Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

N o, I was not able to sleep at all.

I was distracted the whole day and the guilt from the way my family looked last night haunted me the entire time. I specifically dreaded the Finance seatwork that afternoon and when the professor handed out the material, I knew I was a goner.

This reminded me of that time in my first year of university when I sat a Math 17 quiz and ended up getting twelve over fifty. I swore, on that day I got my blue book back, that it would be the last time I would get a score that low in my entire college career but seeing the questions in front of me now told me that I would be breaking that record.

I was figuratively tearing my hair out as early as question number three.

I gave up on that midway through the allotted time and just submitted my blue book early, feeling a massive headache coming on. I decided to go to the club room. As it was in between classes, the room was empty and I was free to throw myself on the sofa.

I managed to get a quick nap but heard footsteps and voices coming in after about half an hour.

“Bait ni Lavinia pag tulog, oh,” said a voice I would recognize from anywhere.

“I have my eyes closed but I could hear you, Prefect Brat.”

“Lagooooot,” said other people’s voices.

I raised one eye open and laughed, seeing Cholo covering his mouth and putting on a scared expression. He tiptoed and took a seat beside me while our other orgmates screeched ‘Uuuuuy!’

“Che!” I said, pretending to be offended but smiling.

“What did you answer for item 5?” Cholo asked me.

“I didn’t get there. I guessed items 4 and 5 and called it a day,” I replied.

Cholo laughed, edging closer towards me. “Seryoso ka? ‘Di nga?”

“Did you really think I submitted early because I found it easy?” I demanded. “Anyway. No talking about 142. I’m trying to sustain my life force before going home.”

“You look like you need a ride. You want to come with me?”

“Huh? Are you going South today?”

“Yup. Long weekend, eh,” Cholo said. “If you’re ready, we can go now. Iwas traffic.”

“Who am I to say no to legroom?” I said, remembering his comment from the other day. I stood up and followed him to the parking lot, relieved that I did not have to commute home.

“Nice car,” I said after we made it out of EDSA. I tried not to talk too much to let him focus on the wheel as the traffic was already building up.

“Are you comfortable?” he asked, putting the back of his hand in front of the aircon vent. “Is it too cold?”

“That’s fine. I like cold,” I said. “Thanks for offering.”

“No probs,” he replied, stopping at a traffic light.

I caught him sneak a quick look at me. “Tinitingin-tingin mo diyan?”

“I was wondering how you are but I didn’t want to ask in case you didn’t want to talk about it.”

I raised an eyebrow and he turned towards the road again. I folded my arms and leaned back against the seat. “Did you hear much?”

“Not really. I heard Juliana ask something and then hung up. It didn’t feel right to listen in.”

“Ah.”

I closed my eyes and once more, the looks on my family’s faces flashed like someone had pasted a high-resolution photo over my eyes. Heaving a deep breath, I decided it would not do me any harm talking to Cholo about it.

“Liana said she wanted us to be friends again,” I said, opening my eyes again and staring at the spotless glove compartment surface.

“What did you say?”

“I said surprising me with a strange doll in the middle of the night wouldn’t help with that,” I joked but Cholo saw right through that.

“I understand it’s annoying. Who’d want to find a doll in their room at midnight?” he said.

“True. But I should have been kinder.”

“Title of your autobiography.”

“Shut up ,” I replied and burst out laughing. “Kakayamot ‘to kausap.”

“I’m glad you’re talking to me though.”

“Me too,” I replied. “Thanks for being cool.”

“Ano ‘yun? Pakiulit?” he teased.

I pushed his shoulder in response.

“Are you free tomorrow?” Cholo asked just as he turned towards our village’s main gate.

“Yeah. I’m done with my deliverables. Did you need help with anything else?”

“No. Just thought I’d invite you, it’s my niece’s fourth birthday party tomorrow. The team’s coming.”

“Huh? Is everyone that close?”

“More like I double-booked it. Seth and the other heads suggested a status meeting weeks ago and this date was the only clear one in my calendar, so I said game, completely forgetting that I kept that clear for a reason. Anyway, Kuya said I could bring friends, and my niece’s guests go home at 4 p.m. anyway, so we have the evening to ourselves. The team said okay so we’re doing that.”

“Yikes. Tomorrow is one of my only Summer-free days. I’d rather not.”

“She’s not invited,” Cholo said.

“The other chairperson’s not invited but you’re inviting me ? That doesn’t make sense.”

“Well, why not? You’ve worked hard with the rest of us. The team specifically said they want you there, too.”

“Are you sure it’s not just you who wants me there?”

“I do want you there. Why do you think I’m bringing it up?” he replied, and I got a little flustered as I expected him to throw that back in my face. “I’ll introduce you and the guys to my family as well.”

“Oh,” I said, nervous now. Damn it, I should have said I was not free. I looked up to see the car pulling into my street.

“No pressure, syempre,” he added, sensing my discomfort as he stopped the car in front of my house. “You remember where my house is, right?”

“Yup. Conde Nast Street. Do I need to bring anything?”

“No, it’s all taken care of,” he replied but I was already thinking of what to get the kid from the toy shop. “And as you know, our meetings end up becoming more of a hangout than a formal one, so don’t bring your laptop.”

“Okay then. Thanks for the ride,” I said, taking off my seat belt. “See you tomorrow.”

CHATBOX

Ephemere - Pub/Marketing

Kristine Andal

HOY where are you? We’re here na!

Pwedeng wait lang?

Seth Agoncillo

Tagal!

I was stressing enough already and my teammates were making it worse.

I spent the night googling suitable gifts for a four-year-old so I ended up sleeping at daybreak. I only woke up past noon, panicking and running off to the nearby mall when I realized what time it was. Fortunately, I was able to find and a cute Barbie-themed art and sketchbook set in the bookstore so I was able to get home by 4 p.m., but I was still wearing yesterday’s jeans with unwashed hair.

Gross.

Good thing Cholo’s house was only fifteen minutes away by foot so I had time to shower and I got there just as the last of the kids with the balloons were leaving. I carefully approached the gate but seeing Cholo wasn’t there I decided to take my phone out.

“Hi!” someone said and I looked up to see a tall woman on the gate smiling at me. “Are you one of Cholo’s orgmates?”

“Ay, yes,” I said, smiling back.

“Come in, come in,” she said, leaving the gate open for me and calling out, “Choleng!”

I tried not to laugh as I passed her. Cholo ran out of the house and his eyes widened when he saw me.

“Ate Ania talaga!” he said, shaking his head and approaching me, his ears red. “Hi, Vinnie.”

“Hi, Choleng, ” I teased.

“I’m never hearing the end of this, am I?”

“Absolutely not. Here.” I handed him the present.

“You can give it to her. I’ll introduce you,” he said.

Thankfully, that went well without me making a fool out of myself. I met his niece, Risa, and she was so happy with the gift that she actually hugged me. Not being used to affection, I was taken aback, but nobody took any notice with the awkward pats I gave the kid in return.

The lady who let me in, Ate Ania, was Cholo’s sister-in-law, and she thanked me profusely for the present. Cholo then introduced me to his brothers, Kuya Chip and Kuya Chan, who both shook my hand and welcomed me.

They had other family over so nobody minded when we excused ourselves. Cholo seemed a little tense after some titas commented on his weight (“You’re so skinny, anak, kumakain ka pa ba?”) so I followed him out of the living area.

He only seemed to let out a genuine breath after we reached the kitchen.

“I’m just getting more ice,” he said, panting. “Do you want a beer?”

“I don’t drink. I’ll help you with the ice?”

“Oh. We have cola and ginger ale up here,” he said, opening the chiller door. “Get what you want.”

“Canada Dry! I love this,” I said, getting a can and thanking him. Cholo now opened the freezer and tried to pull out a whole bag of ice. As he struggled to unstick it from the rest of the freezer contents, I noticed his ears were red and a vein was showing on his neck.

“There we go,” he said with a grunt, breaking the bag free. His face was flush with the effort.

“You seem tense,” I commented. “Come on, let me help.”

“No, it’s not even five kilograms,” he said with a laugh. “It’s just the titas.”

The smile on his face looked forced. I got the impression that he was wearing this smile all day, and that he maybe needed a small break.

“You can take the mask off for one minute,” I told him.

Cholo, who had been staring at the floor before this, caught my eye and let out a huge breath of relief. I felt so bad for him all of a sudden. Leaning on the counter, I watched him close his eyes and set the bag of ice on the counter.

“Thanks. I really needed that. Those titas don’t like me very much.”

“Really?” I replied, unable to believe that. “You have good grades, top of your class, student leader, and all that. They still don’t like you?”

Cholo let out a laugh and I realized how inappropriate I was being.

“Sorry.”

“Why apologize?”

“‘Di tayo close.”

“Right,” he said, laughing a little more now, and I folded my arms, smiling at him. “Oh, good lord. Was my being tense that obvious?”

“Oh, please. I don’t blame you at all. I could feel the nasty tita energy as soon as I walked in,” I replied, and Cholo laughed even louder, not even shushing me like I expected him to. “If it makes you feel better, mine look at me like I’m dog poop under their shoes.”

“Oh my god, that sounds horrible.”

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man or woman will have at least one tita that looks at them with utmost disdain,” I said, faking an accent. “Charot. But, yeah.”

“Do you know why?”

“Ewan ko nga, eh. I’m so nice kaya,” I said, flipping my hair in an exaggerated manner. Cholo shook his head and laughed. “All jokes aside, I have no idea. It’s my mom’s siblings. They treat my dad badly as well. Even after my mom passed, they expected him to help them out with money. They went along and got married and had babies left and right and made my dad pay for the parties and the beach trips. Because apparently, that’s, quote-unquote, what my mom would have done. When Dad came to his senses and stopped, they stopped calling, too.”

“Yikes.”

“I know, right? We don’t even get invited to family outings now.”

“Terrible!” he said, shaking his head.

“Yours still seem to be hanging around,” I said as one particularly loud tita chose that moment to cackle from the next room. “The party food’s probably good?”

“Nah. They’re all doing well in life.”

“Mom side or Dad side?” I asked and he caught my eye again like I had touched on something he wasn’t sure he was ready to divulge. “You can ignore me, of course. You don’t need to answer that.”

“Mom side,” he said. “How do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“That. Inaasar mo lang ako, eh, and now I feel better,” he said, folding his arms too. “What kind of voodoo are you using now?”

“Voodoo talaga?” I said, aiming a small, teasing kick at his leg. “I can’t take full credit for that. I learned that from Gian.”

“Interesting.”

“Yep. It’s much easier to get someone to loosen up this way, rather than sitting them down and going ‘we need to talk .’ Stick in a few jokes, may or may not include trashing people who treat us like shit, and we’re good to go.”

Cholo looked at the wall in front of us.

“I really needed that, Vinnie. Thank you.”

“Sus, parang others,” I said, facing him. “You can tell me things, noh. I can’t promise na ‘di kita aasarin but you’re free to talk to me. I’ll be here.”

“I’m here for you, too,” he replied, meeting my gaze. The forced smile was gone. His eyes looked tired, the dimple that usually sat on his cheek was nowhere to be found. I had never seen him like this, and it was enough to make me worry, but at the same time I was glad he was letting me in.

We both looked away and let a few moments pass. He took a few deep breaths and when I thought he was ready, I broke the silence.

“So close na tayo?” I said, smiling. “I can call you Choleng from now on?”

He shook his head and threw his arms in the air.

“Hay nako, Lavinia, umuwi ka na nga,” he said, picking the ice back up and walking towards the stairs.

I followed him, laughing all the way.