INT./EXT. BASIL'S RESIDENCE - JUNE 25, 2019 - 8:45 AM
A taxi is waiting right outside the house, the parents exit, followed by Basil who helped them pack their stuff for their work. The father turns to Basil one last time, "Hey, don't go easy them. They're young but they yabber like her, and can pack a punch.", the mother elbows him on the side, frowning.
"As he was saying," the mother continued, "Basil, we're trusting Alo and Tatiana to you. I know this is hard, but please get along with them. It's already tough for them now that we're ACTUALLY doing this. "
"I know, I get it. Be safe, you two. Don't keep them waiting.", Basil replies with a caring tone. He knows Alo's parents as much as his best friends, because they are his best friends, and he will do anything in his power to keep his promise; after all, it's what he do.
INT. ALO'S ROOM
Alo watches the taxi drives off to its destination, unhappy about his predicament and wishes to go back to the Philippines where his home really was. He frowns, then shakes his head disappointedly, grabbing a thick dark blue jacket along with him.
Alo reaches for the door, but his little sister, Tatiana, glances at him whilst playing some kind of mobile game, "You're going to leave too?"
The brother holds the doorknob, not looking at Tatiana. "I'm just gonna get some fresh air. I'll be back soon.", he opens the door and leaves the room, just for Tatiana's game to be over. The sister "humph" and covers her face with a pink fluffy pillow, "This sucks..."
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EXT. STREETS - ATHENS, GREECE - 8:56 AM
Alo walks casually on the sidewalk, looking at the people having fun, taking selfies with their friends, and other extraneous activities. One complete family caught his attention, stares at them.
"Good on them." He thought to himself, then moves along, both of his hands in his pockets, avoiding any contact with strangers.
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EXT. RESIDENCES - ATHENS, GREECE - 9:10 AM
Unlike the Philippines, the residences here are quiet compared to the city he passed, however this doesn't mean there are transgressions roaming around. The boy remains cautious, keeping his senses a bit on edge.
As he continues to walk by, he hears a garbage bin being thrown violently, catching Alo's attention. He carefully inspects the commotion, only to see a frail young beggar facing three rich teens, one of them at the center was wearing clean clothes, golden necklaces and a backwards ballcap, the two, presumably his lackeys crack their knuckles threateningly. Overall, they haven't experienced a proper fistfight.
Alo rolls his eyes around and scowl at the three bullies, picking on the beggar and hides behind a wall, trying to eavesdrop on their conversation, just to know who is the victim and the suspect, but in his guess it was the rich kids who started it.
"Please, I just want some food.", the kid begged for mercy, the sadness is clear in his eyes. However, the ballcap teen just snickered at the boy,
The two lackeys approach the beggar and simultaneously hang him up in the air, struggling to be free. The ballcap takes a garbage bag filled trash, fecal matter and dead stray animals, "Want food? How about this for FOOD?!", he opens the garbage bag and pours all the disgusting contents all over the poor child. The three of them laughed boisterously, while kid cries in shame.
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"That was delicious, wasn't it?", he chuckles slowly, before signalling his boys to drop him on the ground. The bully pulls out a switchblade, small yet sharp. The smug leader chuckles again, "Now for desser -"
"- Hey!", a voice cried out behind them, they looked to see a small child, angry at their little fun activity.
"Well, aren't we lucky today, boys?", the boys grins devilishly at Alo, who was still determined to fight them.
Alo scowled at the leader, "You lot had your fill, now leave him alone."
The group leaves the useless beggar, and slowly approaches the next kid. "Or what? You're nothing but fresh meat!", the leader replied.
"Or things will get - ", he then felt a sharp kick in his gut, followed by a stronggrip the front collar of his jacket. His face is close to the bully. He can feel his breath touch his neck, with the two goons smiling and ready to mess him up completely.
"You fucking deaf, kid?! You're. Are. Nothing.", he emphasized the last three words slowly, and spits on Alo's face, then slams him down on a pile of mud, staining his clothes. As he was about to get up, one of the goons delivers a swift kick to his chin, sending him flying on his back.
The goon leader suddenly stops, feeling a vibration within his grabbing something from his pocket. He takes out a cellphone and opens a message, then groans in arrogance.
"Ugh. Mom just texted. I'm heading out.", he says while putting his cellphone and the switchblade back in.
The first goon glances at the leader, "What about him and that scanty kid?",
"That thing can scrounge up food better than us.", the goon leader eyes Alo, about to get up again. "But him? Heh, let's just waste his face. It'll be worth it."
Alo, his head spinning from the kicks around his body and his lips dripping small amounts of blood, manages to get up but as he looks forward. A fist caught him off guard, breaking his nose and pinning him down back on the ground.
The trio start to beat Alo up the old-fashioned way. Meanwhile the beggar crawls away like a poor rat, leaving Alo all alone and defenseless despite saving him the trouble of being further harassed. Once outside the alleyway and leans on a wall, a man wearing a dirty lab coat leans behind a wall beside, hearing Alo's painful cries and incessant laughter of the goons. The beggar looks at the man, "Why aren't you helping, mister? He's in trouble."
The man smiles at the beggar, "I don't know. What about you? That's how you repay your friends and loved ones?", that question made the young beggar think about his actions, and covers his ears as the beating still continues. The lab coat man threw something in front of the beggar, to which he takes a closer look.
"Take it while you can. But mark my words," the man's eyes grew cold and serious, "Unless you change your ways, you will always be a beggar. In and Out.", he walks away casually, going where the wind takes him.
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EXT. BASIL'S RESIDENCE - 5:39 PM
After getting some "fresh air", Alo comes back with all kinds of bruises and dirt all over him. His jacket slung over him like a towel and his pants and shoes are soggy from the mud and piss he fell on, or splashed on. Within a clear distance, he sees two police cars with bright red and blue lights flashing repeatedly. In front of the gate to their home was Basil and Tatiana, both of them are horrified and saddened by the news, with the latter crying beside Basil.
Alo rushes to them, and looks at the officers who also had the same look, "What's going on?", he calmly asked. One of the officers crouched down on his level, "Kid, about your parents...",
As soon as the officer explained the entire story to him, his heart immediately sunk down faster than the Titanic. From the moment his Mom took a new job along with his Dad, it was falling apart slowly until now. He couldn't blame the police, he couldn't blame his sister or those rich assholes that kicked him in the curb, he couldn't blame anybody, except himself. He could've warned both of them not to go. He could've joined them on their new job, and even if they are supposed to die, he could've at least said 'I'm sorry' or 'I love you' to them to clear off the gap between them.
His heart felt empty that day as God took his only happiness anyway, besides his sister and Basil. Was it his personality? His actions towards strangers? He literally took hours of beating and smelled like piss earlier because he was just trying to save a poor child. And that said child just left him for dead, no 'Thank You', no help, na da.
INT. ALO'S ROOM
Alo opens the door in his room, and gently tosses the dirty jacket on the floor like garbage. He then let his weight fall over on the bed, face-first. Few seconds after, he sobs quietly then lets out a muffled scream of anger.