Certain Uncertainties

XXIV

I TOLD THEON EVERYTHING I'VE LEARNED THAT NIGHT. I feel guilty dahil alam kong pinagkakatiwalaan ako ni Angelica kaya n'ya ikinwento sa akin ang tungkol sa kuya n'ya but I had to do it.

I'd do anything to help them with the case.

According to Theon, the death of Marco's son could be the reason of all those murders. His hatred for the community might've somehow rooted from the fact that his son was part of it before he took his own life away.

 It could be one of hundreds of possibilities, it could be not and we can't be certain why.

"DEN, UMAAPAW NA YUNG WATER!" Napukaw ang atensyon ko nang lumapit si Deydey at patayin ang gripo sa sink. Hinuhugasan ko ang lettuce at nawala na 'yon sa isip ko. "Nakatulala ka na naman" naiinis na sabi n'ya at inagaw sa akin ang chopping board.

Gagawa dapat ako ng salad, pero sige ikaw na.

"Sorry, dami ko lang iniisip" sabi ko at naupo nalang sa table. "Lagi ka nalang ganyan, magkasama nga tayo pero hindi ka naman makausap" halos durugin na n'ya ang hinihiwang mansanas.

"Lagi talaga? Ngayon lang naman" pagtatanggol ko sa sarili ko. Hindi nalang s'ya sumagot. "How was your family dinner last night?" tanong ko sakanya.

"It was last week" sagot n'ya.

You can't even keep up with the dates, my goodness Maria Denice. Sabaw ka na naman.

"Yeah, I mean, last week of course" palusot ko. "You know what was last night?" tanong n'ya nang hindi ako nililingon. "Direk Patty's birthday treat but you weren't there as well. Umalis ka nalang bigla kasi sabi may urgent kang pupuntahan"

Shit, I almost forgot about that. "I would've joined you guys kung hindi lang talaga urgent"

"Urgent? What's so urgent? Why do you always have something 'urgent' to do? Sabi mo the other day, manunuod tayo ng movies dahil parehong free time natin tapos biglang nakatanggap ka lang ng message, nagmamadali ka ng umalis. We haven't even finished one!"

I have no excuse. It was Gelo, hindi rin alam ni Deydey na sa kung saan saan na kami nakarating sa paghahanap ng mga nasa list, and yet... wala pa ring usad.

"Lagi kang may gagawin, o may pupuntahan. Dati kahit gaano kahigpit ang schedule, we'd always make time to be together tapos ngayon halos hindi na tayo nag-uusap. Hindi na nga tayo madalas magkita dahil sa magkaibang locations sa pagtake ng backstories ng characters natin. Kung hindi pa kita pinuntahan dito, hindi na naman kita makikita"

Ako ba ang nakikita ni Deanna sa hinihiwa n'ya? Halos madurog na, eh. "May PMS na naman ba ang babe ko?" Biro ko saka tumayo at akmang yayakap sa kanya pero siniko n'ya ko. "Can you take me seriously?" naiinis na sabi n'ya sa akin.

I cleared my throat. "I'm serious" sabi ko at muling sinubukan s'yang yakapin. Hindi na s'ya pumalag. "Just because I'm busy doesn't mean I don't miss you" sabi ko pa.