The Night We Came to Be

The Night When Pigs Could Fly

12/29, Late Night, Monday

Something's missing. As soon as I took off my headphones, depriving myself of some sick beats for a moment, I'd immediately noticed the strange silence.

Yeah. Yeah! Why isn't Gustavo barking his absolute lungs off? Pretty unusual for such a playful dog like him.

Once I got outside, I couldn't believe my eyes. They're gone. Gustavo, Koko, they're both gone, out of their cages.

"Where'd they go?" How did they even escape? I mean, Tara's still here, and she's not moving an inch. If there ever were any motive for the dogs to get out, Tara would have the biggest one.

"But how?" There's no trace of the other two everywhere. So I went and asked Ma.

I hope it wouldn't be too big a problem to ask her about it. She looked pretty busy arranging her paperwork.

"H-Hey, Ma? Koko and Gustavo are gone. They must've escaped somehow." I tried to conceal my upset tone, but I gotta be honest, I'm anxious as all balls.

"We sold them, Darryl." I was a bit too late realizing the streaming line of wetness falling from Ma's cheeks. Suddenly, my anxiety had reached its summit. "They're not coming back."

I don't understand. When? "What? Why? Why'd you give them away?"

Ma just kept on arranging her files, ignoring my question. Did I make her mad? Again? I'm sick and tired of fighting, just please talk to me!

"Ma... Ma, answer me--"

"Listen here, Darryl." She turns to me with an aggrieved expression. It was wary and tired, and... I feel bad. I feel so, so bad.

"When will you learn? Huh? When will you try?" she asked. Right now, Ma. Right about now.

"Because if you really wanted to change, I gotta see some of it! You gotta make it happen!"

She sighs, trying desperately to alleviate all the stress she had bottled up for so long. "We can't pay our bills, Darryl. At this point, we have nothing left. It's good your Aunt Wendy is there to support us because if she wasn't, we'd be sleeping on the cold, unforgiving pavement!" she erupted, her words boiling like magma.

"It's good your dad found a job, but it's too late because we only have one week to cross out our debts! We're barely hanging in there, Darryl, and you still have time to worry about something else! Why can't you see that?"

Ma. I'm sorry.

"You keep on apologizing but I know, and you know, that etched within that little brain of yours is the hatred you have for me and your father. That's why you can't change! That's what's holding you back! You never surrender to us, you always have to fight back!"

Ma, please. Please don't take this route. Please...

"Why do you hate me so much? Why do you hate us?" she snapped, shooting me a burdensome question. "Is it still because of what happened with Grandma, is that it? When we left you in her care? When she took you to that old shack of hers in the middle of the woods?"

My body felt an unpleasant recoil. My chest thumped and thumped and thumped, a wrecking ball crashing through my safe space. My shield, it's been broken, and I'm left unprotected and scared.

"Is it still because of that incident a decade ago? You haven't moved on?" She demanded an answer, so I shook my head. "Well, move on!"

Ma, after her outburst, let out an unabashed cry, like a wolf in the night. She howled, and between the distance separating us, I can feel the weariness in her heart, and the torment in her mind.