"He's right, that is my usual routine, I leave while he is still asleep and play before going home," Jun confessed to Cecilia.
"What about him? What is his usual routine?" Cecilia asked, a plan hatching in her mind, "We need to look for clues in your house, something that will prove he had a hand in what happened to you."
"Well, he came to pick me up at the playground yesterday, which means he didn't go to his buddies to drink and play cards," Jun thought while scratching his head. "He'll go there now, since he's probably angry."
"I think now is the best time to go to your house to get Jenny and look for clues." The two then headed to the boy's house.
Upon reaching the house, Cecilia quickly searched everywhere, trying to look for something she wasn't even sure what. After looking for some time and finding nothing, she decided to take Jenny and bring the puppy to Melinda, as Jun had wanted. "Hey, little girl, you're so cute!" she said, slowly reaching for the frightened puppy. The puppy initially was afraid to approach Cecilia, but she slowly won the puppy's trust. At first, it was just small licks of her hand, until she was able to carry the puppy without it crying.
She was about to leave when she noticed something was wrong with the puppy. She then felt her foot get caught on the exposed roots of the small plant. She shook her foot free and almost uprooted the plant. From beneath the roots, a piece of cloth caught her attention. She glanced at Jun, observing that the boy was wearing the same color. Nervously, she grabbed the plant and pulled it. And there it was, as clear as day, a plastic bag. She knelt and started to dig deeper until she was able to expose the plastic. From the tear she saw a piece of cloth, jotting out. She made the tear larger, and there was a child's arm. She stumbled back in shock.
"Look out behind you!" Jun warned Cecilia. She was about to stand up, but it was too late; a clenched fist hit her on the temple, rendering her unconscious.
Eduardo stood atop the unconscious woman. Looking around him. The moment Jun saw what happened, he remembered the events of the previous night.
Jenny was barking loudly because of the rain. Eduardo, fed up with the noise, kicked the little puppy. Jenny was thrown several feet away and landed with a sickening thud, not moving and barely breathing.
"Jenny!" Jun shouted; he came to his pet's rescue. Realizing that his friend was on the verge of death. "Uncle Ed! Why did you kick Jenny? She's hurt, we've got to take her to the clinic quickly, please!" he pleaded, seeing the thick wallet on the table.
"What? And spend money on a measly mutt? No, just throw it outside!" He coldly replied to the boy's pleas.
"Please, Uncle, Jenny might die," Jun explained, hoping it would be enough to make his stepfather pity the small dog.
"I said no!" his voice echoed within the house. He turned around and went to the toilet. Jun took this opportunity to take the man's wallet. He gently lifted the gasping puppy, wrapped it with a blanket, got out of the house, and ran through the rain to the nearest veterinary clinic that he knew.
Luckily, it was a twenty-four-hour animal clinic. He shouted the moment he stepped in, "Help! My puppy is hurt, she's barely breathing!" The veterinarian and the attendants scrambled to tend to the hurt puppy.
"What happened?" the vet asked as he examined the small dog. "Who are you with?"
"I went here alone," Jun replied. "My…my stepdad got angry because Jenny was barking, he kicked her," Jun explained in between sobs. "Please help her! I can pay, look, I brought money," showing Eduardo's wallet.
"We can worry about that later! Let's help your puppy first, okay?" The vet told Jun. "Prepare the X-ray machine," he told his assistant. "Where going to take her in now, okay? Don't worry, we will do everything to save her." The vet assured Jun that Jenny was in good hands.
Jun sat on the clinic bench as he waited to know how bad a condition his puppy was in. After what felt like an eternity, the vet came out and delivered a grim update. "Jenny has several broken ribs, two of which punctured her lungs. We will need to operate, but I can't assure anything."
Jun cried when he heard the news. "Please, save her," he repeated.
The vet nodded, "Okay, let's try to save your puppy, then let's worry about anything else once Jenny is out of harm, okay?" The doctor told Jun, "Why don't you go home for now? I'll ask my guard to take you home; you won't be able to stay here. Don't worry about Jenny, come back tomorrow." The vet then gestured to the guard to give the boy a ride home.
The guard drove Jun back home on a tricycle. Once they reached the child's home, the guard watched the boy enter the house before driving off. The moment Jun entered the house, he was met with a flurry of slaps.
"Damn you, little thief! Where is my money?" his stepfather shouted. Jun cried and wailed from the slaps, but all it did was annoy Eduardo further, and he slapped the boy a couple more times. Jun then reached into his pocket and returned the wallet. Eduardo greedily took a look inside the wallet and counted the money. Once he was sure that nothing was missing, he slapped Jun again. "Didn't I say to throw that damn worthless thing away? Why did you bring it to a vet? I am not going to pay a single centavo for a filthy animal!"
Jun answered back, "Why shouldn't I? Those were sent by my mother, they were meant for me!" He fiercely countered, "You are just taking something that doesn't belong to you!"
Eduardo saw red when the child slapped him with the truth; he reached for his bat and swung at the boy. Jun was hit in the head, and he fell to the floor, bloody and no longer breathing. Eduardo dropped the bat in shock at what he had done. He cautiously approached Jun and tapped him, but there was no response. He paced back and forth; he glanced outside and saw that the strong rain was still pouring.
Sharp lightning lit up the rainy sky while monstrous thunder roared through the night. Eduardo dug a hole near the corner of the backyard. He went back inside, placed Jun in a large trash bag, and threw the child's body into the hole he had dug. After he buried the boy, he went back inside and used soap, water, and bleach to wash away the boy's blood.. He planted a small Pine tree on top of the grave as an excuse for the loose earth. Looking around him, he went back inside the house like nothing had happened, oblivious that the rain had loosened the small plant from the soil.