Amethyst Died that Saturday

10

10

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HABANG NAKAPILA SA cashier, may hawak na basket na may lamang dalawang pakete ng Whisper pati ilang sweets, nakarinig ako ng mga bulungan.

Here in Ashmore, the worst thing that ever happened before the fire is when a cyclist was hit by a bus and died. There were a few neighbor fights, or some harangue at the park or at school, but never every time. Mababa ang crime rate dito kaya nasanay ang mga pulis para maging tamad. The police will never suspect someone of murder.

But the rest of what I heard troubled me.

". . . tapos bigla na lang daw siyang nawala!"

"Next po, Ma'am."

I tried to mute the voices around me, specially the cashiers'. Nagpantig ang tainga ko. I cleared my throat and kept as quiet as I can, listening to the mothers in line behind me.

"Oo nga raw!" sabi ng isa. "Hay. Matapos ng sunog, ito naman?"

"Wala naman halos nangyayari rito," sagot ng kasama niya. "Pero ngayong taon na yata ang pinakamalala."

"Parehas pang high school na babae!"

After my purchase, bumili agad ako ng diyaryo para sa ngayong araw. Paano ba naman, I forgot to have some newspapers from this morning because of this trouble with Amethyst. As I stand on the bus stop with the plastic bag on my arm, binasa ko ang malaking headline na nasa frontpage.

17 year old girl, missing;
Believes to be dead.

Hindi ako makapaniwala sa laman ng balita. After this news I know that the police would not just ignore this like they ignored the fire in Kaylock Road. The girl is named Hannah Fuller, a tenth grade high schooler, and she lives alone in an apartment downtown. Nobody knows so much about her because she is said to be quiet and aloof. Kung hindi pa nagsimulang mag-alala ang mga magulang niya na nagtatrabaho sa malayo, hindi pa malalamang nawawala na si Hannah. They called the school and not a single soul knows about what happened. Not a single person has a clue.

Hannah Fuller disappeared just like that.

I sighed. I bit on my nails. A bus arrived in front of me, and I went in, but my mind is still all over the place the whole time.

Nang makauwi, napansin kong sarado ang TV, which is weird, because Amethyst likes watching. I opened the door and found Amethyst sleeping on her bed. Napatingin ako sa paligid, at sobrang linis na nga. No dirty dishes on the sink, the tables all wiped off, my shoe rack and shelves organized. Napatingin ako kay Amethyst saka napangiti.

Earlier, Cinna dropped me off at the supermarket as she headed off to the coffee shop alone. It was nice of her to let me go home first. At mas lalo na dahil okay lang sa kanyang siya muna ang bahala sa coffee shop.