Someone Who Will Peel Off The Fish Bones (2022)

CHAPTER 3: This small world led me to you

THE NEXT FEW WEEKS PASSED BY IN A BLUR and summer vacation finally started. Ever since the day Primo and Narra learned they were neighbors, Primo became curious about her. He learned that Narra mostly spent her vacation at the compound, but there were times that she went to visit her grandparents. And since Primo spent his vacation with his friends from the basketball team, there wasn't a chance for them to run into each other on summer vacations either. He believed that if he hadn't quit the team, he and Narra would've graduated high school without knowing they were next-door neighbors, as ridiculous as it sounded.

Primo groaned and sat up from the couch. His family's old house was small, but all that mattered then was that there was a small bathroom, a small kitchen with little space as a dining area, a single room, and a living room—just enough for a growing boy like Primo. Now, with him alone, the house felt so big, even though it's far from it.

He turned the TV on and then turned it off after switching to a few channels. Primo sighed and looked at his phone. He had turned his phone off because his friends kept texting and calling him, inviting him to attend their annual team party. Primo appreciated the invite, but he wouldn't dare attend the party when he officially quit the team. He'd rather spend his vacation alone than attend it. He hasn't achieved that level of thick-facedness yet.

Family gatherings were also not something Primo would usually attend, especially now that his parents have their own families. The divorce did not only take his parents away, it also took his cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Primo had never hated summer breaks before, but now that he's all alone, he's starting to.

Before Primo felt even more restless, he stood up, picked up his jacket and went outside. Another second more in this house and he would lose his mind. Loneliness was just too much to bear for someone like him who got used to always having company.

A gust of fresh wind welcomed him as he stepped outside. He breathed it in and noticed how it smelled like salt water. As he roamed his eyes, he took in the scenery of the place he grew up in.

The compound was built through small houses connected to each other with tall fences around it, so the place would resemble the shape of a square if seen from a bird's eye view. The compound wasn't that big as it was only composed of eight small houses with a little gate in the middle as the entrance. The houses weren't pleasant to look at—the buildings looked worn out and cheap. That was why Primo's parents wanted him to move out and live at a better-looking apartment complex near his school, but Primo was not having it. He did not want to use his parents' money for anything other than school and absolute necessities. Besides, he liked their house and their neighbors. Primo doesn't need the excess money of his parents that came from their present partners.

Primo's thoughts were interrupted when he saw one of his old neighbors carrying a sack of rice with difficulty. He immediately put on his jacket and ran up to him. He smiled at the old man.

"May I help you carry that?" Primo asked.

The old man beamed at him. "Why, Primo, is that you? You've grown a lot. Do you still remember me?"

Primo grinned, taking the sack of rice from the old man's shoulder. "How could I forget you, Mang George? You're the one who bought me a sack of rice for my seventh birthday!"

Mang George chuckled. "It was a practical gift. But you were disappointed as a kid."

"Well, if you give me one on my birthday now, I would cry happy tears."

The old man laughed and promised to do that. Both of them started to talk as they walked. "Anyway, how come I've only seen you now? Did you just come back from... where was it? Was it the US?"