Their Days of Nights

33 : Movie

May 2011

Kimberly

The previous weeks were eventful, yet nothing happened.

I met with Benjie's sister, Jessy, last Sunday. We had a quick catch-up over coffee about what happened after that time I went home; about the bomb my mother dropped on me.

I told her I was somehow getting better in dealing with stuff, and there are lesser times when I'd feel miserable.

She said that it's good, and if I ever want to talk to her more about it, I can always call her.

I like Jessy. I enjoy talking to her. And she's really nice; has been ever since. She treats me like a family. No, cancel that. She considers me like a family.

I also asked her about work, and if she enjoys frequent traveling. She said it's tiresome, but it's the kind of tired that feels good after.

And then we talked about her brother. She shared some stories when they were kids, and why she calls him a baboon.

"No offense to the animals," she said with a laugh. "He was watching some segment on Animal Planet, right?"

I nodded.

"And I asked what they were...and he said, baboons," Jessy said the word in her best Benjie impression. "And I was just like...aww, they're so cute...and the way he said that...baboons...was also cute...because, you know, he was just transitioning to puberty at that time." She laughed once more. "It's meant to make fun of him at first, and then it stuck, so there."

Then we turned a little serious.

"He's just a little slow," she said. "He's a calculator, literally. He calculates even the timing of what he'll do, how, and when. So, it also takes a bit of time for him to catch up when things don't go as planned. But he'll get there, so be patient with him. And he's really busy these days, I barely even see him around the house."

"He said so too. We, um, text each other."

She nodded. "Being good at what you do comes with a price, I guess," she shrugged.

Then we shifted the topic to our favorite music. It no longer surprised me that we have almost the same preference when it comes to it.   

***

It's Friday morning now, and I'm in the room with Aya. We're killing time after we got back from work. She's in her bed, lying on her stomach, flipping through a local showbiz magazine. I'm in mine, re-arranging the music files on my laptop.

My phone rings. Benjie is calling.

"Hey, you. How are you?"

"Good. Fine." He sounds more relaxed and somewhat excited. "A bit more chill right now," he adds.

"Okay."

"Have you watched Thor?" he quickly asks.

"I'm pretty sure I haven't. What's that?"

"It's this movie....by Marvel...about Thor. He's one of The Avengers."

Silence.

I scratch the back of my head. "Oh, right," I say. It's one of those things I heard him and his friends talk about during that summer after high school. "Thor, the movie. The one with Natalie Portman in it. What...about it?"

"I'm currently looking at screening times," he says, "and they have a last full show before midnight tomorrow. I'm about to reserve seats online, so I'm thinking..."