. But there was no sign of Madam Siti, Mr Grosse and Mundi’s family.
“Oh no, where could they have gone? We need to contact them immediately,” Janice said.
Out of the blue, a familiar voice shot through the air, “Hey kis… Where are you going?”
“He means kids,” Janice corrected. Uncle Andy had a few missing teeth that made him mispronounce some words. He wasn’t worried about it at all. Perhaps his gold tooth made up for it.
“We are looking for Madam Siti and Mr Grosse,”
I said. “Have they left?”
“Yeah, we need to tell them something,” Janice added.
“What you need to tell them?” Uncle Andy scratched his red sunburnt chest that lay exposed beneath his half-buttoned shirt. He seemed suspiciously restless.
“Something,” Clandestino said. He turned to me. “Letta usta nota trusta himta.” Let us not trust him. Clandestino was speaking in our secret language. We had made up a secret language so we didn’t have to depend on the Guitar Club notice board to communicate secretly anymore. The language was simple. We added an extra “ta” to every syllable. I thought it was quite easy to get the hang of it but Clandestino said it was the most difficult code in the world.
“Wai, wai, wai. Are you looky for Mundi? The teachers came to me just now and asked me about the Milo van and Mundi.” He sighed. “I was so careless!”
“Maytabeta heta ista theta oneta.” Maybe he is the one. Janice tried to speak in our secret language too.
“Uh huh,” I acknowledged.
Uncle Andy continued, “They showed me their Milo badge. I thought they were doing a promotion. So good they come to this school, you know. Anyway, Mundi never contact you?”
We looked doubtfully at one another, hesitant to divulge any further information. Uncle Andy might just be the kidnapper since Mundi’s mother did say that a Chinese man had called to demand a ransom of $100,000.
Adam, the strongest of us all, then suggested, “Shall we just look for Mundi ourselves?”
Uncle Andy overheard this and said, “Come, I have a pick-up, I can drive you there!”
“No, it-it-it is okay,” I quickly insisted. “We can go ourselves. I remember Mrs Sakdipa saying that the address is somewhere in Jurong.”
“How?” Janice whispered into my ear. “We need a vehicle that can tell us the speed at which we are travelling. Remember Mundi’s message? It had speed, seconds and all other kinds of other weird instructions.”
Adam quickly added, “Yeah, we’d better follow Mundi’s directions. The Jurong address might be a trap! And the teachers are on their way there now!”
I still didn’t think it was a good idea to follow a stranger in his vehicle. “Maybe we should just wait for Madam Siti and Mr Grosse to return.”
“They are no here! They are no here!” Uncle Andy sighed. “They scolded me just now and they say I let a Milo van in and because of that poor Mundi disappeared.” Then his brown eyes glazed over like he was reminiscing about all those times with Mundi.
“They went to the police station. I want to help find him too.” Uncle Andy trotted off.
Adam and Clandestino signalled to me to follow Uncle Andy.
“That’s the only way,” Clandestino urged. “We can’t afford to waste anymore time!”
“Yeah, there’re so many of us. What can possibly happen?” Adam agreed.
Janice begged to differ. “I am not sure about yo
u guys, but I am definitely worth a million…”
Before she could finish her sentence, Adam and Clandestino had dashed off after Uncle Andy. Janice and I looked at each other. Why would they be afraid? One was The Credible HULK and the other was The SPEED.
But what if Uncle Andy was pretending to be someone he was not? What if this was his trap to kidnap more children? What if he was really the one that kidnapped Mundi and now he wanted to silence us?
CHAPTER 10: THE RIDE OF YOUR LIFE
By the time Janice and I arrived at the carpark, Uncle Andy was already in the driver’s seat. His red pick-up was a rusty mess and looked to be a 100 years old.
Clandestino and Adam had climbed onto the open-air back of the pick-up and were beaming at us with megawatt smiles.
“Come on, guys!” Clandestino reached out to help Janice up.
“It’s illegal to sit at the back. It’s meant for carrying goods,” Janice muttered. “First bad sign.”
“Maybe it’s a short distance?” I suggested, still unsure about the whole follow-Uncle-Andy decision. But as soon as Janice hopped on, she changed her mind.
“Wow, this actually could be fun!” She danced around.
I had no choice but to climb up too.
“Yeah, see!” Clandestino exclaimed. “It’s not that baaa….”
Before he could finish his sentence, the pick-up jerked and reversed abruptly. Our heads bobbed violently.
“Woahhh!” Adam was thrilled.
Between the driver’s cabin and the open cargo area was a plastic window. With one hand, Uncle Andy slid the window open and called out, “Everyone okay there?”
We could see that he had decked out his dashboard with all kinds of ornaments, photographs of Chinese celebrities and childish stickers. There were receipts strewn all around and my eye caught sight of two tiny cockroaches scampering under the seat. I didn’t want to make a scene since Janice was there and she was a squealer.
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