UNLOCK HIM

"Please listen to me", Estong holds his wife's hand. "It's my fault. I didn't mean it." "What more can you explain? It's all done. We're finished." Insiang means their livelihood is gone. She learned Estong is suspected to have embezzled money from the company he have worked for more than twenty years. How can they accused him if his excellent performance showed the number of years doing the record of finances and financial data of the company? Can it be that someone in his team wanted his position and destroyed his reputation? That is no longer important. He has to prove himself to be innocent. What has he to do with the present situation when there is a notice that he must appear in court? Estong knows no one in his family will help him neither the family of Insiang. His two sons will feel humiliated once they learn his situation. He is not sure if they will listen to him. Both of them are working abroad, Jim newly board the ship of a shipping line as Ship Captain , Nonoy is a nurse in Italy with his family. Insiang is independent to make decisions when it comes to family problems. Estong greatly depend on her. He knows Insiang will not dissappoint him if he tries to talk to her like in the past. She will work out any problem silently . Estong is bothered deeply thinking how they will raise fund knowing anyone who lose a case in court shoulder the enormous cost. How much can they afford to pay a lawyer? Estong and Insiang talk to each other that night to make a plan on how they will handle the situation. First is to pray to God for forgiveness. To ask Him to help them find what mistake he has committed and steps to take to face the challenge. They review the data and compared it to the data presented to him, how much money is the descrepancy between the two records. They couldn't believe why the amount have soared while the balance of last month is almost the same to his record for this month? Estong has to find where they got the amount but Insiang said Estong has to stick to his record. The Truth protects the innocent. It has been proven that when justice is served it is always the Truth. Insiang has been straightforward when dealing with their family problems. This time they have to hire a lawyer . She has to determine how much money she can offer. It is not easy to find one when the plaintiff is a big company and the defendant is a small fry, much more he is his own employee. Insiang prays to God to let her find the right lawyer. She is led to contact the Legal Aid Society to provide a lawyer to represent her husband in court. Estong and Insiang appears to Atty. Joy Cuizon at her office. Estong explained his side. It is the first time that it happened in the span of twenty years of his work. The most impossible is the big amount that they claim to have disappeared while he knows well his record of data how much money is there. Atty Joy Cuizon asks him intensely who are the people in the case. Upon learning that there are employees interested to take his place she accepted the money they have offered to her to represent Estong in court. Before the court date arrives Estong is escorted to the police station to be investigated about the papers that are taken out of the vault Since he has nothing to do about the papers he didn't say anything . With that the police officers cannot release him. When Atty. Joy Cuizon learns that Estong is detained at the police station she has to farther review the case. Papers are taken out of the vault and Estong is the suspect to have taken them out. He is already on indefinite leave at this time. Most likely an insider seems to increase the penalty if proven in court. She summons a private investigator to handle the case. Insiang use to be honest with her children explaining to them what is happening to their father being in jail. Jim and Noynoy can't disappoint their mother. Both of them send money to help their father. Insiang prays again to God to ask help for the release of her husband. She prayed hard that she has enough money to bail him out. That night Estong has a dream. His dream is about his release in jail. He really wanted to get out having missed his home, his freedom to get around in his car. In his dream he prayed again for forgiveness to God and he said to Him that He is present in his cell guarding him, The next morning as if he heard a voice saying, "Unlock him." As soon as the Police Station has opened its door a Police Guard unlock the door and told him he is already free. His wife and his son Jim are there to bring him home. It s not a good time for his son to come home but Jim has to support his father. The same thing when he was in trouble in the past ,his father was always there for him. His family was always first. The court date is fast approaching, The private investigator has already submitted the necessary documents to Atty. Joy Cuizon for her to have a critical analysis about the case of Estong. She even heard the company hired four lawyers to confront her. With all the papers on her hand she will not change the fundamental reason that there is no case at all. The court is now open for deliberation and the plaintiff presents the case. The judge listens intently and seriously. When Estong is called to testify he made very clear descriptions on how he prepared his record of data for the period that he has worked in the company. Then the lawyer of the defendant presented the evidences she has gathered against the plaintiff. She deliberated why in a very short period of time that accumulated amount has disappeared and documents are stolen from the vault when tbe employee has been out of work for sometime having no access to the premises at all, He asks the court to let the two employees who are present to explain why they falsified the documents and stole the documents inside the vault. The two employees are caught in surprise. How come the defense lawyer implicated them? They didn't know the private investigator interrogated all the employees who worked with Estong coming into light the inside job of plotting him to be dismissed. The judge adjourned the court after they signed a sworn statement about their aborted plan to put Estong in jail for a long time. That night at dinnertime the family thank God for his mercy to exonerate Estong. Before bed, it's good Estong, Insiang remarks I put in my mind what you said, "Please listen to me."GP