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KABANATA 22

KABANATA 22

"How's Inna, mom?"

I heard my mom sigh. "She's still sleeping, son. I hope okay lang s'ya ngayong wala ka na ulit."

I just came home here in Manila from Tagaytay. Napauwi ako bigla last week because Inna got sick. Sabi ng doktor, she was stressed and depressed. Hindi daw iyon maganda because Inna is still young. Kaya isang Linggo akong nag-stay sa Tagaytay to cheer her up. But I can't last longer than a week because school won't let me.

Sa aming magkapatid, si Inna ang pinaka apektado ng paghihiwalay ng mga magulang namin. Dad took me, she was left with mom, who busied herself at work to forget all the pain her and dad's break up caused her. That left Inna always alone.

"I hired a friend for Inna!" I heard excitement in mom's voice.

It's been a week mula nang bisitahin ko si Inna and sabi ni mom mukhang okay naman na daw. Malaki daw ang naitulong ng pag-stay ko ng 1week sa kanila dahil kumakain na kahit papaano. Pero hindi pa rin daw masyadong nagsasalita. And now this is her solution? To hire a friend for Inna? Narerentahan na pala ang kaibigan ngayon?

"I looked for someone who can teach her play guitar, since noong nandito ka at bonding n'yo 'yun lagi, she seems happy. Baka if someone would continue teaching her, she would gain her old self back."

I sighed. "Is it a boy?"

"No, of course, not!" mabilis n'yang sagot. "She's my secretary's niece. She's kind and masayahin. I'll take a video of them if you want. I-send ko sa'yo."

Ganoon nga ang ginawa ni mommy. She was taking video of Inna and the new girl who was teaching her to play guitar. Her name is Ahlia.

When I watched the first video mom sent me, I lost count of how many times I paused it whenever I would see Ahlia smile. She was very pretty. She looks innocent and her smile is contagious. She sings very well, too. Minsan napapapikit ako kapag kumakanta s'ya, iniimagine ko na magkasama kami. Crap, ang creepy ko na yata?

After that, I found myself always waiting for mom's video of Inna and Ahlia. I would sometimes be mad at mom kapag nakakalimutan n'ya. But when their lessons ended because Inna can now play on her own, wala nang video. Bad trip ako no'n. Although Ahlia and Inna remained friends, hindi ko naman pwedeng hingin kay mom pati ang video na magkasama sila. Parang gago naman ako no'n.

Sometimes, I would visit the house and secretly hope that Ahlia might be there too, kaso wala. Hanggang sa nakalimutan ko na rin s'ya.

I got busy playing around, dating different kinds of girls. The longest affair I had was with Charm. She was our classmate. She's cool and she's a friend of mine kaya kahit matagal na itong nagpaparamdam, I don't pay attention. But even after we graduated hindi s'ya tumigil kaya pinagbigyan ko na. Hindi ko naman pinagsisihan. Charm was cool with our set up. She's great in bed, too, so ayos na ayos.

"Talagang umisa lang tapos aalis na?"

Natawa ako sa sinabi ni Charm. We just finished and now I'm heading to the bathroom to take a shower and leave.

She pouted when I didn't answer. "Okay na rin. At least pinagbigyan mo 'ko. Hanggang kailan kayo du'n, babe?"

She's talking about Tagaytay. Bukas kasi ay uuwi ako kasama ang ilang mga kaibigan para sa party na hinanda ni mommy dahil sa pagpasa namin ng board exam. Ayaw ko nga sana iyon. I told her na magdinner nalang kaso ang kulit. Nang nalaman naman ng mga kaibigan ko iyon, nagsamahan din ang mga loko.