Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 09:01:32 +0800
From: Johnny Kape <johnny.kape@gmail.com>
Subject: The Voice That Can't Be Heard, Chapter 9

Before this chapter:

All rights reserved.

Every word of this story is fiction.  Just like my other story, "The
Captive Boy", this story is also a work of my early imaginations, about at
age 12 or 13.  All my stories committed into Nifty are listed in the
prolific author list, under the name "Pedrick Oman / Johnny Kape".

Special thanks to my editor, Matthew Templar, who helped me a lot in many
aspects besides my English.  His stories are listed in the prolific author
list, too.  I recommended everyone to read his stories, especially "One
Gift To Give", which I enjoyed very much.

Thanks again for those who sent me your feedbacks and thoughts.  I'm still
expecting to get your feedbacks.


-- Johnny Kape <johnny.kape@gmail.com>


The Voice That Can't Be Heard -- Chapter 9


Ben threw the T-shirt into the air, and triggered the infrared emitter.
The automatic gun shot.

"Ouch!!"

Bob didn't expect that Ben would use the pitfall he set to attack him.  The
bullet hit his waist and he bent his body.  Ben rushed to Bob and kicked
Bob's hand and Bob's gun was knocked away.

Bob sat on the floor with a great deal of pain.  His waist was bleeding.

"Thirty-Six, you..."

Ben walked to the gun and picked it up.  He raised the gun and aimed it at
Bob.  Bob looked at Ben painfully.

"Do you want... to kill... me?  Just shoot!"

"Don't shoot, Ben," said Ray's daddy.

Ben raised his head to look at Ray's daddy.

"There is no benefit for you to kill him.  Let the law deal with him!
Though he shouldn't treat you like that, you were raised up by him after
all.  You shouldn't force your revenge on him even if he didn't treat you
nice."

Listening to Ray's daddy's words, many pictures of the past were playing
again in Ben's mind.  Yeah, Bob used him and deceived him, telling him that
making love was a reward for completing a mission.  However, he was
actually raised up by Bob.  Bob trained him.  When he completed a mission,
Bob would massage his body.  Sometimes Bob would play some games with him.
Ali would make meals for him every day.  Bob and Ali were the most
important persons in his life, until Ray and his daddy came along and
taught him what love was.

However, Bob wanted to kill him.  Bob would kill Ray and his daddy just
because they knew his secrets.  Bob would even kill Ali.  There was no
doubt that Bob knew Ben couldn't speak.  Ben's not being able to speak was
always Bob's weapon and insurance, wasn't it?  Kill Bob!  Bob just treated
him as a tool, not a human.

Two sides of thoughts were fighting in Ben's mind.  To shoot, or not to
shoot?  Ben was struggling.  However, after a while, Ben found that there
were a pair of arms wrapping around his shoulders, giving him some warm
support.  They belonged to Ray's daddy.

"I know that you won't shoot," said Ray's daddy softly.

Yes, Ben found that he couldn't shoot at all.  It was not like a mission.
In a mission Ben had no concern, he just shot.

Ben didn't know how he felt.  He lowered his arms and stood there quietly.

Ray's daddy sighed in relief.  "Can you call the police and the ambulance?"
he asked Ali.

"Oh... okay."  Ali ran out of the basement hastily.

Bob sat there on the floor and gasped.  The pain from his wounds made his
face twisted together.  Ray's daddy hugged Ben, then he picked up his own
T-shirt, which was also pierced by the bullet.  He walked back to Bob and
tried to stop his bleeding.  Bob pushed Ray's daddy away.

"You... ruined everything...  What I've done... was for our country!  You
destroyed... all my efforts..."

"Even if it is for our country, you can't sacrifice such a small kid like
Ben," said Ray's daddy.  He stood up.  "Let alone you deceived Ben all that
time, to make him live in a big lie!  Anybody with just a tiny conscience
would never accept your way of doing all these things."

"Thirty-Six... was born to be... a secret agent...  Both his
parents... were excellent ones!"

Ben's eyes opened widely.  He just knew that his parents were attacked and
killed, but nothing more.

"So it is true that his parents were attacked and killed, right?"  Ray's
daddy didn't show any surprise.  He asked peacefully.

"Of course... it's real... I don't need... to lie to him... about this..."

"What's Ben's real name?" asked Ray's daddy.  He tried to get as much
information about Ben from Bob as he could.

"I... don't know... Not many people... knew about his birth... until his
parents... got killed...  We knew that they... had a son...  Nobody
knew... his real name..."

It was Ben's first time to hear these things from Bob.  He grabbed Bob's
shoulder and shook him violently.

Ray's daddy pulled Ben away from Bob.

"Don't do that, Ben.  It won't be too difficult to find out about your
parents.  There must be someone else who knows them."

Bob snorted and didn't talk anymore.  As Bob bled more and more, he started
to lose consciousness.  He lay down on the floor.

Ray's daddy tried to stop Bob's bleeding with his own T-shirt again.  Ben
saw that Ray still stood there, dumbfounded.  He walked toward Ray and
hugged him tightly.  Ray sighed with relief, then he started to weep.

Ben caressed Ray's back softly.  Then all of a sudden, he kissed Ray
deeply.

Ray was startled, but soon he had stopped weeping and kissed Ben deeply
too.  After kissing for a while, Ben released Ray and held his hands.

'Do you feel better now?'

Ray wiped away his tears and laughed.  Ray's daddy stood up and looked at
them with a smile.  Ali walked into the basement.  He handed two big towels
to Ray and his daddy.

"Wrap yourself with the big towels.  The police and the ambulance have
arrived."

Ben rushed to Ali and embraced Ali tightly.  It was Ben's turn to weep,
voicelessly.

Ali was startled, but then he embraced Ben tightly too.

"Why cry, my dear boy?" said Ali softly.

Ben raised his head and looked at Ali's smile tearfully.

"Don't worry about me," said Ali.  "I'm a coward, not as brave as you.  I
refused to go back to my country to face my own destiny.  I have just been
hiding here.  However, I've hidden long enough.  Ben, it has been the
happiest time in my life to meet you, take care of you and watch you
growing up.  I don't have the ability to protect you.  I don't have the
courage to tell you the truth either.  I'm sorry, Ben."

Ben buried his head into Ali's chest, still weeping.  He knew that he might
never see Ali again.  Ali seemed to know what Ben thought.  He patted Ben's
back softly.

"Yes, we will meet again.  When I finish my time in the jail, I'll come
back to see you.  You should be a handsome young man by that time."

Ali's tears dropped from his face to Ben's.  He embraced Ben tightly.

Some policemen and medical staff came in.  A police marked where Bob was
lying.  The medical staff put Bob on a stretcher and took him out of the
basement.

"Please wait here and don't touch anything.  There will be an officer
coming here to ask you questions," said a policeman.

They just waited there.  After a short time, an older policeman came in.

"Okay.  What happened here?" asked the officer.  "Who is the man that is
injured?  How was he shot?"

"Sir, he was shot by the gun up there," said Ray's daddy, pointing at the
automatic gun.  "Please be careful.  It is an automatic weapon triggered by
the infrared beam.  If the gun shoots now, the bullet may pierce your heart
and make a hole there, which probably wouldn't do you any good."

The officer was taken back by Ray's daddy's warning.  He jumped aside
quickly.  Ray laughed when seeing the officer's actions.  The officer
looked at Ray's daddy, and said after a few seconds, "You... are you Jeff?"

Ray's daddy smiled and nodded.  "Yeah.  Long time no see, Sir."

Ray and Ben were both so surprised that they couldn't close their mouths.
They then saw "Sir" hug Ray's daddy.  He stepped backward and looked at
Ray's daddy.

"It seems that you are still self-exiling, aren't you?"

Ray's daddy didn't answer.

"Come back to the cop team.  You were a very good officer.  I've told you
that one million and five times; that kid's death was not your fault."

"Daddy... you...  you were a cop before?"  Ray raised his head and asked,
surprised.  Ray had never asked his daddy about the past.  He also didn't
know why his daddy lived alone in the abandoned building.

"Yes," said the officer.  "Your daddy was a very excellent cop before.
However, in a gun fight, a bullet shot an innocent boy.  Though the boy was
sent to the hospital, the doctor still couldn't save his life.  Then your
daddy resigned as a cop and exiled himself from then on."

Ray and Ben looked at Ray's daddy, still surprised.

"If the boy was still alive, he would be your age."  Ray's daddy looked at
Ray.  His tone was peaceful, but with a bit of sorrow.  "I will never
forget the boy's face."

"Jeff, it wasn't your fault.  Why blame yourself like that?"

Ray's daddy didn't speak anymore.

"All right, you are still as stubborn as before.  I need you to come with
me to the police station and tell me everything."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The following days, the society was shocked by this super news.  Ray's
daddy told the officer everything; including how Ben was used to execute
all kinds of missions; how Ben sneaked into the Embassy of Feroga to
install wiretaps; how Ray found Ben in the abandoned building, lying on the
floor; and how Bob wanted to shut them up.

People were very angry when they knew that the government trained such a
small kid like Ben to be a secret agent, and then wanted to kill him when
he messed up his mission.  The government was under a lot of pressure
again.  Bob was arrested, and his boss was dismissed from his position.

As for Ali, he was sent back to his country to serve his prison sentence.
When the officer in the immigration office escorted Ali into the police car
and was ready to send him back, Ben rushed out of the crowd of reporters
and hugged Ali tightly.  The scene of Ben weeping voicelessly into Ali's
chest was sent out to the whole community, and made a lot of people cry.

Someone gave Ben his parent's photos to let him know his parents again.  As
for Ray, the policeman brought him the news that his blood father died due
to alcohol abuse.  Ray didn't show many emotions when hearing this news; he
just lowered his head.  Contrary to that news, he resisted very much when
he knew that he needed to be sent to a foster family, hence couldn't live
with his daddy anymore.

"No, I don't want to go anywhere!  I just want to live with you!"

"Ray, the Children Service refused to let me adopt you both.  I know I
can't give you a good life either.  However, I've negotiated with them and
they agreed to let you live in the foster family with Ben.  You will always
lack of food living with me.  They can give you a better life."  Ray's
daddy tried to pacify him.

"No, no, no!" Ray shouted and cried.  "I would rather starve than leaving
you.  I want to live with you!!"

"Ray, you are no longer a kid!  You can't be so childish!"  Ray's daddy
looked as stern as he could at him.

Ben embraced Ray tightly.  Ray buried his face into Ben's shoulders and
wept.

"Ben, you are a lot more mature than Ray.  He may have a difficult time to
connect with the new environment.  Take care of Ray, okay?"

Ben nodded.  Suddenly, he released Ray and rushed to Ray's daddy.  He
embraced Ray's daddy too.  He didn't want to be taken away from Ray's daddy
either.  He hoped that Ray's daddy could be his daddy too.  He hoped to be
a part of the family with Ray and his daddy...

"I agree," said Ray's daddy suddenly.

Ben raised his head.  Ray's daddy smiled at him and nodded to him.

"I heard that.  You wished me to be your daddy, right?"

Ben was surprised and very happy.  He nodded as hard as he could.

"Sorry, son.  I was too strict with you.  I should have understood that you
were trained and they ordered you to steal all kinds of things.  You may
not think it a big deal to be a thief.  I agree to be your daddy.  However,
you need to promise me that you will take care of Ray, and won't steal
anything under any condition, okay?"

Ben buried his head into the chest of Ray's daddy, oh, also his daddy.

"Ray, come on.  Let me hug you again."

Ray went to hug his daddy too.  Ben embraced the two people, who finally
became his family; who could hear his voice that couldn't be heard by
others.

-- To be continued.