Sundered by Time (Manila Series #1)

Chapter 13

Naths laughed at what she said but the rest of us were serious. How could she act like she's alright after that? Alam kong nabastos siya!

"Ano nangyari?"

She became quiet and wasn't able to answer Khalil's question but she gave us an assuring smile. Umupo kami pero nanatili ang tingin ng tatlo sa amin. Ana sat beside Naths and hugged her, I pat Naths' shoulders and sighed, being stressed out on why she reacted like that, like she did something wrong when in fact, she didn't.

I decided to tell them the story and they're so mad about it. Sumandal si Bronson sa upuan at huminga ng malalim habang nakaawang ang bibig. Umiwas rin siya ng tingin.

"Gago talaga."

"His friends tolerated it? The heck?" Khalil asked, extremely disappointed.

"Hayaan niyo na, ginawan ko na ng paraan," ani ko kaya sa akin naman sila napatingin.

What? Nasa station na siguro sila ngayon. All I want to say is for them to finally calm down, nangyari na at nasabihan na din siguro sila ng mga pulis, wala na akong magagawa.

Ana stopped Son na nasa harap niya lang para magsalita. "After all that you've gone through, you haven't let anything slide without them learning a lesson."

Mapait akong tumawa. "What should I do? Patayin sila?"

They all became flushed and didn't react immediately. "Magpapanggap ka na hindi iyon nangyari?" tanong ni Son sa akin na halatang naiinis na.

"I'm not the victim here! Si Naths!" I justified.

"O edi kayo! Magpapanggap kayo? Catcalling is an act of sexual harassment, it's a core of someone's trauma!" Khalil exclaimed.

That's true..

Marami ang natatakot ngayon lumabas ng bahay o makisalamuha dahil doon and what Lil said makes sense. Lahat sila, pero ayoko na ng gulo, maayos naman na. Mas maganda nga iyong tumawag ng pulis kesa sa gusto ni Naths na talagang hahayaan ang mga iyon.

"Nagreport kayo?" tumango ako sa tanong ni Zara. "Mabuti. Para hindi naman parang wala kayong pake sa ginawa sa inyo."

Ana's jaw dropped. "They're obviously affected!"

"Sanay na ako pero siya ang biktima," sabay nguso ko kay Naths.

Someone made a sound with his tongue. "Hindi ka dapat nasasanay." Son disappointingly uttered.

I tried to change the topic because it's getting heavy. Alam kong ayaw din nila maungkat ang mga nangyari dati kaya pinili nilang sabayan ako. We talked about the financial status and expenses of building three clinics at the same time.

Hindi ko nga alam kung bakit parang naging reunion ito na may kulang, seryoso naman ang pag-uusapan and we're not going to have fun right now. Lau is busy with her school, maybe? Kaya kami-kami lang ang nandito.

"Pagsabayin na lang kasi."

The waiter placed our orders on our tables then we started to dig in. My friends and I were talking when a song was played and Son immediately sang.

"Weh ayoko na," Zara teasingly uttered, crossing her arms and stopped from eating.

Bronson's lips parted and I softly chuckled. I'm already used to them na nagbabarahan kasama si Lau pero natatawa pa rin ako. Nakita ko si Ate Naha na papasok ng restaurant at umupo siya sa harapan ko matapos batiin ang ilan naming kasama. I handed Ana the form that Khalil gave to me. She immediately opened the envelope and looked upon it, while skimming the text, her eyes widened and showed me what she saw.