The Manipulation Game

07

#HowToDealWithPeople

"O bakit walang nagsasalita?"

"A moment of silence for my dead brain."

"Oh shit, Zen. You have a brain?!"

"Fuck you, FUCK YOU JAMES ISAAC NEWTON."

"I know, my name is as glorified and awesome as my being."

"Luh. Kasing kapal mo 'yong libro na binabasa ni Ken kahapon."

"My name is not Ken. And that is not just a book. It's my bible—"

"He calls Mortal Instruments a bible."

"Technically, it talks about Angels and Demons."

"And Downworlders."

"We don't read Mortal Instruments, dude."

"I'm stuck between I don't know and I don't care."

"Buuuurn."

"Ngayon ko lang narealize. Hayop ka Jin. Ikaw ang pumatay sa Tatay ko."

"Which one?"

"Dude! You don't remember the people you killed?!"

"I have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. I don't care, about small details."

"DUDE. YOU THREW MY DAD'S BODY IN A DUMP."

"Oh, so your Father is the policeman. Sorry for your loss, but he's a dick. A walking dick."

"Thank you—what the fuck. Tinulungan pa ako ni Rin na hanapin ang pumatay sa Tatay ko tapos all along katabi ko lang pala? And I admit, his brain is in the wrong head."

"And now he's dickless, which means he's brainless—OH!"

"Now, now, don't let this start a fight."

"We won't. My Dad's a dick anyway. AT ANG ASTIG MO JIN I SALUTE! Apir!"

"Apir."

"Sometimes it really amazes me how Shin can just let something go like that."

"Keep moving forward kasi mga bes. Tignan mo, hindi naging kami ni Zen kasi Hashtag nagparaya ako. Chos!"

"Ew ka."

"Wow 'a!"

"So. . . Sino nang magkukwento? Si Rin ulit?"

"Nope, try Ken."

"Okay."

"Ay weh?"

Ken.

Ocampo Bank.

It should be illegal to go out on a Saturday morning. There should be a law saying we can't get out of bed until half past noon. I don't have the energy to talk, much less to walk on a sunny day. But Rindelle Lazaro, has enough batteries to come rushing into my house and ordering me to go with him to a freaking bank. Which reminds me. . . "Zen's family owns a bank?"